Transdisciplinary Research

Although not transdisciplinary from the start, through collaborations and interactions, the BCERC investigators recognized the need for and have evolved into a transdisciplinary project.  Transdisciplinary science is defined as work jointly using a shared conceptual framework that draws together discipline-specific theories into a new synthesis of concepts, methods, measures, and approaches to address a common problem. Each of the four BCERC centers, University of Cincinnati, Michigan State, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), have their own epidemiology, animal study, and community outreach and translation core (COTC) that address center-specific hypotheses on pubertal development and breast cancer. Although the individual centers have their own center-specific aims, the BCERC project as a whole also has overarching aims. The epidemiology, biology, and COTC groups of each center team up to form cross-center working groups in their specific project areas. 

The BCERC cross-center Epidemiology, Biology and COTC projects also collaborate across projects, forming transdisciplinary collaborations.