Advancing Cross-Institutional Team Science: CCTST CaTs and University of Kentucky CCTS Collaborative Summit

The CCTST Collaboration and Team Science (CaTS) team partnered with the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) for a two-day summit designed to advance cross-institutional collaboration.

CCTST CaTS Team with UK Collaborators

This event was inspired by UK’s initial visit to the CCTST, during which they provided a team charter workshop for our K scholars. Following that visit, they met with our CaTS team and invited them to deliver two workshops at UK: one focused on psychological safety and team wellness for their K and T scholars, and another on the CaTS consultation process for their executive team.

Day 1 Highlights

CaTS arrived on Thursday for a welcome lunch and orientation, followed by an interactive workshop, “Promoting a Positive Culture in Teams”, presented by Dr. Jennifer Molano and Angela Mendell. Approximately 15 of UK’s K and T scholars were in attendance. This session introduced team science principles, defined psychological safety, and offered practical strategies to create healthy, collaborative environments. Participants engaged in prompted group discussions to explore approaches for supporting team wellness and well-being.

Scholar feedback following the workshop was overwhelmingly positive, with 46% of scholars rating the workshop’s quality as “excellent” and 31% of scholars rating it as “above average.”

Day 2 Highlights

Friday featured, “CaTS Tales – Team Science Consultation in Practice", led by Dr. Jack Kues and Dr. Jennifer Molano. The session included all members of UK’s Team Science core, along with several others from their CCTS and campus leadership. This workshop explained our CaTS consultation process, addressed common challenges, and emphasized the collaborative nature of the work. The presentation was followed by a robust discussion regarding UK’s strengths and areas for growth.

The summit concluded with a qualitative survey and planning session facilitated by UK’s CCTS Tracking and Evaluation Core, identifying key takeaways and future opportunities for partnership. Both institutions underscored the desire to continue learning from one another.

Looking Ahead

Future collaborations are already in motion, including a newly submitted ACTS abstract highlighting the outcomes and lessons learned from this summit.