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Syracuse University Senior Associate Vice President for Content Strategy Ellen de Graffenreid recently joined our CCTS Friday Fellows to present a workshop on “How to Share Your Views: Op-Eds for Scientists.” De Graffenreid’s background includes 20 years of higher education and academic medicine communications and marketing leadership at the Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy at Duke University, the University of Missouri, and Brandeis University as well as offering her own viewpoint for Inside Higher Ed’s online blog and other outlets.

De Graffenreid encouraged the audience of outcomes researchers to “share all you’ve learned about effective interventions—writing an op-ed is a great way to influence health policy.” But it’s not the same as writing for Science, she warned. “In addition to a great title, a cogent point of view, and the data to back it up, you need to make a connection with the reader early on and end with a compelling call to action,” she said.

Below we summarize this communication guru’s top tips for crafting an effective op-ed to share your insights, both scientific and personal, with the media and the public. You can catch her complete CCTS Friday Fellows talk on our YouTube channel.

1. Track the news and jump at opportunities. Timing is essential. Try to link your issue to something that is trending in the news.
2. Limit your article to 750 words (or less). Shorter is even better. Newspapers have limited space (at least in print).
3. Make a single point – well. You cannot solve all of the world’s problems in 750 words. If you cannot explain your message in a sentence or two, you’re trying to cover too much.
4. Put your main point on top. You have ~10 seconds to hook a reader. Don’t wait until the end of your article to reveal your punchline.
5. Tell readers why they should care. Ask yourself “So what?” as you reread your draft—and then answer the question.
6. Offer specific recommendations. This is not a news article, an op-ed is about improving matters. You’ll need to do more than make a call for more research or suggest people work out their differences.
7. Showing is better than discussing. People remember colorful details (even better, a photo or graphic) better than dry facts.
8. Avoid jargon, long sentences, convoluted paragraphs, and passive voice. Using plain language principles will increase your readership and help others amplify your message.  
9. Avoid tedious rebuttals but do acknowledge the other side. A letter to the editor is more appropriate for taking issue with an earlier article point-by-point. Mention it once and state your case.
10. Embrace your personal voice and relax, have fun. It’s ok to draw from your own experience and tell a story that illustrates your points. It’s also ok to lighten up and entertain the reader a bit, when appropriate.

CCTS kicked off 2019 with a monthly forum that featured expert answers to the age-old academic question: What does it take to publish one’s findings in a leading peer-reviewed biomedical journal?

With rejection rates as high as 90% among certain high-impact journals and major changes on the publishing horizon that will add new hurdles in the form of data sharing and reproducibility requirements, even well-established authors were drawn to the discussion.

CCTS Director of Genomic Medicine, UAB Chief Genomic Officer, and Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the American Journal of Human Genetics, Bruce Korf, MD, PhD, laid the foundation for a lively panel discussion by providing a primer on best practices for peer-reviewed publishing. He was then joined by a multidisciplinary panel of Editors-in-Chief for leading journals in surgery, anesthesia, and mental health, who shared their insights and took questions from the audience.

We highlight the top 10 tips they shared:

1. Your paper should tell a story. The story should be supported by your data.
2. Know the scope of your target journal and make sure it matches the scope of your paper.
3. Invest in an editor, or at least ask a colleague or mentor to review your writing, which should be succinct and without grammatical errors.
4. Avoid overblown conclusions.
5. Beware of predatory journals that offer to publish your paper for a fee.
6. Impact factor is not everything—citations count too.
7. Make sure your department will consider articles published in an open access journal as counting toward tenure. Many do not.
8. Quality is more important than quantity.
9. Address reviewer feedback when appropriate.
10. Serve as a reviewer to better understand the process.

Many thanks to our panel of expert EICs, including January 2019 Forum moderator Dr. Korf!

Kirby I. Bland, MD, Chair Emeritus, UAB Department of Surgery, and Editor-in Chief, American Journal of Surgery

Daphne S. Cain, PhD, Associate Dean for Administrative Services and Professor, University of Alabama School of Social Work, and Editor-in-Chief, Best Practices in Mental Health

Bruce R. Korf, MD, PhD, UAB Chief Genomic Officer, CCTS Director of Genomic Medicine, and Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Human Genetics

Sadis Matalon, PhD, Vice Chair and Director, UAB Division of Molecular and Translational Biomedicine, and Editor-in Chief, Physiological Reviews

Jean-Francois Pittet, MD, Director, UAB Organ Injury and Trauma Research, and Editor-in-Chief, Anesthesia and Analgesia

To hear all of the EIC tips, watch the video of our January 2019 CCTS Monthly Forum on the CCTS YouTube channel. You can find the slide deck for Dr. Korf’s overview of the academic publishing process on our CCTS Monthly Forum page. Mark your calendar for our next Forum, which will take place on Monday, February 11--join us for an update on the transformations changing the way we conduct clinical trials. 

Are you interested in the latest tools, techniques, and trends in precision medicine, clinical informatics, bioinformatics, and big data for translational omics research? If so, mark your calendar for the below upcoming events focused on the latest advances in these fields.

MCBIOS ‘19

CCTS Partner UAB’s School of Medicine will host the premier annual meeting for bioinformatics researchers, professionals, and trainees in the region—the 16^th Annual Conference of the Midsouth Computational Biology & Bioinformatics Society (MCBIOS ‘19). The theme for MCBIOS, which will take place at the Hilton Birmingham on March 28-30, is “Informatics for Precision Medicine.”

MCBIOS ’19 will feature four keynote talks, including one by Yale University polymath Dr. Mark Gerstein, whose areas of expertise include biomedical informatics, molecular biophysics and biochemistry, genomics, and computer science. The meeting will also offer attendees tutorials on conduct single-cell sequencing metabolomics analyses, special career development sessions (including a resume clinic and an industry panel), discussion forums led by expert bioinformaticians, and a new roundtable discussion session.

The MCBIOS Young Scientist Excellence Award will round out the meeting, offering categories for students and postdocs. Awards will be determined by rigorous internal and external evaluation, with the five finalists in each category (i.e., student or postdoctoral) giving a podium presentation.

Students and postdocs who register early and whose oral or poster abstract is accepted may qualify for a stipend to attend the conference for free (two dinners and two lunches are included in the registration). The travel assistance abstract and application deadline is January 31, 2019. Podium presentation abstracts are due by February 15. Poster abstracts are due by March 1, 2019. See Key Dates for more.

ATTIS ‘19

UAB’s Annual Translational and Transformative Informatics Symposium (ATTIS ’19) will be held in conjunction with MCBIOS, kicking off the morning of Thursday, March 28, at the Hilton Birmingham.

UAB Informatics Institute Chief Bioinformatics Officer and Associate Director Dr. Jake Chen, who is chairing both MCBIOS and ATTIS this year, notes this year’s ATTIS will focus on “bioinformatics applications” and will highlight scientific findings that were enabled with bioinformatics and functional genomics techniques, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and next-generation sequencing approaches.

ATTIS ’19 registration and call for abstracts are now open. Poster abstracts are due by Friday, March 1. More

Big Data Training for Translational Omics Research

This free online course, which runs Monday, February 4, through April 19, will provide 40 biomedical researchers with entry-level big data science skills using established tools and public databases. Hands-on training will be complemented with formal lectures. Participants will gain a vocabulary for effective communication with big data science experts. Open to faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and advanced graduate students. Apply by Monday, Jan. 28, at Purdue BigTap website. More

For a list of other upcoming events in bioethics, rare disease genomics, translational science, and rural health and health equity, see “Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Translational Research Learning Opportunities.”

Graduate students, postdocs, trainees, and faculty from early career to senior level are encouraged to take advantage of several outstanding training opportunities on the horizon. Whether you wish to develop new translational a/o clinical research skills, meet new mentors or collaborators, or brainstorm solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing our health system, there is an upcoming event for you. Mark your calendar for one or more of the below today:

CCTS Monthly Forum

Wednesday, January 9, 4-5:30pm, Pittman Center for Advancing Medical Studies (PCAMS)
If one of your 2019 resolutions is to see your research make it into a leading biomedical journal, you won’t want to miss our first CCTS Forum of the year. Joined by a multidisciplinary panel of journal Editors-in-Chief, CCTS will explore best practices and what aspiring authors need to consider as they prepare articles for peer review. With rejection rates as high as 90% among certain high-impact journals and major changes on the horizon to address data sharing and reproducibility, even well-established science writers will benefit from this discussion. CCTS Director of Genomic Medicine, UAB Chief Genomic Officer, and Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Human Genetics, Bruce Korf, MD, PhD, will present and moderate. More

Health Science Entrepreneurship (HSE) Grand Rounds

Friday, January 11, 1-2pm CT
Mr. Jim Baxendale, Director of the Whiteboard 2 Boardroom Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Innovation Center, will share what he learned in his journey from researcher to innovator, including tips for mastering the technology transfer process. This virtual learning opportunity is brought to you by a collaboration among UAB, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Kentucky Medical Center, University of Utah, and University of Tennessee Health Science Center. More

2nd Conference on Bioethics in Minority Health and Health Disparities Research

January 23-25, Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel and Conference Center
"Effective Health Care and Inclusion: Growing the Next Generation of Researchers for Bioethics, Biomedical, Behavioral, and Health Disparities Research," cohosted by the Morehouse School of Medicine, Tuskegee University, and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, will explore this broad topic with oral and poster presentations as well as a panel discussion on “The Obligations and Challenges of Translating Research Findings into Practice” featuring CCTS Director Dr. Robert Kimberly. More

Big Data Training for Translational Omics Research

Online course runs from Monday, Feb. 4, to Friday, Apr. 19
This free online course will provide 40 biomedical researchers with entry-level big data science skills using established tools and public databases. Hands-on training will be complemented with formal lectures. Participants will gain a vocabulary for effective communication with big data science experts. Open to faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and advanced graduate students. Apply by Monday, Jan. 28, at Purdue BigTap website. More

CCTS Translational Training Symposium

February 20-21, Intercontinental Hotel, New Orleans
This inaugural event will convene predoctoral, postdoctoral, and early career scholars, as well as their mentors and training grant leaders, from across the CCTS Partner Network for experiential training and career development sessions on translational and design thinking, grant writing, and funding opportunities. Held in conjunction with the 2019 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation Regional Meeting, another opportunity for training, networking, and collaboration that will advance your research career. Apply by Friday, Feb. 1, at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cctstrainingsymposium. More

6^th Annual Rare Disease Genomics Conference

Friday, March 1, 8am-3:45pm, Bradley Lecture Center, Children’s of Alabama
This year’s conference will focus on population genomics, drawing from regional examples with national import (e.g., Southern All of Us Research Program, Alabama Genomic Health Initiative) and showcasing the latest tools and techniques for genomic sequencing, variant interpretation, and rare disease diagnosis. $35 (parking is free). More

Translational Science 2019 (TS19)

March 5-8, Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
The premier translational science meeting of the year provides invaluable learning and networking opportunities for researchers of all skill sets and experience levels across the clinical and translational science spectrum. Join more than 1,100 researchers, trainees, and federal program officers and soak up the latest research, funding, and collaboration news at TS19. Register by Friday, January 18, to save big with early bird rates! More

CTSA UnMeeting on Rural Health and Health Equity

Monday, April 8, 2019, Gainesville, FL
The University of Florida Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will host this event on behalf of the NCATS Center for Leading Innovation & Collaboration. It will focus on catalyzing new collaborations to bridge the translational science and agricultural extension sectors to improve rural health and health equity. The goal of a CLIC UnMeeting is to tap the research power of the NCATS CTSA network to advance or address barriers in translational science and cultivate ideas and collaborative partnerships across academia, industry, government, and community. Stay tuned to CCTS Digest for the exact date and location. More