NUTORC – The Implementing of a Transdisciplinary Scientific Collaboration to Advance Transplantation Outcomes Research

Research in transplantation has traditionally been performed by clinicians using single center data or national registry data centered around graft- and patient survival. The Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC) was created in June 2008 to broaden the scope of transplant research. By building upon the existing clinical strengths of a large multi-organ transplant program and the expertise across the university, a collaborative initiative focused on health services outcomes research in transplantation was implemented. Cooperative research groups (workgroups) were formed around identified key clinical questions related to all aspects of organ transplantation. Following the model of transdisciplinary scientific research teams, collaborations were established between the Division of Transplantation, centers and departments within the medical school, and additional schools within the university. To establish multi-lateral commitment to the collaboration, several faculty members were hired jointly by transplantation and collaborating departments and schools. NUTORC currently includes over 40 faculty members, 5 non-physician transplant clinical staff members, and 8 research support staff members. 1) Collaboration: Within 30 months, NUTORC successfully developed multi-departmental collaborations within the school of medicine focusing on safety, quality of life, and informatics and with the school of engineering and the school of management, focusing on risk assessment, economy, and access and allocation to transplantation. Collaborators include transplant clinicians and experts in industrial engineering, bioethics, epidemiology, health policy, psychology, business, management, and biostatistics. Presently NUTORC includes seven workgroups with the following topical areas: safety, risk and economics, access and allocation, quality of life, health literacy, disparity, and health informatics. 2) Organizational Structure: Each NUTORC workgroup is comprised of: transplant clinicians (determining needed information); health services and outcomes researchers (framing need in outcomes context); and experts with specific expertise (formulating experimental design). Weekly NUTORC meetings are held to solicit feedback and to ensure cross-fertilization among workgroups. 3) Funding: NUTORC received over $4 million through 6 intramural (4 under review), 2 foundation/pharmaceutical (5 under review), and 4 NIH/NSF grants (7 under review). 4) Dissemination: 76 oral and poster presentations at national conferences, and 23 published manuscripts. Through transdisciplinary collaboration, NUTORC has brought together multi-disciplinary expertise to address outcomes research questions significant to advancing organ transplantation research. NUTORC has expanded the horizon of transplant outcomes research, yielding high impact, innovative research results. NUTORC is an example of successfully leveraging a transdisciplinary collaboration to improve the delivery of care and guide clinical policies.