When Thanh joined Collab Lab, an initiative that turns complex published research papers into relatable, funny animated videos, she was ambitious. ‘Making videos is easy. I’m making short videos on TikTok all the time. It’s a piece of cake,’ Thanh thought.
Stepping into the project with the ‘goal’- changing the world using her videos, Thanh was hit by reality almost immediately.
Operating on a co-creation model, Collab Lab empowers young collaborators to work together and engage directly with scientists. Thanh and her team were in charge of reading and analysing dense academic papers, pitching storylines using the central character I-sà, writing scripts, sketching storyboards, and going through multi-stage edit and review loops.
I understand that it is a long process and takes a lot of work to produce a video.
Collab Lab 2025 cohort member
The whole team of collaborators felt so overwhelmed. They didn’t imagine making a 3-minute video involving so many tasks with several stakeholders like that. They didn’t know there were even more activities waiting after publishing the video: advertising, viewer engagement, promotional events, and the final step: feedback, evaluation, and learnings.
It was obvious to the team that producing an educational video featuring a research paper was far more demanding than making a quick social media clip. This was also when they learned that changing the world didn’t happen overnight. It could be a subtle change in today’s thought leading to bigger and better health choices in the future. Their videos may be short, but they could be a link in a chain of progressive, quiet impacts.
“I was very ambitious, almost living in fantasy. I have a more realistic view of science now.”
Thanh reflected
Grounding her expectations, Thanh and her team finished their cohort’s videos and embraced the interesting experience working alongside scientists at OUCRU.
“I learned a lot about health science as well as communication for health science. I am convinced that this is the career I would like to pursue.” Thanh’s teammate, Collab Lab 2025 cohort expressed in the reflection session after the project closure event.
Disclaimer: The character’s name has been changed for credential purposes.
