Case study in academic and industry collaboration: the development of an adolescent targeted sun protection intervention in NSW

Abstract Academic and industry collaboration is increasingly identified as a critical element in the future health ofAustralians through linking theory and practice, with the major priority for academic institutions being theidentification of new knowledge and the transfer of this knowledge into changes in policy and health services.Collaborations between academia and industry are increasingly encouraged in Australia by research fundingschemes such as ARCLinkage and, more recently, NHMRC Partnerships. While a recent US study suggeststhat such schemes have a moderate effect on academics’ propensity to work with industry (Bozeman andGaughan, 2007), industry groups have recognised the value of engaging in partnerships with academicinstitutions in joint knowledge production (Lam, 2007). However, it has been suggested that suchcollaborations are problematic as the two groups can have diverging agendas (Mitev and Venters, 2009); anddiffering priorities regarding the dissemination of findings (Welsh et al., 2007).