Catalyzing collaboration through intentional design: the Teaming for Biomedical Digital Twin (Teaming4BDT) conference

Scientific conferences traditionally focus on knowledge dissemination through presentations, panel discussions, and poster sessions, with limited emphasis on active collaboration formation. We describe an ambitious conference design model that intentionally integrated team science principles to spark collaborative conference outcomes. The 2024 IMAG/MSM Teaming for Biomedical Digital Twin (Teaming4BDT) Meeting, was a three-day hybrid conference with over 200 participants that integrated didactics, presentations, and working group sessions focused on the opportunities and challenges of biomedical digital twins (NASEM definition and model) with structured team formation activities. Through dual perspectives—conference design and participant experience—we examine how deliberate design elements facilitated the formation of over 10 interdisciplinary teams and detail the journey of one team from formation through sustained collaboration.