Advancing Transdisciplinary Translation for Prevention of High-Risk Behaviors

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Scientific Meetings to Advance Transdisciplinary Translation for Prevention of High-Risk Behaviors Several cross-cutting, forward-thinking investigators on the leading edge of both the social (geospatial mapping, contextual behavioral science, developmental psychology, education, social media) and basic sciences (genetic epidemiology, epigenetics, neuroscience, chemistry) have recently made notable advances in identifying factors that influence emergence of high-risk behaviors. This information has potentially significant implications for the prevention of high-risk behaviors, given that etiological social and neurobiological risk factors may also operate as moderators and/or mediators of intervention outcomes. Transfer and application of this knowledge from the basic to the prevention sciences and back again is, however, lacking. This transfer is particularly needed to understand differences in individual response to interventions to prevent high-risk behaviors and develop new interventions tailored for an individual's risk factors. We propose to use the R13 mechanism to hold two round-table meetings that convene a core of 60 relevant experts and advisors to connect the dots across the translational spectrum by identifying pressing scientific questions in risk behavior prevention research, as well as the collaborations and capabilities needed to address them. These meetings are designed to facilitate the relevance, operational feasibility, and utility of a transdisciplinary translational program of research to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying individual differences in intervention responsivity. Meetings will promote a cross-disciplinary integration of theoretical perspectives and empirical methods to: a) identify high priority scientific questions yet to be addressed in the prevention sciences that may be informed by a new generation of research suggesting that neurogenetic mechanisms correlate and interact with environmental conditions to promote or interfere with behavioral change in response to interventions; b) conceive of novel psychosocial and technological preventive intervention approaches and policy developments that incorporate transdisciplinary scientific findings, c) discuss an educational agenda for early career researchers to move into translational prevention; d) identify potentialities for new collaborations that will facilitate the advancement of a Translational Network for prevention research, e) conduct a survey of participants for their perceptions before and after the conferences regarding team science, needs for translational competencies, and market analysis; f) address ethical issues arising from inclusion of genetic and neurobiological markers of risk for behavioral problems, g) publish an open-access monograph of the proceedings; h) publish two special journal editions authored by a subset of attendees who will reanalyze their clinical trials datasets using state-of-the-art statistical techniques to elucidate mechanistic effects of their interventions, and report progress and preliminary findings from new collaborations forged during the meetings.