Voices of Inclusive Research
Voices of Inclusive Research is a podcast dedicated to exploring the diverse and dynamic world of inclusive research. Each episode features thought leaders, community members and advocates who we welcome to share their questions, concerns, insights, lived experiences and groundbreaking work. Our mission is to give the community a voice in clinical research. We aim to inspire and inform by highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusivity in clinical research.
Voices of Inclusive Research
Speaking the Language of Trust: Why Translation Matters in Research
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"Translations aren't just helpful — they're essential."
In this episode, Dr. Renarda Jones sits down with Ricky Ricardo Villa, owner of Casa Sur Hacienda and a dedicated community leader who has been helping Diverse Research Now bring clinical trial education to Spanish-speaking communities.
They talk about the importance of accurate translation and interpretation at research events and how language is deeply connected to culture, trust, and access. Ricky shares why adapting messages to reflect community beliefs and backgrounds is key to building understanding and breaking down barriers. From health fairs to bilingual education, this episode explores what it means to truly communicate (not just translate) in a way that makes clinical research feel more accessible and responsive to community needs.
🎧 Tune in to hear how one conversation can help bridge the gap between research and the people it’s meant to serve.
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
- Language Is Access – Translation is more than swapping words. It’s about cultural knowledge, social context, and helping people feel informed and respected.
- The Role of Trusted Messengers – Community advocates like Ricky play a critical role in building trust where mistrust once lived.
- From Correction to Prevention – The Latino community is becoming more proactive about health. With the right tools and education, we can shift from crisis response to prevention.
- Documents Are Not Enough – AI tools can translate quickly, but only human connection can explain, adapt, and guide people through unfamiliar systems.
- Inclusive Research Starts with Language – Diversity in trials, we must first speak the language of the communities we serve — clearly, respectfully, and with care.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
- "Part of my life purpose is to support people who are making an impact socially." – Ricky Ricardo Villa
- "What AI doesn’t take into consideration is the background knowledge of the people." – Ricky Ricardo Villa
- "With the right education, right explanation, people can understand and make educated decisions." – Ricky Ricardo Villa
- "The Latino community are becoming more proactive to have prevention versus correction." – Ricky Ricardo Villa
- "Translations and interpretations of different languages are so important as we are trying to get more diverse communities involved in research." – Dr. Renarda Jones
About Ricky
Ricky Ricardo Villa is the Founder & Executive Director of the Casa Sur Foundation & Retreat Center in Chula Vista, CA. A Non-Profit and Retreat Center for education, community, co-creation and art.
Connect with Ricky Ricardo Villa:
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We Want to Hear Your Voice!
Your insights on how inclusive research impacts your life and community are invaluable. Share your experiences and thoughts on how we can bridge the gap between research and real-world needs. Your stories drive our mission and inspire the future of inclusive research!
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Dr. Renarda: Welcome to another episode of Voices of Inclusive Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Rand, founder of Diverse Research. Now and today you will hear the voice of Ricky Ricardo Villa, owner of Casa Sir Hacienda. Casa Sarah is a retreat and event venue in Chula Vista, California. And Ricky has been so helpful with, translating and interpreting for diverse research now.
For the Hispanic community. And so we just wanna share today how important this work is and how important it is to make sure everyone is being communicated to properly right in their language. So thank you so much for being here, Ricky. How are you doing today?
Ricky Ricardo: Good. Pretty good. Thank you.
Dr. Renarda: Good. Uh, tell the community, who you are and why you do what you do. The important work you do.
Ricky Ricardo: Yes. So, mm-hmm. my name is Rick Ricardo. Mm-hmm. I own Casa cie, which is an event retreat and community center mm-hmm. Here in the, uh, San Diego, south Bay. I work with nonprofits, with the Chamber of Commerce, rotary Clubs, associations To bring together the community to co-create, to come and be part of the solution versus the problem. Exactly. And, support, entrepreneur, support all our community business owners as well to really, increase the level of, their wealth. their wellbeing and their mental health. Their social emotional and their sense of connection and belonging.
Dr. Renarda: Yes. Yes. So tell me, I know that this might be a, something different that you do, like helping us to do translations Yes. And interpretation. But tell us why you agreed to do this, why it's important to you that we do this.
Translations in interpreting at our events. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Part of my life purpose is to support people that they are making an impact in the socially, talking, you know, so the work that, diverse research now is doing is really educating people. Mm-hmm. And really, rebuilding that trust. Yes. That it was lost at some point with the pharma.
Ricky Ricardo: Industry. So the fact that it's a non-for-profit that they are really interested to, bridge and have that connection with the community mm-hmm. Is really inspiring. I have a, a master's degree in bilingual education. Ah. And, this allows me to really not just translate, but also like, adapt the knowledge into our beliefs as a Latino community.
Yes. So, We are in alignment with the mission that diverse research now has in terms of increased. The, the wellbeing of our community.
Dr. Renarda: Yeah, exactly. I think that's why we work well together. we've done how many events now? Like a few, like maybe four or five. Yeah. Different events. Yes. Yeah. Where we talked about brain health.
and today we talked about lupus. we didn't have anyone that spoke, Spanish here today. but, what have you learned? is there anything you've learned from the Latin community, while you have been sitting in our events? Yeah. And how helpful is that?
Ricky Ricardo: Yeah, I think, the first takeaway that I notice is that mm-hmm. The, the Latino community are becoming more proactive to have. prevention versus correction. Ah, you know, that's great. So all the information that we have been receiving from research now is, preventing. So there are things that they can be prevented.
the second takeaway and highlight is that Our eating habits, our lifestyle, the African American and the Latino, and some of the Asian communities as well. sometimes we don't have, proper, lifestyle with a balance of mental health, emotional health, spiritual health. So we kind of abuse until the body tells us, Hey, something is wrong.
Wow. So, that awareness of, change our lifestyle and what are the benefits of having a healthier lifestyle.
Dr. Renarda: Yeah. Yeah. I am so appreciative to you, for the work that you're doing. We have so many of more events coming up and Ricky is gonna be here, you know, helping the Latin community or Latino community.
In this area of understanding. another thing that I wanted to bring up is that, in the farmer world, some of sites, so some of them complain at times that it's hard for them to get, the Spanish translations. of the consents. Yeah. This is seems to be a issue and a barrier for a lot of pharma companies.
These Can you imagine why that might be? it expensive to translate these documents? do you think that this is a barrier that we're hearing in the, at the sites, that a lot of times they're not getting the Spanish translations? Um, yeah.
Ricky Ricardo: So, with ai,
translation can be done. Okay. Immediately.
Dr. Renarda: Okay.
Ricky Ricardo: However, what AI doesn't take in consideration is the background knowledge of the people,
Dr. Renarda: right? So some
Ricky Ricardo: of the background knowledge has to be built into education, into, foundation. So some of the things that these documents they lack in the translation is
The terms, the concept. Mm-hmm. The, the social construction. So those social constructions, we don't have it sometimes in Mexico and Latin America. So coming to the states is completely different. Okay. Or even if you are dealing with first Latino generations, the parents, they still influencing the decisions of the new generation.
So, um. we need to work with the leadership. We need to work with the parents, and we need to, continue educating our new, bilingual generation.
Dr. Renarda: Okay? Now I've heard that in the Latino community you have, okay, everyone could speak Spanish, but then you have these different understanding of different words and different things like, so.
uh, like you said, it's important to understand the background of the community so you know how to properly translate. So, for example, our community here in San Diego, we have a lot of Mexican Yes. Latino, people living here because we are right here next to Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. So I know that we work hard to make sure our translations are.
Considering that background. Yes. And so tell me how important that is when you're trying to like, relate to a community or trying to get the attention of the community, because could that be a barrier? Like say you translated a document in Mexican, a, it's usually like for Mexican,
Latino people, but then you have someone from like aina or something. how different is that? how can we consider
Ricky Ricardo: that? Yeah. So what we are talking about two different things. Okay. It's like what the, okay. The connotation or the denotation of a war.
So one war can have different connotation based on where you're coming from. You're coming from Colombia, you're coming
Dr. Renarda: uhhuh
Ricky Ricardo: from Dominican Republic. So Right. I think what is important is to elaborate about the term, from a scientific point of view is in education we call T three, which is Technical terminology. So when you are talking in a tier three level, it's important to elaborate what that means. And also tapping into tier three level allows less, misinterpretation. Okay. local, understanding or beliefs of the iio sequences. So That is important.
And the other thing is that, the pharma industry, the research, clinic, as you are doing, as your organization is doing, they are laying the foundation and the concept and the whole background knowledge that it has to be, explained to people. So they have a better understanding and there is less space for, miscommunication and misinterpretation.
Dr. Renarda: Yep, yep. So the takeaway from this conversation is translations and interpretations of different languages are so important. In this space of, as we are trying to get more different diverse communities involved in research, we're, it's gonna be important that we communicate to them properly in their language.
and so that means getting those Spanish translations to the sites. That means having a translator at the events. and yes, we have other. Languages that we should probably consider. But, you know, Spanish is a big one for our country. so we want to, at least, accommodate for our, Latino, community, and 'cause we wanna make sure they're included. that is what we will continue to do and we encourage pharma to continue to do that. Are you open to helping with translations with other organizations or even helping with like document translations of documents? Ricky?
Ricky Ricardo: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, totally. Everything that is related to the wellbeing of the community mm-hmm. To the, development of their social emotional, wellness. I mean, because I feel, I believe that with the right education, right explanation, people they can understand and have, educated, decisions.
Dr. Renarda: Yep. Yep. And that's what it's all about. Like that's what we wanna do. We wanna inform people so they can make informed decisions, educated decisions. So. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate the conversation. I appreciate your voice in this. I appreciate your help in
Ricky Ricardo: this space. Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you to diverse research now, the work that you guys, you are doing, and, please follow us.
make a comment. be proactive. Be proactive because try to be part of the solution or the problem. And we would love to hear your comments, your suggestions, and. Things that we can support your progress.
Dr. Renarda: Awesome. Thank you so much, Ricky. Thank you. Thanks. You all right?
