In January of 2020, the inaugural Northern Leadership for Innovative Team Science (NLITeS) cohort completed their year-long program. Presentations on team science projects and a celebratory reception marked the occasion.
The program was modeled after the LITeS program at the University of Colorado and initiated at the University of Minnesota by CTSI, in partnership with the Vice President for Clinical Affairs, to develop team science leadership at the institution and address real clinical or translational problems identified by University of Minnesota school leadership.
“We are very proud of the enthusiasm, openness and hard work put in by all the participants,” said David Ingbar, MD, University of Minnesota Professor of Medicine and Director of NLITeS program and CTSI's Research Education, Training, and Career Development Core (CTSI-Ed). “We very much hope that, through their work, there will be some resulting, substantial steps forward toward solving challenging health problems. The projects are a vehicle for the group to have experiential learning in team activities and distributed leadership.”
Attendees included Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Dean of the Medical School Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Judith Albino, PhD, Director of the University of Colorado LITeS program, and University of Minnesota NLITeS leadership, as well as leadership from across the University’s Health Sciences.
University of Minnesota Health Sciences leadership heard presentations from the inaugural cohort, which was divided into four teams. Topics covered personalized health, patient-oriented health science, rural healthcare, and the roles of academic health scientists. Members of the cohort came from diverse backgrounds within and outside the University, including UMN-Duluth, the School of Public Health, Medical School, the College of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, Hennepin Healthcare, and the VA Medical Center.
Results and future plans
Teams received feedback and questions from the audience to further refine their proposals, which have been shared with team members’ school leadership; plans for a future cohort are currently in progress. To view each team’s presentation and learn more about the program, visit the NLITeS page on CTSI’s website.