Webinars & Talks
Keynote presentations, practical workshops, expert Q&A sessions and publications covering Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs), Linguistic Validation methodologies and multilingual project delivery.
Keynote Presentations & Workshops
International Translation Day 2026
Nairobi, Kenya
30 September 2026
2.5-hour Keynote Presentation · 1.5-hour Practical Workshop
Nataliya Nedkova, Founder and Managing Director of NN Translations, was invited as a keynote speaker at the International Translation Day 2026 event in Nairobi, Kenya.
Her 2.5-hour presentation provided an in-depth exploration of Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) and Linguistic Validation methodology, supported by numerous practical examples. Topics included conceptual equivalence, cultural adaptation, forward translation, reconciliation, back translation and review, clinician review, cognitive debriefing, eCOA migration, and the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in Linguistic Validation.
The presentation was followed by a 1.5-hour interactive workshop, where participants applied Linguistic Validation principles through practical exercises covering reconciliation, back translation, back translation review and cognitive debriefing.
Together, the sessions provided four hours of specialist education, combining methodological knowledge, practical examples and hands-on learning.
Organised by: CAN Translators and RIVATON Translators
Event Highlights
Keynote slide: a fluent translation is not automatically a valid translation.
Keynote slide: reconciliation is not choosing the “best” translation.
Expert Talks & Q&A Sessions
Invited Linguistic Validation Expert
Two Course Editions
Four Live Q&A Sessions
Nataliya Nedkova, Founder and Managing Director of NN Translations, was invited as a guest expert to participate in two editions of “Master Linguistic Validation in Multilingual Clinical Trials”, a specialist training course for medical translators led by Jason Willis-Lee.
Across four live “Ask Me Anything” sessions, Nataliya answered participants’ questions and shared practical insights from more than 11 years of experience in Linguistic Validation and multilingual project management.
The discussions covered Linguistic Validation methodologies and workflows, organising and coordinating teams of linguists and Linguistic Validation Consultants (LVCs), project management considerations, and the recruitment of clinicians and patients for clinician review and cognitive debriefing activities.
Drawing on practical project experience managing global clinical trials, the sessions offered participants deep insights into the strict methodological, regulatory and operational standards required to safeguard Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) for sponsors and CROs worldwide.
Explore selected excerpts from the live Q&A sessions, featuring practical questions and expert perspectives on Linguistic Validation methodologies, project coordination and participant recruitment.
Clip 1 · 1:50
Asked by Jason Willis-Lee which phase of the 8-step cycle is most challenging to keep consistent across languages, Nataliya pinpoints reconciliation as the foundation of the target version. Investing extra time and meticulous checks into the concept elaboration file during reconciliation eliminates downstream errors in back translation and cognitive debriefing.
Clip 2 · 1:02
Nataliya clarifies the precise involvement of Linguistic Validation Consultants (LVCs) and explains why direct consultation and decision-making are pivotal during the back translation review stage to safeguard conceptual equivalence for Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs).
Clip 3 · 4:55
Cognitive debriefing is the high-stakes step where Linguistic Validation succeeds or fails. Nataliya discusses patient recruitment barriers such as matching exact disease profiles, age ranges and gender representation, and advises vendors to educate clients, budget for recruitment fees and advocate for broader disease scopes.
Clip 4 · 3:10
Nataliya outlines effective strategies for sourcing and recruiting target patient cohorts via local patient associations, and breaks down key compliance workflows: data privacy regulations, data retention policies and standardised informed consent (ICF) templates.
AI in Linguistic Validation
AI can support some stages, but not every stage. It brings real speed and efficiency to specific operational phases of COA Linguistic Validation, while human oversight remains essential to ensure regulatory compliance, patient safety and conceptual equivalence.
AI excels at data-heavy, procedural tasks.
Concept Elaboration
Patient recruitment & CD scheduling
CD data analysis & report preparation
eCOA modification & migration
eCOA proofreading
AI/MT can produce one translation alongside a human translator, with limited AI support in BT Review.
Forward Translation*
Back Translation*
BT Review – limited support
Critical decision-making and patient-facing steps remain entirely human-led.
Reconciliation
Clinician Review
Review of Clinician Review results
Cognitive Debriefing interviews
*The article recommends AI/MT for one of the translations, alongside a human-generated translation.
AI supports the process. Humans remain in the loop.
Source: Use of AI within COA linguistic validation and eCOA migration (PMC) ↗
Publications
Journal for Clinical Studies
Volume 13 · Issue 5 · 2021 · Pages 8–9
Author: Nataliya Nedkova, Founder and Managing Director of NN Translations
This article explores cognitive debriefing as a key stage in the Linguistic Validation of patient questionnaires. It discusses the purpose and structure of cognitive debriefing interviews, patient recruitment, the assessment of participant understanding and feedback, and the documentation involved in the process.
Discover how NN Translations supports multilingual COA Linguistic Validation projects, from translation and cultural adaptation to clinician review, cognitive debriefing and project coordination.
Talk to us about your COA Linguistic Validation, cognitive debriefing or eCOA requirements.