Preterm Birth and Healthy Outcomes Team: the science and strategy of team-based investigation

Excerpt

In the traditional academic environment, there are often more reasons not to construct a team than there are reasons to construct one. In particular, there are institutional and funder guidelines for reward and recognition that are disincentives to the creation of a team. There are temporal pressures that favor small group work and incremental science over large groups and high risk projects. In addition, we are increasingly encouraged to make our research relevant and valid while reducing the time required for the translation of evidence to practice and policy. While the need for accurate science is paramount, these requests must still be accommodated within the parameters of academic and health delivery systems in flux, reductions in research budgets, and changing government priorities. …