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Lowering the burden of medical translation by enabling healthcare professionals as human editors of machine translations

Award Number: R44MD018266
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/26/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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Lowering the burden of medical translation by enabling healthcare professionals as human editors of machine translations - Language access solutions in healthcare have focused almost exclusively on the provision of verbal medical interpretation, despite federal and state laws that mandate translation of written information for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). In recent years, machine translation (MT) has made significant strides, but when it comes to mission-critical technical materials such as healthcare information, the accuracy rate of machine-only translations plummets. Thus, experts recommend MT as a starting point for translating health-related material then supplementing with human quality assurance editing. However, coordinating machine translation with human editors who have technical medical knowledge is a challenge, especially for less commonly supported languages. Translation vendors currently pass on the associated costs of human assistance to healthcare institutions. The Canopy Translate project will address these deficits by implementing a novel, human-assisted machine translation (HAMT) process. The envisioned workflow management platform will leverage MT engines to expedite the initial rendering of source documents into a target language, then invite healthcare professionals with the requisite fluency to apply human editing to the machine-generated translation. The contributors, who will gain complimentary access to our Medical English eLearning courses as an incentive for their participation, will complete the editing task through gamified learning exercises. In Phase I, we will test the feasibility of this hybrid HAMT approach for medical content. Upon meeting feasibility benchmarks, we will advance to Phase II, during which we will create a minimum viable product, encompassing several novel natural language processing (NLP) algorithms, and evaluate the translation output according to a set of quality benchmarks. If successful, this project will significantly improve the availability, speed, and cost-effectiveness of producing language-concordant health content, with potential to improve health outcomes in LEP populations.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2025	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	3	1/29/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2026	2023	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	2	1/29/2026	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $845,654 )
2025	2025	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	002	3	8/1/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$78,565
2025	2025	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	003	3	9/8/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$37,547
2025	2025	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	004	3	9/11/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$22,453
2025	2025	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	3	1/8/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$707,089
2025	2023	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	2	2/12/2025	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
														Subtotal = $845,654

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2023	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	2	1/19/2024	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$159,178
2024	2022	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	1/19/2024	NEW	-$159,178
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $994,588 )
2023	2023	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	2	5/7/2023	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$994,588
2023	2022	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	4/10/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $994,588

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $265,832 )
2022	2022	TRANSCENDENT INTERNATIONAL, LLC	405 LEXINGTON AVE FL 9	NEW YORK	NY	10174	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	9/26/2022	NEW	$265,832
														Subtotal = $265,832

Grand Total All Awards = $2,106,074

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Lowering the burden of medical translation by enabling healthcare professionals as human editors of machine translations

Award Number: R44MD018266

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/26/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2025

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