Kaspars Melkis
About Me

My name is Kaspars Melkis and I am a translator of medical and pharmaceutical texts with more than 25 years of experience.

I work as an English-Latvian translator. My native language is Latvian and I live in the United Kingdom. My translation career started in-house at The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in Korsnäs Gård, Sweden, where I learned about all steps of book publishing process. I also provided IT support and training and learned a lot about typography and different software.

In 2001, I established myself as a freelance translator and specialized in the pharmaceutical field, mostly with patient-targeted texts. I obtained a master's degree in pharmacy in 2017 and my thesis was about encapsulation of metal nanoparticles as potential theranostics agents. Having finished my practice at community pharmacy, I am now a registered pharmacist who is completely focused on pharmaceutical and medical writing and translations. I believe that a thorough professional knowledge is indispensable for translations that not only meet the requirements of the client but also facilitate communication with the target audience.

I have experience in the following areas:

  • Language translation English into Latvian
  • Revision & proofreading
  • Translation and cultural adaptation of Patient reported outcomes (PRO)
  • Harmonization of EQ-5D instruments
  • Cognitive debriefing interviews
  • Quality assessment, style guide preparations
  • Language Quality Assurance services
  • Terminology checking, research, development of style guides

    Detailed experience:

  • Clinical trial documentation: translation, editing, compliance checking. Informed consent forms, clinical trial manuals, investigator contracts, product information leaflets, investigational drug labels, study protocols, advertisement posters, etc.
  • Regulatory documents: European Medicines Agency (EMA) workflow, Summary of product characteristics (SmPC), Patient information leaflets (PIL), scientific conclusions, application letters, QRD templates.
  • Linguistic debriefing and harmonization projects for clinical studies. PRO, EQ-5D instruments, forward and back translations. Cognitive debriefing: patient interviews by phone and in person, evaluation of linguistic results.
  • Other medical and pharmaceutical products: medical devices, discharge letters, care plans, clinical assessments, tests & investigations, lab manuals, testing plans, pharmacopeia articles, microbiology equipment and procedures.

    I also have Proz profile and LinkedIn profile.

    Presenting the poster of the review of terminology management tools used in pharmaceutical translations at FIP conference 2022 in Sevilla, Spain