About Translational Science
Overview
Translational science examines the scientific and operational principles underlying each stage of the research process, catalyzing success and overcoming common barriers. It is not about the discoveries themselves; it's about finding better ways to conduct research overall. There are systematic roadblocks that cause substantial delays in research, or even impede the completion of a study. By addressing roadblocks — whether scientific, operational, financial, or administrative — in the translational research pipeline, we can get treatments, technologies, and medical advances to people faster.
The Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research is one of 60 national institutions funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). As the CTSA hub at Columbia University, our mission is to accelerate translational research by applying translational science approaches and solutions to improve the research process. By working with our partners, researchers, faculty, patients and community we can speed up discoveries that can improve patient care.
Examples & FAQs
How is translational science different from translational research?
Whereas translational research focuses on the specific case of a target or disease, translational science is focused on the general case that applies to many targets or diseases.
Translational science is a disease-agnostic approach to understanding common causes of inefficiency and failure in research. It seeks to develop innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of all translational research and ultimately benefit research across a range of diseases and conditions.
What is an example of a translational science project?
Below is an example of how a diabetes drug trial would be approached from each perspective:
-
Translational research: An investigator wishes to test whether a particular drug improves outcomes in diabetes.
-
To test the hypothesis, the investigator plans to assess the effectiveness of the drug’s effects and engage the diabetes community to recruit sufficient underserved participants, using established recruitment methods.
-
-
Translational science: An investigator wishes to test a particular diabetes drug, while also understanding that established recruitment methods often fail to recruit a diverse, representative study population. So, the investigator will also examine the underlying barriers to recruitment of underserved participants and aims to test new recruitment methods.
- To test the hypothesis, the investigator conducts the same translational research of the drug, while also testing if the new recruitment methodology (i.e., the translational science innovation) is more effective, and generalizable to various drug trials. This may require some modifications to the study design compared to the translational research example.
What kinds of barriers and inefficiencies does translational science aim to address?
Translational science aims to address roadblocks such as:
-
incorrect predictions of the toxicity or efficacy of new drugs,
-
lack of data interoperability and challenges to data acquisition, integrity and analysis,
-
translational barrier from animal models to human trials or between adult and pediatric patient populations,
-
ineffective recruitment and retention, including of underserved populations.
Many of these barriers are the same across targets, diseases, and therapeutic areas. Therefore, advances in translational science will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of translational research across multiple domains to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.
What are some large scale objectives for translational science?
-
Develop recruitment and retention best practices to improve diversity of participants in trials.
- Address health disparities and ensure that research benefits all populations, including underserved communities.
- Understanding similarities across diseases to help develop multiple treatments at one time.
- Develop appropriate metrics and benchmarks to assess the success and impact of the full translational research process.
- Strengthen and maintain expertise in regulatory affairs to navigate the complex regulatory landscape governing research, including the conduct of clinical trials and ethical considerations.
- Develop platforms and infrastructure for researchers to share data, findings, and expertise, fostering collaborative projects and knowledge exchange.
- Foster collaborations with industry partners, pharmaceutical companies, and other external stakeholders to enhance the translation of research findings into practical applications.
- Advocate for policies and funding opportunities that support translational science at local, regional, and national levels. Engage in policy discussions to create an environment conducive to research.