The National Academies held the Workshop on Key Challenges in the Implementation of Convergence from September 16–17 in Washington, D.C.
Left to right: Graduate student Lindsey Sharpe, Professor Nicholas Peppas, graduate student Stephanie Steichen, and alumna and current MIT graduate student Kelly Moynihan (B.S. '09).
The National Academies held the Workshop on Key Challenges in the Implementation of Convergence from September 16–17 in Washington, D.C.
The conference brought together researchers and thought leaders to discuss challenges and strategies for convergence. Convergence of the life sciences with fields including physical, chemical, mathematical, computational, engineering, and social sciences is a key strategy to tackle complex challenges and achieve new and innovative solutions.
A select few biomedical engineering graduate students were invited to attend the workshop, including The University of Texas at Austin's Lindsey Sharpe and Stephanie Steichen, both from Nicholas Peppas' lab, as well as alumna Kelly Moynihan, B.S. '12, who is currently a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developing novel vaccine platforms for cancer immunotherapy.
"Science that is truly revolutionary happens at the edges of disciplines, where two fields converge," said Moynihan, whose research is on the boundary of materials science and immunology. She believes that convergent areas of study like hers have the potential to be transformative.
The goal of the workshop was to facilitate understanding of how convergence in biomedical research can be fostered effectively through institutional and programmatic structures and policies, education and training programs, and funding mechanisms. Participants were encouraged to realize the untapped potential from the merger of multiple disciplines to address key challenges that require such close collaborations.
"It was a really incredible experience to observe and occasionally participate in a conversation among so many leaders from academia, industry and funding agencies with unique perspectives and experiences regarding convergent research," Sharpe said.
The workshop consisted of a variety of speakers. Faculty spoke about teaching multidisciplinary courses and program creators explained how they've implemented convergence into their different institutions.
Participants were invited to afternoon break out sessions where they worked in small groups discussing how to overcome barriers in order to implement convergence in their own labs.
"As scientists and engineers we speak differently to each other than we would to a mathematician, clinician, chemist, or biologist. That can be a barrier between two people," Steichen said.
Some of the barriers discussed were communication across disciplines and the institutional structures or incentives that may inadvertently discourage convergence.
"What struck me during the workshop was the number of extremely influential scientists who are deeply committed to overcoming these difficulties to push the boundaries of knowledge forward," Moynihan said.
Gradate students too were encouraged to come up with ideas that they can implement. Some ideas included speaking to faculty about convergence opportunities that they see as students, hosting university-wide seminars, creating interdisciplinary journal clubs, and switching mind sets to focus on what they can do, rather than what they cannot do.
