Table 3.

Relevance and examples of TREC transdisciplinary outcomes

Outcome		Relevance for solving complex societal problems	Examples of TREC members’ achievement of transdisciplinary outcomesa
1	New transdisciplinary team and consortia formation	Forming consortia that bridge academic disciplines, political stakeholders, and community partners can lead to long-term collaborations that foster innovation, creativity, and sustainable public health impact. Venues for consortium building may include but are not limited to conferences, symposia, or town hall meetings	New collaborations established through presentation of transdisciplinary findings at non-TREC scientific meetings, such as American Association for Cancer Research, Dissemination and Implementation, or veterinary conferences Presented at other academic, research, and/or community institutions Presented at Medical School Grand Rounds Hosted institution-wide TREC symposia Co-hosted joint meeting of two transdisciplinary initiatives, TREC and Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities
2	Integrated theoretical framework development	Frameworks that combine concepts and draw on expertise from more than one discipline guide transdisciplinary research by helping to ensure that multiple perspectives are considered and that the optimal combination of expertise is incorporated throughout the research process. Along with team and consortia formation, these frameworks form the foundation for subsequent transdisciplinary research outcomes	Integrated biological, environmental, and policy data into a systems model to determine obesity and cancer health outcomes across life course Developed a unified framework of basic science, epidemiology, and clinical research to improve the quantity and quality life of cancer survivors Mixed measures of physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and location to address multiple levels of influence on obesity
3	Multi-Level intervention model development and testing	Multi-level interventions aim to simultaneously address a range of individual-, interpersonal-, organizational-, community-, and policy-level factors that influence complex public health problems. Such models follow naturally from a transdisciplinary approach in that they cover many of the diverse levels of analysis to understand and intervene upon the interaction between biological, behavioral, and socio-environmental factors	Tested association between environmental exposures and biomarkers of cancer risk Tested effect of individual- and community-level intervention to reduce sitting time on obesity and biomarkers of cancer risk Proposed intervention for mother/newborn dyads to reduce obesity across the lifespan Tested an intervention delivered at individual, family, and healthcare system levels to reduce obesity through sleep improvement
4	Development and adaptation of relevant statistical models	New statistical methods and new uses for existing statistical methods are required to determine associations, interrelationships, and mutual influence that biological, genetic, environmental, social, and behavioral dimensions have on each other and on public health overall	Applied the method of triads to address correlated error in self-reported dietary data Developed a bio bridge design in which multiple imputations were used to look at biomarkers as intermediate endpoints for breast cancer recurrence Determined new applications for the method of triads
5	Translation of findings across levels of science	Transdisciplinary teams comprise investigators and stakeholders who aim to integrate findings from across levels of influence to speed translation from basic science to clinical practice and policy	Translated evidence from mouse model study to determine the impact of nightly fasting on breast cancer outcomes among diverse women Expected to inform public health guidelines for types of activity needed for optimal health based on integrated SenseCam, Global Positioning System (GPS), and accelerometer data
6	Public policy influence	Transdisciplinary research approaches champion scientific innovation and discovery. By involving academic and community, and government stakeholders, transdisciplinary teams apply these discoveries through policy changes that impact the public health challenges of concern	Informed economic savings from behavioral interventions for cancer incidence reduction Expected public health guidelines for gut rest; resist eating at night to stave off obesity Informed clinical guidelines to include prioritizing sleep to reduce obesity risk Proposed public policies to improve environmental influence on physical activity (e.g. sidewalks, safety)
7	Transdisciplinary manuscript publication	Transdisciplinary research is conducted by teams of investigators, which can result in higher publication rates compared to single investigator-initiated research. Publications and grants representative of the transdisciplinary approach exhibit high degree of disciplinary integration. Publications that highlight findings from transdisciplinary approaches raise awareness among the academic community and can lead to greater interest and investment in transdisciplinary research	Obtained grants to test multi-level components of impact of exercise and weight loss on breast cancer co-morbidities
8	Transdisciplinary grant awards		Obtained funding to examine racial/ethnic disparities in cost based on the severity and progression of lymphedema
9	Training the next generation of transdisciplinary researchers	Complex public health problems such as the relationships between diet, physical activity, and cancer require innovative, integrated scientific solutions. Thus, efforts must be made to train investigators from diverse disciplines to communicate, collaborate, develop novel conceptual models and research methodologies, and translate and integrate findings across levels of influence	Prioritized developmental pilot funds for trainees to forge new research areas Formed cross-center Working Groups (e.g. education and training) to generate project ideas, encourage interaction, and build trainee TD competency Provided training in TD research conduct (e.g. disciplinary integration, communication) Supported cross-disciplinary and cross-institution multi-mentor models for trainee development

^aExamples provided are representative but not exhaustive of those across the TREC II initiative.