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Akyüz K, Goisauf M, Martin GM, Mayrhofer MT, Antoniou S, Charalambidou G, Deltas C, Malatras A, Papagregoriou G, Stefanou C, Voutounou M. Risk mapping for better governance in biobanking: the case of biobank.cy. Front Genet 2024; 15:1397156. [PMID: 38948356 PMCID: PMC11211562 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1397156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Risk governance is central for the successful and ethical operation of biobanks and the continued social license for being custodians of samples and data. Risks in biobanking are often framed as risks for participants, whereas the biobank's risks are often considered as technical ones. Risk governance relies on identifying, assessing, mitigating and communicating all risks based on technical and standardized procedures. However, within such processes, biobank staff are often involved tangentially. In this study, the aim has been to conduct a risk mapping exercise bringing biobank staff as key actors into the process, making better sense of emerging structure of biobanks. Methods: Based on the qualitative research method of situational analysis as well as the card-based discussion and stakeholder engagement processes, risk mapping was conducted at the biobank setting as an interactive engagement exercise. The analyzed material comprises mainly of moderated group discussions. Results: The findings from the risk mapping activity are framed through an organismic metaphor: the biobank as a growing, living organism in a changing environment, where trust and sustainability are cross-cutting elements in making sense of the risks. Focusing on the situatedness of the dynamics within biobanking activity highlights the importance of prioritizing relations at the core of risk governance and promoting ethicality in the biobanking process by expanding the repertoire of considered risks. Conclusion: With the organismic metaphor, the research brings the diverse group of biobank staff to the central stage for risk governance, highlighting how accounting for such diversity and interdependencies at the biobank setting is a prerequisite for an adaptive risk governance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaya Akyüz
- Department of ELSI Services and Research, BBMRI-ERIC, Graz, Austria
| | - Melanie Goisauf
- Department of ELSI Services and Research, BBMRI-ERIC, Graz, Austria
| | | | | | - Stella Antoniou
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Georgia Charalambidou
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Constantinos Deltas
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
- University of Cyprus Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Apostolos Malatras
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Gregory Papagregoriou
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Charalambos Stefanou
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Mariel Voutounou
- Biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
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Hackett EJ, Leahey E, Parker JN, Rafols I, Hampton SE, Corte U, Chavarro D, Drake JM, Penders B, Sheble L, Vermeulen N, Vision TJ. Do synthesis centers synthesize? A semantic analysis of topical diversity in research. RESEARCH POLICY 2021; 50:104069. [PMID: 33390628 PMCID: PMC7695893 DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Synthesis centers are a form of scientific organization that catalyzes and supports research that integrates diverse theories, methods and data across spatial or temporal scales to increase the generality, parsimony, applicability, or empirical soundness of scientific explanations. Synthesis working groups are a distinctive form of scientific collaboration that produce consequential, high-impact publications. But no one has asked if synthesis working groups synthesize: are their publications substantially more diverse than others, and if so, in what ways and with what effect? We investigate these questions by using Latent Dirichlet Analysis to compare the topical diversity of papers published by synthesis center collaborations with that of papers in a reference corpus. Topical diversity was operationalized and measured in several ways, both to reflect aggregate diversity and to emphasize particular aspects of diversity (such as variety, evenness, and balance). Synthesis center publications have greater topical variety and evenness, but less disparity, than do papers in the reference corpus. The influence of synthesis center origins on aspects of diversity is only partly mediated by the size and heterogeneity of collaborations: when taking into account the numbers of authors, distinct institutions, and references, synthesis center origins retain a significant direct effect on diversity measures. Controlling for the size and heterogeneity of collaborative groups, synthesis center origins and diversity measures significantly influence the visibility of publications, as indicated by citation measures. We conclude by suggesting social processes within collaborations that might account for the observed effects, by inviting further exploration of what this novel textual analysis approach might reveal about interdisciplinary research, and by offering some practical implications of our results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward J. Hackett
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University and Vice Provost for Research and Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
| | | | - John N. Parker
- Department of Sociology and Geography, University of Oslo
| | - Ismael Rafols
- Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University
| | - Stephanie E. Hampton
- Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach, Washington State University
| | - Ugo Corte
- Department of Media and Social Sciences, University of Stavanger
| | | | - John M. Drake
- Odum School of Ecology and Center for the Study of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia
| | - Bart Penders
- Department of Health, Ethics, and Society, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University
| | - Laura Sheble
- School of Information Sciences, Wayne State University, Duke Network Analysis Center, Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), Duke University
| | - Niki Vermeulen
- Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies, University of Edinburgh
| | - Todd J. Vision
- Department of Biology and School of Information and Library Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Abstract
Background Bioinformatics has multitudinous identities, organisational alignments and disciplinary links. This variety allows bioinformaticians and bioinformatic work to contribute to much (if not most) of life science research in profound ways. The multitude of bioinformatic work also translates into a multitude of credit-distribution arrangements, apparently dismissing that work. Results We report on the epistemic and social arrangements that characterise the relationship between bioinformatics and life science. We describe, in sociological terms, the character, power and future of bioinformatic work. The character of bioinformatic work is such that its cultural, institutional and technical structures allow for it to be black-boxed easily. The result is that bioinformatic expertise and contributions travel easily and quickly, yet remain largely uncredited. The power of bioinformatic work is shaped by its dependency on life science work, which combined with the black-boxed character of bioinformatic expertise further contributes to situating bioinformatics on the periphery of the life sciences. Finally, the imagined futures of bioinformatic work suggest that bioinformatics will become ever more indispensable without necessarily becoming more visible, forcing bioinformaticians into difficult professional and career choices. Conclusions Bioinformatic expertise and labour is epistemically central but often institutionally peripheral. In part, this is a result of the ways in which the character, power distribution and potential futures of bioinformatics are constituted. However, alternative paths can be imagined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bartlett
- Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Elmfield, Northumberland Road, Sheffield, S10 2TU, UK.
| | - Bart Penders
- Department of Health, Ethics & Society, Care and Public Health Research Institute (Caphri), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, Maastricht, 6200MD, the Netherlands
| | - Jamie Lewis
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT, UK
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Salter B, Zhou Y, Datta S, Salter C. Bioinformatics and the Politics of Innovation in the Life Sciences: Science and the State in the United Kingdom, China, and India. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN VALUES 2016; 41:793-826. [PMID: 27546935 PMCID: PMC4982557 DOI: 10.1177/0162243916631022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The governments of China, India, and the United Kingdom are unanimous in their belief that bioinformatics should supply the link between basic life sciences research and its translation into health benefits for the population and the economy. Yet at the same time, as ambitious states vying for position in the future global bioeconomy they differ considerably in the strategies adopted in pursuit of this goal. At the heart of these differences lies the interaction between epistemic change within the scientific community itself and the apparatus of the state. Drawing on desk-based research and thirty-two interviews with scientists and policy makers in the three countries, this article analyzes the politics that shape this interaction. From this analysis emerges an understanding of the variable capacities of different kinds of states and political systems to work with science in harnessing the potential of new epistemic territories in global life sciences innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Salter
- Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Yinhua Zhou
- Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Saheli Datta
- Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, London, UK
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Lewis J, Bartlett A, Atkinson P. Hidden in the Middle: Culture, Value and Reward in Bioinformatics. MINERVA 2016; 54:471-490. [PMID: 27942075 PMCID: PMC5124041 DOI: 10.1007/s11024-016-9304-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Bioinformatics - the so-called shotgun marriage between biology and computer science - is an interdiscipline. Despite interdisciplinarity being seen as a virtue, for having the capacity to solve complex problems and foster innovation, it has the potential to place projects and people in anomalous categories. For example, valorised 'outputs' in academia are often defined and rewarded by discipline. Bioinformatics, as an interdisciplinary bricolage, incorporates experts from various disciplinary cultures with their own distinct ways of working. Perceived problems of interdisciplinarity include difficulties of making explicit knowledge that is practical, theoretical, or cognitive. But successful interdisciplinary research also depends on an understanding of disciplinary cultures and value systems, often only tacitly understood by members of the communities in question. In bioinformatics, the 'parent' disciplines have different value systems; for example, what is considered worthwhile research by computer scientists can be thought of as trivial by biologists, and vice versa. This paper concentrates on the problems of reward and recognition described by scientists working in academic bioinformatics in the United Kingdom. We highlight problems that are a consequence of its cross-cultural make-up, recognising that the mismatches in knowledge in this borderland take place not just at the level of the practical, theoretical, or epistemological, but also at the cultural level too. The trend in big, interdisciplinary science is towards multiple authors on a single paper; in bioinformatics this has created hybrid or fractional scientists who find they are being positioned not just in-between established disciplines but also in-between as middle authors or, worse still, left off papers altogether.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Lewis
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VIIth Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT UK
| | - Andrew Bartlett
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VIIth Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT UK
| | - Paul Atkinson
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VIIth Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT UK
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Bartlett A, Lewis J, Williams ML. Generations of interdisciplinarity in bioinformatics. NEW GENETICS AND SOCIETY 2016; 35:186-209. [PMID: 27453689 PMCID: PMC4940887 DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2016.1184965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Bioinformatics, a specialism propelled into relevance by the Human Genome Project and the subsequent -omic turn in the life science, is an interdisciplinary field of research. Qualitative work on the disciplinary identities of bioinformaticians has revealed the tensions involved in work in this "borderland." As part of our ongoing work on the emergence of bioinformatics, between 2010 and 2011, we conducted a survey of United Kingdom-based academic bioinformaticians. Building on insights drawn from our fieldwork over the past decade, we present results from this survey relevant to a discussion of disciplinary generation and stabilization. Not only is there evidence of an attitudinal divide between the different disciplinary cultures that make up bioinformatics, but there are distinctions between the forerunners, founders and the followers; as inter/disciplines mature, they face challenges that are both inter-disciplinary and inter-generational in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Bartlett
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII, CardiffCF10 3WT, UK
| | - Jamie Lewis
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII, CardiffCF10 3WT, UK
| | - Matthew L. Williams
- School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII, CardiffCF10 3WT, UK
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Manlove KR, Walker JG, Craft ME, Huyvaert KP, Joseph MB, Miller RS, Nol P, Patyk KA, O’Brien D, Walsh DP, Cross PC. "One Health" or Three? Publication Silos Among the One Health Disciplines. PLoS Biol 2016; 14:e1002448. [PMID: 27100532 PMCID: PMC4839662 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2016] [Accepted: 03/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The One Health initiative is a global effort fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to address challenges in human, animal, and environmental health. While One Health has received considerable press, its benefits remain unclear because its effects have not been quantitatively described. We systematically surveyed the published literature and used social network analysis to measure interdisciplinarity in One Health studies constructing dynamic pathogen transmission models. The number of publications fulfilling our search criteria increased by 14.6% per year, which is faster than growth rates for life sciences as a whole and for most biology subdisciplines. Surveyed publications clustered into three communities: one used by ecologists, one used by veterinarians, and a third diverse-authorship community used by population biologists, mathematicians, epidemiologists, and experts in human health. Overlap between these communities increased through time in terms of author number, diversity of co-author affiliations, and diversity of citations. However, communities continue to differ in the systems studied, questions asked, and methods employed. While the infectious disease research community has made significant progress toward integrating its participating disciplines, some segregation--especially along the veterinary/ecological research interface--remains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kezia R. Manlove
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Josephine G. Walker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Meggan E. Craft
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Kathryn P. Huyvaert
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Maxwell B. Joseph
- University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Boulder, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Ryan S. Miller
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Science Technology and Analysis Services, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Pauline Nol
- United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Kelly A. Patyk
- United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Science Technology and Analysis Services, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Daniel O’Brien
- Wildlife Disease Laboratory, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Daniel P. Walsh
- U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Paul C. Cross
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Bozeman, Montana, United States of America
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Penders B, Spruit SL, Sikkema J, Maat J, Schuurbiers D. Divergence and convergence in nutrition science. Trends Food Sci Technol 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2015.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Penders B, Vos R, Horstman K. A question of style: method, integrity and the meaning of proper science. ENDEAVOUR 2009; 33:93-98. [PMID: 19665231 DOI: 10.1016/j.endeavour.2009.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2009] [Accepted: 07/13/2009] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Controversies in science often centre on methodology and integrity; these are the gatekeepers of proper science. But what exactly defines proper science as proper is not universal, especially in collaborative fields of enquiry where different perspectives meet. These encounters often result in friction, yet may equally give rise to new perspectives on proper science. A tour of collaborative endeavours like structural biology and nutrigenomics highlights some of those frictions and the controversies that can result from the encounter of 'wet' and 'dry' science. Attuning scientists to the plurality of proper science may safeguard many a scientist's integrity from being questioned unjustly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Penders
- Department of Health, Ethics & Society, School for Primary Care and Public Health (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, NL-6200MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Side effects of problem-solving strategies in large-scale nutrition science: towards a diversification of health. Br J Nutr 2009; 102:1400-3. [DOI: 10.1017/s0007114509990651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Solving complex problems in large-scale research programmes requires cooperation and division of labour. Simultaneously, large-scale problem solving also gives rise to unintended side effects. Based upon 5 years of researching two large-scale nutrigenomic research programmes, we argue that problems are fragmented in order to be solved. These sub-problems are given priority for practical reasons and in the process of solving them, various changes are introduced in each sub-problem. Combined with additional diversity as a result of interdisciplinarity, this makes reassembling the original and overall goal of the research programme less likely. In the case of nutrigenomics and health, this produces a diversification of health. As a result, the public health goal of contemporary nutrition science is not reached in the large-scale research programmes we studied. Large-scale research programmes are very successful in producing scientific publications and new knowledge; however, in reaching their political goals they often are less successful.
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Penders B, Horstman K, Vos R. A ferry between cultures. Crafting a new profession at the intersection of science and society. EMBO Rep 2008; 9:709-13. [PMID: 18636087 DOI: 10.1038/embor.2008.134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Bart Penders
- Department of Health, Ethics and Society, School of Primary Care and Public Health, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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