ABSTRACT
The concept of “translational” research is based on the effective rendering of research ideas into actual clinical practice-in other words “translating” the research finding into clinical usefulness.1,2 This concept has many different definitions, depending upon the location along a continuous axis that extends from preclinical experimental
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work to what would be considered purely clinical research. In a recent review, translational research is considered to occur when an endpoint is measured in a patient rather than via a preclinical experiment.2 A team is usually involved, including the preclinical scientists developing the idea for the treatment strategy, the clinicians involved with providing care to patients and using the treatment, and the formal clinical trial necessities such as trial statisticians and research nurses. However, a broader definition is provided by The American Physiological Society, which defines translational research as “the transfer of knowledge gained from basic research to new and improved methods of preventing, diagnosing or treating disease, as well as the transfer of clinical insights into hypotheses that can be tested and validated in the basic research laboratory.”3
