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Digital Research Methods for Translation Studies

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Digital Research Methods for Translation Studies introduces digital humanities methods and tools to translation studies.

This accessible book covers computer-assisted approaches to data collection, data analysis, and data visualization and presentation, offering authentic examples of these approaches in both translation studies research and projects from related fields. With a diverse range of examples featuring various contexts and language combinations to ensure relevance to a wide readership, this volume covers the strengths and limitations of computer-assisted research methods, as well as the ethical challenges specific to this kind of research.

This is an essential text for advanced undergraduate and graduate translation studies students, as well as researchers looking to adopt new research methods.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter | 6  pages, introduction, chapter 1 | 10  pages, methods, data, and tools, chapter 2 | 14  pages, managing research projects and organizing research data, chapter 3 | 25  pages, open data and freedom of information, chapter 4 | 23  pages, collecting data from and through the internet, chapter 5 | 27  pages, data preparation, chapter 6 | 20  pages, analyzing textual data, chapter 7 | 17  pages, analyzing multimodal and non-text data, chapter 8 | 17  pages, analyzing structured datasets, chapter 9 | 22  pages, quantitative visualizations, chapter 10 | 24  pages, qualitative data visualization, chapter 11 | 15  pages, geographic visualizations, chapter 12 | 15  pages, network visualizations, chapter 13 | 14  pages, web presentations and open data repositories, chapter | 5  pages.

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Qualitative Research Methods in Translation Theory

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• Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne

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• Published: 04 June 2020

Everyday characterizations of translational research: researchers’ own use of terminology and models in medical research and practice

• Dixi Louise Strand   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0524-2466 1 , 2  

Palgrave Communications volume  6 , Article number:  110 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Biomedical literature and policy are highly concerned with encouraging and improving the clinical application and clinical benefit of new scientific knowledge. Debates, theorizing, and policy initiatives aiming to close the “bench-to-bedside gap” have led to the development of “Translational Research” (TR), an emerging set of research-related discourses and practices within biomedicine. Studies in social science and the humanities have explored and challenged the assumptions underpinning specific TR models and policy initiatives, as well as the socio-material transformations involved. However, only few studies have explored TR as a productive ongoing process of meaning-making taking place as part of the everyday practices of the actual researchers located at the very nexus of science and clinic. This article therefore asks the question of how the discourse and promise of translation is embedded and performed within the practices and perspective of the specific actors involved. The findings are based on material from ethnographic fieldwork among translational researchers situated in a Danish hospital research setting. The analysis draws on the analytical notion of performativity in order to approach statements and models of TR in the light of their performative dimension. This analytical approach thus helps to highlight how the characterizations of TR also contain prescriptions for how the world must change for these characterizations to become true. The analysis provides insights into four different characterizations of TR and reflects on the associated practices where performative success is achieved in practice. With the presentation of these four characterizations, this paper illustrates different uses of the term TR among the actual actors engaged in research-clinic activities and contributes insight into the complex processes of conceptual and material reorganization that form part of the emergence of TR in biomedicine.

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Translational research has become subject to widespread debates in biomedical literature and politics, evoking high expectations, promises, and concerns. The term “translational research” was first used in a US national cancer program in the 90’s and has since appeared in research programs, research strategies, academic articles and journals, policy reports, and educational programs globally. The main interest underlying the concept in this normative policy oriented debate derives from a perceived series of gaps between life sciences, medical research, clinical practices, and effects in the form of, e.g., measurable health improvements. The rationale and promise of TR is to ensure and encourage that public investments in health science are turned into improved care practice and improved public health. The term TR is used interchangeably with other terms such as translational medicine, translational science, academic medicine, medical knowledge translation etc. TR is closely linked to research policy, funding incentives as well as organizational transformation in Europe, US, Australia, and more recently the Nordic countries, where Academic Health Science Centers (AHSCs) have been established in recent years to encourage translational interaction between research and clinic. As such, TR is important as a pervasive discourse in medical science and as a socio-economic reorganization of research practices. Existing studies have pointed to the multiple meanings of translational research in ongoing academic and policy debates—and to the way in which this concept is tied to a range of varying problems and possible solutions, not only in different medical fields but also in different national contexts (Crabu, 2018 ; Greenhalgh and Wieringa, 2011 ; Krüger et al., 2018 ; van der Laan and Boenink, 2015 ). Very few studies, however, focus empirically on how these expectations and characterizations of TR hold true in the context of actual researcher practices.

This article reports on an ethnographic case study of translational research networks in a Danish university hospital setting. The investigation focused empirically on the nature of these translational activities and on how translational research was “made to work” in a specific research-hospital setting. This article presents a particular sub-set of the data in order to explore how the translational researchers themselves understood and used the concept of translational research (TR). Focus is thus on how actors in a Danish research setting are entangled in wider discourses of TR and how they take part in performing TR discursively and materially. The analysis draws on key ideas from the work of Science and Technology Studies in order to understand TR as a set of performative statements and ideas that generate their own practices and thereby create the world they describe (Mackenzie et al., 2007 ; Mol, 2002 ). As such, the article contributes empirical insights into the researchers’ own descriptions and models regarding the concept, how the concept was performed in the setting studied, how researchers engaged with the concept, and what they made of it.

The article is structured as follows. First, I briefly present the literature on the concept of TR. The next section presents the methodological and theoretical backdrop for the research reported and the areas of investigation, translational research grounded in the fields of psychiatry and oncology. Hereafter, key statements and examples from the data are presented and analyzed. Lastly, the discussion reflects upon TR as a complex process of meaning production and material reorganization.

Translational research

In an important article from 2012, Van der Laan and Boenik “disentangle” the concept and rhetoric of TR and its different meanings, both historically and philosophically (van der Laan and Boenink, 2015 ). They focus on the extensive and exponential use of the concept in biomedical scientific literature during the years 1993–2010 and present different epistemic dimensions regarding the way the concept is interpreted and used. Krueger, Hendriks, and Gauch’s more recent literature survey of the term in biomedical and clinical research also finds a “kaleidoscope” of different dimensions, understandings, and applications related to the term (Krüger et al., 2018 ).

Despite the variances, one focal figure in this literature is the trope of “bench to bedside”. Here, TR is a science-clinic-public relationship conceptualized as a set of translational phases through which knowledge moves from basic biomedical research into diagnosis or treatment, subsequent development into evidence-based protocols, following deployment in clinical practice, and, ultimately, benefits for the individual and society through improvement of public health. The term implies a relocation and translation of knowledge across what are conceived of as somewhat separate domains. Yet, as noted in the existing literature studies, the way in which the specific gaps, models, and problematic barriers are constructed vary greatly. Likewise, the understanding of the very domains involved differs. Basic science, clinical research, clinical practice, the public, society, and politics are also defined and delineated in varying ways.

The social sciences and humanities have entered into and contributed to the biomedical debate on translational research, as recently reviewed by Crabu ( 2018 ). Work in these areas has challenged the transfer notion implicitly found in much of the literature on translational science—as well as the fundamental distinction between basic and applied science. Qualitative empirical studies also bring our attention to the very complex collaborations and recursive pathways of TR, where valuable breakthroughs in science and treatments can emerge by way of the clinical staff and their daily questions and puzzles, from patients or patient groups, commercial activity, or policy demands. The creation of new medical knowledge can thus have many “starting points” in addition to basic science, thus challenging the linearity implied in many discussions and policies on TR. In their study of laboratory and clinical practices related to Huntington Disease, Lewis, Hughes, and Atkinson, for example, point to TR as a complex of clusters and multiple processes of relocation and reconfiguration as objects, knowledge, practices, and resources are circulated between multiple sites (Lewis et al., 2014 ). Based on a study of health care innovation through extended translational networks in Canada, Lander and Atkinson-Grosjean ( 2011 ) likewise describe various hybrid domains of translational science that cut across presumed divides between basic science, clinic, as well as commercial and civic areas. Their study also illustrates how translational pathways flow through the interactions and relations among a complex collection of actors and organizations (Lander and Atkinson-Grosjean, 2011 ). This complexity is less visible in the normative depiction of TR as a unidimensional line from basic research to clinical practice and then to public health.

The study reported on in this paper converges with this line in the literature located in social science and the humanities, both openly exploring the complexities of TR and challenging the foundations and presuppositions of a normative TR agenda. The article focusses on the question of how actors involved in TR in a specific research-hospital setting engage with and use the concept. The exploration asks open questions as to which statements and models of TR circulate among these actors? What does TR mean in the context studied? How do these statements and models participate in shaping research and clinical practice? How does TR relate to other concepts and concerns? In exploring these questions, different understandings have emerged from the data, summarized here as four themes: TR as knowledge flow, TR as a political buzzword, TR as collaboration and exchange, and TR as competency and skills. Each of these understandings is depicted in turn in the analysis section. Based on this analysis, the paper contributes to existing social science and humanities explorations of TR and adds to existing work by illustrating the ways in which the concept of TR circulates in a particular setting and how the concept is adopted and used by actors in this setting as part of their everyday practice. The paper argues that these performative uses of the term are material and productive as they contribute to organizing work, as well as attaching value to specific kinds of work and specific skills.

The study reported here is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Danish hospitals carried out between January 2018 and March 2019. I conducted interviews and observations and collected a broad range of organizational and project documents. Observations included research team meetings, departmental meetings, public presentations of research, two academic conferences, patient testing and treatment, lab visits and informal conversations (~100 h). I took hand written notes during observation and subsequently wrote these out in text files—with concurrent memoing. Observations and informal conversations provided data on daily experiences and were linked to formal interviews that were conducted in parallel (n20). Interviews were conducted with various team members, primarily clinician-scientists (n11) but also research team members such as Ph.D. students (n4), biologists (n2), an engineer (n1), and lastly two department managers (n2). The interviews lasted 1–2 h, were recorded and transcribed with the respondents’ consent. All interviews were conducted at the hospitals and were semi-structured and included questions about the participants’ definitions, understandings, and models regarding the concept of TR. Data was stored, organized, and coded in the qualitative data analysis software NVivo using grounded theory and analytical tools from situational analysis (Clarke, 2005 ). The findings presented in this paper draw on a sub-set of the data regarding the way in which the translational researchers themselves understood and used the concept TR.

Ethical approval and consent were obtained in writing from the principle investigators of the research networks and from the informants. The project was also approved by the hospital management and reported to the regional ethics committee. Throughout the research project, I was simultaneously working as a consultant in a crosscutting research and innovation support unit at the hospitals. This involved weekly visits, meetings, workshops, and communication with staff and management at the hospital departments on issues related to research development and support in the region. This concurring consultancy work gave me a background understanding of the organization and the research infrastructure of the hospitals, but it is not included as a formalized part of the dataset due to research ethics of a dual role of employee and researcher.

Oncology and psychiatry

The setting for the research here is Region Zealand in Denmark and in particular two research networks based in the regional hospitals. These research networks connect different research projects or research protocols within a joint vision of changing and improving diagnosis and/or treatment within two very different medical areas, child and youth psychiatric diagnosis and cancer treatment. The two translational research networks were interdisciplinary, yet anchored in the two domains of oncology and psychiatry, referred to here as the electroporation and autism networks. The electroporation case was an international collaborative network working to develop and improve a new type of treatment for cancer, electroporation. This technique creates an electrostatic field in cancer cells in order to increase the permeability of the cell membrane, allowing chemicals, drugs or DNA to be introduced into the cell. When applied locally, this type of treatment has been found effective in killing the cancer cells of the tumor, and the treatment with this technique combined with administering calcium was found to release patterns into the immune system, possibly hindering a recurrence of the tumor and slowing further spreading of the cancer. A range of related projects sought to refine the technique in relation to specific cancer types and in relation to different types of chemicals, and to explore systemic immune responses of the treatment found clinically as an unexpected outcome of the treatment. This network played an important role in developing and implementing this particular type of cancer treatment internationally. The group was involved in developing European guidelines for clinical practices and in various political and practical implementation efforts to establish the treatment type as part of the standardized treatment program for specific cancer types in Denmark. The researchers were thus deeply engaged in research, but they were also focused on realizing its application in the clinic. Most of the researchers were also responsible for everyday clinical practices of examining patients and determining treatment strategies.

The second research network I studied conducted research on autism disorders in children and youth through a translational research design combining behavioral, psychological, and neurobiological approaches. The project was situated within a broader disciplinary debate regarding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and concerning controversies as to the way in which to categorize symptoms of mental disorders. Autism in particular presents a contested diagnostic category, appearing clinically in a variety of forms and with varying professional understandings of its nature and appropriate treatments. The research network was concerned with this broader questioning of the very notion of autism as a singular disorder category and was critical of current diagnostic criteria and classification. Furthermore, the research network formed part of a shift in the clinic and the field more generally towards investigating mental disorders such as autism through laboratory practices and technologies like new IT-based cognitive function testing, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers’ work was exploratory, seeking to find new ways of understanding autism as both symptoms and pathology, e.g., through a key psychiatric concept of cognitive flexibility that was investigated as part of the project.

Although several of the projects within both of these research networks included industrial partners, the lead researchers themselves stressed that their research was “investigator-initiated” and thus different in nature from clinical trials and medical research driven by industry. The lead researchers themselves framed their research, the research designs and approaches, as “translational”, e.g., in presentations and funding applications (“translational forskning” in Danish).

Analytical framework

Science Studies, Feminist Theory, and Cultural Studies have explored empirically and theoretically the way in which discourse, statements, and representations have productive consequences and effects upon reality (Foucault, 1990 ; Haraway, 1988 ; Latour, 1987 ; Mol, 2002 ). In their book on economics, Mackenzie et al. ( 2007 ) develop the term performativity to examine how economic theory takes part in shaping economic realities—how statements, models, concepts, and formulas over time shape the very worlds they describe. These authors illustrate how reality—socially and materially—over time becomes reshaped to fit with theoretical models and inherent presumptions. This analytical lens is highly relevant for understanding how the language of TR has been, and continually is, an agent for modifying the reality it describes. This analytical lens also leads us to study how actors involved in TR research take part in the actualization and “putting into motion” of TR through their use of TR concepts, models, and research designs. This is the focus in the following analysis where significant examples and excerpts related to the use of TR terminology are presented and discussed. According to Mol ( 2002 ), conversations and interviews are a way of listening to informants as if they were their own ethnographers, telling how their work of TR is understood and carried out. Interviews and conversations are thus analyzed as a way of learning about objects, events, and practices that are material and productive.

The analysis is organized according to four main understandings emerging from the data—TR as knowledge flow, TR as a political buzzword, TR as knowledge collaboration and exchange, and TR as competencies and skills. The quotes and excerpts are anonymized with regard to informant names and field of expertize and only attributed to the research network—named here as the autism and electroporation network, respectively. Throughout the analysis, the two networks also serve as analytical prisms for one another, juxtaposing their similarities and differences.

TR as knowledge flow from theory to practice

During the study, a dominant understanding of TR that appeared during observations, informal conversations, and interview questioning on the topic was TR as knowledge flow from theory to practice . This understanding aligns with the notion and modeling of TR that is pervasive in biomedical literature and the aforementioned bench to bedside trope. TR is conceived of as a set of transfers or flows of knowledge from basic biomedical research into clinical diagnosis and improved health for patients—and also concerns closing the gaps hindering this flow. This understanding was particularly prevalent in the electroporation network. A lead researcher involved in setting up laboratory studies, clinical trials, and implementation efforts in relation to the treatment technique electroporation explains her understanding of translational research to me in an interview:

It is about closing the gap between lab research and the patient’s everyday life. Moving knowledge from the laboratory over into clinical practice, as well as ensuring how we can take the biological tests that afterwards can go back to the researchers… moving from idea, to laboratory research, to clinical research and all the way into guidelines for new treatment. (Electroporation network)

This quote resonates with the dominant understanding of TR as knowledge that flows through a set of otherwise separate contexts and knowledge domains framed as laboratory, clinical practice (with associated guidelines), and the patient’s everyday life. She describes TR as the moving of laboratory research into clinical practice, and how TR also produces the biological data in the clinic to move back into the lab.

At a research event and presentation at the hospital, this researcher presents a timeline of her research on electroporation. She explains how she has been involved in the basic science in order to understand the cells and cell membranes and how they can be briefly destabilized by applying electrical pulses to the area. Based on these insights into cellular behavior, they developed new experimental electro-engineering tools for applying electricity directly to the skin and tumor and then for injecting drugs and chemicals into the area so these can enter into the tumor and cells creating a local and very effective new treatment form. These tools have subsequently been refined and developed and are part of standard treatment regimes for specific types of cancer, such as skin cancer. In addition, the technique and technology are being developed further for other types of cancers. For example, stomach and colon cancer, where the tumor is more difficult to access directly with electrodes. Here, the electrodes were undergoing further development in order for them to work with endoscopic devices.

In a timeline figure, a presentation slide sketches the steps of translation from basic science over into techniques tested on mice in order, for example, to refine how to administer the electricity and chemicals in an appropriate way and with the correct dosages. This led to further experimental treatments on patients, and later on, randomized trials with a larger number of patients proving both the safety and efficacy of this specific type of treatment. In 2013, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines state that sufficient evidence has been established for this particular treatment for cancer spreading in the skin. In conclusion, she notes that this process has been a relatively “rapid process of translation from the first discoveries to a treatment in widespread use.” She moves on to explain their more recent work on using calcium with this type of treatment to determine how this might have effects upon the immune system beyond the local effects of cancer cell death. The timeline and story of electroporation reiterates a temporal TR image of knowledge flow from theory to practice—and back again—over time.

When asked about definitions of the term translational, another researcher, part of the oncology research networks but involved in the study and treatment of other cancer types, similarly notes:

I think translational covers when we turn over basic science into practical science. I see it as research where we get out and onward from the lab. We have an aim that is out of the lab, and it is important for us to do something that potentially can get out and work in society. (Electroporation network)

This quote links up to an understanding of making science applicable and “something that can be used.” Other informants likewise recognized TR as the clinical application of theoretical or experimental knowledge—or “moving new knowledge closer to the clinic, so “it can be used and tested further.” One informant notes that TR in this way consists of a practical achievement that moves theory into clinical practice:

I define translational as the clinical application of theoretical or experimental knowledge. So translational science is that one translates, really a utilitarian term, that you translate something proven ex vivo or proven in a petri dish to something that has clinical consequences for patients.” (Electroporation network)

In the accounts recorded during the study, an understanding of TR as knowledge flow from theory to practice thus is in agreement with the dominant discourse in the literature and “promise of translation” envisioned in the future (Brown et al., 2000 ). The hope is that public investments in health science can and should be paid back in the form of improved care practice and improved public health. “Making a difference” was often mentioned as motivation for the career choice of working with translational hospital-based research, along with the value of participating in research that might be practically applicable to and an improvement of current clinical practice. This applicable-practice motivation was notable in both the electroporation and the autism network.

Following Mackenzie et al. ( 2007 ), the accounts and ideas also speak of actual practices where, in the electroporation network, knowledge artefacts, as well as biological material are relocated and exchanged. There are also accounts of how experimental research is connected to changing procedures for cancer treatment strategies and new standardized treatment programs.

TR as a political buzzword

Several of the informants in both research networks noted the buzzword character of the word, smiling or laughing at my question of their understanding in the interview thereby distancing themselves from the concept and instead locating the concept in a world of politics and funding bodies with interests different from their own. They reiterated statements resembling the objectives discussed above regarding knowledge flow and transfer, but then added that these ideas did not necessarily match the way TR projects actually played out according to their experience. A researcher from the autism network notes:

I know what it means, but that is not how I see it implemented. It is research that supposedly builds bridges between experimental research… over into clinical research, maybe back again. However, when I see translational programs implemented, it does not really get out to the patients, and it does not really get out into the clinic. (Autism network)

Several informants noted that the TR had a political buzzword quality and was about justifying funding for very specific types of research. Therefore, for some there was a discrepancy between the rhetoric of TR and the way it was realized in ongoing projects. Accounts such as the above imply a critical position—that the translational agenda is a way of living up to demands of funders or creating political enthusiasm for research—but that the actual move into clinic and patient benefits could be questioned.

One informant described TR as a specific kind of research funding to expand “the evidence base” rather than research enabling knowledge to flow between basic science and the clinic.

Really, a buzzword is about creating the funding to make the evidence. It is relatively inexpensive to fund the small, experimental studies but gets expensive when you want to test an intervention on a larger group. It is complicated to create the evidence to prove that this really should be part of the standard treatment plan. So it is a way of creating funding for this difficult phase, where promising research needs to create the evidence base for it to get used. (Electroporation network)

Here, TR is a way of creating political support for particular types of research funding—a way of filling an evidence gap that is necessary for something to be legitimate and justifiable as a diagnostic or treatment option in the clinic. Thus, in this understanding TR is understood as a rhetorical device serving particular interests and political agendas. This resonates with the political move to put significant resources into TR to increase the clinical relevance and application of research. Using research relies on the creation of very specific types of “robust” evidence such as randomized controlled trials—and these are a necessary intermediate stage for research findings to reach decision-makers and potentially have societal health impacts. So here, TR is about the political support for specific types of research, for creating particular research infrastructures that can enable credibility, validity, and paths of impacts for medical research.

Conversations and interviews where TR was referred to as a political buzzword can also be seen as part of the actors’ own reflections on a broader knowledge economy where colleagues, or they themselves, attempt to position themselves strategically in relation to political and funding agendas. They adhere to, draw on, but also smile at this—since what they see “play out” sometimes is a different scenario. The actors in both research networks involved were thus attentive to how one as a researcher strategically can link up to political agendas and adjust projects so they match the demands of policy and funding trends. Here, TR is pointed to as rhetorically powerful in justifying specific types of research resonating related analyses of how TR currently is mobilized in other national academic medical settings (Rushforth, 2016 ; Wilson-Kovacs and Hauskeller, 2012 ).

TR as interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange

A third understanding of TR that appeared in both networks was TR as a framing of interdisciplinary collaboration. Models and research designs of TR enabled and encouraged collaborations and exchanges across different medical specializations and across distinct departments and organizations. A researcher from the autism research network replies to the question of how she understands the term translational as follows:

I understand it broadly, that you try to connect knowledge and understanding from different levels—psychological, biological, social etc.—into a joint understanding of a phenomenon… The same phenomenon might really be the result of many different processes. (Autism network)

She moves on to explain how such processes can be captured at different levels and through different investigational methodologies deriving from different disciplines. Methods in her project included preclinical and clinical testing, neurobiological approaches, brain imaging, and at a later stage, if the funding becomes available, possibly also genetic testing. She explains that a translational approach is the next step in developing new knowledge on autism. Here, the promise of TR is to connect different knowledge forms to create radically new understandings.

The idea here is that the translational can dismantle diagnoses, as they are today. If we understand the translational levels, we will understand that the diagnostic system and the psychiatric system should be put together differently. (Autism network)

The research design of the autism project is therefore organized around a translational model that the lead researcher sketches for me on the whiteboard in her office, and later, after the interview, she sends me the model figure used in applications and when presenting the research (Fig. 1 ). Here, different translational levels are depicted along with the examinations, methods, and procedures applied to produce knowledge about these levels. The research project is designed around these translational levels through which the children included in the study move during a series of examinations marked in the figure as “assessments 1–5” under the column with procedures, ranging from standardized clinical screening tests and questionnaires, IT-based cognitive tests and paraclinical methods, including electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These methods provide knowledge on different translational levels from the “psychosocial down to something increasingly biologically based”, she explains.

The translational model was shared by an informant in the autism research network and derives from their project description. The model depicts different translational levels along with the examinations, methods, and procedures applied to produce knowledge about these levels. The research project is designed around these translational levels and a series of examinations marked in the figure as “assessments 1–5” under the column with procedures, ranging from standardized clinical screening tests and questionnaires, IT-based cognitive testing, electroencephalography (EEG) to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The model organizes the research project, the series of tests and examinations the patients and control subjects go through in which different kinds of technologies and expertize are involved. The tests take place in the childrens’ homes and in their school settings (using standardized questionnaires filled out by parents and teachers), in the psychiatric clinic (again using standardized screening and new cognitive tests developed as part of the project), in a neurobiology lab at the neurology department and at the department of medical imaging (where the MRI scanning technologies are located). The studies require personnel and expertize from these various disciplines in order to carry out the examinations and analyze the results. The autism research network thus spanned different departments and disciplinary specializations of child and youth psychiatry, psychology, psychophysiology, radiology, neurology, engineering, and screening software/IT development.

“It is like we take a cross-section and look at the same phenomenon at different levels”. (Autism network)

The translational research design brings together different methods and techniques for investigating many different parameters associated with autism. In this sense, the model of the translational research design can be seen as a workable boundary object (Star and Griesemer, 1989 ) enabling collaboration across a complex of scientific inquiry methods and knowledge forms into a joint workable research design. The model helps to make possible collaboration across specializations and departments and facilitates a joint study that combines approaches where autism is framed in different ways: as related to social, behavioral, and clinical symptoms, as a disease with a possible neurological basis, and as a disease with a possible brain structural basis. Through the translational research model, it becomes possible to relocate the phenomenon of autism into different disciplines and as such offers a tool towards collaboration. The language of TR in the autism network can thus be seen as a contact language enabling a joint interdisciplinary project to be planned and agreed upon (Galison, 1999 ).

In the same way, projects within the electroporation network were framed and depicted in translational models and research designs. This network also involved collaboration between a range of disciplines and areas of expertize, requiring collaboration between researchers based in oncology, surgery, dermatology, pathology, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, physics, engineering, IT, and palliation. A model (Fig. 2 ) was used in a research presentation to depict and present a subproject taking place within this translational network. The project was set up as a collaboration between the oncology and surgery department at the Danish hospital and included several other partners such as universities, industry, and e.g., a leading immunological research institute in France working to develop new methods to characterize the immune characteristics of cancer tumors, “the cellular landscape of the tumor”. Like the model from the autism network, it looks “across” and combines different types of examination and methodologies in a new way.

The translational model was shared by an informant in the electropration research network and derives from their project description. The model depicts the translational set-up for the study and different methods for examination that include and “sum up” patient outcomes, blood samples, and tumor biopsies across different stages of cancer—early cancer (Tidlig colon og rectum cancer), advanced cancer (Lokal avanceret rectum cancer), and cancer that has spread in the body (Metastatisk sygdom).

One of the lead researchers explains the translational set-up for the study in which the patient is treated with calcium electroporation before the planned surgical removal of a cancer tumor. The treatment prior to surgery aims to stop the tumor growth and hinder spreading of the cancer. Blood samples and tumor biopsies are taken, and biological data is recorded before and after the surgery to assess the effect of the intervention. In the boxes on the left, the figure presents the different stages of cancer development to be examined—early cancer, advanced cancer, and cancer that has spread in the body (metastasized). The investigations then focus on three ways of “reading” the intervention. Firstly, what happens to the patients? Is it safe? How is the treatment experienced by the patient, e.g., pain? Are the side effects short term and long term? Does the tumor grow or spread (as seen and measured through imaging technologies)? Secondly, what happens as the result of this treatment at the molecular level in the tumor and in the blood, examined through tumor biopsy investigations and blood profiling testing before and after the treatment intervention? These different “readings” of the interventions’ effects are summed up (+). The researcher explains that this can be a new way of producing knowledge about the variation they find clinically, for example of how the same intervention works differently in two patients, by looking at the cellular level and the biological markers to explain and understand the variation and the immunological changes involved. Translation is a way of making the effects of an intervention visible and documentable, as a way of proving a link between treatment and specific effects. As such “translational” is a set of methods and tools that can be used to compare and evaluate treatments with the potentiality of providing a new and different kind of knowledge of what works, and sometimes how it works.

In the electroporation network, several researchers noted that the research is fragmented and separate (e.g., in relation to the different stages of cancers or in relation to different treatments before or after surgery). A researcher explains that not a lot of research focuses on all three phases, but that looking at the immune system as a whole rather than the tumor as an isolated entity to be treated or removed is often neglected. Looking at the effects of the treatment overall requires what he notes as a “helicopter view”. Another researcher in the project similarly refers to this work as grasping the “bigger picture”.

It is about designing the study so you see the bigger picture and get a 360-degree view… If you want to make a difference and do research that moves the way we think, then you have to include all the parts and include the whole spectrum. (Electroporation network)

Ideally, for example, results from patient-reported outcomes, molecular biological examinations of blood samples and immunological investigations of tumor material are linked up in the research project—as are different stages of cancer and phases of cancer treatment like pre, during, and post operation, thereby encompassing the “whole spectrum” by working across disciplines and joining differing techniques and niches of research. For both networks, bringing together these different investigational techniques and methods was where the research had the break-through potential to be a “game changer”, as one researcher puts it—in the sense of a new way of thinking about cancer or an entirely new approach to psychiatric diagnosis. This is where there is a promise and potential to change the foundations for existing classifications, diagnostics, and treatment strategies of illnesses. In both networks, TR is a productive and adaptable way of framing interdisciplinary research and multifaceted research problems. TR holds a promise of not only creating usefulness of research, but also of changing fundamental paradigms of both clinical research and practice.

TR as competencies and skills

A final and fourth understanding reappearing in the data material is TR as competencies and skills. When explaining their TR understandings and research activities it was often noted by the informants that such work required a set of specific competencies and skills. This concerned the ability to develop and use translational tools and methodologies in the research project and at the hospital. In the excerpt below, a lead researcher stresses the aspect of “ability to use”:

“To me, translation is the ability to have a tool to translate an effect of something, a clinical intervention, a clinical problem—to be able to translate that into an effect on the genetic, cellular, or molecular level. So translation to me is using that methodology, that method, to find an effect of something that happens clinically.” (Electroporation network)

As part of the electroporation study, Ph.D. students and young researchers went abroad and participated in research courses, seminars and visits—one in an electro-engineering institute in Slovenia to learn the electrophysics behind the technique, the other in an immunology laboratory in France to learn how to measure immune cells in the tumor with a novel prognostic technique. These kinds of exchanges were vital to developing the skills necessary to realize the TR objectives of the project. One of the Ph.D. students explains this as somewhat different from other kinds of clinical research at the department.

When you are a researcher at a hospital, you stand there with your patient, and then you send off your tests, I have heard jokes about this in the lab, you send off your tests into a black box, and we get a bunch of numbers back. I would like to go into that black box and see what happens, to understand how the tests are practically handled in the lab, because I think that the very numbers I get out of that black box, well I will to a greater degree understand them, if I have been there in the lab, where I see it and have it in my hands. (Electroporation network)

In this quote, the physician in research training points to her own movement between research located in a clinic and in a laboratory. Part of her research plan is to move into the laboratory and acquire the skills to understand laboratory-based analysis, results and possibilities. In order to gain these skills and competencies, and apply them to the clinical focus of her research, she notes how it is necessary to physically “move into the black box” and “have it in my hands”. As such, her training involves a shift from more “traditional” medical research into a new kind of translational research.

Another team member in the project has a background in human biology. She has been hired to support the translational research at the department and highlights that it is the exchanges between the different professional groups in the project that are so necessary and where we “really make the most of the knowledge we have”. She explains her mediating work and role and how her educational background in human biology has equipped her to be a clinical research biologist.

It is really about understanding a little bit of everybody else’s areas or field, so you can be precisely that link between chemists, physicists, and doctors. (Electroporation network)

In the electroporation network, a TR research agenda was thus closely linked with recruiting or educating the “TR agents” that could facilitate research activities and exchanges across disciplinary boundaries. A crucial supporting aim of the TR networks was thus to develop these skills in house—at the department and at the hospital, rendering the opportunities in the technologies and the lab more accessible.

Likewise, Ph.D. students in the autism network were trained thoroughly in the working of the neuro-lab by experts at the hospital and from abroad, setting up and using the physical equipment for carrying out EEG examinations, as well as the technologies and software involved in data analysis of the EEG results. As noted by one of the Ph.D. students, this was really a very different set of “much more technical skills” than those he was trained in as medical doctor in child and youth psychiatry. A key participant in the autism network was for example a trained psychologist and had experience from a previous job with MRI brain scanning techniques. His expertize in both child and youth psychiatry and imaging technologies made it possible to connect the psychiatric research interests with possibilities in the MRI devices for testing and analysis. He could speak the necessary highly specialized language related to diagnostic imaging, such as multi-slicing, pulse-sequences, and fiber tracking etc. He enabled the interactions and exchanges among the psychiatrists and the MRI engineer and imaging professor. Such ability to apply new methodologies across disciplines and to converse and move expertly across more than one discipline is thus a fourth way in which the discourse and promise of translation was embedded within the practices of both research networks.

This article has presented and explored different uses of the TR terminology in two specific settings of biomedical clinic-academic work practices. This type of inquiry is underexplored in the literature, and this empirical contribution thus adds to related efforts into studying how the actors in the field respond to political agendas of TR and changes in the biomedical research-clinic landscapes (Rushforth, 2016 ; Vignola-Gagne, 2014 ; Wilson-Kovacs and Hauskeller, 2012 ). The analysis has put forth a set of performative statements on TR along with the models of translation presented by these actors. Here we see how TR is embedded in the practices and perspectives of a set of particular actors involved in TR.

The first characterization of TR as knowledge flow can be viewed as an adaptation of the normative language of TR debates and policies. The goal and value of bench to bedside work enters into the actors’ own characterizations and meaning-making of their everyday work—as it also productively shapes and organizes these practices. Researchers involved in TR take on and seek to fulfill expectations and visions of the TR discourse and assumptions that circulate among funders, evaluators, management, and in health care prioritization and politics. TR also becomes part of the actors’ own sense-making and vision of how value can be created through their work for patients and for society. This brings our attention to how actors involved in carrying out TR take part in actualizing and putting into motion theories, models, and the very propositions of TR. This characterization places positive value upon specific kinds of work in the hospitals and among the hospital-based researchers. Translational research work that can ensure that research results are used, integrated into practice, and can produce benefits for patients and society is thus also characterized and performed as desirable and good.

The second characterization points to the critical position of TR as associated with a political agenda and something that can be used strategically to secure funding. TR offers an opportunity for researchers to position themselves advantageously in relation to TR policy and funding—thus potentially gaining a privileged professional status as key leaders of change, as noted in related studies (Vignola-Gagne, 2014 ; Wainwright and Williams, 2009 ; Wilson-Kovacs and Hauskeller, 2012 ). The researchers themselves take part in critically reflecting upon political agendas, funding flows and the consequences for their work, their career, and their field of expertize. They thus participate in questioning the very promises and hopes of the TR dominant discourse and the transformations they experience.

In the third characterization presented here, TR as collaboration and exchange, TR becomes a way of seeing and analyzing the subject matter across disciplinary divides. As such, the translational research design combines several different investigational methodologies from different and otherwise somewhat distinct disciplines. In the terms of Latour, these techniques mediate the object studied in different ways, rendering it visible for science in particular ways (Latour, 1987 ), and these different mediations are brought together in the promise of “seeing the bigger picture”—and “changing the game” in radical ways. TR discourse and promises become an organizing factor for research and research activities in the hospital studied. TR serves to facilitate epistemological boundary spanning (Evans and Scarbrough, 2014 ) and is a productive way of framing interdisciplinary research and multifaceted research problems that cannot be solved with traditional research frameworks. In this understanding TR perhaps opens for alternative ways of creating medical knowledge and evidence other than—or in combination with—the gold standard of randomized controlled trials (Timmermans and Berg, 2003 ; Wieringa et al., 2017 ).

Lastly, TR is closely linked to the building and expanding of interdisciplinary and transactional skills in the hospital setting studied. This is discussed under the fourth characterization, TR as competencies and skills. This theme highlights the integration of new knowledge forms into the hospital research setting, as well as the very practical, material, and embodied abilities of TR such as handling the equipment, delivering the electric pulses to the tumor areas as in electroporation, and learning to administer the details of the EEG equipment and devices. New skills must be learned and entered into clinical practice and experimentation. Likewise, medically trained employees move into the lab and learn to work with the biopsies, blood samples, and cells “in their hands”. Scientific investigation of cancers and autism is shifted out of the clinic into the laboratories of for example neurobiology and brain imaging—and the techniques and skills from these disciplines are relocated into clinical and medical practice and achieve new value here.

With the presentation of these four understandings, this article illustrates different uses of the term TR among actors engaged in research-clinic activities in two settings, that of clinical oncology and that of clinical psychiatry. The analysis presented in this article does, of course, not cover all the ways in which actors involved in TR use the term. Rather it illustrates some specific, situated uses—uses that reappeared and were focal in the data material produced in this study. The analysis provides new insights into TR as a”force of example” (Flyvbjerg, 2006 ). Rather than providing a total overview or mapping generalized patterns, the analysis explores specific context-dependent appearances of TR. The study brings out differences and connections for further juxtaposition to other studies in different specializations in different national contexts. It is important to note that the characterizations were not mutually exclusive, but overlapping and entangled in the setting studied. The understandings were mobilized, in turn, to bring out different aspects and values of the hospital-based research work in specific situations. All characterizations circulated in both networks—thus seemingly co-existing within these networks, as well as sometimes in the course of a single interview.

Notable are however also some of the differences in the two research networks. The networks were not analyzed as comparative cases (several cases of the same), but selected due to differences and analyzed in juxtaposition to bring out differences. In the electroporation network, the dominant understanding of TR as knowledge flow was more prevalent than in the autism network. In the electroporation network TR as knowlegde flow appeared as the primary understanding of the term and also as an important guiding rationale of conducting hospital-based translational research. This might be linked to the ways in which the field of cancer research historically has been tied to the political and funding agenda of TR. Historical studies have analyzed how the rise of translational research and a translational agenda, particularly in the US, is closely linked to cancer research and to the promise of cancer cures based on research into new drugs and treatment therapies (Fujimura, 1996 ; Keating and Cambrosio, 2012 ; Löwy, 1996 ). All early publications 1992–1997 using the term are also related to cancer research, in particular research on biomarkers in relation to cancer prevention and the establishment of tissue banks and cancer research centers in this period (van der Laan and Boenink, 2015 ). Historically, TR in this version seems more closely linked to the electroporation network than to that of psychiatry—where the understanding of TR as collaboration and exchange was foregrounded more often. These differences bring our attention to the ways in which TR is situated differently in different disciplines and underscores the contextual nature of the concept.

This article has presented selected findings from an ethnographic study of the everyday practices of TR in a specific setting. The discourse of TR, including the policy initiatives and organizational transformations linked to the TR discourse, can be seen as a paradigmatic shift in medical science. Yet little is known about how such a paradigm shift plays out in concrete settings, what it means to the actors involved, how it changes what constitutes meaningful and valuable research—as well as meaningful and valuable everyday work practices. This article proposes that actors take part in performing the emergence of TR and possible paradigm shifts by foregrounding and valuing specific versions of TR along with specific practices, specific skills. This entails that other practices and skills perhaps are backgrounded and become less visible and less valued. That which the less visible and less-valued practices are composed of (e.g., perspectives of patients or other working groups at the hospitals) constitutes a pressing question for further work beyond the scope of this paper. One of the important points highlighted here is the different ways in which TR discourses, promises, and expectations form an active part of the researchers’ sense-making and practices. The analysis presented in this article also allows us to reflect on how these actors take part in fulfilling a societal obligation, encouraging and improving the clinical application and clinical benefit of new scientific knowledge. They share the concerns found in the TR debates and policy regarding the closing of a “bench-to-bedside gap”, but also rework these orientations in relation to their specific projects and practices. Applying the notion of performativity, statements and models of TR have been approached in the light of their agency and their performative dimension. This analytical approach thus helps to understand how TR characterizations—and statements—also contain a prescription for how the world must change for them to become true. Mackenzie et.al. suggest that performative success is when there is created both a new language and theory, as well as new reality ( 2007 ). This article provides insights into four co-existing characterizations where such performative success was achieved in the setting studied. The analysis also points to a disciplinary difference through the juxtaposition of two different research networks. New languages, theories and realities were successfully in the making in these networks along with changing implications for the way in which research knowledge is produced and applied, as well as cultural shifts in what constitutes good and valuable research. In conclusion, this performative lens is proposed as a potential step forward toward developing a social science and humanities understanding of TR, how usefulness of research is characterized and realized through practice while keeping in sight the complexity and materiality of such processes.

Data availability

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study is not publicly available due to the sensitive nature of the content and the use/consent agreed with informants. Selected anonymized extracts and summaries are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and signing of a MOU to ensure the ethical use of data.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Data and Development Support, Region Zealand, and hosted by Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University. The study was carried out with support and supervision from Jesper Grarup, Peter Kjær, and the two research groups Health Promotion Research and Dialogical Communication at Roskilde University. Special thanks are also extended to the participants in the study.

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Strand, D.L. Everyday characterizations of translational research: researchers’ own use of terminology and models in medical research and practice. Palgrave Commun 6 , 110 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0489-1

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One of the best methods of staying current with your field is by browsing the journal literature.  Translation Studies journals will keep you abreast of the latest scholarship and help stimulate your own research.  The numerous online databases available to you through the library will allow you to search through the contents of these journals (and many others), but browsing through an individual journal will allow you the opportunity for more specific topic research.  Here is a small sampling of the Translation Studies journals available through the library:

• Babel Babel is a scholarly journal designed primarily for translators and interpreters, yet of interest also for the nonspecialist concerned with current issues and events in the field of translation. Babel includes articles on translation theory and practice, as well as discussions of the legal, financial and social aspects of the translator’s profession; it reports on new methods of translating, such as machine-aided translation, the use of computerized dictionaries or word banks.
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• Translation and Literature Translation and Literature is an interdisciplinary scholarly journal focusing on English Literature in its foreign relations. It embraces responses to all other literatures in the work of English writers, including reception of classical texts; historical and contemporary translation of works in modern languages; history and theory of literary translation, adaptation, and imitation.
• Translation Review The Translation Review focuses on the visibility of the literary translator through interviews with translators, the reconstruction of the translation process, translation as cross-cultural communication, the anthropological dimensions of translation, the history of translation, the critical and scholarly investigation of translation, the evaluation of translations, and translation as a creative act.
• Translation Studies This journal explores promising lines of work within the discipline of Translation Studies, placing a special emphasis on existing connections with neighbouring disciplines and the creation of new links. Translation Studies aims to extend the methodologies, areas of interest and conceptual frameworks inside the discipline, while testing the traditional boundaries of the notion of “translation” and offering a forum for debate focusing on historical, social, institutional and cultural facets of translation.
• The Translator The Translator is a refereed international journal that publishes articles on a variety of issues related to translation and interpreting as acts of intercultural communication. It puts equal emphasis on rigour and readability and is not restricted in scope to any particular school of thought or academic group.
• TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction is a translation studies journal devoted to translation, terminology, writing and all related disciplines that facilitate the study of texts and the changes made to them. TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction was created to meet the pressing need of the young discipline of translation studies to be autonomous and thereby make possible translation research efforts within a culturally-based textual framework.

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• New Voices in Translation Studies New Voices in Translation Studies is a refereed electronic journal. The aim of the journal is to disseminate high quality original work by new researchers in Translation Studies to a wide audience. Articles are published in New Voices as soon as they are ready and are organized in annual issues, with occasional special editions.
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• Babel Babel is a scholarly journal designed primarily for translators, interpreters and terminologists (T&I), yet of interest also for non-specialists concerned with current issues and events in the field. The scope of Babel is intentional and embraces a multitude of disciplines built on the following pillars: T&I theory, practice, pedagogy, technology, history, sociology, and terminology management. Another important segment of this journal includes articles on the development and evolution of the T&I professions: new disciplines, growth, recognition, Codes of Ethics, protection, and prospects.
• Handbook of Translation Studies Online The Handbook of Translation Studies (HTS) aims at disseminating knowledge about translation and interpreting and providing easy access to a large range of topics, traditions, and methods to a relatively broad audience: not only students who often adamantly prefer such user-friendliness, researchers and lecturers in Translation Studies, Translation & Interpreting professionals; but also scholars and experts from other disciplines (among which linguistics, sociology, history, psychology). In addition the HTS addresses any of those with a professional or personal interest in the problems of translation, interpreting, localization, editing, etc., such as communication specialists, journalists, literary critics, editors, public servants, business managers, (intercultural) organization specialists, media specialists, marketing professionals.
• The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research Translation & Interpreting is a refereed international journal that seeks to create a cross-fertilization between research, training and professional practice. It aims to publish high quality, research-based, original articles, that highlight the applications of research results to the improvement of T&I training and practice.
• The Interpreter and Translator Trainer The Interpreter and Translator Trainer is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to research in the education and training of professional translators and interpreters, and of those working in other forms of interlingual and intercultural mediation and communication.
• inTRAlinea online translation journal inTRAlinea is the online translation journal of the Department of Interpreting and Translation (DIT) of the University of Bologna, Italy. The purpose of the journal is to publish high quality academic research on any translation-related subject, as well as reviews, debates and translations.
• The Journal of Specialised Translation JoSTrans aims to create a forum for translators and researchers in specialised translation, to disseminate information, exchange ideas and to provide a dedicated publication outlet for research in specialised, non-literary translation.
• New Voices in Translation Studies The International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS) is a world-wide forum designed to enable scholars from different regional and disciplinary backgrounds to debate issues pertinent to translation and other forms of intercultural communication. New Voices in Translation Studies is the IATIS online journal.
• Online journals - European Society for Translation Studies This is a list of peer-reviewed online Translation Studies journals. All are open access, though in some cases there is a firewall in place for recent issues.
• Perspectives Publishes papers that explore issues concerning language and cultural mediation, including literary, technical and scientific translation and interpreting.
• Translation and Interpreting Studies Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS) is a peer-reviewed journal designed to disseminate knowledge and research relevant to all areas of language mediation. TIS seeks to address broad, common concerns among scholars working in various areas of Translation and Interpreting Studies, while encouraging sound empirical research that could serve as a bridge between academics and practitioners.
• Translation and Literature Translation and Literature is an interdisciplinary scholarly journal focusing on English Literature in its foreign relations.
• Translation Studies Bibliography The database is continuously updated and now contains over 34,500 annotated records. The bibliography is enhanced by a thesaurus and provides CrossRef DOIs, where available, for easier interlinking. You can experience the functionality of the interface, and search the records by registering for the free trial subscription: please click Trial in the section About.
• Translator The Translator is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original and innovative research on a variety of issues related to translation and interpreting as acts of intercultural communication. It aims to stimulate interaction between various groups who share a common interest in translation as a profession and translation studies as a discipline. Contributions cover a broad range of practices, written or oral, including interpreting in all its modes, literary translation and adaptation, commercial and technical translation, translation for the stage and in digital media, and multimodal forms such as dubbing and subtitling.
• Journal of Translation The Journal of Translation is an open access, peer-reviewed academic journal of translation theory and practice with a special interest in sacred text translation and local languages and cultures.
• Interpreting and Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal nterpreting and Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal is an international, open access, peer-reviewed, biannual journal which publishes original studies on interpreting undertaken from an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspective. This journal is published on behalf of Beijing Foreign Studies University.

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Databases for Translation & Interpreting Studies Research

If your topic is related to another discipline, you can review the Databases by Subject for the full list of databases relevant to that subject area.

This database abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Documents indexed include journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations and working papers.

MLA International Bibliography indexes international scholarly materials, including over 4,400 journals, books, working papers, and conference proceedings on language, literature, linguistics, and folklore. It is updated 10 times a year.

Database of literature in translation. The database can be searched by original language, target language, translator, keyword and other options. 

Web of Science includes citations from the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, BIOSIS Citation Index, Zoological Record, Current Contents Connect, Data Citation Index, and the Derwent Innovation Index. Our Web of Science subscription includes articles published from 1987 to the present; updated weekly. Useful For: systematic reviews, Highly Cited papers, citation metrics

Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 7,000 full-text periodicals, including nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 11,000 journals and a total of more than 11,600 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 journals.

Communication & Mass Media Complete is an index of articles in communication and mass media, communication sciences and disorders. It does include some full text.

Humanities International Complete includes all data from Humanities International Index (more than 2,100 journals and 2.47 million records) plus unique full text content. The database includes full text for more than 890 journals.

Archival and current issues of scholarly journals and ebooks across more than 60 academic disciplines.

Ethnic NewsWatch incorporates both current Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, providing a full-text collection of more than 2.5 million articles from over 330 titles, from 1959 to current. Ethnicities include: African American/Caribbean/African; Arab/Middle Eastern; Asian/Pacific Islander; European/Eastern European; Hispanic; Jewish; Native People.

GenderWatch is a repository of important historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community and the changes in gender roles over the years. Publications include scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books and NGO, government and special reports.

PsycINFO is the core database for searching academic, research, and practice literature in psychology. Search the database for citations and summaries of psychology literature published in journals, books and dissertations. Also search here for psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law and others. It includes over one million citations and summaries. 98% of the materials included here are peer reviewed.

Search for Sources in Languages other than English

For example: You'd like to find books in Spanish about Pablo Picasso to check out from the UWM Libraries and request from other UW-System Libraries. 

• Start with an Advanced Search in Search@UW
• Enter your search terms or keywords in the "Any Field" box (in this case: Pablo Picasso)
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This first results list includes:

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Translation Research

Translation research explores how scientific work moves into practice and benefits society. Although this new field of research has not received much attention in occupational safety and health, it can have a valuable impact on workers everywhere. Today’s workplaces need research findings and products that can improve the quality of life, health, and work. Through translation research, NIOSH studies the process, drivers, and barriers for turning knowledge into practical applications that create these improvements for the safety and health of workers.

Translation researchers apply scientific investigative approaches to study how the outputs of basic and applied research can be effectively translated into practice and have an impact. This includes studying how knowledge and interventions are spread, accepted, applied, and institutionalized.

Activities in translation research range across the basic-to-applied continuum, and studies referred to as intervention research and translation research often overlap. NIOSH delineates the two in this way: intervention research involves improving an intervention or designing a new one, whereas translation research involves studying processes for putting research outputs into practice or use. These processes can include activities such as efficacy research (testing interventions in a realistic setting) and effectiveness research (testing interventions in a wide range of settings). Translation research also includes limited proof-of-concept testing and large-scale studies of research outputs and their impact.

Translation research has four stages (Table 1):

• Stage 1, development translation research , studies how a discovery made in a laboratory, field or pilot study or findings of risks, can move into a potential health and safety application to be tested.
•  Stage 2, testing translation research , assesses the value of a new finding, invention, process, training program, or intervention. It looks for larger-scale workplace safety and health practices aimed at a specific work sector or across two or more work sectors.
• Stage 3, institutionalization translation research , studies how evidence-based technology and recommendations become well-accepted workplace safety and health practices that are communicated and used on a large scale.
• Stage 4, evaluation translation research , explores the “real world” health benefits and effects of moving these discoveries and interventions into large-scale practice. This phase examines impact over time through ongoing surveillance and evaluation.

Table 1. Examples of Translation Research for Different Types of Hazards

* Stage 0 is the basic or applied research finding that becomes the focus for study in Stages 1–4 of the translation research framework.  It is not part of that framework.

The translation research process should be a never-ending loop of research and translation, allowing for ongoing integration of effective approaches. This focus on improving the implementation of science shows NIOSH’s value as the nation’s primary occupational safety and health research institute. Translation research findings add great value to occupational safety and health research by helping us understand how science can better achieve practical benefits and what factors stand in the way of scientific work leading to useful outcomes. Translation research reveals how discoveries and guidance improve the lives of workers.

The phrases translation research , translational research , and translational science have been used to describe the systematic effort to convert basic research outputs into practical applications to enhance human health and well-being. Generally, these uses of the phrase translational research refer to harnessing knowledge from basic medical science and bringing it into clinical practice (so-called bench-to-bedside models). In contrast, NIOSH defines the phrase translation research to refer to the study of the process of moving “research-to-practice-to-impact” and the methods, barriers and facilitators, context, and issues encountered in this process. However, in the scientific literature, the two descriptors of research—translation versus translational—overlap.

Source: Schulte et al. [2017]

In 2016 NIOSH developed a framework for a wide-ranging plan for translation research. The plan will help NIOSH study how to move research findings into practice as quickly as possible, to improve worker safety.

NIOSH created its Translation Research Program to nurture, promote, and coordinate translation research and to more effectively transform science into useful actions and products. Translation research explores the processes by which research findings are successfully implemented in the workplace.

Compared with other workplace safety and health efforts, translation research is a new field without a large base of scientific papers. The program builds on previous NIOSH health communication work and research into effective interventions. It also includes research on social and behavioral science topics and on how scientific innovations spread and become practical benefits to society.

The research-to-practice process starts with research and ends with useful innovations. The Translation Research Program’s efforts focus on the research-to-practice continuum to learn how to make any given step better and how to improve its impact. The goal is to develop relevant, widely applied knowledge that creates a safer and healthier work environment.

This work faces challenges, however:

• Identifying translation research priorities, to focus limited resources yet achieve maximum impact
• Focusing on how decision-makers get and use workplace safety and health information, as well as barriers that prevent such information from reaching those who need it
• Finding which approaches work best in making safety and health research products that will have the most effective benefits.

NIOSH continues to gather translation research, promote goals for internal research competitions, and develop the skills of staff. Its work outside the institute may include offering dedicated funding opportunities and developing and promoting training for translation research.

Publications which have guided the development of the NIOSH Translation Research Program include the following:

• Schulte PA; Cunningham TR; Nickels L; Felknor S; Guerin R; Blosser F; Chang C-C; Check P; Eggerth D; Flynn M; Forrester C; Hard D; Hudson H; Lincoln J; McKernan LT; Pratap P; Stephenson CM; Van Bogaert D; Menger-Ogle L [2017].  Translation research in occupational safety and health: a proposed framework . Am J Ind Med 2017 Dec; 60(12):1011-1022.
• Dugan, A.G. & Punnett, L. Dissemination and Implementation Research for Occupational Safety and Health. Occup Health Sci (2017) 1: 29.
• Tinc PJ, Gadomski A, Sorensen JA, Weinehall L, Jenkins P, Lindvall K.  Adapting the T0-T4 implementation science model to occupational health and safety in agriculture, forestry, and fishing: A scoping review.  Am J Ind Med. 2018;61:51–62.
• Khoury MJ, Gwinn M, Ioannidis JPA [2010]. The emergence of translational epidemiology: from scientific discovery to population health impact. American Journal Epidemiology 172: 517-524.
• Lucas DL, Kincl LD, Bovbjerg VE and Lincoln JM [2014]. Application of a translational research model to assess the progress of occupational safety research in the international commercial fishing industry. Safety Science 64:71-81.
• Ogilvie D, Craig P, Griffin S, Macintyre S and Wareham NJ [2009]. A translational framework for public health research. BMC Public Health 9(1):116.
• NIOSH Translation Research Roadmap and Implementation presentation to the Board of Scientific Counselors Meeting, March 2016
• Hager LD. BLS occupational hearing loss report for 2007.  CAOHC Update.  2009; 21: 7-9.
• Berger EH, Franks JR, Behar A, et al. Development of a new standard laboratory protocol for estimating field attenuation of hearing protection devices. Part III. The validity of using subject-fit data.  J Acoust Soc Am.  1998; 103: 665-672.
• Murphy WJ, Davis RR, Byrne DC, Franks JR. Advanced hearing protector study. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH EPHB Report No. 312-11a; 2007.  https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB2008113769.xhtml
• Stephenson CM, Stephenson MR. Hearing loss prevention for carpenters. Part 1-using health communication and health promotion models to develop training that works.  Noise Health. 2011; 13: 113-121.
• Davies H, Marion S, Teschke K. The impact of hearing conservation programs on incidence of noise-induced hearing loss in Canadian workers.  Am J Ind Med. 2008; 51: 923-931.
• Masterson EA, Deddens JA, Themann CL, Bertke S, Calvert GM. Trends in worker hearing loss by industry sector, 1981-2010.  Am J Ind Med.  2015; 58: 392-401.
• Wagner GR. The inexcusable persistence of silicosis.  Am J Public Health.  2005; 85: 1346-1347.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1615617/
• Cecala AB, O’Brien AD. Here comes the Helmet-CAM: A recent advance in technology can improve how mine operators investigate and assess respirable dust.  Rock Prod.  2014; 117: 26-30.
• Haas EJ, Willmer D., Cecala AB. Formative research to reduce mine worker respirable silica dust exposure: A feasibility study to integrate technology into behavioral interventions.  Pilot Feasibility Study.  2016; 2: 6.
• Reed WR, Kwitowski AJ, Helfrich WJ, Cecala AB, Joy GJ. Guidelines for performing a helmet-CAM respirable dust survey and conducting subsequent analysis with the Enhanced Video Analysis of Dust Exposures (EVADE) software. Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS, (NIOSH) Publication No. 2014-133; 2014.  https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/UserFiles/works/pdfs/2014-133.pdf
• Bourbonnais R, Comeau M, Vézina M. Job strain and evolution of mental health among nurses.  J Occup Health Psychol.  1999; 4: 92-107.
• Bourbonnais R, Brisson C, Vinet A, Vézina M, Lower A. Development and implementation of a participative intervention to improve the psychosocial work environment and mental health in an acute care hospital.  Occup Environ Med.  2006; 63: 326-334.
• Jimmieson NL, Hobman EV, Tucker MK, Bordia P. Change in psychosocial work factors predicts follow-up employee strain: An examination of Australian employees.  J Occup Environ Med.  2016; 58: 1002-1013.
• Ruotsalainen JH, Verbeek JH, Mariné A, Serra C. Preventing occupational stress in healthcare workers.  Cochrane Database Syst Rev.  2015; 4: D002892.
• Dollard M, Skinner N, Tuckey MR, Bailey T. National surveillance of psychosocial risk factors in the workplace: An international overview.  Work Stress.  2997; 21: 1-29.
• NIOSH. Commercial fishing vessel shipper dies after being pulled into a deck winch-Alaska. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program, State FACE Reports-Alaska: Report No. FACE AK-95-23; 1995.  https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/stateface/ak/95ak023.html
• Lincoln JM, Lucas DL, McKibbin RW, Woodward CC, Bevan JE. Reducing commercial fishing deck hazards with engineering solutions for winch design.  J Safety Res.  2008; 39: 231-235.
• Lincoln JM, Woodward CC, King GW, Case SL, Lucas DL, Teske TD. Preventing fatal winch entanglements in the US southern shrimp fleet: A research to practice approach.  J Safety Res.  2017; 60: 119-123.
• Levin JL, Gilmore K, Wickman A, et al. Workplace safety interventions for commercial fishermen of the gulf.  J Agromedicine.  2016; 21: 178-189.
• Teske TD, Victoroff T. Increasing adoption of safety technologies in commercial fishing. Study in progress. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); 2017.
• CDC. Fatal and nonfatal injuries involving fishing vessel winches- Southern shrimp fleet, United States, 2000-2011. MMWR.  2013; 62: 157-160.  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6209a1.htm

A Mystery or a Route? A Systematic Literature Review of Transcreation and Translation Studies

• He Zhu Universiti Putra Malaysia
• Lay Hoon Ang Universiti Putra Malaysia
• Muhammad Alif Redzuan Abdullah Universiti Putra Malaysia
• Hongxiang Zhu Universiti Putra Malaysia

Transcreation is an inter-cultural and inter-linguistic activity, which has obtained particular academic interest recently. However, few studies have reviewed the current status quo on transcreation systematically, although transcreation has been applied in various fields such as literature and advertising translation. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted to shed light on this topic by identifying and analysing genres, foci, methods, and theories related to transcreation. The databases cover Scopus, Web of Science and CNKI from 1995 to 2023. A total of 61 publications were identified with PRISMA 2020. The qualitative findings showed that (1) most studies of transcreation focus on literary and advertising, while other fields of audiovisual, news and political, training and interpreting need to be explored; (2) research foci of transcreation strategies, culture and ideology gain more attention while transcreation process and evaluation, localization and persuasion have not been much examined; (3) content analysis is most frequently adopted while other qualitative methods are less used. Besides, there is a lack of using quantitative and mixed methods; (4) systematical functional linguistics is often used as a pointcut to examine strategies of transcreation. Besides, multimodal social semiotics is used to explore transcreation through texts, pictures and videos. Other linguistic theories and cross-disciplinary theories remain unexplored in transcreation. In conclusion, this study provides a review of transcreation and translation studies and reveals some research gaps that could enlighten future studies.

Author Biographies

He zhu, universiti putra malaysia.

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication

Lay Hoon Ang, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Muhammad alif redzuan abdullah, universiti putra malaysia, hongxiang zhu, universiti putra malaysia.

Ai, Z. (2014). Mu Di Lun Zhi Dao Xia De Guang Gao Wen Ben Fan Yi Ce Lue Yan Jiu 目的论指导下的广告文本翻译策略研究 [On Translation Strategies of Advertising Text from the Perspective of Skopostheorie]. Journal of Jiangsu Normal University, 5(1), 90-93.

Al-Omar, N. (2020). Ideology in advertising: Some implications for transcreation into Arabic. Hikma, 19(1), 43-68. https://doi.org/10.21071/hikma.v19i1.11713

Benetello, C. (2018). When translation is not enough: Transcreation as a convention-defying practice. A practitioner’s perspective. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 29, 28–43. https://jostrans.soap2.ch/issue29/art_benetello.php . Retrieved on 01/02/2024.

Borodo, M., & Wood, K. (2023). The translation and transcreation of adventure comics. inTRAlinea, 1-14. https://www.intralinea.org/specials/article/2632.2024.01.025 . Retrieved on 21/02/2024.

Burnham, J. F. (2006). Scopus database: A review. Biomedical digital libraries, 3(1), 1-8. https://bio-diglib.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-5581-3-1 . Retrieved on 12/01/2024.

Carreira, O. (2021). Quality evaluation and workflows in transcreation: A social study. In M. D. Olvera-Lobo, J. Gutiérrez-Artacho, I. Rivera-Trigueros, & M. Díaz-Millón (Eds.), Innovative perspectives on corporate communication in the global world (pp. 177-194). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6799-9.ch010

Carreira, O. (2022). Is transcreation a service or a strategy? A social study into the perceptions of language professionals. Babel, 68(4), 498-516. https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00277.car

Carreira, O. (2023). Surveying the economics of transcreation from the perspective of language professionals. Across Languages and Cultures, 24(1), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2023.2214318

Chakravarty, R. (2021). Textual encounters: Tagore’s translations of medieval poetry. Translation Studies, 14(2), 167-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2021.1909493

Chaume, F. (2018). Is audiovisual translation putting the concept of translation up against the ropes?. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 30, 84-104. https://jostrans.soap2.ch/issue30/art_chaume.php . Retrieved on 12/12/2023.

Corrius, M., & Espasa, E. (2023). Is transcreation another way of translating? Subtitling Estrella Damm’s advertising campaigns into English. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 28(2), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v28n2a09

Crowe, M. (2013). Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT) User Guide. Conchra House.

Díaz-Millón, M., & Olvera-Lobo, M. D. (2023). Towards a definition of transcreation: A systematic literature review. Perspectives, 31(2), 347-364. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2021.2004177

Fang, J., & Song, Z. (2014). Exploring the Chinese translation of Australian health product labels: Are they selling the same thing?. Cultus, (7), 72-95. https://iris.unipa.it/retrieve/handle/10447/130535/197987/cultus#page=72 . Retrieved on 03/01/2024.

Fernández, Costales, A. (2014). Video game localisation: adapting superheroes to different cultures. Quaderns: revista de traducció, (21), 0225-239. https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/quaderns/quaderns_a2014n21/quaderns_a2014n21p225.pdf . Retrieved on 11/11/2023.

Gaballo, V. (2012). Exploring the boundaries of transcreation in specialized translation. ESP Across Cultures, 9(1), 95-113. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55276390.pdf . Retrieved on 15/02/2024.

Galván, B. E. (2019). Translation depends on the artist: Two approaches to the illustrations of James and the Giant Peach through the prism of intersemiotic translation. Babel, 65(1), 61-80. https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00074.ech

Gao, J., & Hua, Y. (2021). On the English translation strategy of science fiction from Humboldt's linguistic worldview—taking the English translation of Three-Body problem as an example. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 11(2), 186-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1102.11

Ho, N. M. (2021). Transcreation in marketing: A corpus-based study of persuasion in optional shifts from English to Chinese. Perspectives, 29(3), 426-438. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2020.1778046

Hu, H., & Wu, J. (2020). Fa Lv Shu Yu De Biao Zhun Hua Ying Yi Tan Jiu 法律术语的标准化英译探究 [Research on standardized English translation of legal terms]. Chinese Science & Technology Translators Journal, 33(3), 35-38.

Husa, J. (2017). Translating legal language and comparative law. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 30, 261-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-016-9490-9

Kassawat, M. (2020). Decoding transcreation in corporate website localization into Arabic. The Journal of Internationalization and Localization, 7(1-2), 69-94. https://doi.org/10.1075/jial.20010.kas

Katan, D. (2016). Translation at the cross-roads: Time for the transcreational turn?. Perspectives, 24(3), 365-381. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2015.1016049

Lal, P. (1957, 1964). Great Sanskrit plays in modern translation. New Directions.

Li, M. (2020). A systematic review of the research on Chinese character teaching and learning. Frontiers of Education in China, 15(1), 39-72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11516-020-0003-y

Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., ... & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Annals of internal medicine, 151(4), W-65. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000100

Malenkina, N., & Ivanov, S. (2018). A linguistic analysis of the official tourism websites of the seventeen Spanish Autonomous Communities. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 9, 204-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.01.007

Malenova, E.D. (2018). Creative practices in translation of transmedia projects. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 5(11), 775–786. https://doi.org/10.17516/1997-1370-0269

Mangiron, C., & O’Hagan, M. (2006). Game localisation: Unleashing imagination with ‘restricted’ translation. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 6(1), 10-21.

Morón, M., & Calvo, E. (2018). Introducing transcreation skills in translator training contexts: A situated project-based approach. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 29, 126-148. https://jostrans.soap2.ch/issue29/art_moron.php . Retrieved on 29/12/2023.

Nam, J., & Jung, Y. (2022). Exploring fans’ participation in digital media: Transcreation of webtoons. Telecommunications Policy, 46(10), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102407

Nishimura, A., & Itoh, T. (2020). Implementation and experiments for interactive lyrics transcreation system. Visual Computing for Industry, Biomedicine, and Art, 3(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42492-020-00053-x

Pal, B., & Bhattacharjee, P. (2022). What is translated; what is not translated: Studying the translation process of select Bengali Dalit short stories. The Translator, 28(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2021.1894763

Pedersen, D. (2014). Exploring the concept of transcreation–transcreation as “more than translation”. Cultus: The Journal of intercultural mediation and communication, 7(1), 57-71.

Petrović, K. (2023). Journalistic transcreation of news agency articles from English into Serbian: Associated Press and Reuters articles in Blic and N1 online portals. ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, 20(1), 67-88. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.20.1.67-88

Piñeiro, B., Díaz, D. R., Monsalve, L. M., Martínez, Ú., Meade, C. D., Meltzer, L. R., Karen O. Brandon., Unrod M., Brandon T. H., Simmons V. N. (2018). Systematic transcreation of self-help smoking cessation materials for Hispanic/Latino smokers: Improving cultural relevance and acceptability. Journal of health communication, 23(4), 350-359. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2018.1448487

Ray R. & N. Kelly. (2010). Reaching New Markets through Transcreation. Common Sense Advisory.

Reiss, K. (2000). Type, kind and individuality of text: Decision making in translation. In Venuti, Lawrence (ed). The translation Studies Reader, Routledge, 160-171.

Rike, S. M. (2013). Bilingual corporate websites-from translation to transcreation? The Journal of Specialised Translation, 20, 68-85. https://jostrans.soap2.ch/issue20/art_rike.php . Retrieved on 10/02/2024.

Risku, H., Pichler, T., & Wieser, V. (2017). Transcreation as a translation service: Process requirements and client expectations. Across Languages and Cultures, 18(1), 53-77. https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2017.18.1.3

Simmons, V. N., Quinn, G., Litvin, E. B., Rojas, A., Jimenez, J., Castro, E., Meade C. D., Brandon, T. H. (2011). Transcreation of validated smoking relapse-prevention booklets for use with Hispanic populations. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 22(3), 886. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2011.0091

Steinhardt, I., Schneijderberg, C., Götze, N., Baumann, J., & Krücken, G. (2017). Mapping the quality assurance of teaching and learning in higher education: the emergence of a specialty?. Higher Education, 74, 221-237. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10734-016-0045-5

TAUS. (2019). TAUS Transcreation Best Practices and Guidelines. TAUS Signature Editions. https://info.taus.net/taus-transcreation-best-practices-and-guidelines . Retrieved on 09/11/2023.

Untari, L., Purnomo, S. L. A., Purnama, S. L. S., & Giyoto, G. (2023). Clickbait and translation: Proposing a typology of online news headline transcreation strategies. Studies in English Language and Education, 10(3), 1452-1466. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v10i3.29141

Wang, L., Ang, L. H., & Halim, H. A. (2021). What is real transcreation? A case study of transcreation in corporate communication writing. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science, 11(12), 1150-1165. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i12/11686

Wu, H. (2022). Chuan Bo Xue Shi Jiao Xia Xu Yuan Chong Tang Shi Dian Gu Ying Yi Yan Jiu 传播学视角下许渊冲唐诗典故英译研究 [A study on the English translation of Xu Yuanchong’s Tang poetry allusions from the perspective of communication studies]. Xin Wen Ai Hao Zhe, 1, 66-69.

Yahiaoui, R. (2022). Transcreating humour for (re) dubbing into Arabic. The European Journal of Humour Research, 10(3), 151-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2022.10.3.681

Zhang, G., & Fan, W. (2022). Shi Ba Da Yi Lai Zhong Guo Wai Jiao Hua Yu De Mo Sheng Hua Xu Shu Ji Qi Ying Yi Ce Lue 十八大以来中国外交话语的陌生化叙述及其英译策略 [The narrative of defamiliarization of China’s diplomatic discourse since the 18th CPC National Congress and its English translation strategies]. Shanghai Journal of Translator, 6, 44-49.

Zhu, L., Ang, L. H., & Mansor, N. S. (2023). Manipulation of female stereotypes in Chinese translations of fragrance product descriptions. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(1), 227-236. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1301.26

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Placebo Workshop: Translational Research Domains and Key Questions

Date and time.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will host a virtual workshop on the placebo effect. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts in neurobiology, clinical trials, and regulatory science to examine placebo effects in drug, device, and psychosocial interventions for mental health conditions.

Topics will include interpretability of placebo signals within the context of clinical trials, how to isolate active response from placebo effects, and psychosocial implications of placebo response.

The workshop will be open to the scientific community and the public at large.  

Sponsored by

The National Institute of Mental Health’s  Division of Translational Research (DTR) .

Registration

This workshop is free, but registration is required   .

If you have questions about this workshop or need reasonable accommodations, please email Doug Meinecke, Ph.D. and Erin King, Ph.D. Requests need to be made five business days before the event. 

Day 1. Thursday, July 11

12:00-12:05 p.m.

NIMH Welcome Remarks

Shelli Avenevoli, Ph.D.  NIMH staff

12:05-12:20 p.m.

Introduction and Workshop Overview

• Workshop goals
• Placebo definition
• Introduction to placebo mechanisms

Tor Wager, Ph.D.

12:20-1:10 p.m.

Historic Perspectives on Placebo in Drug Trials

• Industry and regulatory perspectives

Part 1: The Scale of the Placebo Problem , Ni Aye Khin, MD

Part 2: Strategies and Results , Michael Detke, MD, Ph.D.

1:10-1:35 p.m.

Current State of Placebo in Regulatory Trials

• Mitigation and control of placebo response in drug trials

Title TBD Tiffany Farchione, M.D., FAPA

1:35-1:50 p.m.

1:50-2:30 p.m.

Current State of Placebo in Device Trials

• Historical perspectives and current challenges

Sham in device trials: Historical perspectives and lessons learned , Sarah Hollingsworth “Holly” Lisanby, MD

Challenges and Strategies in Implementing Effective Sham Stimulation for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Trials , Zhi-De Deng, Ph.D.

2:30-3:10 p.m.

Current State of Placebo in Psychosocial Trials

• How is placebo defined in the context of psychosocial interventions?

What is the psychosocial “placebo pill”? Transferring the Placebo Construct to  Psychosocial Trials ,   Winfried Rief, Ph.D.

A social neuroscience approach to placebo analgesia,  Lauren Atlas, Ph.D.

3:10-4:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion

• Identification of gap areas and current challenges

Moderators: Carolyn Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D. Alexander Talkovsky, Ph.D. All Day 1 and Day 2 speakers

Day 2. Friday, July 12

12:00-12:15 p.m.

Day 1 Recap and Day 2 Overview

Cristina Cusin, M.D.

12:15-1:30 p.m. (6, 20-minute talks with 5 minutes for questions each)

Measuring & Mitigating the Placebo Effect

• What are the basic mechanisms of the placebo response?
• Cross cutting commonalities in predicting placebo response
• Psychosocial and interpersonal effects

Placebo and nocebo effects: Predictive factors in laboratory settings, Luana Colloca, MD, Ph.D.

Genetics and the Placebo Response in Clinical Trials and Medicine, Kathryn Hall, Ph.D., MPH

Disentangling the physiological, psychological and neural mechanisms supporting mindfulness-based analgesia from placebo , Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D

1:30-1:40 p.m.

1:40-2:55 p.m.

Measuring & Mitigating the Placebo Effect (continued)

• Which outcomes are susceptible to placebo response?
• What are other measures of placebo response besides biological?
• Novel biological and behavioral approaches to address the placebo effect in research

2:55-3:55 p.m.

Moderators: Ted Kaptchuk, M.D. Matthew Rudorfer, M.D. All Day 1 and Day 2 speakers

3:55-4:00 p.m.

Closing Remarks

Cristina Cusin, MD

*New* Opportunity: Pilot Funding from NYU Collaborative Center in Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation (LOIs Due 9/12/24)

Posted: 8/8/2024 ()

The NYU Collaborative Center in Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation (CEHRT) announced their fourth Pilot Project Request for Applications.

The goal of the Center is to translate existing knowledge to action on issues that affect children’s health. The themes of the Center are endocrine disruption and climate change, although we welcome proposals from other areas as well. The intent of the Center is to support the broader children’s environmental health (CEH) community — applications from NYU and outside institutions are encouraged. The Center will award developmental and translational grants , the former being smaller in size and extendable, and the latter focused on the translation of knowledge to action.

Application Process:

• Applicants submit a 1-page Letter of Intent (LOI) by  Thursday, September 12th, 2024 .
• Applicants selected to proceed into the next stage will be notified of this decision by  Friday, September 20th, 2024 .
• Applicants will be invited to submit a 3-page proposal due  Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024  containing additional information to that already included in the LOI

Request for Applications PDF: CEHRT Cycle 4 RFA (2)

Link to Apply: CEHRT 2025 Letter of Interest Form (nyumc.org)

Deadline: 09/12/2024

Stanford University

The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center is part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Research Center Invites Applications for Fall 2025 Asia Studies Fellowships

The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center ( APARC ) is pleased to invite applications for a host of fellowships in contemporary Asia studies to begin in Autumn quarter 2025.

The Center offers postdoctoral fellowships that promote multidisciplinary research on Asia-focused health policy, contemporary Japan, and contemporary Asia broadly defined, postdoctoral fellowships and visiting scholar positions with the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab, and a fellowship for experts on Southeast Asia. Learn more about each opportunity and its eligibility and specific application requirements:

Asia Health Policy Program Postdoctoral Fellowship

Hosted by the Asia Health Policy Program at APARC, the fellowship is awarded to one recent PhD undertaking original research on contemporary health or healthcare policy of high relevance to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, especially developing countries. Appointments are for one year beginning in Autumn quarter 2025. The application deadline is December 1, 2024.

Japan Program Postdoctoral Fellowship

Hosted by the Japan Program at APARC, the fellowship supports research on contemporary Japan in a broad range of disciplines including political science, economics, sociology, law, policy studies, and international relations. Appointments are for one year beginning in Autumn quarter 2025. The application deadline is December 1, 2024.  

Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellowship on Contemporary Asia

APARC offers two postdoctoral fellowship positions to junior scholars for research and writing on contemporary Asia. The primary research areas focus on political, economic, or social change in the Asia-Pacific region (including Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia), or international relations and international political economy in the region. Appointments are for one year beginning in Autumn quarter 2025. The application deadline is December 1, 2024.   

Next Asia Policy Postdoctoral and Visiting Fellowships

The Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL) is committed to addressing Asia's emergent social, cultural, economic, and political challenges. Housed at Shorenstein APARC, the lab is led by Center and Korea Program Director Gi-Wook Shin.

SNAPL is offering one or two postdoctoral fellowships (two years in length) to begin in Autumn quarter 2025. There are four fellowship tracks and applicants can apply for any of them: "Talent Flows and Development,” "Nationalism and Racism," "U.S.-Asia Relations," and "Democratic Crisis and Reform." Each postdoctoral fellow will lead one thematic research group and support student programming for SNAPL alongside general research and publication activities. The deadline to apply for Autumn quarter 2025 admission is December 1, 2024.

SNAPL also offers three visiting fellow positions to researchers and professionals from Asia with a PhD or a substantial record of achievement related to the Lab's four research themes. One of these three positions will be specifically dedicated to research on the Philippines. Visiting scholar appointments are for one year, and the deadline to apply for Autumn quarter 2025 admission is March 1, 2025.

Taiwan Program Visiting Fellowship

Hosted by APARC's new Taiwan Program , the visiting fellow position is awarded to one mid-career to senior-level expert with extensive experience studying contemporary Taiwan. The fellowship research focus is on issues related to how Taiwan can meet the challenges and opportunities of economic, social, technological, environmental, and institutional adaptation in the coming decades, using a variety of disciplines including the social sciences, public policy, and business. Preference will be given to candidates from Taiwan.

The application deadline for Autumn quarter 2025 admission is March 1, 2025.

Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellowship on Southeast Asia

The Lee Kong Chian National University of Singapore-Stanford (LKC NUS-Stanford) Fellowship on Southeast Asia provides experts on Southeast Asia the opportunity to conduct research on or related to contemporary Southeast Asia. Fellows spend three to four months at both institutions. At Stanford, APARC's  Southeast Asia Program  hosts the fellowship. Appointments will begin and end within the period from September 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026. The application deadline is January 24, 2025.    

Stanford Experts Assess the Future of the Liberal International Order in the Indo-Pacific Amid the Rise of Autocracy, Sharp Power

Refugee placemaking in malaysia: a conversation with dr. gerhard hoffstaedter, aparc names 2024 incoming fellows.

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Translational Research in the Era of Precision Medicine: Where We Are and Where We Will Go

Ruggero de maria marchiano.

1 Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery, Section of General Pathology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy or [email protected] (R.D.M.M.); [email protected] (M.T.)

2 Scientific Direction, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (M.D.); or [email protected] (G.S.)

3 Comprehensive Cancer Center—Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (G.P.); [email protected] (C.C.); or [email protected] (G.T.); [email protected] (L.B.); [email protected] (A.P.); [email protected] (G.D.); or [email protected] (V.V.); or [email protected] (D.G.); [email protected] (G.B.)

Gabriele Di Sante

4 Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy

Carmine Carbone

Giampaolo tortora.

5 Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery, Section of Oncology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy

Luca Boldrini

6 Department of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Hematology, UOC Radioterapia Oncologica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy

Antonella Pietragalla

7 Unità di Medicina Traslazionale per la Salute della Donna e del Bambino, Dipartimento Scienze della Salute della Donna, del Bambino e di Sanità Pubblica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy

Gennaro Daniele

Maria tredicine, alfredo cesario, vincenzo valentini.

8 Institute of di Radiology, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy

Daniela Gallo

9 Dipartimento Universitario Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Sezione di Ginecologia ed Ostetricia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy

Gabriele Babini

Marika d’oria, giovanni scambia, associated data.

No new data were created or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.

The advent of Precision Medicine has globally revolutionized the approach of translational research suggesting a patient-centric vision with therapeutic choices driven by the identification of specific predictive biomarkers of response to avoid ineffective therapies and reduce adverse effects. The spread of “multi-omics” analysis and the use of sensors, together with the ability to acquire clinical, behavioral, and environmental information on a large scale, will allow the digitization of the state of health or disease of each person, and the creation of a global health management system capable of generating real-time knowledge and new opportunities for prevention and therapy in the individual person (high-definition medicine). Real world data-based translational applications represent a promising alternative to the traditional evidence-based medicine (EBM) approaches that are based on the use of randomized clinical trials to test the selected hypothesis. Multi-modality data integration is necessary for example in precision oncology where an Avatar interface allows several simulations in order to define the best therapeutic scheme for each cancer patient.

1. Introduction

Translational research is a rapidly evolving area of biomedical research that aims to facilitate and speed up the transfer of scientific discoveries into clinical practice. It has emerged as a scientific discipline rather recently, in order to fill the gap between clinical and basic research area. The term “translational research” was first used in the national cancer program of United States in the 1990s and then gradually appeared in academic context and educational programs worldwide. A PubMed bibliographic search, using “translational research” OR “translational medicine” terms in the title/abstract field of manuscripts published up to 2020, resulted in 13,109 records starting from the early 1990s. The number of published scientific papers has constantly climbed each year over the past decades with nearly 85% of articles having been published in the last 10 years.

Barry S. Coller, vice president for Medical Affairs and Professor of the Rockefeller University, defined translational science as “the application of the scientific method to address a health need”. Indeed, although translational research is built on the progress of basic research sharing technologies and skills with it, it is characterized by the primary mission to quickly transform and apply the acquired theoretical knowledge and experimental breakthroughs into new health products and diagnostic/therapeutic tools. Similarly, the reverse flow of information, materials and skills returning to laboratory bench from the clinic is critical for science progression and it should not be overlooked. Indeed, laboratory research is modeled by the continuous comparison with the clinic integrating questions and observations, efficacy data, and molecular mechanisms. On this regard, the Nobel Laureate biologist Sydney Brenner, stressed the importance of failed clinical trials and patients’ unexpected responses as valuable “human experiments” to stimulate new hypotheses that may help refine the route in its next iteration [ 1 ].

The advent of Precision Medicine has globally revolutionized the approach of research suggesting a patient-centric vision with therapeutic choices driven by the identification of specific predictive biomarkers of response to avoid ineffective therapies and reduce adverse effects. While conventional medicine is historically designed for the “average patient” with a “one-size-fits-all” approach, the new point of view takes into account individual differences in patients.

The final goal is to obtain the most detailed characterization of each patient identifying genetic and molecular singularities through omics technologies, such as next-generation sequencing platforms, immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analysis, microbiota assessment, proteomics, transcriptomic, and metabolomics.

In addition to the implementation of the most innovative “omics” techniques, the ability to develop predictable, reproducible, and reliable preclinical study models is an essential tool to accelerate the successful incorporation of Precision Medicine into mainstream clinical practice. In the oncology field, for instance, the evolution of research technologies has led to the generation of genetically engineered animal models spontaneously developing tumors, patient-derived xenografts and humanized immune-avatar models in which host immune system is replaced by patient’s cells [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Thus, precision animal modeling is the link between individualized care in human and advances in animal technologies and genetic manipulation. To fully accomplish their role, precision animal models have to be designed to reflect the variability observed in human cohorts in order to define downstream functional consequences and to discriminate causal from correlative factors at relevant efficiency [ 7 ]. These study models give the possibility to carry out multi-level exploration of the effects of genetic variants, environmental exposures, or candidate therapeutic strategies in a way that would be impossible or hard to achieve in human studies.

Finally, the increasing amount of multidimensional data streams coming from omics technologies and digital-sensing devices requires the development of standardized methods of data aggregation and analysis, taking advantage from artificial intelligence with emerging computational techniques, such as machine learning as well as sophisticated cloud computing approaches for data sharing. This review will dissect the different aspects of the present and the future of personalized and translational research, specifically focusing on the rapid evolution of omics approaches and of available technologies, highlighting few initiatives as examples of the ongoing projects, and describing the advantages and the challenges of this new era of Medicine.

2. The Evolution of Translational Precision Medicine Research

Although the discipline of Precision Medicine may be considered a relatively young field, the underlying concept is not new and can be found as isolated genial intuitions over the last century. The discovery of blood groups in 1901 by Karl Landsteiner may be accounted as one of the first instances of recognizing differences in patient’s biology and applying a stratification strategy in order to match blood donors with their recipients and improve transfusion safety. However, the predictive ability of science had to wait the development of the surrounding technologic ecosystem to fully show its revolutionary potential.

In the second half of 1950, Friedrich Vogel coined the term “pharmacogenetics” as the study of genetics role in drug response and it has been proposed for the first time that inheritance might explain why many individuals differ in drug efficacy and in adverse reactions susceptibility [ 8 ].

A milestone in Precision Medicine evolution has been reached in 1998 with the approval of the first matched drug and diagnostic test for monoclonal antibody trastuzumab in breast-cancer patients overexpressing HER2 protein. Another breakthrough achievement in molecularly-driven therapeutic strategy was the introduction of imatinib for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia carrying BCR-ABL1 chromosomal translocation [ 9 ].

As the mechanistic knowledge of diseases grew together with technology development, Precision Medicine efforts exponentially increased. The advent of genetic age and the end of Human Genome Project in 2003, involving scientists across six nations to sequence the entire human genome, irreversibly changed healthcare approach.

In 2004, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved the AmpliChip CYP450 pharmacogenetic test, a microarray that classifies patients according to their cytochrome P450 enzymes to determine drug-metabolizing capacity and select the right patient for the right drug at the right dosage. A few years later, the FDA approved a genetic test for CYP2C9 and VKORC1 to improve the prescription of the anticoagulant warfarin [ 10 ].

In the last years, the increased availability of multigene panel tests, whole genome/exome sequencing, and innovative omic technologies have deeply implemented scientific tools of Precision Medicine ( Figure 1 ). It is now clear that we are at the beginning of an epochal paradigm shift in health care that relies heavily on large-scale collection of biological, radiological, and bioinformatics datasets.

Scheme of “MultiOmics” approach(es). Created with Biorender.com.

However, to fully apply Precision Medicine vision, a strong institutional support is needed. Many initiatives are underway to create national implementation strategies for Precision Medicine worldwide [ 11 ]. For instance, in 2012 started in UK the “100,000 Genomes Project” with the aim to sequence 100,000 genomes of people with cancer or rare diseases and their families and match with National Health Service records and clinical information to uncover new diagnoses and improved treatments for patients. In 2018, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the goal of the project has been achieved. In 2015, the National Institute of Health (NIH) launched a Precision Medicine initiative, named “All of Us Research Program”, to study the genomes and health status of 1 million volunteers with the primary goal of rapidly improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. This is a pioneering participant-centered model aimed to guarantee access to leading edge cancer treatment to all patients. In cancer research field, the era of massive sequencing projects led to unprecedented acceleration toward Precision Medicine. In 2020, the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, an interdisciplinary group of researchers from four continents, presented the most comprehensive and ambitious analysis of cancer genomes so far. This worldwide consortium of scientists carried out integrative analyses of 2658 whole-cancer genomes, matching normal tissues and 1188 transcriptomes across 38 tumor types focusing on cancer drivers [ 12 ], non-coding changes [ 13 ], mutational signatures [ 14 ], structural variants [ 15 ], cancer evolution [ 16 ], and RNA alterations [ 17 ]. Such large-scale initiatives from cooperative groups, pooling together huge numbers of samples and clinical data, is a powerful way to uncover new druggable targets which can be used to tailor therapy to individual patients.

Recently, numerous therapeutic development platforms have been proposed, such as the pan-UK multicenter PRECISION-Panc platform to accelerate the translation of preclinical molecular advances into clinical practice for pancreatic cancer patients finding the right trial for each patient [ 18 , 19 ].

Another ground-breaking initiative comes from the U.S. Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) which is the first pancreatic cancer non-profit organization to develop, sponsor, and lead an adaptive nationwide clinical trial platform, the Precision Promise platform trial ( {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT04229004","term_id":"NCT04229004"}} NCT04229004 ).

3. Real-World Data for Translational Research

The rapid technological development that has characterized all the fields of biomedical research in the last years has led to a significant increase of data availability, boosting data dimensionality and inter-actionability.

The validation of new data categories, stemmed out the availability of omics data, opened new frameworks of personalized medicine and translational research.

The number of variables on which the clinical decisional process currently relies in the field of oncology can be considered as a significant example: Abernethy and colleagues have demonstrated that a human is able to simultaneously manage up to five factors in his decision making process (e.g., demographical data like sex or age, signs, and symptoms), while the potential number of decisional variables could rise up several thousand from different knowledge domains (e.g., omics sciences) [ 20 ].

This huge amount of data needs to be collected, categorized, and analyzed using appropriate tools and the use of informatics and artificial intelligence has become therefore crucial to support humans in these tasks.

Electronic health record (EHR) archiving systems have rapidly become fundamental tools and it has been demonstrated that healthcare professionals spend two hours of EHR related back office work for each clinical activity hour dedicated to the patient [ 21 ].

In addition to the traditional sources of data, there is great interest in data harvested from real life contexts, the so called “real world data” (RWD) that are changing data analysis and interpretation paradigms.

Despite their promising use in research activities, a conclusive definition of RWD is still an object of debate in the scientific community, varying from “data that are not collected in conventional randomized clinical trials”, to “data obtained by any non-interventional methodology that describe what is happening in normal clinical practice” [ 22 ].

The European commission has recently released a more comprehensive definition for health RWD, describing them as data collected in medical records, registries, administrative or insurance related databases, or through surveys and mobile applications (accessed on 28 February 2021, https://ec.europa.eu/research/health/pdf/factsheets/real_world_data_factsheet.pdf ).

RWD-based translational applications represent a promising alternative to the traditional evidence-based medicine (EBM) approaches that are based on the use of randomized clinical trials to test the selected hypothesis. The RWD approach should not be considered opposite the traditional EBM, but only different from it in terms of collected data quality and dimension, collection methodologies and interpretation.

More specifically, EBM studies have rigid patients’ inclusion and exclusion criteria and aim to answer to a very specific question (e.g., the efficacy of a given treatment on a specific population affected by a single disease). The results of these studies are then summarized in guidelines that support the clinical decision-making process: despite being practical and easy to use tools, these guidelines hardly take into account the different characteristics of the single patients, limiting the impact and the potentialities of a more comprehensive and aware use of all the available data.

The aforementioned characteristics make standard Randomized Control Trial unable to answer the always more complex questions raised by precision and personalized medicine, requiring a paradigm shift in the generation of clinical and translational scientific evidence [ 23 ].

Researchers aim therefore to integrate RWD in an innovative conjugation of systems medicine, targeting a more efficacious data governance and enhancing data and knowledge transferability.

However, the comprehensive integration of these data still presents numerous flaws connected to different domains, which are no longer contained in the traditional 4Vs of big data (volume, variety, velocity, and veracity) [ 24 ], such as:

• - Classification: with ontological inconsistencies at registry, procedural, and research levels.
• - Quality: with syntactic (e.g., uterine cancer in a man), semantic (e.g., erroneous meaning assignments), or research (e.g., inconsistent correlations) relevance.
• - Privacy and intellectual property.
• - Technical: relative to informatics or computational limits.

These limits do not allow to take full advantage of healthcare RWD as a complete research tool, representing a significant obstacle for their introduction in clinical and research practice, either from an authorization, economical or academic perspectives [ 25 , 26 , 27 ].

The introduction of innovative RWD data management AI-based platforms is therefore strongly needed and will allow a more efficient application of translational-based decisional support systems, personalized approaches and multi-omics predictive models. These tools are able to collect and elaborate previously inconceivable amounts of data, leading clinicians to completely rethink patients’ paths of care, exploring previously unknown correlations among variables relevant to different and apparently not correlated knowledge domains (e.g., patient’s prognosis and the quantitative features of his bioimages) [ 28 ].

The informatics architecture of this kind of platform should provide for the continuous interaction of four structural layers, interconnected and interdependent among them [ 29 ].

The first layer (computing layer) is represented by hardware and software computational resources.

The following second layer (information layer) is represented by a data catalog and data actionability level, that aims to identify the most appropriate ontological and algorithmic approach, moving from traditional statistics approaches (i.e., regression models), to more advanced machine learning, deep learning, and cognitive analysis applications.

The third layer (user layer) is represented by multidisciplinary working groups in which researchers and clinicians interact with information technologists to run the translational analysis and optimize the applied AI tools [ 30 ].

The fourth and last layer (market layer) is oriented towards industrial research partners and stakeholders: synthetic RWD data are exposed for the joint development of models and decisional support systems in protected virtual environments [ 28 , 31 ].

Health data management and interpretation represent for sure one of the most significant and contemporary challenges for all the biomedical sciences and particularly for medicine. New professional figures of clinical data scientists will therefore be needed in the nearest future, open to the introduction and exploration of these innovative research techniques based on the complex AI analysis of translational, clinical, and patient generated RWD.

4. Omics Data for Translational Research

Personalized medicine revolutionized disease treatment along with the parallel development of innovative technologies: (i) omics technology for the digitalization of genetic, biological, and morphological characteristics of patient and pathological tissues; (ii) analytic instruments to directly monitor relevant individual or environmental biological and clinical parameters; (iii) technological analysis of big data (e.g., machine learning and artificial intelligence); and (iv) technology of connection and sharing of the data (file systems, Map-Reduce program systems, resilient distributed datasets, etc.).

The widespread use of omics analyses and sensors, together with the ability to acquire huge clinical, environmental, and behavioral information, will lead to the digitalization of the monitoring of people’s health and disease, and to the creation of a global system of real-time management, toward new opportunity for prevention and therapy of the individual person (high-definition medicine, Figure 2 ).

Schematic comparison of high-definition medicine with conventional approaches. Created with Biorender.com.

Further characterization of tissue/systemic dysfunction at a molecular level will enhance our ability to understand, explain, and apply the omics analyses: genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, interactomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, radiomics, each of these disciplines evaluates different biological and environmental aspects ( Figure 1 ). Moreover, their costs are dramatically decreasing. Although the enormous availability of data, the revolution of the personalized medicine cannot be associated to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) instruments or to the ones that have been developed to acquire and analyze data. In fact, personalized medicine is the product of informatics and engineering sciences meeting life sciences. Multi-modality data integration is necessary, for instance, for precision oncology in which an avatar interface is required, meaning that each oncologic patient should have a specific number of simulations to define the best individual therapeutic scheme.

Among all the several existing omics platforms, those for the analysis of nucleic acids are the most developed and have the lowest costs, although they are the most advanced in the validation practices; for this reason, they also are the most applicable in the clinic practice. Sequences of the human genome significantly aided our comprehension of biological processes, even if many of the obtained information still needs to be elucidated and related to the functions of classes of biomolecules, especially proteins. With increasing accessibility to genomic testing and greater understanding of genomic variation on both an individual and worldwide scale, efforts to promote the integration of genomics—and thus the individualization of health care—into health care systems represent a fundamental gain. Biobanks of human germline DNA samples are being used to generate genomic data linked to clinical information from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in health systems. These biobanks represent a rich resource for the discovery, translationality, and implementation of genomics in medicine. With dense, longitudinal clinical data, her-linked biobanks can boost the study of the natural history of disease, facilitating the implementation of individualized strategies for early detection, prevention, and management of disease. National biobanks are emerging in countries such as the United Kingdom [ 32 ], China [ 33 ], Japan [ 34 ], and others [ 35 ].

Structural genomics in the field of cancer basically investigates the three-dimensional structure of all proteins encoded by a genome using computational techniques along with experimental work, resulting in a comparative analysis where different fields of structural biology can be studied simultaneously. Immunomics identifies the interaction of cancer biology with the individual’s immune system [ 36 ]. Four main types of tumor-specific antigens are commonly recognized: those encoded by oncogenes, those derived from mutation of any one gene, those differentially expressed only in cancer cells, and those encoded by genes overexpressed in certain types of tumors. Thus, it is possible to determine a genomic profile and to also associate it with the development of a certain humoral immune response [ 36 ] or cellular immune response [ 37 , 38 ] in order to obtain an immunomic molecular fingerprint of cancer [ 39 ]. Currently in the postgenomic era, the interaction between different omics data (transcriptomics, proteomics, interactomics and metabolomics) introduced a new concept of disease identification and potential integration of omics in the perspective of personalized medicine, the operomic profile.

Precision Medicine, as the ultimate goal of personalized medicine, is a team effort in which different fields of human biology combine to generate a complete picture that can help to dissect the complexity of diseases. Genomics gives important information about the genetic assessment of a human being, but nothing relevant about gene expression (transcriptome) and whether they are functional (proteomics). Proteins are the functional molecules of cells/tissues that control the complex biological pathways (interactome) necessary for health, and whose dysregulation often leads to disease. Furthermore, human diseases produce measurable changes in the human proteome, and most drug targets are proteins [ 40 ].

Cancer has paved the way for the introduction of Precision Medicine, and several publications on this topic have demonstrated the potential of proteomics, combined with other omics platforms, such as the 2014 Pioneer 100 Persons Wellness Project [ 41 ]. Improved validation methodology will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of approved assays entering the clinic. In this context, interactomics will continue to play an important role, especially in understanding cancer biology and to identify new biomarkers and drug targets [ 42 ].

Undoubtedly, a significant hurdle will be the management of big data, deriving from the enormous amount of oncoproteogenomic data that will be generated, and from large heterogeneous datasets of other resources such EHR or data obtained from smartphone apps and personal monitoring devices, the so-called “Avatar of health” [ 43 ]. Specific new methods to optimize data collection, storage, cleaning, processing, and interpretation have been and will be developed [ 44 ].

The emerging field of digital pathology allowed pathologists to actively contribute to a better understanding of cancer pathogenesis through histo-genomics, the interface between morphology and genomics [ 45 ]. Histo-radiomics, the interface between radiology and histology, is another emerging field that integrates radiological imaging with digital pathology images, genomics, and clinical data, providing a more holistic approach to understanding and treating cancer [ 46 ].

Similar to the association studies in other fields, the epigenomic wide association study (EWAS) detects epigenetic marks associated with a certain phenotype and, to correct the confounding factors in the data, technical and biological covariates are added to the linear regression models used. Epigenetic profiles can be viewed on appropriate web tools, such as UCSC Genome Browser [ 47 ], EpiGenome Browser [ 48 ], or coMET [ 49 ]. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project has produced DNA methylation data for over 10,000 cancer samples [ 50 ]. In addition to validating functional roles in cancer etiopathogenesis, epigenetics has also provided useful diagnostic biomarkers and drug targets, specifically among the most promising classes of cancer biomarkers due to their stability, potential reversibility, and ease of access. Some have been approved in non-invasive cancer diagnosis, such as Cologuard, the first test for colorectal cancer (CRC), or more recently the Epi procolon, both assessing DNA methylation [ 51 ].

Dynamic profiling of intracellular pathways is a fundamental help in understanding molecular processes related to oncopathogenic processes. As example, Oncobox and other similar approaches were effective in finding numerous biomarkers of biological processes applying the study of interactomics to various aspects of oncology [ 52 ].

Metabolomics, still under development in the field of molecular diagnostics, has been particularly used in the study of cancer, achieving promising results, with integration to other platforms [ 53 ].

Knowledge about the tumor microbiome has raised many expectations as a helpful potential tool to improve the lives of cancer patients and their response to specific types of cancer drugs [ 54 ]. In this context, personalized medicine, targeting the microbiota with different strategies (including nutrition, antibiotic selection, probiotic administration, or fecal microbiota transplantation) will become one of the next frontiers for patients, offering new opportunities with therapies tailored to individual patients [ 55 , 56 , 57 ].

The personalized medicine revolution comes from the integrative convergence of important developments in systems biology, the “Internet of Things,” and artificial intelligence that will allow us to enter the so-called 6-P medicine era (Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, Participatory, Psychosocial, and Public). It will impact the health status of society by enabling democratized access to comprehensive and personalized health care, healthy lifestyle, through integrative technological and digital (ICT) approaches, combined with ethics and behavioral sciences, and based on Human Avatar (HA), accurate human models, developed and implemented using omics sciences, big data, and advanced imaging.

This is the vision that inspires the Health EU program (under Horizon H2020-FETFLAG-2018-2020) in its vision to provide a Human Avatar (HA) system, composed of two highly interactive components, on the one hand the Digital Human Avatar (DHA, digital models/representations of organs and physiological functions with their underlying molecular network) and on the other hand the Physical Human Avatar (PHA, a component of the HA that combines experimental data from multi-omics, sensory and imaging sources that can characterize multiple human conditions). The accuracy and predictive ability of a DHA and related models are highly dependent on the quality and standards of the datasets and the technological advances that support the PHA. The two vehicles are highly interactive and together form a unique Human Avatar technology that can be individually customized. While most of the digital computing for Human Avatars will be efficiently distributed among, e.g., fog, and cloud computing, this technology will be accessible and usable by all categories of end users through disruptive Avatar-based human-computer interfaces. New generations of Human Avatar User Interfaces (HAUIs) will be developed, with varying levels of system complexity, interaction, configurability, and advanced visualization capabilities, addressing both the professional needs of healthcare professionals and the demands of citizens, including Healthcare Personal Assistant Device (HPAD) feedback loops and advanced Quantified Self (QS) prevention capabilities and services. In addition, in the future, Human Avatars will become ideal user interfaces for mobile healthcare applications and biobehavioral feedback for healthy living ( Figure 2 ).

5. GerSom and GENERAtOR Projects: Italian Initiatives

Recently, two wide Italian projects have been proposed to draw new models of translational therapeutic development.

The Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS coordinates a project aimed at the validation of a gene panel (GerSom) of Alleanza Contro il Cancro (ACC) within a network of laboratories of scientific institutes for research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS) afferent to ACC in patients with breast, ovarian and colon cancer (ACC-GerSom project) [ 58 ].

This research program aims to study the feasibility of a combined diagnostic process including gene expression quantification and the comprehensive identification of driver and actionable somatic gene alterations in the tumor (for prognostic purposes and definition of the response to therapy), together with the germ line analysis of 172 genes whose pathogenic variants predispose to cancer (CPGs). A further genotyping analysis of ~1,000,000 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) allows for increased prediction the prediction potential of the genetic cancer predisposition. For each patient carrying a genetic predisposition, the analysis is extended to his/her first-degree relatives in order to organize specific prevention plans for those sharing the cancer predisposition pattern.

The possible benefits for the health care system are the promotion of a national database for the interpretation of the clinical significance of mutations in cancer, the implementation of Clinical Trials for the treatment of patients with specific mutations and the sharing of national guidelines for the management of people with such hereditary cancer predisposition (Precision Prevention).

Increasingly, patients are empowered with a greater awareness of the implications of having a specific mutation. Based on the GerSom project is grafted another collaborative project of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli with three other research institutes and an advocacy group of germline mutation carriers, aiming to create knowledge and awareness of the prevention and surveillance processes that hereditary predisposition to cancer involves and to facilitate enrollment in a dedicated clinical trial, to significantly improve social awareness of genetic risk management (project Mutagens).

Another ambitious Italian project is the GEmelli NEtwoRk for Analysis and Tests in Oncology and medical Research (GENERAtOR) research program of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, (Accessed on 28 February 2021 at https://gemelligenerator.it ), which is aimed to offer innovative AI solutions for translational research using the enormous legacy institutional data lake, which is composed by nearly 700 million granular data.

The GENERATOR data analysis multidisciplinary team has developed different AI tools, end user proposals:

Different mini-bots can be realized: one of the most popular examples are: the guardian bot, thought to automatically warn the researchers in case specific events occur (e.g., collection of out of range values); process bot, that identifies deviations from selected guidelines or from the expected behavior of a specific phenomenon; advanced data manager bot that collect and make actionable data of different sources and type (e.g., elastic search and text mining tools that integrate into e-platform lab reports, clinical charts and records, surgical reports, or visits).

Avatars may successfully be used in the setup of virtual trials that will for sure boost the potentialities of these approaches.

• C. Synthetic data packages: these totally anonymized, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant by design, data packages could be used to generate and develop translational and clinical studies in certified and protected virtual environments in which innovative data analysis techniques, coming from knowledge domains other than the traditional biomedical ones, can be successfully applied in the framework of the most fruitful open innovation paradigms.
• D. Advanced radiomics and quantitative bio-imaging analysis tools. These image analysis platforms will enrich the value of standard clinical imaging with new decisional variables and translation meaning, thanks to the extraction of certified radiomics features. In this way also the institutional imaging data-lake can be successfully made actionable, flanking the image scientist in both his clinical and research activities [ 59 , 60 ].
• E. Informatics solutions aiming to integrate data extracted from portable devices (i.e., fitness bracelets and other types of wearables) in the innovative framework of patient generated RWD, e-health 2.0 clinical trials.

The goal of this project was to enhance treatment personalization, efficiently overlooking the articulated domains of translational research and creating previously unknown synergies among the different data sources, integrating them in the research rationale finding and clinical decision making. The previously described projects are in line with the current research trend for personalized medicine in Europe, where similar ongoing and future initiatives have multiplied ( Table 1 ).

EU supported initiatives concerning activities on personalized medicine, in alphabetical order. Source: CORDIS, https://cordis.europa.eu/en (accessed on 5 March 2021). Query: content type = ‘personalized medicine’ AND ‘initiatives’ AND ‘ongoing’.

6. The CERVGEN Project: A Next Step towards Precision Medicine in Cervical Cancer

Moreover, in the wake of the initiatives described so far, the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS has also recently coordinated a project aimed at incorporating biological information into clinical practice in cervical cancer management. The project has involved an interdisciplinary consortium of health professionals with diverse backgrounds, working in different organizations including Hospital (Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS), University (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), and different National Research Centers (ENEA and CNR). Research results have been patented and the scientific paper [ 61 ] recognized with the award “ICPerMed-Best Practice in Personalized Medicine-Recognition 2020”.

Using a proteomic approach, integrated with gene expression profiling, the research team has discovered a panel of three protein-coding genes able to predict neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy treatment outcome, in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Importantly, the dataset collected through qPCR analysis of the three genes has been used as a training dataset to implement and optimize a Random Forest algorithm to classify two groups of patients according to their response to therapy. The approach proposed might be easily exploited in the clinical setting to predict the response of new patients, given the qPCR values of gene expression, as obtained from the pretreatment biopsy analysis. As a future perspective, an inexpensive and easy-to-use RNA-based array will be developed allowing patient allocation to personalized treatment procedures, with possibly higher successful rate and significant benefits to both patients and healthcare system.

7. Data Privacy/Security

Security standards for omics data in electronic health records (EHRs) have not yet sorted out. So far, data generated by omic tests are collected and protected the same as any other laboratory test results. Although it is reasonable in terms of privacy/security, it could poorly feasible due to the fact that often omic results are too large and too sensitive to store within EHRs; for example, a whole genome sequencing contains about 3 billion base pairs and requires up to 150 gigabytes.

Moreover, the biggest challenge to data privacy in the era of personalized medicine is the fact that there are no absolutes; in fact, the perception of privacy is individual and could change depending on the circumstances; within this context clinical and technical practices, technologies and laws should be very sensitive to multiomic data that are not inherently private just because they disclose genetic or other type of personal information. In other words, the legislation of each country should balance between the individual denied consent to record predictive indicators on a health-alert wristband and the usefulness of these information in the management of patient [ 62 ].

An important aspect of the security/privacy issue is also how protected information should be incorporated into HER, solving not only the difficulties of storage as previously explained, but above all addressing the challenge of sensitivity; for example, a whole genome should be strongly protected separating phenotypic information from individual’s demographic data. In this context, the protection processes concern different levels that could be summarize in three phases: (i) the “possession”, that means holding a copy of the data; (ii) the “access”, that regards the permission of consulting data; (iii) the “use”, that implies to formulate or see results derived from the data. Ideally the “data holders” should be minimized, while researchers and providers should have limited access to data, preferably encrypting and anonymizing non-essential details for them. In these regards, federated query across multiple data storage could provide specific responses without having direct access to the data themselves. Some examples are summarized in Table 2 .

Partial examples of data sources and website addresses subdivided for countries. Source: CORDIS, https://cordis.europa.eu/en , accessed on 5 March 2021. Query: content type = ‘personalized medicine’ AND ‘initiatives’ and ‘ongoing’. All URLs in the Table have been accessed on 5 March 2021.

Therefore, the unmet need of each country/government, in the era of personalized medicine, is the establishment of policies to protect the health data of individuals, in terms of confidentiality, privacy, and security, ensuring at the meantime that the community can take advantage from the scientific development deriving from the open use of data [ 63 ].

8. Discussion

This vision of a paradigm shift in healthcare is only possible through engineering advances in sensing, computing, communication, and low energy cloud/fog technologies, along with new modeling and computational approaches to leverage big data, such as artificial intelligence and neuromorphic systems, and such as the design and development of components of a specific data infrastructure and subclass of the Internet of Things called the Internet of Healthcare (IoH). The IoH will have integrated rules for security, privacy, and ethics, and will serve as a reference for future e-Health.

Human Avatars are a practical solution that aims to improve people’s health and disease burden and that can reduce the inefficiency of health care systems due to (a) fragmentation of care, (b) adoption of therapeutic strategies and medications which disregard individual genetic determinants resulting in poor cost effectiveness, and (c) lack of active participation in disease prevention and management and poor patient compliance. The basic idea is to facilitate the collaborative work of doctors by providing them with individualized and holistic data and to empower and actively involve each individual in managing their own health risks. Both these measures should promote wellness and reduce inequalities and costs in health care systems.

Although there has long been a need and recognition that translational effectiveness from research to care requires the systematic access and integration of research and health care at a large scale and possibly across institutions and countries, identifying reliable tools to integrate datasets remains one of the most daunting challenges faced by the field. Combining omics data into a single model is also fraught with controversy, and to date, one of the unmet needs is the identification of a consensual and robust methodology [ 64 ].

In more general terms, one of the main obstacles to data integration is data comparability and consistency. Biomedical data are often heterogeneous, incomplete, and inaccurate by nature. Even the task of obtaining and integrating electronic health records (EHRs) across hospitals, within a country, has proven to be much more complex than expected, even in the most advanced health systems [ 65 ]. Initiatives are underway in Europe to establish robust platforms for collecting and sharing standardized data, such as DIFUTURE in Germany [ 66 ] (10.3414/ME17-02-0022) and other similar initiatives in individual EU states, such as Alleanza contro il Cancro in Italy [ 67 ]. Compared to the United States, one Europe advantage seems to be the ability to generate networks such as Data Integration Centers that could collect and process data at national and supranational levels.

The introduction of machine learning within artificial intelligence (AI) approaches seems particularly well suited to address these challenges, although even within this field the amount of original data and its proper standardization remain of paramount importance [ 68 , 69 ]. Moreover, on several levels beyond the obvious privacy concerns, artificial intelligence poses serious concerns, including adversarial attacks [ 70 ], for which appropriate ethical boundaries would need to be implemented [ 71 ].

Thus, the new era of big data in medicine offers several new challenges, as well as great opportunities, to improve the health of humankind, not only for rich nations, but also for developing countries. Patients, doctors, clinical lab technicians, and researchers would need to gain new knowledge, and most importantly interact and acquire new mind-sets and perspectives, leading to a completely overhauled healthcare ecosystem [ 72 ]. Clinicians would need to engage in more pervasive interaction with clinical laboratory technicians and researchers to have a more effective interaction. In addition, patients would be required to become more disease aware, with the ultimate goal of removing barriers that still prevent the delivery of the best treatments to patients, leading to a form of “participatory” medicine between patients, clinicians, and their community [ 73 ]. Along these lines, the entire matrix of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom (DIKW) has been proposed for personalized medicine, in which “smart, empowered patients” can take a primary and leading role in their own health, taking greater responsibility for their own health and well-being [ 74 ].

9. Conclusions

To realize these exciting prospects, it is critical to address the challenges that underlie safe and effective technological innovation in this area by developing consensus standards through the identification and discussion of priority short- and long-term challenges. Changes in cultural and educational paradigms are needed at various levels, including the shift to data sharing. Only if the research community is conceptually ready to share and integrate data across the globe, will the AI tools be able to meet high expectations and contribute positively to the advancement of biomedical research.

Acknowledgments

We thank Stefania Boccia for the counseling and the precious suggestions in the revision of this paper. This work was supported by the AIRC IG n° 18599 to G.T. and n° 23190 to R.D.M., and AIRC5X1000 n° 9979 to R.D.M.; Italian Ministry of Education—Prin 2017L8FWY8 to R.D.M.; My First AIRC Grant “Luigi Bonatti e Anna Maria Bonatti Rocca” n° 23681 to C.C.; Sanofi Genzyme research to care 2019 to C.C. We also acknowledge for their support ICPerMed Recognition 2020 and EU Commission.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, M.D., G.D.S., G.P., C.C., L.B., D.G., G.B., A.P. and G.D.; formal analysis and resources, G.D.S., C.C., G.P., L.B., D.G. and G.B.; writing—original draft preparation, G.D.S., L.B., C.C., G.P., M.T., D.G. and G.B.; writing—critical review and editing, A.C., G.T., V.V., R.D.M.M. and M.D.; visualization, G.S., R.D.M.M., G.T., V.V., A.C. and M.D.; supervision, investigation, and project administration, G.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

A.P. worked at AstraZeneca medical affair division from March 2015 to December 2018 and received personal fee from GSK and AstraZeneca. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Home » Blog » Meet Our 2024-25 Fellows: Shengqiao Lin

Meet Our 2024-25 Fellows: Shengqiao Lin

Earlier this summer,  we announced the recipients of our 2024-25 An Wang and Hou Family fellowships . Now, we would like our community to get to know these special scholars a bit better. 

First, meet  Shengqiao Lin , one of our new  An Wang Postdoctoral Fellows . Lin holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. His research centers on the political economy of development, state-business relations, and industrial policies, with a regional focus on China. Lin’s dissertation is about how private businesses mitigate political risk in China and how these state-business interactions shape developmental outcomes, such as economic growth, poverty alleviation, and technology innovation.

In addition to pursuing his own research goals at the Fairbank Center this year, Shengqiao will work alongside our other An Wang Fellow,  David Qihang Wu , on collaborative research projects related to China and the global political economy under the guidance of  Meg Rithmire , Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, and  David Yang , Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for History and Economics at Harvard.

In this brief Q&A, Shengqiao shares the motivation behind his research, discusses new opportunities that technological advancements afford him and others in his field, and reveals the very scientific method he used to ensure he’d clinch his “dream job” as An Wang Fellow.

What excites you most about the research you will be doing this academic year?

This year, I will be further developing my existing research, focusing on the interactions between Chinese private enterprises and the government over the past decade. This includes examining the political risks faced by these enterprises, their strategies for managing risks, and the economic and governance impacts of these interactions. The research is a crucial part of my planned book project. 

I decided to focus on this topic for my Ph.D. dissertation, at the end of 2020, studying China’s political-business relations up to that point and completing several research papers. It’s a great time to revisit this topic. On the one hand, there have been significant changes in China’s political-business relations in recent years, especially with the fiscal pressures from local debt and the impact of international politics and U.S.-China competition. These important factors were not thoroughly considered in my dissertation, which is something I have always wanted to address. On the other hand, social science research methods have advanced significantly in the past year with the development of large-scale language models, which provide more effective and cost-efficient ways to handle unstructured data, including data that was previously overlooked due to analysis costs or difficulty. I am excited to use these improved methods to analyze newer materials this year, which in turn will help me develop a more complete understanding of China’s political-business relations.

What made you decide that the Fairbank Center was the right place for you to be at this point in your academic career?

For scholars and students engaged in China studies, having the opportunity to work at the Fairbank Center is a great honor. During the course of my job search, the An Wang Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Fairbank Center seemed like a dream job (I even shared a lucky koi post on Weibo to wish for good fortune for this opportunity). The reason for my strong interest is that the Fairbank Center brings together many distinguished scholars who have long been focused on, and are genuinely trying to understand, China, many of whom have written essential publications in our field. I am looking forward to engaging directly with the authors of these key works and gaining deeper insights into China. Additionally, I am very excited about the interdisciplinary environment centered on China studies. As a political scientist, I am acutely aware of the limitations of my discipline, and I am eager to learn from scholars with different disciplines and approaches. Perhaps most exciting is the opportunity to be mentored by two rising stars in the study of Chinese political economy. I believe their guidance will be invaluable for the long-term development of my academic career.

What’s your response to the recent Third Plenum, and what kind of immediate or long-term influence do you think it might have on the state’s relationship with private businesses?

Although many observers have made efforts to scrutinize every detail, the Third Plenum Decision has not made significant adjustments to the current policy direction. Besides incorporating the concept of “New Quality Productive Forces” (新质生产力), which has been under discussion for some time, there doesn’t seem to be much newness. Market and public reactions also reflect this sentiment: the report has not been particularly exciting, nor has it made people more optimistic about China’s economic prospects. The report outlines several commendable goals and even specifies targets for reforms, but achieving these goals appears to require various subtle balances. Consequently, it is difficult for entrepreneurs to regain confidence in investment. An even more awkward reality is that the central government’s reform targets focus on key areas of international competition, but the vast majority of private enterprises do not fall into these areas and may even lose favor in the financial markets due to national priorities. On the other hand, some reforms that might increase the burden on businesses, such as expanding local tax sources, could make entrepreneurs and investors feel particularly uneasy.

What are you most excited to do during your time in Cambridge?

I am very much looking forward to life in Cambridge. Having previously lived in Austin, Texas, for six years, this will be my first time experiencing life in the New England region. I’m excited to explore a different style of American living. I also look forward to participating in various cultural exchanges and lectures, taking advantage of the many universities and cultural institutions in the area. Additionally, I am eager to enjoy the nature reserves and coastal scenery, and I’m excited about the upcoming NBA season.

Did you read any books or articles this summer that you would like to recommend?

This summer, I am reading  Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity   (PublicAffairs, 2023) by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. So far, I have been enjoying it a lot, especially as it has sparked many thoughts about current technological advancements.