Dr. Obumneke Amadi-Onuoha reflects on clinical and translational science (CTS). CTS is evolving rapidly due to new data sources like artificial intelligence and patient health information. CTS accelerates research from early discovery to application through programs like CTSA. CTS promotes collaboration across disciplines to solve problems. However, the author questions how secure patient data is when using big data tools. Effective CTS requires strong integration through communication to execute research regardless of team members' locations or resources. Issues like lack of self-reflection in teams can negatively impact collaboration. Maintaining diversity and shared vision in research teams is an ongoing challenge.

1. Dr. Obumneke Amadi-Onuoha_Scripts
Implication of CTS Structure
9/17/19
My Thoughts, Questions, Concerns, And Attitudes About Clinical and Translational
Science
In reverence to my thoughts and the attitudes about clinical and translational science(CTS), I
perceive CTS as a ubiquitous process in all manner of research that is evolving strongly and
uniquely within researchers because of the urge to uncover innovation regarding a problem of
interest, the reason being the sudden surge of different advanced sources of data mining and
scientific measures to obtain health and clinical information about the object or subject(patient,
diseases) of interest e.g. artificial intelligence, patient health information(PHIs), genetics and
genomics and many others. CTSA have accelerated translation of research from bench to bedside
to community and are training a new category of researchers under the translational research
covering (Nagarajan, Kalinka, & Hogan, 2013). CTR, introduced an exceptional communication
interface through the platform of team collaboration comprising of researchers from a continuum
of disciplinary integration, researchers combine intelligence, skills, ideas, from their diverse
disciplines to tackle a problem of study from different perspective to arrive at an acceptable
solution and answer. It also, have improved the manner principal investigators plan, monitor,
evaluate and report their studies, while undermining any form of study bias and providing a
reliable and valid results. The concerns I have in CTR practice is the trusted use informatics
tools to collect patient’s data, and my question is how secured and protected are PHIs in big
data’s’ and artificial intelligence informatics data mining tools from their users during research
processes.
Individuals / Professional Field Engagement In CTS
Every researcher have some specific areas of interest in research they want to pursue as a
professional, they put into consideration their research goals, and priorities based on the category
of research they are aligned with for their project, e.g. intervention research, translational
research, and others. Both as an individual or as a team, engagement in research depends and is
planned based on e.g. the type of data, measure and assessment (clinical & nonclinical) required
for the topic of interest and site of project. In terms of collaboration, the determine strategies
such as developing committees, using formal and informal group facilitation, development of
research agreements (clearly outline researchers and partner roles & responsibilities) and others
(Salsberg,2015). Outside research collaboration, CTS professional engage through CTS
professional associations, trainings and other science and medical seminar to share and learn new
discoveries in the field.
Needs to Be Addressed
CTS operates on the platform of the science of team science that incorporates collaborative effort
to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of transdisciplinary,

2. interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary professionals trained in different fields, that demands strong
integration of collaboration through different forms of communication, to plan and execute
research goals regardless the reach of team members, project site, time, and resources. The issue
of self-reflection - level of consciousness, exploring other team members strength in CTS plat
form and operations, I believe are strongly overlooked, as such can negatively impact the
functions of research teams’ efforts (Bennett, Gadline, and Marchand, pp.17- 24).
Enduring Foreseeable Problems
Based on my knowledge of CTS team engagement, obtaining a balance in diversity and shared
vision among researchers is a problem that may continue in trying to maintain productive
functioning research team and effective collaboration effort.
Reference
Bennett, L.M., Gadlin H., Marchand, C. (2018) Collaboration & Team Science: A Field Guide,
Washington: The National Institutes of Health.
Nagarajan, R., Kalinka, A. T., & Hogan, W. R. (2013). Evidence of community structure in
biomedical research grant collaborations. Journal of biomedical informatics, 46(1), 40-
46.
Salsberg, J., Parry, D., Pluye, P., Macridis, S., Herbert, C. P., & Macaulay, A. C. (2015).
Successful strategies to engage research partners for translating evidence into action in
community health: a critical review. Journal of environmental and public health, 2015,
191856. doi:10.1155/2015/191856