Though it is difficult to predict the future, it is safe to say that collaborative, cross-disciplinary approaches to complex societal problems are here to stay. This is evidenced by team science, a collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach that has accomplished biomedical breakthroughs once considered impossible. Making the most of the opportunities that team science has to offer may seem fraught with the challenges of adapting from a solo-investigator culture to one of collaboration; however, new advances become possible through this methodology.

I traveled to my first Harvard Macy Institute leadership course in 2004 as a pathology course director from the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine (JCESOM), a small, community-based medical school located in the heart of rural Appalachia. It was at this time that my life pivoted, redirecting to a mindset that saw opportunities instead of obstacles and dreams bigger than myself.