title: A Framework for Training Transdisciplinary Scholars in Cancer Prevention and Control.
abstract: Traditionally, postdoctoral training programs largely have focused efforts within a single discipline or closely related fields. Yet, addressing the complex questions around cancer prevention and control increasingly requires the ability to work and communicate across disciplines in order to gain a perspective that encompasses the multilevel and multifaceted issues involved with this public health issue. To address this complexity, a transdisciplinary training program was implemented to cultivate the professional and scientific development of the postdoctoral fellows in Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine's Division of Public Health Sciences and NCI-funded centers (Community Networks Program Center and Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics in Cancer Center). Fellows are matched with primary mentors and assemble a multidisciplinary mentoring team. Structured programs support the transition of fellows from disciplinary trainees to independent transdisciplinary scholars and provide exposure to multiple disciplines. This article describes the training program, challenges encountered in implementation, solutions to those problems, and the metrics employed to evaluate the program's success. The goal of the program is to train emerging investigators in the conceptual bases, language, and practices that underlie a transdisciplinary perspective on cancer prevention and control research, to create an infrastructure for continued cross-discipline dialogue and collaboration, and to develop disseminable strategies for such training.
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University in Saint Louis, 660 So. Euclid Ave, Box 8100, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA. jamesai@wudosis.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Aimee S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University in Saint Louis, 660 So. Euclid Ave, Box 8100, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA.|The Brown School, Washington University in Saint Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gehlert
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington, 1107 NE 45th street, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University in Saint Louis, 660 So. Euclid Ave, Box 8100, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004496:Education, Continuing; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000193:education*; D017145:Models, Educational; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016730:Program Development; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000193:education*; D013192:Staff Development; D014146:Training Support; D014495:Universities
keywords: Cancer prevention and control; Postdoctoral training; Transdisciplinary