nr="13"Interdisciplinary Research Methods: Considering the Potential of Community-based Participatory Research in Translation

Different disciplines have different research traditions, including the use of discipline-specific research methods. However, adopting methods from other disciplines can provide fresh perspectives and lead to new insights. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) originated in the population and public health field, but it has potential to be applied in a broader range of disciplines. This article explains the fundamental characteristics of CBPR, explores some misconceptions associated with this method, and describes some potential barriers to its application. Finally, using the example of a machine translation literacy project, the article walks readers through this example of how CBPR was applied to a translation- related research project and evaluates the success of this method for the project.

The Endless Challenges of Arboviral Diseases in Brazil

In this Editorial, we list and discuss some of the main challenges faced by the population and public health authorities in Brazil concerning arbovirus infections, including the occurrence of concurrent epidemics like the ongoing SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic.

Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research

Public health is critical to a healthy, fair, and sustainable society. Realizing this vision requires imagining a public health community that can maintain its foundational core while adapting and responding to contemporary imperatives such as entrenched inequities and ecological degradation. In this commentary, we reflect on what tomorrow’s public health might look like, from the point of view of our collective experiences as researchers in Canada who are part of an Applied Public Health Chairs program designed to support “innovative population health research that improves health equity for citizens in Canada and around the world.” We view applied public health research as sitting at the intersection of core principles for population and public health: namely sustainability, equity, and effectiveness. We further identify three attributes of a robust applied public health research community that we argue are necessary to permit contribution to those principles: researcher autonomy, sustained intersectoral research capacity, and a critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. Our intention is to catalyze further discussion and debate about why and how public health matters today and tomorrow, and the role of applied public health research therein.

Infectious Diseases Physicians: Improving and Protecting the Public’s Health: Why Equitable Compensation Is Critical

Infectious diseases (ID) physicians play a crucial role in public health in a variety of settings. Unfortunately, much of this work is undercompensated despite the proven efficacy of public health interventions such as hospital acquired infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, disease surveillance, and outbreak response. The lack of compensation makes it difficult to attract the best and the brightest to the field of ID, threatening the future of the ID workforce. Here, we examine compensation data for ID physicians compared to their value in population and public health settings and suggest policy recommendations to address the pay disparities that exist between cognitive and procedural specialties that prevent more medical students and residents from entering the field. All ID physicians should take an active role in promoting the value of the subspecialty to policymakers and influencers as well as trainees.