Letter From the President
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, with less labor and more fun! I was reflecting on the past week. I was at a meeting with faculty, staff, and community members. We were assembled for one purpose: goal-setting for a vital institutional center. As is usually done during these kinds of meetings, people were assigned to a group to share ideas and report out the group consensus. During the course of the meeting, a number of ideas brought up during the summaries were spontaneously modified by attendees. We were reminded during the day that some words are pejorative to some populations—words we use frequently, such as stakeholders and pipeline. Better words to use might be constituents/people, and pathway. Some were unnerved by the use of the words “data collection”/”data dashboard”, and even “data” to describe the work we do in the field because they felt it consigned them to being a number, rather than a person. This reminded us that the words we use really matter. Even though there was a high degree of diversity in geography, race/ethnicity and discipline, not everyone felt they belonged at the meeting. One person suggested that they did not really feel like they belonged because they were not a Dr. X. Because we were not always using plain language to describe the accomplishments some people felt they should not be there because they did not understand all of the language and charts. Some almost felt “guilty” because they were having a good meal in a nice venue with air conditioning. Lastly, I was reminded of the obligation to treat everyone with respect. There was a high degree of respect shown to everyone by all attendees, even when there were differences in expectations, goals and presentations. Facilitators and presenters quickly got the message that they needed to work on their style and put concepts into plain language, to adjust their choice of words and to open up a dialogue such that everyone would know we respected them and feel that they belonged.
While we all have adjustments to make when working with our partners, the first step is realizing we need to make adjustments, and then change. The best way to do this is to have our community partners by our side, in a meaningful way, so they know they belong, know that we respect them, and can be trusted.
Linda B. Cottler, PhD, MPH, FACE
ACTS President
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) SIG
The Association for Clinical and Translational Science has approved a new special interest group focused on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). Current plans are as follows:
- Serve as a community for ACTS members interested in working to improve JEDI in clinical and translational science
- Conduct working groups for papers and other products relating to JEDI in the workforce and health equity research
- Potentially provide training sessions open to ACTS members
- Potentially provide direct peer mentoring to diverse ACTS members
If this sounds interesting, you may want to get involved! To join the JEDI SIG, please email EndersLab@mayo.edu. In addition, please mark your calendar for our first meeting on Monday, October 3 from 12-1 p.m. Central Time. The SIG will meet from 12-1 p.m. Central Time the first Monday of each month.
Important note: For the JEDI SIG, “diversity” is defined as groups at a negative power differential within US society, including: under-represented based on race or ethnicity; sex and gender minorities (LGBTQIA+); identification as a woman; people living with physical challenges, neurodiversity, or emotional or mental health concerns; background including financial disparity, first-in-family in any fashion, or geographic location; under-represented culture including primary language other than English, birth country other than United States, or a culturally identifiable and visible article of clothing.
Upcoming Virtual Roundtable
There's still time to register! Join us on Wednesday, September 21 at 1 p.m. Central Time for a virtual roundtable: "Building Your Team Science Toolbox."
In this highly interactive second installment of the ACTS Professional Development Roundtables, you will discuss team science competencies, map them to collaboration challenges we have experienced, and hear from team science experts Wayne McCormack, PhD and Jeni Cross, PhD, about new developments in the field.
This virtual roundtable is free for members, $10 for non-member early career investigators, and $15 for non-members.
Save the Date: Translational Science 2023
ACTS and its partners are looking forward to connecting in Washington, DC for Translational Science 2023, taking place April 19-21, 2023.
Additional details, including information on abstract and scientific programming submissions, as well as registration, will be available in the coming months.
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science: The Official Journal of ACTS and CR Forum
Share innovative advances in the translational science area to the global research community through JCTS!
- Gold Open Access: fully compliant with Open Access Mandates
- Articles funded by the NIH will be manually sent to PubMed Central
- Articles appear with their final citation details as soon as they are published online
- Prestigious editorial board listing
- Global dissemination of your paper
- Metrics, Altmetrics and Kudos to monitor submissions
Want to receive alerts when new articles are published? Click the 'Add Alert' (🔔) icon here, then login or register for a Cambridge Core account to receive daily, weekly, or monthly updates.
Member Highlights
Do you know someone who deserves to be recognized for outstanding or groundbreaking work? Is your institution embarking on an exciting project? Send ACTS your story to be highlighted in future versions of ACTS Connection.
Submit stories here.
Career Center
The ACTS Career Center is the premier resource for connecting those in the field of translational science with career opportunities. Visit today to find a wealth of resources to help achieve your career goals.
ACTS members receive a 50% discount on the site—use code ACTSMEMBER to save!
Translational Science Today
Yale Creates Center Devoted to Brain and Mind Health
Yale School of Medicine has announced the creation of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health (CBMH) to promote interdisciplinary clinical and translational research on conditions that affect the mind and brain. The center will foster...
Read more
medicine.yale.edu