Translational Research
Providing the best care for our children and our communities means ensuring that the most up-to-date scientific research findings are translated directly into clinical healthcare as practiced on a daily basis.
The express goal of translational research is thus to “transform scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical, or population studies into clinical applications to reduce [disease] incidence, morbidity, and mortality.” (National Cancer Institute, Translational Research Working Group). In other words, translational research allows for new scientific findings to be disseminated to the public, health care workers, and others for implementation and utilization.
Translational research covers a full continuum from basic science discovery, to the formation of stakeholder partnerships, to budgetary considerations, and dissemination to healthcare providers and the community at large. In the final stage, research findings and information are widely adopted by the public, patients, and clinical practitioners.
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Healthcare Provider Resources
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Example Practices: Model Programs
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DATABASE SEARCHES
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Family & Caregiver Resources National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
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HEALTHCARE PROVIDER RESOURCES
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Through its Translational Research Program webpage, Children’s Hospital of Boston provides an online video interview discussing how to take pediatric research from bench to bedside. Questions addressed include:
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What does translational research entail?
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What are some of the challenges in getting scientific discoveries to patients?
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How can healthcare facilities hasten the process of translational research? (Accessed June 2010)
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Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health
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Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS). BTRIS is a resource available to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intramural community allowing investigators to access research data, develop streamlined mechanisms for protocol reporting and data analysis, and reuse data for hypothesis generation and collaboration. The BTRIS website links to several presentations focused on informatics in biomedical and translational research. The lecture series brings leading figures in the study and use of translational information systems from academic centers across the U.S. and promotes discussion about the future of informatics. (Accessed June 2010)
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, National Institutes of Health
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NIH Common Fund. The NIH Common Fund was enacted into law through the 2006 NIH Reform Act and is designed to support cross-cutting, trans-NIH programs. To date, the Common Fund has been used to support a series of short term, exceptionally high impact, trans-NIH programs known collectively as the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research
One set of Roadmap initiatives focuses on improving or re-engineering the clinical research enterprise. The translational research component of this effort includes the creation and launch of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium and the NIH Rapid Access to Interventional Development (RAID) Pilot Program, both outlined at the Translational Research webpage (Accessed June 2010)
Institute of Translational Health Sciences
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About Translational Research. This section of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences’ website provides introductory information on translational research, including descriptions and examples of the various translational research phases. (June 2009)
Ohio State University Medical Center
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Translational Research. This section of the Ohio State University Medical Center’s website contains basic information about translational research, covering the four research phases (T1-T4) between scientific discovery and bedside practice. (Accessed June 2010)
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Translational Research Resources. This webpage includes basic information, funding opportunities, and more translational research resources. (Accessed June 2010)
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
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Translational Science: Bridging the Gap. Appearing in Benchmarks (Volume 6, Issue 1), this article provides a broad overview of translational research through a question and answer format. It discusses translating scientific findings, defines translational research, gives an example of how translational research can be utilized to establish new therapies, and how translational research can become more effective. (February 2006)
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Translational Research Working Group (TRWG). TRWG was established in the summer of 2005 to develop recommendations about how the National Cancer Institute (NCI) can best organize its investments to further translational research. This site includes links to definitions, diagrams, and charts that define translational research and describe the translational continuum. The site also links to the June 2007 TRWG final report Transforming Translation – Harnessing Discovery for Patient and Public Benefit which puts forth an optimized translational research model and offers recommendations about how NCI can achieve its future vision for translational research. (Accessed June 2010)
National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health
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Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA). Launched in 2006, the CTSA grant program – led by the NIH’s National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) – is designed to create academic “homes” for clinical and translational science at research institutions across the country. Consortium members aim to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients, to engage communities in clinical research efforts, and to train clinical and translational researchers. (Accessed June 2010)
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CTSA Fact Sheet. This fact sheet provides additional information about the CTSA program, identifying the overarching strategic goals that guide consortium-wide activities. (Fall 2009).
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NCRR Reporter. The theme of the Winter 2006 issue of NCRR Reporter is “Clinical and Translational Science: Speeding the Translation of Medical Discovery into Enhanced Patient Care.” The issue first highlights previous NIH initiatives designed to improve translating research findings, then describes the goals of the Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSA) grant program. It also emphasizes the importance of focusing graduate education on the issue of translational research. (Winter 2006)
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
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Division of Developmental Translational Research (DDTR). DDTR supports programs of research and research training with the ultimate goal of preventing and curing mental disorders that originate in childhood and adolescence. The mission of DDTR is to translate knowledge from basic science to discover the developmental origins of mental disorders and effect their prevention and cure. This site describes DDTR’s focus as translating research in accordance with mental health priorities in three key areas: neurobehavioral mechanisms responsible for development, trajectories of risk/ illness, and innovative preventative and treatment interventions. (Accessed June 2010)
EXAMPLE PRACTICES
Translational research was used to decrease injury rates of children 4 to 7 years old who suffered intra-abdominal and spinal cord trauma caused by “seat belt syndrome” or improperly restrained children. In the study “Belt-Positioning Booster Seats and Reduction in Risk of Injury among Children Involved in Vehicle Crashes” (Durbin DR, Elliott MR, Winston FK. JAMA. 2003 Jun 4; 289(21):2835-40), researchers examine the body of evidence supporting belt-positioning booster seats and the result of mounting evidence in support of modified automobile passenger restraint laws across the nation.
To convince public policy makers and legislators to make a modification in passenger restraint laws, crash surveillance system data was examined between 1998 and 2002. Demographics, medical diagnoses, vehicle type, and restraint status were collected from 48,257 crashes, involving 56,593 children. Analysis of the data found that 4- to 7-year-old children seated in belt-positioning booster seats had a 59% lower chance of being injured by their belts than those restrained by belts only.
As the evidence base grew and people in the public health community became increasingly aware of evidence supporting the use of belt-positioning booster seats, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration created new height and weight guidelines for booster seat use. This article recommends that health care providers and those desiring policy change incorporate new evidence to advocate for policy change through their state legislatures.
The Translational Research Program (TRP) at Children's Hospital Boston (CHB) was created to stimulate and facilitate the development of preclinical and ultimately human translational trials seeking to improve the care of children with serious diseases. To do this, TRP provides support for faculty-initiated pre-clinical and clinical translational research projects, in addition to ensuring adequate infrastructure to facilitate the rapid completion of these trials. TRP will also fund a cadre of CHB investigators to help them pursue successful translational research.
Focus areas of TRP include:
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stimulative grants program,
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improvement in institutional cores needed to support disease-specific, non-clinical and early phase human studies,
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multidisciplinary retreats to foster interactions across the spectrum of research and clinical activities, and
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funding for the development of faculty and staff. (Accessed June 2010)
Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI)
DTMI is an integrated support structure that provides resources and training and facilitates collaborative research in clinical and translational research.
The Child Health Core project initiative aims to be a pioneering pediatric academic enterprise that enhances the health of children by fostering therapeutic discovery through collaborative clinical and translational research.
Specific objectives of DTMI’s Child Health Core project are to:
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conduct pediatric clinical and translational research so evidence-based therapeutics are available to children;
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expand the pediatric research training and mentoring for students, residents, pediatric fellows, and junior- and mid-career faculty, so they can become future leaders in pediatric clinical and translational research; and
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disseminate results of pediatric clinical and translational research through publications and meetings so that the care of children is improved through these study findings.
These objectives will be accomplished by:
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developing and implementing a governance structure that encourages the interaction of successful basic and clinical pediatric scientists in order to achieve seamless transition from molecular discovery to clinical practice, and
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facilitating the match between mentor, trainee, and research project to create a seamless transition in training of students, residents, fellows, and faculty. (Accessed June 2010)
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) includes a Community Engagement Component (CEC) designed to translate information from the academic world to the community, and back. The goals of CEC are to bring knowledge about current health research to community members (both lay and professional), and to identify the health concerns of the community and help meet them through research and education programs.
Through its school-based science education programs HEADS-UP and CATCH, as well as podcasts of interest to both academic and community listeners, CEC brings CCTS programs and findings to the community. CEC’s Community Advisory Board helps CEC identify the public’s concerns about health, so that the CCTS can target those areas for research.
University of Wisconsin Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.
The University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research’s Community Health Connections program is working to enhance the statewide portfolio of funded translational and community-based research projects through capacity-building efforts such as the following:
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Regional Research Councils. To promote the two-way process of communication and exchange about translational and community-based research, the Community Health Connections initiative has developed Regional Research Councils. Council membership is drawn from the following types of organizations: health systems and community-based practices; academic institutions; public health agencies; nonprofit agencies; businesses; school systems; community-based organizations representing underserved populations; and local government.
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Regional Research Coordinators. Coordinators facilitate and support the work of the Councils. In addition, coordinators conduct conversations with researchers and community-based organizations about translational research needs, resources, and potential opportunities.
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Research Match-making and Facilitation of Research Ideas and Projects. Community Health Connections uses the feedback obtained from Councils and conversations with local researchers and community-based groups to discover and encourage opportunities for "research match-making" between community-based organizations and researchers.
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Community Health Research Forums. Community Health Connections sponsors research forums to provide opportunities for researchers to highlight their work and to make contact with other potential collaborators and community-based organizations. (Accessed June 2010)
FAMILY AND CAREGIVER RESOURCES
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
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Children and Clinical Studies. This website contains resources for parents and caregivers addressing the importance of research in kids and rights of families in studies. (January 2010)