Mayo Foundation Chapter of Sigma Xi Public Lecture
Speaker Ashok Patel, MD, is a Consultant in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo
where he has practiced since 1995. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine and is board
certified in pulmonary medicine. In addition to maintaining a busy practice caring for patients and
training health professionals, Dr. Patel serves on several task forces and travels to remote places, such
as Kenya, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Ethiopia, to promote pulmonary care and lung health.
In addition, Dr. Patel is passionate about promoting team science in its broadest sense, connecting
emerging concepts to complex adaptive blended learning and increased
community engagement by all. He has received the Zumbro Valley Medical Society Community
Service Award, the Zumbro Valley Medical Society Leadership Award and the Rochester Mayor’s
Medal of Honor Award for Diversity.
What do disaster responders, Rotarians, care providers working in austere environments have in
common? They all have specially trained teams and support personnel. Effective teamwork-as
a complex adaptive learning an essential aspect of many successful service organizations,
athletic performances, and academic programs. This lecture explores several types of team structures
and dynamics from various facets of regional health, education, and environmental concerns to
highlight common core requirements for safe and effective performance. With the addition of
social media and digital infrastructure for enriched telecommunication, this talk will conclude
by surveying some of the key challenges for building effective partnerships to achieve the United
Nations’ sustainable development goals by 2030. Through specific examples, attendees will gain
insights into building trust through mutual support, coevolving a shared vision, synergistically using
diverse talent(s), and clearly communicating compelling messages based on core global humanitarian
standards through simulation, team safety, and phases of collaboration.