Translational medicine (often called

translational science Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans. ...

, of which it is a form) is defined by the European Society for Translational Medicine as "an interdisciplinary branch of the biomedical field supported by three main pillars: benchside, bedside, and community". The goal of translational medicine is to combine disciplines, resources, expertise, and techniques within these pillars to promote enhancements in prevention, diagnosis, and therapies. Accordingly, translational medicine is a highly interdisciplinary field, the primary goal of which is to coalesce assets of various natures within the individual pillars in order to improve the global healthcare system significantly.

History

Translational medicine is a rapidly growing discipline in biomedical research and aims to expedite the discovery of new diagnostic tools and treatments by using a multi-disciplinary, highly collaborative, "bench-to-bedside" approach. Within public health, translational medicine is focused on ensuring that proven strategies for disease treatment and prevention are actually implemented within the community. One prevalent description of translational medicine, first introduced by the Institute of Medicine's Clinical Research Roundtable, highlights two roadblocks (i.e., distinct areas in need of improvement): the first translational block (T1) prevents basic research findings from being tested in a clinical setting; the second translational block (T2) prevents proven interventions from becoming standard practice. The National Institutes of Health has made a major push to fund translational medicine, especially within biomedical research, with a focus on cross-functional collaborations (e.g., between researchers and clinicians); leveraging new technology and data analysis tools; and increasing the speed at which new treatments reach patients. In December 2011, The National Center for Advancing Translational Science was established within the National Institutes of Health to "transform the translational science process so that new treatments and cures for disease can be delivered to patients faster." The Clinical and Translational Science Awards, established in 2006, supports 60 centers across the country that provide "academic homes for translational sciences and supporting research resources needed by local and national research communities." According to an article published in 2007 in Science Career Magazine, in 2007 to 2013 the European Commission targeted a majority of its €6 billion budget for health research to further translational medicine.

Training and education

In recent years, a number of educational programs have emerged to provide professional training in the skills necessary for successfully translating research into improved clinical outcomes. These programs go by various names (including Master of Translational Medicine and Master of Science in Bioinnovation). Many such programs emerge from bioengineering departments, often in collaboration with clinical departments.

Master and PhD programs

Duke-NUS Medical School
Singapore, in collaboration with th
Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine
offers
Master of International Translational Medicine (MITM)
This two-year part-time, executive-style programme aims to elevate expertise, enhance networking, and accelerate the speed of discovery, while optimizing potential career pathways for students. Coming from varying professional backgrounds, the students bring their diverse perspectives in dissecting Translational Medicine under the mentorship of faculty ranging from researchers, entrepreneurs, healthcare providers, industry representatives, international regulators, and funders. The Erasmus+ International Master in Innovative Medicine (IMIM) https://www.innovativemedicine.eu/ is a master of excellence program, which focuses on the education of tomorrow's leading translational biomedical researchers. The IMIM mission is to educate this future generation of translational scientists and professionals and to equip them with the skills and competences to work effectively, and to excel, in a wide range of multi- and interdisciplinary, internationally competitive academic and private sector environments. IMIM is jointly organised by three European Top 100 Universities:

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

in the Netherlands,

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in Germany and

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

in Sweden. IMIM students will benefit from the vast wealth of resources and staff experience that these three universities have to offer in the biomedical sciences, as well as from their networks within both the academic and private sectors. The

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

has been running an MSc in Translational Medicine program since 2007. It is a 3-year online distance learning programme aimed at the working health professional. Aalborg University Denmark has been running a master's degree in translational medicine since 2009. A master's degree program in translational medicine was started at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 2010. In 2010,

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

and

UC San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It condu ...

used a founding grant from

Andy Grove Andrew Stephen Grove (born András István Gróf; 2 September 193621 March 2016) was a Hungarian-American businessman and engineer who served as the third CEO of Intel Corporation. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 ...

to launch a joint program that became the Master of Translational Medicine. The program links the Bioengineering department at Berkeley with the Bioengineering and Therapeutic Science department at UCSF to give students a one-year experience in fostering medical innovation.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

in Los Angeles, California was accredited in 2012 for a doctoral program in Biomedical Science and Translational Medicine. The PhD program focuses on biomedical and clinical research that relate directly to developing new therapies for patients. Since 2013, the Official Master in Translational Medicine-MSc from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

offers the opportunity to gain an excellent training through theoretical and practical courses. Furthermore, this master is linked to the doctoral programme “Medicine and Translational Research”, with quality mention from the National Agency for the Quality Evaluation and Accreditation ( ANECA). In Fall 2015, the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

http://www.ccnymtm.org established a master in translational medicine program. A partnership between The

Grove School of Engineering The Grove School of Engineering (GSoE) is the engineering school of the City College of the City University of New York (City College), a public university in New York City. It is one of the five schools of City College and CUNY's primary school ...

and the Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine, this program provides scientists, engineers, and pre-med students with training in product design, intellectual property, regulatory affairs, and medical ethics over 3 semesters. The University of Toronto The Master of Health Science (MHSc) in Translational Research in Health Sciences is a two-year, course-based program is designed for interprofessional students from diverse backgrounds (such as medicine, life sciences, social sciences, engineering, design, and communications) who want to learn creative problem-solving skills, strategies, and competencies to translate (scientific) knowledge into innovations that improve medicine, health, and care. They have international speakers and contributors, including Dr Iseult Roche from The UK. Translational medicine is a key to the future of international health and in facilitating public health and promoting health policy to actively be implemented to establish care.

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

St George's, University of London St George's, University of London (legally St George's Hospital Medical School, informally St George's or SGUL), is a University located in Tooting in South London and is a constituent college of the University of London. St George's has its o ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Universities run post-graduate courses in Translational Medicine too. The University of Manchester, Newcastle University and Queen's University Belfast also offer research-focussed Masters of Research (MRes) courses in Translational Medicine. Queen's University's School of Graduate Studies offers both an MSc and PhD program in Translational Medicine.

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

has a PhD program in Bio-Innovation to foster design and implementation of innovative biomedical technologies.

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

's College of Public Health offers a Master of Science in Clinical Research and Translational Medicine. The program is jointly offered with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Mahidol University Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year. Becoming the Univers ...

Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi hospital The Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University ( th, คณะแพทยศาสตร์โรงพยาบาลรามาธิบดี มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล) has long been regarded as Thaila ...

has a Master and PhD programme in Translational Medicine since 2012. Mahidol University is the first University in Thailand and in Southeast Asia. The most of programme lecturers are physicians and clinicians who contribute in many fields of study such as

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic derma ...

and

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

Haematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

Paediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

Rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

, etc. Here, the student will be directly exposed to patients. To find out the thing in between basic science and clinical application.
Suranaree University of Technology
is the second University in Thailand and in Southeast Asia that has
Master and PhD programme in Translational Medicine
(MSc 2018 and PhD 2019). MSc and PhD programmes are conducted b
Institute of Medicine
that contributed by phicians and PhD staffs which are focused in related field of benchside, bedside and community mainly parasites, bacteria, cholangiocarcinoma, gastric cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, etc. Translational Medicine programme is an international curriculum that supported by research centers in the university such a
Parasitic Disease Research CenterPDRC

Helicobacter pylori and Gastric Cancer Researc UnitCenter of Excellent for Biomedical EngineeringDepartment of Research Affiare, Institute of Medicine
an
Suranaree University of Technology Hospital
These programme will be facilitate students synthesize, analyses and integrate the basic medical science and clinical science for their professional work related to translational medicine. In addition, students will be understand the research process, innovation, and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams for solving health problems.

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

started a Master programme in Translational Medicine in 2018. It is aimed at medical students in the third or fourth year pursuing a career as a Clinician Scientist. St. George's University of London offers a 1-year Translational Medicine master's programme since 2018, including pathways leading to a

Master of Research A Master of Research (abbr. MRes, MARes, MScRes, or MScR) degree is an internationally recognised advanced postgraduate research degree. In most cases, the degree is designed to prepare students for doctoral research. Increasingly, the degree may ...

(MRes),

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(MSc), Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) or

Postgraduate Diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

(PGDip). Both master's degrees include a research component that makes up 33% of the MSc pathway and 58% of the MRes pathway. Taught modules are designed to cover major areas of modern translational science including

drug development Drug development is the process of bringing a new pharmaceutical drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery. It includes preclinical research on microorganisms and animals, filing for re ...

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

and development of skills related to research and

data analysis Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, enco ...

Perdana University Perdana University (PU), is an emerging private university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia focusing on health science and data science programmes at foundation (pre-university), undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Perdana University was ...

's Graduate School of Medicine in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

offers a Master of Science (MSc) in Translational Medicine.

Diplomas and courses

Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals offers a regular professional certification course "Understanding Translational Medicine Tools and Techniques". James Lind Institute has been conducting a Postgraduate Diploma in Translational Medicine since early 2013. The program has been supported by the

Universiti Sains Malaysia Universiti Sains Malaysia ( 'Science University of Malaysia'; abbreviation, abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is among the oldest institute ...

. The University of Southern California School of Pharmacy offers a course in translational medicine.

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

is offering a Master of Advanced Studies, Diplomas of Advanced Studies, and Certificates of Advanced Studies in Translational Medicine and Biomedical Entrepreneurship throug
sitem-insel School
in Bern, Switzerland.

International organizations

European Society for Translational Medicine

The European Society for Translational Medicine is a global non-profit and neutral healthcare organization whose principal objective is to enhance world-wide healthcare by using translational medicine approaches, resources and expertise. The society facilitates cooperation and interaction among clinicians, scientists, academia, industry, governments, funding and regulatory agencies, investors and policy makers in order to develop and deliver high-quality translational medicine programs and initiatives with overall aim to enhance the healthcare of global population. The society's goal is to enhance research and development of novel and affordable diagnostic tools and treatments for the clinical disorders affecting global population. The society provides an annual platform in the form of global congresses where global key opinion leaders, scientists from bench side, public health professionals, clinicians from bedside and industry professionals gather and take part in the panel discussions and scientific sessions on latest updates and developments in translational medicine field including biomarkers, omics sciences, cellular and molecular biology, data mining & management, precision medicine & companion diagnostics, disease modelling, vaccines and community healthcare. In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the European Society for Translational Medicine announced a global virtual congress on COVID-19 (EUSTM-2020). The Virtual Congress focused on the key principles of Translational Medicine: Bench side, Bed side and Public Health. The congress aims to address current challenges, highlight novel solutions and identify critical hurdles as they apply to COVID-19.

Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals

Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals is working to advance the ongoing knowledge and skills for clinicians and scientific professionals at all levels. Academy's high quality, standard and ethical training and educational programs ensure that all clinical and scientific professionals achieve excellence in their respective fields. Programs are accredited by the European Society for Translational Medicine.

Fellowship program

Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals offers fellowship program which is open to highly experienced professionals who have a record of significant achievements in benchside, bedside or community health fields.

References

External links

European Society for Translational MedicineAmerican Journal of Translational ResearchInstitute for Translational Medicine and TherapeuticsTRANSMEDThe University of Edinburgh, MSc in Translational MedicineTranslational Medicine:Tools And Techniques
(a user guide for institutional implementation) {{DEFAULTSORT:Translational Medicine sv:Translationell forskning