Collaboration and Team Science
William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Research Mission at Johns
Hopkins
• High Performance Teams
• Metrics of Team Science Output
• Barriers Confronted by Research
Teams at Johns Hopkins
William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Disclosures
Member
Cancer Scientific Advisory Council, Abbott Inc.
Scientific Advisory Board, ProQuest Investments, Inc.
Ad Hoc Consultant
GlaxoSmithKline Inc., Merck and Co.
Licensed Intellectual Property (with Johns Hopkins)
Oncomethylome Sciences, Inc., Veridex, Inc.,
Cell Genesys, Inc.
The mission of Johns
Hopkins Medicine is to
improve the health of the
community and the world by
setting the standard of
excellence in medical
education, research and
clinical care.
Diverse and inclusive, Johns
Hopkins Medicine educates
medical students, scientists,
health care professionals
and the public; conducts
biomedical research; and
provides patient-centered
medicine to prevent,
diagnose and treat human
illness.
Glossary
Science: systematic knowledge of the physical world
gained through observation and experimentation
Research: investigation or experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts,
or practical application of such new or revised
theories or laws
Health: the condition of being sound in body, mind, or
spirit; freedom from physical disease or pain
“…Philosophy of science is
about as useful to scientists
as ornithology is to birds…”
Richard P. Feynman
1918-1988
Pointed out that it is likely that
ornithological knowledge would be
of great benefit to birds, were it
possible for them to possess it.
Jonathan Schaffer
Australian National
University
Mission of the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (Public Law 81507) set forth NSF's mission and purpose:
To promote the progress of science; to advance the
national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the
national defense....
The Act itself authorized and directed NSF:
• to support basic scientific research and research
fundamental to the engineering process
• to augment scientific and engineering research
potential
• to strengthen science and engineering education
programs at all levels and in all the various fields of
science and engineering
Mission of the National Institutes of Health
To seek fundamental knowledge about the
nature and behavior of living systems and
the application of that knowledge to enhance
health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens
of illness and disability
Impact of Cancer in the U.S.*
About 44% of men and 38% of women will develop
cancer in their lifetimes
1,529,560 new cancer cases in 2010
569,490 cancer deaths in 2010
84% of all cases are diagnosed after age 60
31% of all cases are diagnosed after age 80
*American Cancer Society, Cancer
Facts & Figures 2004 and 1997;
Jemal A et al. CA Cancer J Clin 60:
American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2004 and 1997, citing NIH data
277-300 (2010)
Collaborative Research Achieved First Cancer Cures
• Lucy Wills discovered folic acid
in 1937
• folic acid seemed to worsen
acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(ALL) in children
• in collaboration with Harriett
Kilte and Yellapragada Subbarao
of Lederle Laboratories, Sidney
Farber induced remissions in
children with ALL upon
administration of anti-folates
aminopterin and amethopterin
(methotrexate) in 1948
Sidney Farber, MD
1903-1973
Lessons Learned About High Performance Teams
• a significant performance challenge energizes
teams
• leaders foster team performance best by
building performance ethic
• real teams always find ways for individuals to
contribute and gain distinction
• discipline within teams and across
organizations creates the conditions for team
performance
The Performance Output/Impact of Teams
Common Approaches to Building Team Performance
• establish urgency and direction
• select members based on skill and skill
potential- not based on personality
• pay attention to initial interactions
• set clear rules of behavior
• identify a few immediate performance-oriented
tasks/goals
• challenge the group regularly with fresh
facts/data
• spend lots of time together
• exploit positive feedback, recognition, and
reward
SKCCC Vision
To accelerate the transformation of cancer care
by promoting the discovery of knowledge
leading to the prevention and cure of human
cancers.
-Mission Captured in a Strategic Plan
Completed in 2010 and Accepted
by Johns Hopkins Medicine Leadership
Brief History
• 1968 - First formal cancer research program; Albert H.
Owens, M.D., Director
• 1973 - authorized by the Trustees of the University and
Hospital as academic Department and Hospital Functional
Unit
• 1976 - Designated as NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center
• 1992 - Martin D. Abeloff, M.D. named Director
• 2001 - $153.9M naming gift from Sidney Kimmel
• 2008 - William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D. named Director
• 2011 - 50th year of NCI support for cancer research
SKCCC Membership
(who we are)
•
254 SKCCC members from 28
Johns Hopkins Departments
– 95 additions/36 departures
over 6 years
•
Membership requires Program
nomination and Executive
Committee approval
Basic Sciences
6%
Sch Engineering
2%
Sch Public Health
9%
Oncology
33%
Surgical Depts
17%
•
Increasing diversity: 39% of new
SKCCC members now non-white
or female
•
Membership Criteria:
̶
Principal Investigator (PI)/Project Leader of a peerreviewed, cancer-relevant grant
̶
Co-PI of a peer-reviewed, cancer-relevant grant
̶
Contributor to cancer clinical protocol development
̶
New faculty investigator with promise of meeting criteria
for full membership within 3 years
Other Med Depts
33%
Prostate Cancer Program
(High Performance Team)
SKCCC Programs in 2011
Program
Members
PeerReviewed
Funding
Intervention
Accruals/
New Patient
Cancer Biology
29
$11.1 M
Hematologic Malignancies and
Bone Marrow Transplantation
29
$11.3 M
Cancer Immunology
29
$11.9 M
Viral Oncology
17
$8.3 M
Cancer Prevention and Control
31
$9.6 M
Chemical Therapeutics
26
$14.7 M
Prostate Cancer
32
$10.5 M
20%
Breast Cancer
28
$6.3 M
12%
Gastrointestinal Cancer
29
$8.6 M
22%
Upper Aerodigestive Cancer
26
$6.3 M
21%
Brain Cancer
17
$8.1 M
20%
Cancer Molecular and Functional
Imaging
25
$9.2 M
57%
Use of SKCCC Facilities to Promote Team Science
Current Space: 621,160 ft2
• Clinical: 323,300 ft2
• Research: 222,000 ft 2
• Other: 75,860 ft2
Research Program
members are
co-located
to maximize
collaborative
interactions
Cancer Research at SKCCC
Metrics of Impact for Discipline-Based Programs
Metric
NCI Target
SKCCC Target
Inter-/intra-programmatic publications 10%
15%
Program Project Grants
1-2
H-index/Node Factor/Other
To be determined
Program members with peer-reviewed
funding
80-85%
Original ideas translated to clinical
trials
Enumerate
Value added by Program over the sum
of individual investigators
Describe
Cancer Research at SKCCC
Metrics of Impact for Disease-Oriented Programs
Metric
NCI Target
SKCCC Target
Accruals to intervention clinical trials
10% of patients
treated
20% of patients
treated
Underserved minority participation in
clinical trials
Equal to Caucasian
participation
Equal to Caucasian
participation
Clinical research: number of trials
completed, publications, impact
Inter-/intra-programmatic publications
Enumerate
10%
15%
Program Project Grants
1
SPORE Grants
1
H-index/Node Factor/Other
To be determined
Members with peer-reviewed funding
70-75%
Ideas delivered to phase 3 trials
Enumerate
Value added by Program over the sum of
individual investigators
Describe
Program Interactions Promote Team Science
Hematological Malignancies
Cancer Immunology
Cancer Biology
Viral Oncology
Non-Programmatically
Aligned
Cancer Prevention
and Control
Cancer Molecular and
Functional Imaging
Chemical
Therapeutics
Brain Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Upper Aerodigestive
Cancer
2006-2011
263 researchers
2032 collaborations
643 intra-Programmatic
1389 inter-Programmatic
Breast Cancer
GI Cancer
Cancer Research by High Performance Teams
at the SKCCC
• Cancer Center supports multiple collaborative
trans-disciplinary Research Programs
• Collaborative grants rose from 18 to 30 since 2005;
including 6 SPOREs, 7 P01s, 8 U01s, 5 U54s,1
U24, 1 P30, 2 P50s
• Meetings, seminars, retreats
• Many points of interactions between Research
Programs
Team Science Pays Off: Increases in NCI
Funding Despite Declining NCI Budget
NCI Funding Base
• $93.8M in NCI grants
• $59.8M in other NIH
grants
Million
• $203.6M in cancerrelevant grants
$100
$90
$80
$70
$60
$50
$40
$30
$20
$10
$0
$93.8
$75.6
$41.4
2000
2005
2010
Team Science Pays Off
Discoveries that would be
Unthinkable Without the
Diverse Expertise Captured
in High Performance Teams
Digoxin and Prostate
Cancer
-log(EC50)
-log(IC
>20 uM
<5 nM
Evolution to Fully-Integrated Team Science
De Marzo – Nelson – Yegnasubramanian
Laboratory for the Molecular Pathogenesis and
Molecular Pharmacology of Prostate Cancer
Angelo M. De Marzo,
M.D., Ph.D.
William G. Nelson,
M.D., Ph.D.
Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian,
M.D., Ph.D.
Individual Performance is Rewarded by Promotion
and Resource Allocation in an Academic Setting
Example: Use of Publication Metrics by
Academic Promotions Committees*
Total number of publications; number first/last author
Average citations for publications; citations for first/last
author papers
H-index
• Hirsch index: scholar with an index of h has published
h papers each of which has been cited by others at
least h times
Impact factor
• average number of citations received per paper published
in that journal during the two preceding years
MESUR Project
• www.mesur.org
* Lane J. Nature 464: 488-9 (2010)
Why Publish Scientific Papers?
For the field:
• Transparent and open exchange of ideas
• Credit for simultaneous or disputed discoveries
For the publisher:
Sir Isaac Newton
• Since 17th century, most scientific journals published by
scientific societies
• Now: > 2000 publishers
• Reed Elsevier, Springer Science and Business Media, and
John Wiley & Sons have 42% of publishing market
• Shrinking university library budgets: books, monographs,
journals, electronic resources
For you (the author/investigator):
Gottfried W. Leibniz
• Communicate your observations and results
• Metric for career advancement/promotion
• Factor in peer-reviewed funding decisions
The Scholarly Paper
What are scholarly publications?
• Contains original research results
(a report or an article)
• Reviews existing research findings
(a review or perspective)
What is the value added by the journal or book?
Peabody Library
• Peer review: quality and priority for publication
(process which varies greatly journal to
journal, publisher to publisher, and
field to field)
• Safeguard against plagiarism
• Editing
How is academic publishing changing?
• Movement from print to electronic format
• Changes in business models for publishers
• Open access or open access
with self-archiving
Great Achievements in Prostate Cancer Treatment
Charles B. Huggins
1966 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine
“for his discoveries
concerning hormonal
treatment of prostatic
cancer”
Patrick C. Walsh Malcom A. Bagshaw
1996 Charles F. Kettering Prize
“for outstanding contributions
to the treatment of cancer”
awarded by the General
Motors Cancer Research
Foundation
Huggins C and Hodges CV. Cancer Res 1: 293-7 (1941);
Walsh PC, Lepor H, and Eggleston JC. Prostate 4: 473-85 (1983);
Bagshaw MA, Kaplan HS, and Sagerman RH. Radiology 85: 121-9 (1965)
Plagiarism and Fraud: Increased Risk with
Collaborative Teams?
Study of plagiarism*
•
•
•
•
•
212 pairs of articles with signs of plagiarism
Average text similarity in original article versus duplicate was 86.2%
Average number of shared references was 73.1%
Only 22.2% of the duplicates cited the original article
71.4% of the manuscript pairs shared at least one
highly similar or identical table or figure
• 42% also contained incorrect calculations, data inconsistencies,
and reproduced or manipulated photographs
Plagiarism detection/prevention tools
• eTBlast , Turnitin, iParadigm, CrossCheck,
EVE2, OrCheck, CopyCheck,
and WordCHECK
* Long TC et al. Science 323: 1293-4 (2009)
Sun Z et al. PLoS One 5: e12704 (2010)
MC Escher
Collaboration and Team Science
Concluding Thoughts
• Major health problems such as cancer
require urgent solutions
• SKCCC/Johns Hopkins has highlyskilled faculty members across many
fields
• High performance reams can be
constructed with clear rules of behavior,
identified tasks/goals, transparent data,
facilitated interactions, and managed
recognition and reward
• Major barriers to team science arise
from multiple accumulated incentives
constructed to support individual
researchers
PANEL DISCUSSION
• Angelo De Marzo, M.D., Ph.D.
• Ted DeWeese, M.D.
• Bill Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
• Vasan Yegnasubramanian, M.D., Ph.D.
• Sheila Garrity, J.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. - moderator