Editorial: Current priorities in health research agendas: tensions between public and commercial interests in prioritizing biomedical, social, and environmental aspects of health

GARCÍA CARRILLO, MERCEDES; GAGNON, MARC-ANDRÉ; BLAUSTEIN, MATÍAS

Frontiers in Medicine

Frontiers

Año: 2024 vol. 11

Recently, using bibliometric tools, we analyzed the key actors, contents, and influence of the prevailing biomedical research agenda. Our analysis led us to conclude that fostering a more inclusive research agenda, alongside adopting epistemological frameworks that consider socio-environmental factors influencing disease transmission, could enhance our readiness to prevent and treat a wider range of diseases, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes (1, 2). Predominant health research agendas, usually in line with existing financial incentives for obtaining lucrative research results, tend to focus on therapeutic and pharmacological intervention, prioritizing innovative therapies based on molecular biology and biotechnology approaches. However, commercial interests do not necessarily align with the existing public health priorities, generating a diversity of conflicts of interest (COI) (3–9). The prevalence of health and biomedical research agendas often neglects not only the less lucrative diseases but also the study of the social and environmental determinants of health and disease, even when addressing these aspects could significantly improve population health at much lower costs. Some examples of absent studies in the health research agendas are the analysis of non-medical factors influencing health outcomes (social determinants of health), the analysis of the relationship between people and their environment (environmental health), or the evaluation of the socio-environmental factors that influence the deterioration of bodies and territories (such as the One Health approach). This issue of Frontiers in Medicine explores why these approaches are often neglected and how they could help to significantly improve health outcomes at a lower cost while also reaching social groups and minorities that are often disregarded by big pharma. A total of 14manuscripts, including original research, perspective, opinions, brief research reports, and different types of reviews, were accepted and published.