摘要：Enhancing effective preventive interventions to address contemporary public health problems requires improved capacity for applied public health research. A particular need has been recognized for capacity development in population health intervention research to address the complex multidisciplinary challenges of developing, implementing, and evaluating public health practices, intervention programs, and policies. Research training programs need to adapt to these new realities. We have presented an example of a 2003 to 2015 training program in transdisciplinary research on public health interventions that embedded doctoral and postdoctoral trainees in public health organizations in Quebec, Canada. This university–public health partnership for research training is an example of how to link science and practice to meet emerging needs in public health. Effective public health systems require highly trained and competent professionals, a constantly updated knowledge base, and interventions adapted to contemporary challenges. 1–3 Transdisciplinary approaches, cross-sectoral partnerships, and consideration of context and complexity are key to intervention design, implementation, and evaluation. 4–6 Research capacity is needed at the intersection of science, policy, and practice in public health, 1,7,8 as exemplified by the growing movement of academic health departments in the United States that aims to improve links between academia and public health practice. 9–11 Population health intervention research has been defined as the use of scientific methods to develop knowledge about program or policy interventions operating within or outside the health sector that have the potential to affect the distribution of risk factors or health determinants in a population. 12 Highly trained public health researchers are needed who are able to study the upstream determinants of health and the complex pathways through which various determinants influence population health. 2,8,13,14 Training must prepare future researchers to work in multidisciplinary settings and teams and to communicate effectively with stakeholders from different sectors of society. 3,5,6,13,15–18 We developed a novel transdisciplinary research training program through sustained university–public health partnerships. The 13-year program aimed to shift the center of gravity of training from universities to formal public health organizations (PHOs) used as research training laboratories.
