Complexities of COVID-19 Demonstrate the Need for More Interdisciplinary Research Training in Graduate School

Since the pandemic began, the body of evidence on COVID-19 has grown exponentially; as of March 2021, approximately 1 year after the initial lockdown measures began, PubMed had cataloged more than 116 000 articles using the term “COVID-19.” Although many of these articles are likely well-intentioned, we see a stark divide between articles that identify what is happening and articles that describe why. As graduate students, we are troubled to see that many of these publications fall within strict disciplinary boundaries. Interdisciplinary research—collaborations between 2 or more disciplines—has been largely ignored at a time when it is needed most. We believe that a stronger emphasis on interdisciplinary research and training is necessary to improve our scholarly approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic and advance the future of public health.

Interdisciplinary Research

Health-focused interdisciplinary research brings together work from multiple disciplines (eg, epidemiology, demography, sociology, psychology, geography) to better understand the multifaceted determinants of health. Taking an interdisciplinary approach allows for a nuanced understanding of health inequities within and across various populations, including how disease trajectories may manifest in different groups based on intersecting systems of power and oppression (eg, structural racism, capitalism, ableism, heterosexism). Evidence derived from only 1 discipline risks excluding theories and methods that may help better investigate and interpret complex scientific questions and findings. ¹  For example, fully understanding the racial disparities associated with COVID-19 requires cognizance of macro-level social structures and hierarchies and must be informed by work in multiple disciplines, such as sociological research on institutional discrimination ² or the “weathering” hypothesis ³ that provides a framework to understand how chronic exposure to social and economic disadvantage leads to accelerated decline in physical health among racial/ethnic minority groups. Yet some monodisciplinary work threatens to abdicate social, economic, and political responsibility for health disparities and instead locates the root cause at the individual level. ⁴

We can see disciplinary boundaries reflected in COVID-19 mitigation strategies. In early 2020, rhetoric on wearing face masks and social distancing focused on an individualistic approach, which is common to the biomedical field. Although individual interventions are still promoted, they fail to address an individual’s environment—where they live, work, and learn—which requires structural-level change (a perspective common to health policy and sociology). Discussion about school reopening also illuminates the importance of using interdisciplinary work to ground strategic decisions in discourse between researchers and practitioners of life and social sciences. For example, although current epidemiologic evidence might suggest the need to continue to avoid in-person schooling for adolescents, ⁵ socioeconomic perspectives would have us consider the potential long-term adverse effects of virtual education, especially for low-income school districts. ⁶ Interdisciplinary collaborations among epidemiologists, educators, child psychologists, and professionals in numerous other fields could have generated comprehensive recommendations in the best interest of students’ immediate and long-term health and well-being.

Graduate Training

To address the multidimensional aspects of COVID-19 and future public health concerns, we call on schools and programs of public health to promote interdisciplinary research and enhance training efforts in this scholarly approach. As graduate students, we believe that graduate school offers a unique opportunity for this training. For example, graduate school is often when students are first exposed to major theoretical frameworks and methodologies that guide future research questions and approaches. Initiating interdisciplinary training early in public health education may help graduate students become organically receptive to interdisciplinary approaches in their scientific work. Moreover, graduate school provides innate networking opportunities with both faculty and other graduate students (by taking classes, participating in research groups, and getting involved in graduate student organizations), increasing opportunity for exposure to other disciplines and interdisciplinary collaborations. These opportunities may not be as readily available to early-career investigators, because much of their time is spent establishing their research agenda—further highlighting the importance of this training at the graduate level. We acknowledge that interdisciplinary training will vary by institution based on capacity and willingness to invest in this area. Still, given that the pandemic has amplified the need for this work, we challenge every university dean, department chair, and research mentor to assess whether they are doing enough to foster an environment that is receptive to interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

Schools and programs of public health can facilitate interdisciplinary training through several mechanisms. Based on our graduate experience, interdisciplinary research groups, such as the University of South Carolina’s Consortium on Health, Inequalities, and Populations, can convene researchers from disciplines as varied as health promotion, health policy and management, sociology, African American studies, women’s and gender studies, and social work. Researchers could also organize groups focused on a particular topic (eg, the Carolina Center on Alzheimer’s Disease and Minority Research and the University of South Carolina’s Rural and Minority Health Research Center), and these groups could invite researchers who use different theoretical backgrounds and methodologies to study the same subject and offer their perspectives. In addition, many universities have competitive internal mechanisms to provide graduate students with funding to complete thesis or dissertation research; special requests for proposals could encourage students to incorporate interdisciplinary approaches into their graduate research. At the department level, policies could require that students take at least 1 course in a different department or that thesis and dissertation committees include at least 1 member from outside the student’s home department. A multiple-mentor model, in which a team of mentors supports trainees’ research and professional development, could also facilitate knowledge and interdisciplinary skills. ⁷ These and other recommendations are among the few that schools and programs of public health might consider. Additional opportunities are highlighted in a 2015 report on training in interdisciplinary health science from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. ⁷

Many questions about the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic will arise in the coming years, and unraveling the direct and indirect effects on our society will be a daunting task for public health researchers. Interdisciplinary teams of researchers that include, but are not limited to, epidemiologists, demographers, sociologists, psychologists, and geographers will be needed as we recover from the damage of COVID-19 and begin to understand its impact. Schools and programs of public health are in a unique position to ensure the success of these endeavors by providing interdisciplinary training to their graduate students. We wholly believe that the integrity of research and the advancement of science in an ever-evolving world demands greater investment in and implementation of interdisciplinary research.