Professor James Mittra
Job Title
Personal Chair of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies
Room number
G.32Building (Address)
Old Surgeons' HallStreet (Address)
High School YardsCity (Address)
EdinburghCountry (Address)
UKPost code (Address)
EH1 1LZResearch interests
Research interests
With an undergraduate background in Humanities and Social Science, followed by postgraduate work in sociology and science and technology studies (STS), I have developed interdisciplinary research interests around innovation in life sciences, with a specific focus on translational research, regulation, and risk-governance. I have been contributing to the development of new interdisciplinary methods and theories to better understand how ‘new biology’ is affecting the nature and process of health innovation and contributing to the global bioeconomy.
Through a series of related projects following my doctoral work on the impact of genetic knowledge on the life assurance industry, I explored the nature and practical implications of translational medicine and the changing organisation and management of health R&D . With colleagues in the Innogen Institute, I have developed novel methods for studying business models and value systems for new technologies that do not have a conventional route to market, particularly in the field of regenerative medicine and stratified medicine.
In recent years, I have been exploring the concept of value (economic and non-economic aspects) in health-related innovation; particularly in the context of interdisciplinary and translational research where the distinction between public and commercial, and relationship between laboratory and clinic, has become blurred. This was written up in my first monograph: The New Health Bioeconomy: R&D Policy and Innovation for the Twenty-first century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
Completed projects
ESRC Independent Review on Anti-microbial Resistance
Regenerative Medicine Business Models, Venture Capital and the Funding Gap
The Future of Scottish Healthcare and Research
Translational Research: Conceptualising and Practicing Translation (Innogen Phase 2 project: 2008-2013)
Innovation Processes in Life Science Industries (Innogen Phase 1 project, 2003-2007)
PhD Students
Current PhD Students
Kyunghoon Park (2020-) ‘Bioeconomy in Korea and Taiwan’
Completed PhD Students
Anna Couturier (2017- 2023) 'Mapping the Impact of Algorithms on Digital Biocitizenship: A Case Study on Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Derived Therapies'
Rosalind Attenborough (2015-2021) ‘Open Science as an Identity and Epistemic Virtue’ (ESRC funded)
Sara Valencia-Cadavid (2018) ‘Knowledge Management in the Outsourcing of Clinical Trials to Produce Vaccines in Global Alliances. Case study of Dengue Vaccine in Latin America’
David Johnson (2016) ‘Regenerative Medicine Venturing: Entrepreneurial Behaviour and New Venture Development Under High Levels of Perceived Environmental Uncertainty’ (Supervised with the Business School)
Emma King (2013):’Innovation and regulation interactions in the development of clinical stem cell therapies’ (ESRC Case Student)
Donna Messner (2008): ‘Fast Track: The Transformation of Drug Approval and the Clinical Trial System for Drug Evaluation in the United States’
I am interested in supervising students on a broad range of topics in health-related innovation, policy and regulation, including new empirical and theoretical approaches to the health-related bioeconomy; innovation, risk governance and regulation of advanced therapies; value(s) and valuation practices in health innovation; understanding new R&D practices and stakeholder relations within health systems; and global challenges in areas like antimicrobial resistance.
If you are interested in being supervised by James Mittra, please see the links below (opening in new windows) for more information:
Background
I am currently Post Graduate Advisor (on course) for research students in STIS. I have previously served as Head of the Science, Technology and Innovation Studies Subject Group (2018-2021); Deputy Director (Research) of the Graduate School of Social and Political Science (2015-2017); Director of the MSc in Management of Bioeconomy, Innovation and Goverance (BIG) (2014-2017); Deputy Director of the Innogen Institute (2014-2017); and Postgraduate Research Advisor (admissions) for STIS (2014-2015), when I also convened the Science, Technology and Innovation Studies Pathway for the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science.
In 2018 I successfully completed the Edinburgh Teaching Award and became a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Authority (SFHEA)
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Humanities and Social Science (Sociology with Philosophy) (MMU 1997)
MA Sociology (University of Leeds 1998)
PhD Sociology (University of Warwick 2004)
Edinburgh Teaching Award/Senior Fellow Higher Education Authority (SFHEA, 2018)
My ORCID idenitfier is: 0000-0002-0185-6770
Works within
Staff Hours and Guidance
By appointment.
Publications by user content
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Banda G, Mittra J, Tait J, Watkins A, Omdivar O. Understanding the emergence and evolution of new business models in the UK regenerative medicine sector. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. 2021;33(3):320-333. Epub 2019 Nov 13. doi: 10.1080/09537325.2019.1685087 |
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Mittra J, Bruce A, Scannell JW, Tait J. Regulatory and market influences on innovation pathways for the development of new antimicrobial drugs. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. 2021;33(3):283-295. Epub 2019 Jun 23. doi: 10.1080/09537325.2019.1634253 |
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Mastroeni M, Mittra J, Tait J. Political influences on biotechnology-based innovation for European agriculture: Risk-assessment and risk management. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. 2021;33(3):271-282. Epub 2019 Jan 31. doi: 10.1080/09537325.2019.1573983 |
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Mittra J, Zoukas G. Unpacking the concept of bioeconomy: Problems of definition, measurement, and value. Science & Technology Studies. 2020 Jan 23;33(1):2-21. Epub 2019 Dec 19. doi: 10.23987/sts.69662 |
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Banda G, Tait E, Mittra J. Regenerative medicine as a disruptive technology: Implications for manufacturing and clinical adoption. Cell and Gene Therapy Insights. 2019 Oct 23;5(10):1287-1303. Epub 2019 Oct 21. doi: 10.18609/cgti.2019.135 |
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Mittra J, Mastroeni M, Haddow G, Wield D, Barlow E. Re-imagining healthcare and medical research systems in post-devolution Scotland. Sociological Research Online. 2019 Mar 11;24(1):55-72. doi: 10.1177/1360780418823221 |
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Banda G, Tait J, Mittra J. Evolution of regenerative medicine business models: Ecosystem effects on a disruptive innovation. Clinical Therapeutics. 2018 Jul 31;40(7):1084-1094. Epub 2018 Jul 23. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2018.06.003 |
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Gardner J, Webster A, Mittra J. The "Entrepreneurial State" and the leveraging of life in the field of regenerative medicine. In Pavone V, Goven J, editors, Bioeconomies: Life, Technology and Capital in the 21st Century. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 2017. p. 25-47 Epub 2017 Sept 12. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-55651-2_2 |
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Wield D, Tait J, Chataway J, Mittra J, Mastroeni M. Conceptualising and practising multiple knowledge interactions in the life sciences. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 2017 Mar;116:308-315. Epub 2016 Oct 7. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2016.09.025 |
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Milne CP, Mittra J, Kojima N, Sugiyama D, Awatin J, Simmons G. Prospects for harmonizing regulatory science programs in Europe, Japan, and the United States to advance regenerative medicine. Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science. 2016 Dec 30;50(6):724-733. doi: 10.1177/2168479016650716 |
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Milne CP, Mittra J. Is translational medicine the future of therapy? In Bawa R, Audette GF, Reese BE, editors, Handbook of Clinical Nanomedicine: Law, Business, Regulation, Safety and Risk. Pan Stanford Publishing. 2016. p. 997-1012. (Pan Stanford Series on Nanomedicine). |
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Mittra J. The New Health Bioeconomy: R&D Policy and Innovation for the Twenty-First Century. 1 ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 240 p. doi: 10.1057/9781137430526 |
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Mittra J, Tait J, Mastroeni M, Turner ML, Mountford JC, Bruce K. Identifying viable regulatory and innovation pathways for regenerative medicine: A case study of cultured red blood cells. New Biotechnology. 2015 Jan 25;32(1):180-190. Epub 2014 Aug 2. doi: 10.1016/j.nbt.2014.07.008 |
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Tait E, Bruce A, Mittra J, Perves J, Scannell J. Independent Review on Anti-Microbial Resistance: Regulation-Innovation Interactions and the Development of Antimicrobial Drugs and Diagnostics for Human and Animal Diseases - Main Report. Edinburgh: Innogen Institute Report, 2014. 34 p. |
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Omidvar O, De Grijs M, Castle D, Mittra J, Rosiello A, Tait J. Regenerative Medicine: Business Models, Venture Capital and the Funding Gap. ESRC Innogren Centre, 2014. 40 p. |
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Mittra J, Mastroeni M, Haddow G. Is Scottish Independence Bad for your Health? The Conversation. 2014. |
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Mittra J, Mastroeni M, Tait J. Engaging with Uncertainty and Risk in Agricultural Biotechnology Regulation: Delivering Safety and Innovation. January 2014 ed. Edinburgh: ESRC Innogren Centre, 2014. 59 p. |
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Mittra J, Mastroeni M, Wield D, Barlow E, Snowden K. The Scottish Institutional Ecology of Health and Clinical/Medical Research and Key Issues for Scottish Independence. 2014. (Innogen Working Paper Series; 109). |
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Mastroeni M, Barlow E, Mittra J, Wield D. The Imagined Health Community: Narratives of Scottish Health and Independence. 2014. (Innogen Working Paper Series; 112). |
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Haddow G, Mittra J, Snowden K, Barlow E, Wield D. From 'Sick Man' to 'Living Lab': The Narrative of Scottish Health Since Devolution. 2014. (Innogen Working Paper Series; 108). |
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Mittra J, (ed.), Milne CP, (ed.). Translational Medicine: The Future of Therapy? Pan Stanford Publishing, 2013. 279 p. |
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Mittra J, Milne CP. Introduction to Translational Medicine. In Mittra J, Milne CP, editors, Translational Medicine: The Future of Therapy?. 1 ed. Pan Stanford Publishing. 2013. p. 3-13 |
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Mittra J. Exploiting Translational Medicine Through Public-Private Partnerships: A Case Study of Scotland's Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC). In Mittra J, Milne CP, editors, Translational Medicine: The Future of Therapy. Pan Stanford Publishing. 2013 |
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Milne CP, Mittra J. Is translational medicine the future of therapy? In Mittra J, Milne CP, editors, Translational Medicine: The Future of Therapy?. Pan Stanford Publishing. 2013. p. 259-273 |
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Mittra J, Milne CP. Translational Medicine: The Future of Therapy? 1st Edition. Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd., 2013. 274 p. |
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Wield D, Hanlin R, Mittra J, Smith J. Twenty-First Century Bioeconomy: Global Challenges of Biological Knowledge for Health and Agriculture. Science and Public Policy. 2013;40(1):17-24. Epub 2013 Jan 18. doi: 10.1093/scipol/scs116 |
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Mittra J. Repairing the 'Broken Middle' of the Health Innovation Pathway: Exploring Diverse Practitioner Perspectives on the Emergence and Role of ‘Translational Medicine’. Science & Technology Studies. 2013;26(3):103-123. |
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Mittra J, Tait J. Analysing Stratified Medicine Business Models and Value Systems: Innovation-Regulation Interactions. New Biotechnology. 2012 Sept;29(6):709-719. doi: 10.1016/j.nbt.2012.03.003 |
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Mastroeni M, Mittra J, Tait J. Methodology for the Analysis of Life Science Innovation Systems (ALSIS) and its Application to Three Case Studies. ESRC Innogren Centre, 2012. 51 p. |
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Mittra J, Tait J, Wield D. From Maturity to Value-Added Innovation: Lessons from the Pharmaceutical and Agro-Biotechnology Industries. Trends in biotechnology. 2011 Mar;29(3):105-109. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2010.11.004 |
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Mittra J, Tait J, Wield D. The future of pharmaceutical innovation: New challenges and opportunities. Innovations in Pharmaceutical Technology. 2011;29(3):105-109. |
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Mittra J, Tait J. Stem Cells. In van der Vlies J, editor, Riskbridge Report: Coordination Action on Building Robust, Integrative inter-Disciplinary Governance models for Emerging and Existing risks. European Commission. 2009. p. 224-268 |
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Mittra J. Impact of the Life Sciences on Organisation and Management of R and D in Large Pharmaceutical Firms. International Journal of Biotechnology. 2008;10(5):416-440. doi: 10.1504/IJBT.2008.021308 |
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Mittra J. Predictive Genetic Information and Access to Life Assurance: The Poverty of Genetic Exceptionalism. BioSocieties. 2007 Sept 1;2(3):349-373. doi: 10.1017/S1745855207005789 |
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Mittra J. Marginalising 'eugenic anxiety' through a rhetoric of 'liberal choice': a critique of the House of Commons Select Committee Report on reproductive technologies. New Genetics and Society. 2007 Aug 28;26(2):159-179. Epub 2007 Aug 28. doi: 10.1080/14636770701466865 |
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Mittra J. Life Science Innovation and the Re-structuring of the Pharmaceutical Industry: Merger, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliance Behaviour of Large Firms. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. 2007 May 16;19(3):279-301. Epub 2007 May 16. doi: 10.1080/09537320701281540 |
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Mittra J, Williams R. Evolution of the life science industries. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. 2007 May 1;19(3):251-255. doi: 10.1080/09537320701281516 |
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Mittra J, Williams R. Evolution of the life science industries. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. 2007;19(3):251-255. doi: 10.1080/09537320701281516 |
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Mittra J. The Socio-Political Economy of Pharmaceutical Mergers: A Case study of Sanofi and Aventis. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management. 2006 Dec 7;18(5):473-496. doi: 10.1080/09537320601019594 |
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Mittra J. 'Genetic exceptionalism' and precautionary politics: Regulating for uncertainty in Britain's genetics and insurance policy process. Science and Public Policy. 2006 Oct;33(8):585-600. |
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Tait J, Mittra J. Industry challenges. Chemistry and Industry (London). 2004 Dec 6;23:24-25. |
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