Earlier this year, Dr Florence Bietrix, PhD, stepped into the role of Section Editor at Journal of Translational Medicine to lead the Translational Process section.
In this Q&A, Dr Bietrix and I discuss her research focus, the importance of the translational process, and how it can significantly contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Please tell us about yourself.
Over time, I became increasingly passionate about the translational process; how to move biomedical discoveries from the lab into real-world healthcare applications. Women’s health, in particular, is a domain that has been resonating lately deeply with me. As a scientist, a woman and a mother, I’ve observed how biological sex and gender are too often overlooked in research and care, leading to diagnostic delays, inadequate treatments, and safety risks for women.
Since 2012, I’ve had the privilege of working with EATRIS, initially as Scientific Programmes Manager and now as Deputy Director to the Executive Board. This role enables me to help shape a pan-European translational ecosystem that prioritises quality, inclusivity, and patient benefit.
While I’ve learned a great deal from formal mentors throughout my career, I’ve come to see my colleagues as my everyday mentors. Their unwavering dedication to the translational mission, creativity, and collaborative spirit continually inspires and challenges me. It’s an honour to be part of a community that so fully lives the values of translational science.
Could you tell us more about EATRIS? What are the main goals of the organization?
We bring together resources and services for research communities to translate scientific discoveries into benefits for patients. EATRIS is what is known as an ‘ERIC’, which is a non-profit European Research Infrastructure Consortium. This specific legal form is designed to facilitate the joint establishment and operation of research infrastructures of European interest.
What makes EATRIS unique is the breadth and depth of its consortium. With more than 150 academic institutions across 15 countries, we offer access to world-class capabilities in areas such as biomarkers, advanced therapies, imaging and tracing, small molecules, vaccines, and regulatory science. The consortium helps researchers de-risk their projects and make informed decisions at each stage of the Translational Medicine value chain.
Beyond technical access, EATRIS is also a community of practice. We invest in capacity building through dedicated training and mentoring programmes aimed at supporting early-career researchers and project leaders. Helping researchers understand the requirements for validation, regulatory alignment, and patient-centric design is central to our approach.
In addition to your work with EATRIS, you are also leading the Translational Process section in Journal of Translational Medicine. Could you talk to us about what the section aims to achieve and how it can help to improve the accessibility of meaningful health outcomes?
The Translational Process section was created to spotlight one of the most critical yet often underreported aspects of biomedical innovation: the journey from discovery to real-world application. Building on the vision of Prof. Marina Boccardi, who founded the section, our goal is to provide a space where the scientific community can share insights, tools, and experiences that help improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of this journey.
We welcome articles that examine current translational efforts and how they can benefit from clearly defined, shared methodologies such as frameworks for target validation, models for early health technology assessment, stakeholder engagement strategies, or quality assurance protocols throughout development. We especially encourage contributions that explore how these methodologies can be co-developed with regulators, clinicians, industry, patients, and other stakeholders to reflect real-world constraints and decision-making needs.
At its core, the section promotes a translational ecosystem grounded in quality, reproducibility, and impact. Science that cannot be validated or that lacks methodological transparency often leads to wasted resources, misdirected follow-on efforts, and ultimately, delays in patient benefit. By curating contributions that interrogate these risks and offer solutions, we aim to reduce translational waste, and promote science that is not only innovative, but sustainable and trustworthy.
How does the Translational Process section contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals?
Target 3.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3) calls for a one-third reduction in premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2030. Our section contributes by advancing high-quality translational science that accelerates early detection, personalized intervention, and implementation of evidence-based strategies.
Moreover, we actively promote research that addresses sex-based health disparities, which are often underexplored. Diseases such as cardiovascular conditions, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative illnesses frequently present differently in women yet women remain underdiagnosed and underserved.
We also feature studies that explore systemic innovations, such as multidisciplinary care teams and AI-enhanced diagnostics, with a critical lens on their performance across diverse patient groups. By encouraging research that interrogates inclusivity, equity, and real-world applicability, we aim to contribute not only to SDG 3.4 but also to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities).
What are some of the major challenges facing the translational process?
One of the biggest challenges is fragmentation. Researchers are often working in silos whether across disciplines or institutions and may not have access to the tools or expertise they need to move their project forward.
Another issue is that certain key areas like regulatory planning or reproducibility don’t always get the attention they deserve, especially in early-stage research. These are vital for successful translation, but they’re not always well supported in traditional academic structures.
At EATRIS, we see how even promising projects can run into difficulties if these pieces aren’t addressed early. That’s why we place a lot of emphasis on mentoring, training, and helping researchers think ahead about the full development pathway.
What are your hopes for the future of translational process management?
We also need to do better in ensuring that innovations are accessible and affordable, especially for people living with neglected and rare diseases, who are often left behind by traditional development models.
Gender equality is part of this too. We need more inclusive research that takes women’s health seriously and designs studies with sex and gender in mind, not just for fairness, but because it leads to better science.
And finally, I hope we continue to focus on sustainability supporting science that’s transparent, reproducible, and capable of delivering long-term value for patients and health systems. Small improvements in how we design and deliver research can make a big difference over time.