Team science – it takes a community
Walking into the 3rd Dining with Dinosaurs talk, "Team science - it takes a community", led by Professor Mark Coles, leader of the Cellular Life theme at Reuben College, I felt a mix of curiosity and anticipation. On one hand, I'm always eager to learn about advances in cellular medicine. On the other, the term "Team Science" seemed intriguingly broad. I couldn’t help but wonder what the deep insights were waiting to be unearthed.
The seminar's line-up included five impressive talks by Cellular Life Fellows, each shedding light on a different facet of cellular medicine, ranging from vaccine and drug development, to single-cell biology, and to the detection and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s). It is hard to capture the diversity and landscape of each individual talks in a single blog post (the recording here would do a better job than this), but beneath the diverse topics lay a cohesive theme: tackling grand health challenges is not a solo endeavour.
Mark kicked off the seminar by sharing his great grandfather’s intriguing story as a chemist in pharmaceuticals in the 18th century, who sold cocaine toothache drops, snake oil, asthma cigarettes, and morphine-based soothing syrup for children – something unimaginable today. Certainly the earlier days are long gone, and drug development methodologies have improved dramatically over the last century, but it remains an extremely difficult challenge, if not increasingly complex. This needs massive teams of people to cover all aspects of research and development, akin to the robust engineering behind modern aircrafts with tens of thousands of intricate components that must work harmoniously for the flight to take off (and return, safely).
Professor Mark Coles compares team science to the engineering behind modern aircrafts
Professor Teresa Lambe, a principal investigator at the multi-disciplinary Oxford Vaccine Group behind the world-changing Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, captured the audience with her insights into the changing dynamics of scientific collaborations since the pandemic. Drawing parallels with my own experience as an epidemiologist, I recalled the whirlwind of information during those early pandemic days. As Teresa highlighted, it wasn't isolated efforts, but a global orchestra of teams, sharing data and expertise openly, that made progress possible. Yet, she astutely pointed out a disparity in academia: a system that often spotlights individuals, overshadowing the collective effort behind most major achievements. Her call to action was clear: We must pivot towards a "Team Science" future, granting recognition to contributors at all levels.
Then Dr Calliope Dendrou, Prof Anjan Thakurta, and Associate Professor Chrystalina Antoniades, each shared their team’s extensive work in their respective fields, namely single-cell biology, drug development, and neurodegenerative diseases, respectively. As someone with virtually no wet lab experience, I cannot pretend to understand everything from the talks, but they opened up my horizon about the landscape and complexity of the research behind major scientific questions, which could not be answered without extensive collaboration across disciplines. Throughout the talks, I was reminded of a complex puzzle. No piece, however minor, is expendable. Every phase and aspect of research demand a unique expertise, stressing once again that a single discipline, let alone a single scientist, cannot navigate these vast waters alone.
One of my takeaway from the seminar is: in the grand theatre of scientific discovery, every role, however small, deserves its moment in the spotlight.
