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January 2007
Children's Research Institute News Brief
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Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA
Executive Director
Darby Children's
Research Inst. |
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Inderjit Singh, PhD
Scientific Director
Darby Children's
Research Inst. |
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Understanding translational research
Defining translational research can be confusing because it's a broad-based definition of a process that applies to multiple disciplines and not a specific end point, says director of pediatric epidemiology Dr. Thomas C. Hulsey, ScD, MSPH.
"It's a new discipline that describes the process by which two traditionally independent disciplines - basic and clinical science - now work collaboratively to improve human health," says Dr. Hulsey.
Translational research is a dynamic cycle that reinforces the linkages between basic laboratory research, epidemiology studies, and clinical trials. It's the critical bridge between a better understanding of biological processes and the etiology, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and outcomes of specific health conditions.
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| Thomas C. Hulsey, ScD, MSPH |
"What that means is that now the clinician begins to think more about how new information from biomarkers might be related to disease processes she's treating, while the basic scientist might think additionally about how the process he's studying contributes potentially to certain diseases," says Dr. Hulsey.
The National Institutes of Health acknowledged that improvements in human health were not keeping up with independent investments they'd been making in basic and clinical research, says Dr. Hulsey. To achieve a more efficient return on this investment, a new discipline in clinical and basic research was needed. The result: translational research.
As a new discipline, there is a shortage of accomplished translational research teams, since traditional programs train basic and clinical researchers as independent disciplines. To overcome that obstacle, new training programs are vital. New training programs ensure a steady supply of translational researchers, as well as qualified mentors in translational research.
"That's one of the things we're working on for the current Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) program," explains Dr. Hulsey. "We're developing new courses and rotations to include a translational research approach as well as a clinical one."
The Southeastern Pre-doctoral Training in Clinical Research (SPTCR) T32 award for predoctoral students was specifically designed to include strong clinical and translational components, notes Dr. Hulsey, co-PI of the award and program director.
Programs specifically in the DCRI and Pediatrics are working to promote translational research methods through seminars and greater opportunities for interaction between scientists. "The GCRC sponsors a monthly seminar, and the DCRI has followed suit with specific children's issues," he notes. "The DCRI has taken on a formal role in supporting translational research in pediatrics."
Since translational research is a process, it's vital that it be supported through infrastructure. "It requires a corporate behavioral change," says Dr. Hulsey.
He's excited about how Dr. Jane Charles and her colleagues are applying translational research to autism research at MUSC. Recently the US government announced it was earmarking additional new funds specifically to target the disorder.
"The inclusion of translational research money would provide a greater opportunity to include information on mechanisms that might underlie the development of this disease," he points out. "So we can go beyond observing, recording, and documenting autism, to the inclusion of more mechanistic kinds of information that will help us further understand autism and related disorders even more than we do today.
"That could move research studies like the one Dr. Charles is conducting away from being traditionally public health, to also incorporate medical models of prevention and treatment."
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