Team Science

Team science is a collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields. Through this process, Team Science accelerates scientific innovation and the translation of scientific findings into effective policies and practices.

NJ ACTS offers seminars, credentialling, and a consultation service to expand and catalyze team science in the consortium and formalize and bolster training in multi-disciplinary team science.

Team Science Across the NJ ACTS Consortium Virtual Workshop Series

This bi-monthly university-wide virtual seminar series, hosted by the Team Science Core of NJ ACTS, features leaders and team members of interdisciplinary research projects taking place within the NJ ACTS consortium to explore how complex research teams are formed, operated, and achieve success. Each event revolves around a large project that is funded through one of the federal grant mechanisms designed to foster interdisciplinary, high-impact research—e.g., R01 (research grants) with multiple principal investigators, U01 (Research Grants – Cooperative Agreements), and P-series (Program Project Grants and Center Grants). The presenters and panelists provide high-level overviews of their projects and are asked to comment on the advantages and challenges associated with interdisciplinary team research, critical competencies for leading effective research teams, and useful strategies for getting team members to collaborate effectively.

Date	Title
5/2024	The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Study An NIH-funded national cohort study that aims to understand how early life factors impact child health in a large, diverse US population. The inter-disciplinary ECHO team based at Rutgers and St. Peter’s University Hospital is recruiting and following a diverse group of pregnant participants and their offspring in New Brunswick, NJ. The team is also conducting research using national ECHO data focused on the connections between the early life microbiome, microbiome-perturbing exposures, and upper and lower airway health in children, including the relationship between the microbiome and disparities in asthma and allergic rhinitis. Emily Barrett, PhD Daniel B. Horton, MD, MSCE Michelle Jansen, MA, MS Kristy T.S. Palomares, MD, PhD Todd Rosen, MD Watch on YouTube
3/2024	Ready and Healthy for Kindergarten: A Primary Care Innovation to Promote a 360-degree View of Child Health Children from low-income Latino backgrounds are at elevated risk for poor school readiness, which perpetuates existing health inequities. Primary care is an ideal setting to promote optimal school readiness given its frequent contact with at-risk children. This interdisciplinary team science project designed and implemented an innovative family wellness program in primary care and is yielding important insights on how primary care can promote whole person 360-degree care for at-risk children and their families. Manuel Jimenez, MD Daniel Lima, MSW Lesley Morrow, PhD Silvia Perez Cortes, PhD Usha Ramachandran, MD Watch on YouTube
12/2023	The COVID States Project The 50-state COVID-19 project was launched in March 2020 by a multi-university group of researchers with expertise in computational social science, network science, public opinion polling, epidemiology, public health, communication, and political science. The project aims to help practitioners and governments to make informed decisions and allocate resources more effectively. Katherine Ognyanova Associate Professor of Communication Rutgers University Watch on YouTube
10/23	Tourette International Collaborative (TIC) Genetics Study The Tourette International Collaborative Genetics (TIC Genetics) Study is an international collaboration of scientists and clinicians specialized in Tourette Disorder (TD) from more than 20 sites across the United States, Europe, and South Korea. Gary A. Heiman Professor Department of Genetics, Rutgers University Watch on YouTube
4/23	New Jersey Population Health Cohort Study The study aims to enroll up to 10,000 participants from across New Jersey, with an emphasis on historically disadvantaged groups, multi-generational families, and immigrant groups, including: Asian Indian, Chinese, Dominican, Filipino, Haitian, Jamaican, Korean, Mexican, Nigerian, and/or refugees/asylees. Researchers are combining information from participant surveys and other sources such as lab tests and activity measures to help understand factors that drive better health and wellbeing. The study is led by Joel C. Cantor, ScD, director of the Institute for Health’s Center for State Health Policy (CSHP). Speakers include Dr. Cantor, Dr. William Hu (RWJMS, IFH), and Margaret Koller (CSHP). Watch on YouTube
2/23	The MINT (Myocardial Ischemia and Transfusion) Trial MINT is a multicenter randomized clinical trial comparing red blood cell transfusion strategies for patients who have had a myocardial infarction and are anemic. In most clinical settings, evidence suggests it is safe to wait to give a blood transfusion. However, for those who have suffered a heart attack, there is a lack of high quality evidence to guide transfusions. The study’s results will influence transfusion practice worldwide. Jeffrey L. Carson, MD Principal Investigator and Study Chair Helaine Noveck, MPH Deputy Director of Clinical Coordinating Center Watch on YouTube
1/22	The Corona Cohort Join the leadership of the Corona Cohort Study to learn how they assembled a large, multi-disciplinary team from across Rutgers to launch a study within weeks of the start of the pandemic to study healthcare workers’ risk and susceptibility of developing COVID19. Speakers include: Daniel Horton (RWJMS) Emily Barrett (SPH) Jeffrey Carson (RWJMS) Maria Gennaro (NJMS) Martin Blaser (CABM) Reynold Panettieri (RWJMS). Watch on YouTube
10/22	Fragile Families Third Generation (FFG3): An Intergenerational U.S. Birth Cohort Study This study collects information on perinatal health, parenthood experiences, and characteristics of households and families into which the 3rd-generation children are born, as well as biological samples from the 3rd-generation children and their parents who are not already part of the FFCWS study. The data will facilitate novel and important analyses of intergenerational transmission of health, intergenerational relationships within families, and geneenvironment effects on health. Julien Teitler, PhD, Professor of Social Work and Sociology, Columbia University Nancy Reichman, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University Daniel Notterman*, MD, Professor of the Practice in Molecular Biology, Princeton University Watch on YouTube

Team Science Consultation Service

The Team Science Core offers general and project-specific consultations on building and maintaining successful research teams and collaborations. To set up a consultation, please fill out the intake form.

Team Science Microcredential

Team Science: Collaborations in Biomedical Sciences

Available on Credly

Team science is a collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields. The Team Science badge represents that the individual has obtained and applied key skills, abilities, and knowledge of the principles of team science to conduct transdisciplinary, team-based translational research in the biomedical sciences.

Earning Criteria

Successful completion of Rutgers course: Team Science: Collaborations in Biomedical Sciences (Course 16:718:512).
Mandatory attendance and write-up of 3 NJACTS Team Science Core seminar series (or comparable with prior approval).
Capstone project: submission of a proposal that defines a team-based research project within one’s own discipline that incorporates a translational component and demonstrates a clear understanding of the translational research spectrum and how the proposed project advances within biomedical translational research. The proposal includes a technical advisor who serves as a subject matter expert to assess the project’s feasibility, relevance, and impact.
Documented completion of 4 contact-hours of relevant experiential learning related to the practice of team science (including interaction with technical advisor, setting, or other subject matter experts relevant to capstone project).
Tuition and fees associated with Team Science course.

Team Building Seminar Series

View Past Seminars on our YouTube Playlist

Date	Topic	Speaker
3/30/22	Secrets of Successful Collaboration: Ensuring IT Security and Preventing Hacking Watch on YouTube	Adam Bixby Managing Director and Practice Leader of the Security Testing Practice AON (Cyber Solutions Group)
1/31/22	Secrets of Successful Team Building: The View from the Arts Watch on YouTube	Rebecca Cypess, PhD Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Associate Professor, Musicology
1/24/22	Strength in Numbers: Team Science and the CTSA Watch on YouTube	John Buse MD, PhD Director of the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute
11/15/21	Secrets of Successful Teamwork: What Can Academia Learn from Non-Academia? Lessons from an Iconic International Architectural Firm Watch on YouTube	Bradford Perkins, FAIA, MRAIC, AICP Co-founder and Chairman Perkins Eastman
9/13/21	Secrets of Successful Teamwork: What Can Academia Learn from Non-Academia? Lessons from a NASA Space Suit Designer Watch on YouTube	Amy Ross Spacesuit Engineer NASA
6/21/21	Secrets of Successful Teamwork: What Can Academia Learn from Non-Academia? Lessons from an International Biotech Company Watch on YouTube	Kate Sasser, PhD Senior VP Head of Translational Research Genmab Inc.
4/19/21	Secrets of Successful Teamwork: What Can Academia Learn from Non-Academia? Lessons from College Sports Watch on YouTube	Patrick Hobbs Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Rutgers

Team Science Advisory Board

Name	Position	Expertise
Cande Ananth	Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, Chief of Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, RWJMS	Perinatal/reproductive epidemiology Epidemiological methods
Jonathan Cohen	Professor of Psychology Co-Director, Princeton Neuroscience Institute Princeton University	Neuroscience
Stephen Crystal	Research Professor Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research	Health services research
Atam Dhawan	Distinguished Professor of Electrical-Computer Engineering NJIT Vice Provost R&D	Computer engineering
Mark Einstein	Professor and Chair Department of OB/Gyn Rutgers New Jersey Medical School	Women’s studies and early phase clinical investigations
David Foran	Professor of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine and Radiology, RWJMS Executive Director, Biomedical Informatics, CINJ	Biomedical informatics
Shawna Hudson	Associate Professor and Chief of Research Department of Family Medicine, RWJMS	Community based research
Coleen Murphy	Professor of Molecular Biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics Princeton University	Molecular mechanisms of aging
Arnold Rabson	Professor and Director, Child Health Institute of New Jersey RWJMS	Child health
Jason Roy	Professor and Chair of Epidemiology Rutgers School of Public Health	Cancer epidemiology
Kathy Scotto	Professor of Pharmocology, RWJMS Dean of Rutgers Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences	Education
Dan Notterman	Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer, with the rank of Professor, Molecular Biology Princeton University	Gene environment interactions on behavioral, cognitive and emotional outcomes of children

Leadership

Nancy Reichman, PhD

Professor, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Department of Pediatrics
Child Health Institute of New Jersey
reichmne@rwjms.rutgers.edu
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Daniel Horton, MD, MSCE

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research
Rutgers School of Public Health
daniel.horton@rutgers.edu
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Ralph A. Gigliotti, PhD

Assistant Vice President for Organizational Leadership

Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
ralph.gigliotti@rutgers.edu
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