Keys to a successful cancer research collaboration
Collaboration is critical to cancer research, but it\u2019s not easy. Matt Bochman and Seth Herzon teamed up on a project focused on a particularly dangerous type of DNA damage. They talked about the keys to a successful scientific collaboration and how to overcome some of the common challenges. \n\nTheir collaboration actually started in TheoryLab. That\u2019s the American Cancer Society\u2019s research podcast, but it\u2019s also the name of the American Cancer Society\u2019s online research community for scientists and clinical professionals who have a current or previous relationship with ACS as a grant recipient, mentor, peer reviewer, staff researcher, or adviser.\n\nThis year the American Cancer Society partnered with Emerson Collective to support collaborative research projects between scientists in this online community. TheoryLab Collaborative (TLC) Grants are designed to support new and transdisciplinary collaborations among TheoryLab users to explore high-risk ideas, including Covid-19 research relevant to cancer or persons living with cancer. \n\nSeth Herzon, PhD, is Professor of Chemistry at Yale University and a two-time recipient of American Cancer Society research grants. Matt Bochman, PhD, is Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at Indiana University and is a three-time American Cancer Society grantee.\n\n4:37 \u2013 How Dr. Bochman knew he needed to collaborate with a chemist to pursue his research question\u2026 \n\n5:47 \u2013 \u2026and how he used the American Cancer Society\u2019s online grantee community to connect with Dr. Herzon for the first time\n\n7:33 \u2013 Dr. Herzon on what he initially found interesting in the potential collaboration \n\n10:32 \u2013 Science communication skills that Dr. Bochman leaned on to get the collaboration going\n\n12:45 \u2013 Unexpected benefits that they have seen from the collaboration, such as how it\u2019s encouraged their students and lab members to think more broadly about their work\n\n17:08 \u2013 Advice they\u2019d have for finding a scientific collaborator in an online forum\n\n19:05 \u2013 The challenges of collaborating with scientists who are much more senior \n\n20:42 \u2013 Some of the dos and don\u2019ts of scientific collaboration\n\n24:37 \u2013 On how ACS funding has impacted Dr. Bochman\u2019s research\n\n25:55 \u2013 A message Dr. Herzon would like to share with cancer patients and caregivers.