CASE Baltimore 2/2011
Moving Academic Medicine Forward: A Conference in Honor of Edward D. Miller
Innovation and Creativity in Scientific Research
June 11, 2012
Lloyd B. Minor, M.D. Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Johns Hopkins University
Studying Innovation and Creativity
Scientific Progress
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
3 Photo credit: B. Pierce/Time Life/Getty
• Puzzle-solving within the current paradigm
• Proposing a new
paradigm
Genetics to Epigenetics
4 Waterland, R.A. and Jirtle, R.L., Transposable Elements: Targets for Early Nutritional Effects on Eipgenetic Gene Regulation, Mol. Cell. Biol. 23(15): 5293-300, August 2003.
Same genes, but the mother of the thin, brown mouse ate a diet rich in B12 and folate while she was pregnant
COMBINATION
5
Innovation as Combination
6
Steep Association Hierarchy Flat Association Hierarchy
Simonton, Dean Keith. Creativity in Science: Chance, Logic, Genius, and Zeitgeist. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Innovation is the recombination of existing knowledge in novel ways.
A Test
Cream, Skate, Water Ice Safety, Cushion, Point Pin Rain, Test, Stomach Acid
7
In 2 seconds… 1/3 1/4 1/100
Combination at Work
8
Enhancing Opportunities for Combination
9
Education Nursing Political Science Sociology Business Economics
Public Health Medicine International
Studies Health Policy Engineering Health
Systems
Social Determinants of Health Initiative
• Create a diverse environment • Support communication across boundaries
CHANCE
10
Innovation as Chance
11 All photos courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.
Discoveries Not in the NIH Funding Plan
12
Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome
“I honestly think a wiser and more focused investigator would have stayed right on that NIH plan.”
Aquaporins
Comparison of Two Sources of Funding
13 Azoulay, P., Zivin, J. S. G., & Manso, G. (2011). Incentives and creativity: Evidence from the academic life sciences. RAND Journal of Economics, 42(3), 527-554.
Effects of HHMI Appointment on Publication Rates
Enhancing Opportunities for Chance
• Time • To fail • To succeed over the long term • To innovate
• Freedom • To experiment • To go where the research leads • To innovate
14
Conclusion
We must create environments that allow for the combination and chance that lead to paradigm shifting science.
15