Translational Medicine

No matter how counterintuitive it may seem, basic research has proven over and over to be the lifeline of practical advances in medicine. Without advances, medicine regresses and reverts to witchcraft - Arthur Kornberg

image by: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

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Translating science to medicine: The case for physician-scientists

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting vaccines are a potent reminder of the definitive impact of biomedicine and the unique ability of a workforce steeped in both basic research and clinical medicine to respond to a medical crisis. However, the reminder arrives at a critical juncture, with fewer and fewer physicians trained in both biomedical research and clinical medicine...

This modern era that sees us diagnosing disease by genome sequencing, developing RNA-based therapeutics, and finding once-unimaginable cancer cures reinforces the necessity of the physician-scientist to continue the momentum of discovery and its translation to public health.

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Resources

Mission Critical: How Translation-Focused Disease Foundations May Save Medical Research

Successfully translating scientific discoveries requires a primal sense of urgency, which some disease foundations seem to have, and many big pharmas appear to need.

Pandemic, war and environmental disaster push scientists to deliver quick answers – here’s what it takes to do good science under pressure

Scientists are called on to come up with answers under pressure whenever there is a crisis, from the Challenger space shuttle explosion to the 2020 California wildfires. As they shift from “regular” to “crisis” research, they must maintain rigorous standards despite long hours, mentally demanding tasks and persistent outside scrutiny. Thankfully, science produced under urgent conditions can be just as robust and safe as results produced under normal conditions.

Translational Research in the Time of COVID-19—Dissolving Boundaries

As society and healthcare institutions tentatively seek to return to normality, we can see that this new way of working is fragile with forces pulling us back.

Unlocking the power of translational medicine

By strengthening current translational medicine (TM) practices and preparing for advances, organizations could enhance the power of TM and increase its influence on R&D productivity overall.

Coming out of the scientific closet: unapologetic about basic research

In order to cure specific diseases, the new paradigm is for researchers to focus almost exclusively on 'translational' studies directly related to diagnostics and treatment. But is this wise?

Found in translation: where do cures come from?

What's the best way of doing research? Throwing money at bright minds or trying to solve a particular problem? Or is there a third way?

How Rigorous Translational Research Can Impact Drug Development

Translational research focuses on taking the learnings, data and outcomes from academic projects and transforming them into actual interventions. In pharmaceutical R&D, it helps make a drug a reality.

Improving the Translational Medicine Process: Moving Patients From “End-Users” to “Engaged Collaborators”

Translational medicine is a process fundamental for the society as it aims at developing new interventions beneficial to the patients. However, translational medicine is at a historic moment of crisis. The process is becoming unsustainable in spite of enormous technological advances, since the technological explosion has not been accompanied by a reinforcement of quality in experimental designs, especially in the discovery phases. However, there is no clear path neither for clinicians nor for scientists regarding the process of how a discovery leads to an approved drug.

The Next Frontier of Medicine

Following your gut takes on a whole new meaning as scientists find relationships between the brain and gut bacteria.

The perils of translational research

What is wrong is that translational research is being seen as a panacea that will address the flagging rate of new biomedical advances. The thinking seems to declare that if only more people were given more money and deliberately focused on direct application, we would suddenly see a windfall of new therapies against disease. This thinking suffers from two major problems.

Translating science to medicine: The case for physician-scientists

Journal of Translational Medicine

Journal of Translational Medicine is an open access journal publishing articles focusing on information derived from human experimentation so as to optimise the communication between basic and clinical science.

Science Translational Medicine

Science Translational Medicine is the leading weekly online journal publishing translational research at the intersection of science, engineering and medicine. The goal of Science Translational Medicine is to promote human health by providing a forum for communicating the latest research advances from biomedical, translational, and clinical researchers from all established and emerging disciplines relevant to medicine.