Goal #1: Advance clinical and translational science

Team chartering workshops can launch research teams toward success, but science facilitators often struggle to balance the amount of structure, content, and freedom they provide to teams in chartering workshops. Researchers at MICHR propose that design thinking can guide the content and structure of team workshops by encouraging facilitators to involve everyone in iteratively designing solutions that meet audience needs. The group piloted a team chartering workshop based on design thinking called a Strategy Jam, a new workshop model that aims to convert a team’s knowledge of audience needs into actionable purposes, principles, projects, plans, performance indicators, and priorities.&nbsp;Strategy Jams were tested with five hybrid research/research support teams. The study tracked chartering outcomes and the factors that led to them using a mixed-methods, explanatory, longitudinal study design.&nbsp;This work was recently published in the Frontiers in Psychology research report article, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frontiersin.org%2Fjournals%2Fpsychology%2Farticles%2F10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2026.1746557%2Ffull&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cegf%40med.umich.edu%7C3885723d522047b767b908deec12cd83%7C1f41d613d3a14ead918d2a25b10de330%7C0%7C0%7C639207762671415142%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=w25fIw7NFIF%2FkbYqaU0uHAeqb5UO38zbueK%2BDU0V%2BB4%3D&amp;reserved=0" title="Original URL:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1746557/full

Click to follow link.">Strategy Jams: using design thinking to charter teams with compelling purpose and sound structure</a>.

Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research

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University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Researchers at the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) piloted a team chartering workshop based on design thinking called a Strategy Jam, a new workshop model that aims to convert a team’s knowledge of audience needs into actionable purposes, principles, projects, plans, performance indicators, and priorities. 

Strategy Jams: Using Design Thinking to Charter Teams with Compelling Purpose and Sound Structure

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Uzma Rani, M.D., M.P.H. is a University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) K12 scholar and has a passion for addressing the real-life barriers that impact obesity care for children and adolescents. She plans to do this by discovering the facilitators that can help make the necessary care happen. Rani has seen how childhood obesity is shaped by factors outside of the child's control, and how families want to help their children thrive, but often face systemic barriers. With this knowledge, Rani wanted to do more.Limitations of a standardized approach to pediatric obesity careThe current treatment plan for children and adolescents with obesity is a one-size-fits-all solution that is used for every patient, regardless of additional factors. This template solution begins with family-based interventions that focus on making dietary changes and increasing regular physical activity, as well as team-based approaches that involve healthcare providers, community partners, and intensive behavior therapy. Despite this regimented plan, it fails to address each child as an individual, and the unique barriers at the individual, community, household, healthcare provider, and system levels for each child and family. Rani’s research specifically focuses on discovering the barriers that impact urban and rural children and adolescents with obesity differently.In the United States, 1 in 5 children and adolescents has obesity. Of those, slightly more are from rural populations, compared to urban areas, with obesity affecting 37.6% of rural children and adolescents, and 32.1% of those in urban areas. Long-term, obesity can have severe negative impacts on these children, resulting in type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and severe joint pain.The factors children can’t control“Childhood obesity is deeply shaped by factors that children cannot control,” Rani shared. This can include factors such as their location, community infrastructure, family history, stigma, and access to support, among others. Rani is investigating the most effective way to take all those factors into consideration and find the most effective way to implement published, evidence-based childhood obesity guidelines to positively impact children and adolescents with obesity. Rani is working to create a care plan that will address the barriers that exist at every level of the child's care, including at the individual, household, organizational, community, and systemic levels.Rani’s ICTS K12 project is researching how to create a care plan that assesses not only the patient and their needs, but the community and family members surrounding them. “By gathering perspectives from clinic leaders, healthcare providers, parents, adolescents, and community organizations, I aim to develop sustainable, context-sensitive implementation strategies that improve access to evidence-based, family-centered obesity care,” Rani shared. This work brings together multiple voices from the child’s ecosystem to influence the best solution.Building toward lasting changeRani hopes that this work will make pediatric obesity care “accessible, culturally relevant, and feasible across all Iowa communities,” said Rani. This project will ideally support improved reach of evidence-based obesity interventions, better alignment between care recommendations and real-life family circumstances, strong clinic &amp; community partnerships, and reduced differences in outcomes between rural and urban populations.“Ultimately, it lays the groundwork for sustainable, statewide implementation strategies that improve long-term child health.”Rani is passionate about bringing her updated methods to the doctor's office and helping children and adolescents with obesity. “I am passionate about this work because implementing effective, compassionate obesity care requires going beyond individual behavior change. It requires understanding context, partnering with families, and building systems that truly support health. This aligns with my commitment to community-engaged research,” said Rani. She hopes that these changes can bring meaningful impacts to children and families facing obesity.

University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science

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University of Iowa

Uzma Rani, M.D., M.P.H., is generating a new model for obesity care in children and adolescents, moving away from the one-size-fits-all solutions and into a method that provides solutions to the barriers each individual child faces.

Care that Fits the Child: A New Approach to Pediatric Obesity Care

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Goal #4: Improve clinical research

Navigating the growing landscape of clinical, research, genomic and population health data is a challenge investigators face today. Researchers may know the questions they want to answer, but identifying the right data sources and understanding governance requirements can create delays. A new publication in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science highlights how The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is addressing these challenges through its innovative Data Navigation Program and introduces a scalable framework that could benefit institutions across the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium.The paper, “A Data Navigation Model to Improve Access to Research Data Resources in Clinical and Translational Science,”&nbsp;written by authors Neena Thomas, Ayse Odabas, Soledad Fernandez, Lang Li and Julie A. Johnson,&nbsp;describes Ohio State’s novel approach to supporting researchers through a dedicated Data Navigator who serves as a centralized entry point for data-related inquiries. The Data Navigator helps clarify research needs, connect researchers with the right experts and guide them through institutional and regulatory requirements. By serving as a bridge between researchers and data experts, the Data Navigator helps move projects more quickly from idea to discovery.The publication also demonstrates strong demand for this type of support and how it informed the development of a self-service decision-support tool. In its first 16 months, the Data Navigator provided approximately 75 consultations across a wide range of research questions and data resources. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ctsi.osu.edu/data-and-ai/data-navigator">The Research Data Source Match Tool</a> was then developed to scale up the reach of the data navigator and help researchers identify appropriate data sources and understand associated governance requirements independently.By combining personalized consultation, a self-service Research Data Source Match tool and institutional expertise and technology-enabled guidance, Ohio State’s Data Navigation Program offers a first-of-its-kind model for reducing barriers to research, improving access to complex data resources and accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries into improved health outcomes.

Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute

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Ohio State University

A new publication in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science titled, “A Data Navigation Model to Improve Access to Research Data Resources in Clinical and Translational Science,” describes Ohio State’s novel approach to supporting researchers through a dedicated Data Navigator who serves as a centralized entry point for data-related inquiries.

New Publication Highlights Ohio State's Innovative Data Navigation Model

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Strategy Jams: Using Design Thinking to Charter Teams with Compelling Purpose and Sound Structure

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