What is "Translational Science" in a clinical setting?

Question

I've heard the term "Clinical and Translational Sciences" within the context of research in the health care/pharmaceutical industry. What is "translational science" (in laymen's language please)? What does it involve? Thank you!

Answer 1

When scientists discover a cure, they need to find a way to make it work in the human body. They may find ways to "cure" a disease growing in a dish, but then need to find a way to make it work in our bodies (i.e. make it into a pill form, injection...)

"Translational Science" is an overarching term encompassing the steps that must be taken to move or "translate" a new detection or diagnostic method or preventive or treatment intervention from the laboratory bench to its ultimate clinical use for patients.
~http://www3.cancer.gov/prostateplan7.html


Hope that helps.

Answer 2

In simple terms, translational scientists, both in industry and academia are aiming to answer some simple questions once a drug candidate has emerged from a screening cascade. These include:


• What disease might this agent work in? By testing in a number of pre-clinical models of human disease and working out whether this is predictive of disease in man some direction can be provided pre-clinically.

• What dosing schedule can we test in the clinic for maximum therapeutic benefit with minimum toxicity, based upon the scientific profile of the molecule and data from pre-clinical models?

• Can we use pharmacodynamic ‘biomarker(s)’ (measures of biological effect in man) to determine whether the compound blocks or stimulates the target receptor or enzyme in man as it does in animals (commonly known as proof of mechanism)? What effect does modulating the target have on the cellular phenotype that we might be trying to modulate (known as proof of principle, or proof of biology)? Does induction of this phenotypic change result in therapeutic benefit to the patient, and at what dose does this occur in the patients (proof of concept)?

• Can we identify patients from within a disease population who might benefit from the agent, either by a gene mutational change or an over/under-expression of the protein target receptor or enzyme as examples?

• If an agent is being developed as second or third in the market place (usually termed a ‘best in class’ agent), what differentiating pharmacology might this compound require in order to encourage regulatory agencies, physicians, and patients to test it?