Background
Collaborative, interdisciplinary research is essential for addressing complex public health challenges, and many low‑ and middle‑income country settings lack structured opportunities for learning how to establish, lead, and sustain effective collaborative research teams to improve capacity and productivity. The “Team Science Champions” pilot 2-year program in Ethiopia was designed to determine whether a cohort‑based, “train‑the‑trainer” model could expand locally led team‑science capacity, beginning with three host institutions as a collaboration between the US and Ethiopia. Program design moved participants from fundamentals, to collaborative facilitation, to content delivery, exercise design, and deliberate debriefs.

Methods
A mixed‑methods evaluation of the first year of the Team Science Champions program was conducted. The program started with a cohort of eleven volunteer participants from three Ethiopian training and research institutions: Addis Ababa University (AAU), the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), and the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI), which collaborate with Emory University on an NIH-supported D43 Global Infectious Disease research training grant. Quantitative data included pre‑, post‑program, and end-of-year conference surveys that assessed attitudes, confidence, and self‑reported team‑science mindset and behaviors. Qualitative data from semi‑structured interviews, written reflections, and observations during monthly sessions, and the three‑day in‑person end‑of‑year conference were analyzed descriptively and thematically to examine individual‑, team‑, and institutional-level change.

Results
Seven members of the Champions cohort (64%) remained engaged throughout year one, participating in over 70% of workshops and attending the 3-day end-of-year in-person conference (January – December 2025). Four members faced scheduling conflicts that interfered with continued engagement. Participants reported increased confidence in a variety of collaborative skills including active listening, building trust, facilitation, giving and receiving feedback, and addressing conflict. Qualitative analysis illuminated a mindset shift from viewing the program as an individual professional development opportunity to a cohesive team able to provide institutional and national Team Science leadership. Over the course of the first year, the Champions formed a cohesive, psychologically safe team with high trust. Organizational leaders at all three Ethiopian institutions expressed interest and enthusiasm in engaging the Champions in Year Two of the program as they embark on new initiatives to launch and fund interdisciplinary research teams to catalyze greater research impact.

Conclusions
Our pilot findings suggest that a cohort‑based, train‑the‑trainer model for team‑science skills is feasible in an Ethiopian research context. The program design effectively helped participants shift their individual and team mindsets and practices to align with fundamental collaborative principles. The findings provide a basis for follow‑up in year two, as Champions start training others, working with emerging research teams, and committing to promote collaboration at the institutional level across their organizations. Success and challenges provide continuing insights valuable for adapting and scaling similar programs in other LMIC settings.