Lost in Translation - Bases of Translational Medicine

Clinical and Translational Medicine, 2012

The meeting focused on the communication of the need to foster translational medicine (TM) by building and broadening bridges between basic research and clinical studies at the international level. The meeting included distinguished TM experts from academia, the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries, government agencies, regulators, and clinicians and provided the opportunity to identify shared interests and efforts for collaborative approaches utilizing cutting edge technologies, innovative approaches and novel therapeutic interventions. The meeting defined the concept of TM in its two-way operational scheme and emphasized the need for bed to bench efforts based directly on clinical observation. Conclusions: It was the meeting participants' realization that the shared main goals of TM include breaking the separation between clinic practice and basic research, establishing positive feedback by understanding the basis of expected and unexpected clinical outcomes and accelerating basic research relevant to human suffering. The primary objectives of the meeting were two-fold: to accelerate the two-way translation by informing the participants representing the different disciplines about the state of art activities around TM approaches; and to identify areas that need to be supported by redirecting limited resources as well as identifying new sources of funding. This report summarizes key concepts presented during the meeting representing the state-of-art translational research and salient aspects of the ensuing discussions.

Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, 2010

Translational medicine encompasses the itinerary from the conception of an idea to its implementation in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of human diseases. It cannot be identified as a stand-alone field; rather, it comprises a fragmented patchwork of activities, competencies, and knowledge distributed along diverse and often disparate disciplines. In standard practice, the success of a translational project is often less dependent on the validity of the original idea than on the outcome of the combination of several stochastic events.

Journal of Translational Medicine, 2013

Translational science consists of research and development that integrates multiple resources to expedite the successful treatment of disease. The International Park of Translational BioMedicine (IPTBM) is currently being developed within the interface between Zhejiang Province and Shanghai Municipality. IPTBM has been designed to pioneer comprehensive biomedical research that spans the continuum from the education of young scientists to providing the infrastructure necessary for clinical testing and direct observation to better understand human biology while promoting viable commercial results within a vibrant biotechnology community. IPTBM's goal is to attract global partners organized around five fundamental pillars: 1) Institutional Development, 2) Project Implementation, 3) Development and Production, 4) Investment and 5) Regulatory Clusters to address the needs of an international platform of scientists, institutes, universities, commercial enterprises, investors, politicians, and other stakeholders. The IPTBM differs from existing models including CTSA's (US, NIH) technology because of its comprehensive approach to merge education, research, innovation, and development to translate clinical and public health needs into target-oriented and cost-efficient projects.

International Journal of Cell Science & Molecular Biology, 2017

To date, the actual rate of successful translation has been extremely low although those few successes have been notable and provide for continued and expanding enthusiasm and support. This paper examines whether the fundamental premise may be flawed. Could the success rate be improved to further enhance quality of life and cost optimization for patients by changing the paradigm to " bedside to bench to bedside " , and focusing the research on addressing unmet clinical needs? It examines all aspects of the healthcare ecosystem to understand issues that arise with real world patients and in real world clinical practice and how addressing these should be the focus of translational research.

New England Journal of Medicine, 2005

Translational medicine has made impact and have come to be accepted (Dai, et al., 2013) as a global medical strategy for improving Medicare such that, funding of translational medicine globally has increased, it is treated with priority and many institutes for translational studies have been established, (Zhang, 2012). Demonstrating this critical significance of translational medicine to modern medical practice is the emphasis by the World Medical Association (WMA Ethics Manual, 2009), that ‘physicians must know how to interpret research results and apply them to patients’. However, as noted by Zerhouni, (2007) and Qian et al., (2012), a lot remains to be understood and lessons need to be learned on the best strategies for translational medicine which may not be unconnected with observed issues of clinical research bottlenecks. Mankoff, et al., (2004), had earlier identified “three major obstacles to effective translational medicine”. The first two revolves around the subject of clinical research; – “the challenge of translating basic science discoveries into clinical studies”, and “the translation of clinical studies into medical practice and health care policy”. This second issues hinges on the core challenges of the practical conduct of clinical research. Sung, et al., (2003) opined that the two “translational blocks can be removed only by the collaborative efforts of multiple system stakeholders”

Advances in Biology, 2014

Advances in biology are occurring at a breathtaking pace today, from genetic insights facilitated by the Human Genome Project and next generation DNA sequencing technologies, to global nucleic acid and proteomic expression measurement using new high-throughput methods. Less publicized in recent years, yet still the central driver of progress, are the steadily proceeding biological insights gained through tried and true hypothesis-driven investigation into the complex worlds of metabolism, growth, development, and regulation. Certainly, the basic science ecosystem is productive and this portends well for the myriad new applications that will benefit mankind; drugs, vaccines, devices, and related economic growth-or perhaps not-in stark contrast to the generation of fundamental biological knowledge are inefficiencies in applying this information to real-world problems, especially those of the clinic. While investigation hums along at light speed, translation often does not. The good news is that obstacles to progress are tractable. The bad news, however, is that these problems are difficult. The present paper examines translational research from multiple perspectives, beginning with a historical account and proceeding to the current state of the art. Included are descriptions of successes and challenges, along with conjecture on how the field may need to evolve in the future.

American journal of translational research, 2009