The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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#authenticate Campaign

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"We can no longer accept the use of cell lines that have not been authenticated as a normal part of the research process. Cell authentication is a key element towards improved research fidelity. We need everyone within the life sciences community to get involved."

Launched in April 2015, #authenticate is an advocacy initiative designed to raise awareness about the problem of misidentified cell lines and to call upon experienced and emerging scientists to champion the role cell authentication can play in improving research reproducibility and fidelity. Its purpose is to mitigate use of misidentified and contaminated cell lines in research that can lead to failed clinical trials, delays, and increased costs around the development of therapeutic drugs and life-saving cures. The intended audience is cell biologists and lab researchers working on identifying treatments and cures for human disease, and among the entire life sciences community that supports and depends upon their work: foundations, corporations, academia, policymakers, government, journals, and patient advocacy groups. It is a project of the Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI), which is a non-profit United States (US)-based organisation "dedicated to enhancing the quality of biomedical research by advocating best practices and standards to accelerate the translation of research breakthroughs into life-saving therapies."

Communication Strategies

#authenticate uses social media in an effort to bring cell line authentication to the forefront of the reproducibility dialogue and to create an online platform through which members of the life sciences community can collectively advance best practices and an overall cultural shift in how biomedical research is conducted. It rallies stakeholders and key influencers to commit to actions such as requiring documentation of cell authentication for journal submissions and publications and educating and training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows on the importance of cell authentication in research.

 

The #authenticate campaign uses information and communication technology (ICT) including:

  • An online pledge for individuals and organisations to sign that includes an effort to help "create a movement" by, for instance, advocating cell authentication, advancing protocol adoption, and participating in the ongoing dialogue on the importance of authenticating cells;
  • A video competition - "Are you a researcher who has a creative side and works with cells? Help us spread the word about #authenticate in a fun and visual way and you could win [US]$1,500. This video competition is all about demonstrating the importance of authenticating cells through creative videos. Your video can be live action, testimonials, white boards - the style and format is up to you!" (The contest rules are available at the URL above; the deadline is September 11 2015.);
  • Outreach to stakeholders through social media and traditional media;
  • A survey of cell biologists to gather the most current data on: the use of cell authentication tools, the barriers to expanded cell authentication, the need for additional training on the importance of cell authentication; best practices in implementation, and the need for greater investment in new technologies for cell authentication. (A report will be produced from this survey, and a series of recommendations of how to overcome these barriers will be shared with the life sciences community.);
  • Speaking engagements and presence at several life science research conferences;
  • A Champions toolkit providing information and communications tools to individuals and organisations that sign on to the campaign; and
  • An #authenticate Facebook community.
Development Issues

Health

Key Points

To learn more about cell authentication, see the April 27 2015 blog entry by Dr. Beth Schachter titled "A few things you wanted to know about cell authentication but were embarrassed to ask".

 

Per research cited by GBSI [footnote numbers have been removed]: "It has been estimated that [US]$115 billion is spent annually in the United States on life science research. Approximately half of the total spend is on preclinical research, of which a conservative estimate of 50 percent is not reproducible....A common contributor to this lack of reproducibility is the continued and widespread use of misidentified or contaminated cell lines, which has been reported to range from a conservative low of 14.9 percent to a high of 36 percent." According to Leonard P. Freedman, President of GBSI, short-tandem repeat (STR) is an accurate test to authenticate cell lines that is available and already in use by some researchers at the relatively inexpensive cost of US$100 to US$300.

Sources

Email from Carol Miller to The Communication Initiative on April 16 2015; and #authenticate Campaign website, accessed June 26 2015.