Across universities, agencies and corporate institutions, attention is often drawn to the value of interdisciplinary translational research. For good reason. Interdisciplinary approaches can provide the means by which to accomplish the most impactful and practical of academic, social and commercial advancements. They imply a capitalization on integrative problem-solving, benefiting from the insights of various perspectives and knowledge bases. While motivating and coordinating such collaborations can be challenging, at the core of the argument for interdisciplinary effort is the presumption that individual disciplines bring unique value to the table. Just as interdisciplinary research cannot exist without unique disciplinary contributions, individual disciplines have no hope of advancing their unique contributions without a clear understanding of their identity relative to other disciplines. In other words, they need to know and hold-to their own ‘true North.’
