Translational Health Research Research Articles

Translational pathway of a novel PFF2 respirator with chitosan nanotechnology: from the concept to the practical applications

Introduction:Translational Health Research (THR) is a tool aimed at assisting in the transformation of basic and/or applied scientific research into a health technology ready for commercialization. The aim of this study is to present the translational pathway in wich our research group developed a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) called VESTA® Facial Respirator with chitosan nanotechnology for protection against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. The aim of this study is to present the process of THR applied to a health technology research.Methods:The theoretical-methodological process of THR was applied to the Research and Development (R&D) of the respirator. This method is characterized by subsequent phases, as follow: T (0)—Concept, T (1) Pre-Clinical, T (2) Clinical, T (3) Industrial Scale Production, and T (4) Characterized by subsequent phases, as follow: Technological Evaluation.Results:Applying the THR process in the development and production of the Particulate Filtering Facepiece class 2 (PFF2) respirator with chitosan nanotechnology, University of Brasilia was able to transform the research idea into a respirator approved by the National Regulatory Agency for industrial-scale production within 24 months. The THR process is not a linear action; this flexibility allows essential activities for transforming research into a marketable product.Discussion:The integration among various stakeholders right from the genesis of research is a driving force for the effective utilization of results. The maturity of the country’s industrial sector is crucial for converting university research into a marketable product, and governments need to prioritize these products in healthcare system incorporations. The academic culture of scientific research needs to intensify the technological transfer phase of its inventions. Conclusion: In less than 24 months, the University of Brasilia translated research on a new PPE into the market by applying the THR method.

158 Building a National Network for Collaborative Quantitative Staff

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Quantitative Staff are an essential workforce for biomedical research. While faculty can engage with peers locally and through national organizations, similar opportunities are limited for staff and often do not meet their unique needs and interests. Creating a professional community is valuable for supporting and developing this workforce. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We established the Quantitative Scientific Staff National Network (QS2N2) with the mission to provide professional development and networking opportunities, and to serve as an information resource and advocate through the fostering of community among staff quantitative analysts at any career stage. The initial membership outreach was to all Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) programs through members of ACTS BERD Special Interest Group (SIG). We created a Leadership Team and an Advisory Board consisting of staff and faculty biostatisticians with experience working as or managing staff to govern the network. A Core Planning Committee consisting of 15 members guides planning, implementation, and execution of network activities as operationalized through subcommittees. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The network currently has 131 members from over 30 health science institutions. Subcommittees focused on Education and Training, Membership, Communication and Web Development, and Mentoring were created and are developing events, programs and infrastructure to further the network’s mission. Network events such as webinars will be offered quarterly; with our first event planned for Nov 3rd. Expansion and maturation of QS2N2 will be done through regular remote meetings where members can connect with peers at other institutions, engage in career development activities, and attend technical seminars. Additional membership outreach will seek to connect with staff in government and private sectors. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Knowledgeable, highly skilled collaborative analysts (e.g., biostatisticians, data scientists) are an essential workforce in clinical and translational science and health research centers.The QS2N2 will support professional development, engagement and growth of this critical workforce which is necessary to advance quality research.

525 A Library-CTSI Collaboration to Support Researcher Compliance with the 2023 NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Seeking ways to support teams in the preparation for and the implementation of the new National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy for Data Management and Sharing (DMSP), the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) partnered with the UVA Health Sciences Library to develop training and resources for researchers. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Health sciences librarians and iTHRIV (an NIH-NCATS supported Clinical Translational Research Institute) convened a Working Group, inviting representatives from central and unit-specific research support offices (e.g. the Comprehensive Cancer Center), research compliance, regulatory affairs, sponsored programs, institutional review boards, libraries, and data science to review and discuss the DMSP requirements. After an initial orientation to the policy, the group reviewed existing public resources and solicited feedback about steps to best support UVA researchers in compliance. Leveraging the broad expertise of the group, the team provides guidance to researchers on writing the DMS plan and choosing a data repository, and provides tools and templates to support implementation of the policy. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A library-created website provided policy guidance, including links to NIH-hosted information, resources created by other institutions, and new UVA-specific templates and suggested proposal language. Librarians led a webinar on the new policy and UVA resources which included a speaker from UVA regulatory affairs to describe the new DMSP requirements, and a tour of the new guide. The guide has been viewed over 5000 times to date and librarians have provided consultations and training to individuals and departments. Current plans include developing a user satisfaction survey, reviewing DMSP feedback from submitted proposals, and incorporating lessons learned into the website and future training. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The collaboration between iTHRIV and the Health Sciences Library to support the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy was a successful partnership that provided leadership at the institutional level to communicate with and engage researchers and utilized the library’s web presence, expertise, and service model to provide direct support.

The impact of a regionally based translational cancer research collaborative in Australia using the FAIT methodology

BackgroundTranslating research, achieving impact, and assessing impact are important aspirations for all research collaboratives but can prove challenging. The Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (HCRA) was funded from 2014 to 2021 to enhance capacity and productivity in cancer research in a regional centre in Australia. This study aimed to assess the impact and benefit of the HCRA to help inform future research investments of this type.MethodThe Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) was selected as the preferred methodology. FAIT incorporates three validated methodologies for assessing impact: 1) Modified Payback; 2) Economic Analysis; and 3) Narrative overview and case studies. All three FAIT methods are underpinned by a Program Logic Model. Data were collected from HCRA and the University of Newcastle administrative records, directly from HCRA members, and website searches.ResultsIn addition to advancing knowledge and providing capacity building support to members via grants, fellowships, scholarships, training, events and targeted translation support, key impacts of HCRA-member research teams included: (i) the establishment of a regional biobank that has distributed over 13,600 samples and became largely self-sustaining; (ii) conservatively leveraging $43.8 M (s.a.$20.5 M - $160.5 M) in funding and support from the initial $9.7 M investment; (iii) contributing to clinical practice guidelines and securing a patent for identification of stem cells for endometrial cell regeneration; (iv) shifting the treatment paradigm for all tumour types that rely on nerve cell innervation, (v) development and implementation of the world’s first real-time patient treatment verification system (Watchdog); (vi) inventing the effective ‘EAT’ psychological intervention to improve nutrition and outcomes in people experiencing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer; (vi) developing effective interventions to reduce smoking rates among priority groups, currently being rolled out to disadvantaged populations in NSW; and (vii) establishing a Consumer Advisory Panel and Consumer Engagement Committee to increase consumer involvement in research.ConclusionUsing FAIT methodology, we have demonstrated the significant impact and downstream benefits that can be achieved by the provision of infrastructure-type funding to regional and rural research collaboratives to help address inequities in research activity and health outcomes and demonstrates a positive return on investment.

What impact has the Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health made in the field of gastrointestinal health in Australia and internationally? Study protocol for impact evaluation using the FAIT framework

IntroductionThe need for public research funding to be more accountable and demonstrate impact beyond typical academic outputs is increasing. This is particularly challenging and the science behind this form of...

Computational resources and chemoinformatics for translational health research.

The integration of computational resources and chemoinformatics has revolutionized translational health research. It has offered a powerful set of tools for accelerating drug discovery. This chapter overviews the computational resources and chemoinformatics methods used in translational health research. The resources and methods can be used to analyze large datasets, identify potential drug candidates, predict drug-target interactions, and optimize treatment regimens. These resources have the potential to transform the drug discovery process and foster personalized medicine research. We discuss insights into their various applications in translational health and emphasize the need for addressing challenges, promoting collaboration, and advancing the field to fully realize the potential of these tools in transforming healthcare.

Baseline characteristics of children in the International PANS Registry (IPR) Epidemiology Study

PurposeThe International PANS Registry (IPR) Epidemiology Study is a registry-based, longitudinal study. We designed this study to improve phenotyping and characterisation of children with paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and...

The Iowa Health Data Resource (IHDR): an innovative framework for transforming the clinical health data ecosystem.

This manuscript will be of interest to most Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) as they retool for the increasing emphasis on translational science from translational research. This effort is an extension of the EDW4R work that most CTSAs have done to deploy infrastructure and tools for researchers to access clinical data. The Iowa Health Data Resource (IHDR) is a strategic investment made by the University of Iowa to improve access to real-world health data. The goals of IHDR are to improve the speed of translational health research, to boost interdisciplinary collaboration, and to improve literacy about health data. The first objective toward this larger goal was to address gaps in data access, data literacy, lack of computational environments for processing Personal Health Information (PHI) and the lack of processes and expertise for creating transformative datasets. A three-pronged approach was taken to address the objective. The approach involves integration of an intercollegiate team of non-informatics faculty and staff, a data enclave for secure patient data analyses, and novel comprehensive datasets. To date, all five of the health science colleges (dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health) have had at least one staff and one faculty member complete the two-month experiential learning curriculum. Over the first two years of this project, nine cohorts totaling 36 data liaisons have been trained, including 18 faculty and 18 staff. IHDR data enclave eliminated the need to duplicate computational infrastructure inside the hospital firewall which reduced infrastructure, hardware and human resource costs while leveraging the existing expertise embedded in the university research computing team. The creation of a process to develop and implement transformative datasets has resulted in the creation of seven domain specific datasets to date. The combination of people, process, and technology facilitates collaboration and interdisciplinary research in a secure environment using curated data sets. While other organizations have implemented individual components to address EDW4R operational demands, the IHDR combines multiple resources into a novel, comprehensive ecosystem IHDR enables scientists to use analysis tools with electronic patient data to accelerate time to science.

Research Translation and Impact of a Program of Work to Support Carers of a Person with Depressive or Anxiety Symptoms

In 2018, Every Mind responded to a lack of research into supports for carers of a person with depressive or anxiety symptoms, by designing, piloting, and implementing an online support program targeting these carers. Previous publications have documented several benefits of this research, such as the program’s feasibility, acceptability, and trends in efficacy. Although these results are promising, a deeper examination of the societal and economic significance of the research is warranted. The present study utilised the Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational Health Research (FAIT) and examined program documentation to retrospectively assess the benefits, costs and lessons learned from the Minds Together research. The results revealed that the benefits were widespread, particularly in capacity building. The economic analysis found a return on investment of over $80,000 AUD 2022. The study also emphasised the role of research centre staff in communicating and disseminating research findings. The retrospective application of FAIT to the Minds Together program proved feasible and has provided valuable insights. The present study highlights the comprehensive benefits of Minds Together beyond the trial outcomes reported in previous studies and emphasises the advantages of using health economics methodologies to examine the impacts of research targeting informal carers.

Improving the accuracy of blood pressure measuring devices in Australia: a modelled return on investment study

The VALID BP project was initiated to increase the availability of validated blood pressure measuring devices (BPMDs). The goal is to eliminate non validated BPMDs and minimise over- and underdiagnosis of hypertension caused by inaccurate readings. This study was undertaken to assess the potential return on investment in the VALID BP project. The Framework to Assess the Impact of Translational Health Research was applied to the VALID BP project. This paper focuses on the implementation of the cost benefit analysis aspect of this framework to monetise past research investment and model future research costs, implementation costs, and benefits. Analysis was based on reasoned assumptions about potential impacts from availability and use of validated BPMDs (assuming an end goal of 100% validated BPMDs available in Australia by 2028) and improved skills leading to more accurate BP measurement. After 5 years, with 20% attribution of benefits, there is a potential $1.14–$1.30 return for every dollar spent if the proportion of validated BPMDs and staff trained in proper BP measurement technique increased from 20% to 60%. After eight years (2020–2028) and assuming universal validation and training coverage, the returns would be between $2.70 and $3.20 per dollar spent (not including cost of side effects of unnecessary medication or downstream patient impacts from unmanaged hypertension). This modelled economic analysis indicates there will be positive downstream economic benefits if the availability of validated BPMDs is increased. The findings support ongoing efforts toward a universal regulatory framework for BPMDs and can be considered within more detailed future economic analyses.

Building our research administrator workforce as our clinical and translational research programs become increasingly complex.

Introduction: Research administrators (RA's) are critical members of the research workforce. For purposes of this article, research administrators are personnel who support the development, compliance, management, and financial oversight of sponsored research. There are currently very few institutional career development and mentoring programs available to research administrators. Recruitment and retention of quality research administrators has been especially challenging across the country in recent years. Methods: In an effort to address this gap in training and to increase recruitment and retention, the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV), a collaborative NIH-NCATS funded Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) hub, has developed an innovative program of workforce development and mentoring for research administrators. This article provides an overview of one institutional training and development initiative, the Research Administration Program for Training and Resources (RAPTR). RAPTR provides training, resources and mentoring to develop a Community of Practice. Results: The program provides a forum where research administrators can share ideas, practices, and challenges. Discussion: This manuscript describes the benefits and lessons learned from our early experience in this program. We highlight selected components that may be generalizable to other institutions and describe individualized components, which require local policies and processes.

Qualitative Methodology in Translational Health Research: Current Practices and Future Directions.

Translational health research is an interdisciplinary field aimed at bridging the gap between basic science studies, preventative studies, and clinical practice to improve health-related outcomes. Qualitative research methods provide a unique perspective on the emotional, social, cultural, and contextual factors that influence health and healthcare and thus are recognized as valuable tools for translational health research. This approach can be embedded within a mixed method design which complements the quantitative findings. This methodological paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the fundamental concepts and methodologies used in qualitative research, emphasizing their utilization and significance in translational health research. Several approaches to qualitative research methodology are discussed in this review, including ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, and action research. Theoretical frameworks such as the social-ecological model, intersectionality, and participatory action research are also examined to provide a structure for understanding and interpreting complex health issues. This methodological paper also reviews commonly used sampling techniques such as purposive, snowball, convenience, theoretical, and maximum variation sampling, along with data collection methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, observation, document analysis, and participatory methods. Moreover, data analysis techniques such as thematic analysis, grounded theory, content analysis, narrative analysis, and reflexive analysis, are discussed in the context of translational health. Overall, this review highlights the challenges and opportunities of using qualitative methods in current practice, while also discussing future directions and providing valuable guidance and insights to researchers interested in conducting qualitative research in translational health.

Advances in Precision Medicine Approaches for Type 2 Diabetes Management: A Comprehensive Review

Projections indicate that, approximately 700 million people will be living with diabetes by 2050, a figure that has doubled in the previous twenty years. The rising cost of type 2 diabetes care might be reduced and existing treatment gaps could be closed with the help of precision medicine. Taking into consideration each individual unique genetic, environmental, and behavioral characteristic, precision medicine is a new approach to treatment. The primary goal of precision medication is to accurately foresee how a patient will respond to treatment. It may be used as a prophylactic strategy for the whole population because of how broadly it applies. Medication, weight reduction, regular exercise, and a nutritious diet all work together to prevent type 2 diabetes. Optimizing metabolic control is one way in which this kind of diabetes therapy has a probability to reduce death rates and improve standard of life. Inadequate funding for translational health research, incompatible data formats, a lack of system interoperability, a lack of decision-making support systems, and a lack of IT infrastructure support are just some of the obstacles to the widespread utilization of precision medicine technologies in clinical practice. Forecast translation of scientific results into practical applications may be aided by the creation of a worldwide clinical studies group dedicated to raising public understanding and appreciation of the great advantages of precision medicine in treating diabetes.

Generative AI as a Tool for Environmental Health Research Translation.

One valuable application for generative artificial intelligence (AI) is summarizing research studies for non-academic readers. We submitted five articles to Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) for summarization, and asked the article's author to rate the summaries. Higher ratings were assigned to more insight-oriented activities, such as the production of eighth-grade reading level summaries, and summaries highlighting the most important findings and real-world applications. The general summary request was rated lower. For the field of environmental health science, no-cost AI technology such as ChatGPT holds the promise to improve research translation, but it must continue to be improved (or improve itself) from its current capability.

Impact assessment of the Centre for Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery

BackgroundResearch impact is an emerging measure of research achievement alongside traditional academic outputs such as publications. We present the results of applying the Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) to the Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) in Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery (CRE-Stroke, 2014–2019) and report on the feasibility and lessons from the application of FAIT to a CRE rather than a discrete research project.MethodsData were gathered via online surveys, in-depth interviews, document analysis and review of relevant websites/databases to report on the three major FAIT methods: the modified Payback Framework, an assessment of costs against monetized consequences, and a narrative account of the impact generated from CRE-Stroke activities. FAIT was applied during the last 4 years of CRE-Stroke operation.ResultsWith an economic investment of AU$ 3.9 million over 5 years, CRE-Stroke delivered a return on investment that included AU$ 18.8 million in leveraged grants, fellowships and consultancies. Collectively, CRE-Stroke members produced 354 publications that were accessed 470,000 times and cited over 7220 times. CRE-Stroke supported 26 PhDs, 39 postdocs and seven novice clinician researchers. There were 59 capacity-building events benefiting 744 individuals including policy-makers and consumers. CRE-Stroke created research infrastructure (including a research register of stroke survivors and a brain biobank), and its global leadership produced international consensus recommendations to influence the stroke research landscape worldwide. Members contributed to the Australian Living Stroke Guidelines: four researchers’ outputs were directly referenced. Based only on the consequences that could be monetized, CRE-Stroke returned AU$ 4.82 for every dollar invested in the CRE.ConclusionThis case example in the developing field of impact assessment illustrates how researchers can use evidence to demonstrate and report the impact of and returns on research investment. The prospective application of FAIT by a dedicated research impact team demonstrated impact in broad categories of knowledge-gain, capacity-building, new infrastructure, input to policy and economic benefits. The methods can be used by other research teams to provide comprehensive evidence to governments and other research funders about what has been generated from their research investment but requires dedicated resources to complete.

Current ethical and social issues in epidemiology.

The American College of Epidemiology held its 2021 Annual Meeting virtually, September 8-10, with a conference theme of 'From Womb to Tomb: Insights from Health Emergencies'. The American College of Epidemiology Ethics Committee hosted a symposium session in recognition of the ethical and social challenges brought to light by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and on the occasion of the publication of the third edition of the classic text, Ethics and Epidemiology. The American College of Epidemiology Ethics Committee invited the book editor and contributing authors to present at the symposium session titled 'Current Ethical and Social Issues in Epidemiology.' The purpose of this paper is to further highlight the ethical challenges and presentations. Three speakers with expertise in ethics, health law, health policy, global health, health information technology, and translational research in epidemiology and public health were selected to present on the social and ethical issues in the current landscape. Dr. S Coughlin presented on the 'Ethical and Social Issues in Epidemiology',Dr. L Beskow presented on 'Ethical Challenges in Genetic Epidemiology',and Dr. K Goodman presented on the 'Ethics of Health Informatics'. New digital sources of data and technologies are driving the ethical challenges and opportunities in epidemiology and public health as it relates to the three emerging topic areas identified: (1) digital epidemiology, (2) genetic epidemiology, and (3) health informatics. New complexities such as the reliance on social media to control infectious disease outbreaks and the introduction of computing advancements are requiring re-evaluation of traditional bioethical frameworks for epidemiology research and public health practice. We identified several cross-cutting ethical and social issues related to informed consent, benefits, risks and harms, and privacy and confidentiality and summarized these alongside more nuanced ethical considerations such as algorithmic bias, group harms related to data (mis)representation, risks of misinformation, return of genomic research results, maintaining data security, and data sharing. We offered an integrated synthesis of the stages of epidemiology research planning and conduct with the ethical issues that are most relevant in these emerging topic areas. New realities exist for epidemiology and public health as professional groups who are faced with addressing population health, and especially given the recent pandemic and the widespread use of digital tools and technologies. Many ethical issues can be understood in the context of existing ethical frameworks; however, they have yet to be clearly identified or connected with the new technical and methodological applications of digital tools and technologies currently in use for epidemiology research and public health practice. To address current ethical challenges, we offered a synthesis of traditional ethical principles in public health science alongside more nuanced ethical considerations for emerging technologies and aligned these with lifecycle stages of epidemiology research. By critically reflecting on the impact of new digital sources of data and technologies on epidemiology research and public health practice, specifically in the control of infectious outbreaks, we offered insights on cultivating these new areas of professional growth while striving to improve population health.

Clinical psychological science must move beyond documenting disparities in LGBTQ health toward eliminating them.

Psychology and other disciplines have exceptionally documented sexual orientation and gender identity disparities in mental and physical health outcomes with psychological antecedents. Research on sexual and gender minority (SGM) health has seen impressive growth, including the launch of dedicated conferences, journals, and designation as a disparity population for U.S. federal research purposes. From 2015 to 2020, the number of SGM-focused research projects funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) increased by 66.1% (cf. 21.8% for all NIH projects). SGM health research has expanded beyond HIV (73.0% of NIH's SGM projects in 2015 down to 59.8% in 2020) into other domains, such as mental health (41.6%), substance use disorders (23%), violence (7.2%), and transgender (21.9%) and bisexual (17.2%) health. Yet, only 8.9% of projects were clinical trials testing interventions. The need for more research on later stages in the translational research spectrum (i.e., mechanisms, intervention, implementation) to eradicate SGM health disparities is the focus of our Viewpoint article. First, research to eliminate SGM health disparities must move toward multilevel interventions aimed at cultivating health, wellbeing, and thriving. Second, research to test how psychological theories apply to SGM people can inform new theories or extend existing ones, which can spur new areas of inquiry. Third, translational SGM health research would benefit from a developmental lens to identify protective and promotive factors across the life span. Finally, using mechanistic findings to inform, develop, disseminate, and implement interventions to reduce SGM health disparities is crucial at this time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Cannabis for endometriosis-related pain and symptoms: It's high time that we see this as a legitimate treatment.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and GynaecologyVolume 63, Issue 1 p. 118-120 Current Controversies Cannabis for endometriosis-related pain and symptoms: It's high time that we see this as a legitimate treatment Mike Armour, Corresponding Author Mike Armour [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-7539-9851 NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ), Wellington, New Zealand Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia Correspondence: Dr Mike Armour, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney Australia. Locked Bag 1797 Penrith New South Wales 2751 Australia. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJustin Sinclair, Justin Sinclair NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author Mike Armour, Corresponding Author Mike Armour [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-7539-9851 NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ), Wellington, New Zealand Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia Correspondence: Dr Mike Armour, NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney Australia. Locked Bag 1797 Penrith New South Wales 2751 Australia. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJustin Sinclair, Justin Sinclair NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajo.13642Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume63, Issue1February 2023Pages 118-120 RelatedInformation

Phenomenology as a resource for translational research in mental health: methodological trends, challenges and new directions.

This editorial reflects on current methodological trends in translational research in mental health. It aims to build a bridge between two fields that are frequently siloed off from each other: interventional research and phenomenologically informed research. Recent years have witnessed a revival of phenomenological approaches in mental health, often - but not only - as a means of connecting the subjective character of experience with neurobiological explanatory accounts of illness. Rich phenomenological knowledge accrued in schizophrenia, and wider psychosis research, has opened up new opportunities for improving prediction, early detection, diagnosis, prognostic stratification, treatment and ethics of care. Novel qualitative studies of delusions and hallucinations have challenged longstanding assumptions about their nature and meaning, uncovering highly complex subjective dimensions that are not adequately captured by quantitative methodologies. Interdisciplinary and participatory research efforts, informed by phenomenological insights, have prompted revisions of pre-established narratives of mental disorder dominated by a dysfunction framework and by researcher-centric outcome measures. Despite these recent advances, there has been relatively little effort to integrate and translate phenomenological insights across applied clinical research, with the goal of producing more meaningful, patient-valued results. It is our contention that phenomenological psychopathology - as the basic science of psychiatry - represents an important methodology for advancing evidence-based practices in mental health, and ultimately improving real-world outcomes. Setting this project into motion requires a greater emphasis on subjectivity and the structures of experience, more attention to the quality and patient-centredness of outcome measures, and the identification of treatment targets that matter most to patients.

Translational Health Research: where are we going?

Translational Health Research: where are we going?