Author archives

Nham Tran is both a teacher and a cancer researcher, specialising in small RNA biology and diagnostic technologies. He has dedicated his career to creating tools for diagnosing diseases. Nham earned his PhD from Johnson and Johnson and UNSW, where he focused on studying small RNA molecules and how they can be used in real-world applications. During his postdoctoral training, Nham led a team that published the first study characterising microRNAs in head and neck cancers. This groundbreaking research led him to come up with the idea of using these microRNAs as markers to detect Head and Neck Cancers early on. He was also the first to understand the role of these molecules in salivary gland tumors and holds several patents in this area. Currently, he's leading a team of researchers who are studying the RNA aspects of oral cancers. Aside from his work, Nham is an educator and served as the Deputy Head of School for Teaching (2019-2022). He teaches engineering students about molecular diagnostics, runs workshops on qPCR, and is involved in mentoring programs. In his free time, Nham loves going rock climbing in the Blue Mountains with his family, exploring different parts of the world, writing awesome science papers, and building PCR machines.

The ‘publish or perish’ mentality is fuelling research paper retractions – and undermining science

The “publish or perish” paradigm is increasingly antithetical to the process of scientists making important discoveries, both big and small, and then typically publishing their findings in scientific journals for others to read. This sharing of knowledge helps to advance science: it can, in turn, lead to more important discoveries. But published research papers can be retracted if there is an issue with their accuracy or integrity. And, according to research shared by Nham Tran, in recent years, the number of retractions has been rising sharply. For example, in 2023 more than 10,000 research papers were retracted globally. This marked a new record, and in combination with AI’s impact on scientific publishing, has created a volatile environment in which scholarly literature is increasingly challenge for data accuracy.

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Subjects: Education, KM
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