The Extra-Territorial Translational Research Team: A Sociological Conceptualization

• In Event: 067 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Interdisciplinary Research

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to suggest a revision of the team science concept to the more inclusive extra-territorial research team (ETRT). Translational thinking is largely marked by the perception of the team as a thing-like structure at the center of the scientific activity. Collaboration accordingly involves bringing external others (e.g., scientists, community members, and clinicians) into the team through limited or dependent participation. A sociologically promising way to see the team is as an idea: a schema for assembling and managing relationships among otherwise disparate individuals with vested interests in the problem at hand. Thus, the ETRT can be seen as a process as well as an object. This analysis is derived from a qualitative analysis, informed by symbolic interactionist principles, of the implementation of translational science at a major medical center. The case study is a team response to environmental health following an off-coast oil disaster. The ETRT in question displayed the following principles of constructive relationship management: a high sense of adventure given the quick pace and timeliness of team members’ response to the oil spill; regular meetings in the community to avoid the appearance of academic hegemony; open access by lay as well as institutional scientists; integration of emergency management coordinators into the group; and the languages of public health, environmental pharmacology/toxicology and coastal culture seamlessly interwoven in discussion. The ETRT model is an appropriate strategy for mobilizing and integrating the knowledge and skills needed for comprehensive science and service responses, especially during crisis.

Author

• Joseph A. Kotarba, Texas State University