Questions  Why a cross-disease and cross-discipline focus?

Translational Research

What is Translational Research?
Simply put, it means translating basic scientific discoveries into valid clinical treatments for patients. Historically, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded basic research and clinical trials, to the neglect of translational research. As a result, it takes years and sometimes decades for basic scientific discoveries to make their way to clinical trials with humans.

Typically, scientists with the expertise to make basic scientific discoveries lack the specific skill sets necessary to design the preclinical experiments to test whether a discovery can be shaped into an effective therapy. Special—and usually very expensive–facilities are also necessary to support translational research.

In addition to its cutting-edge model of collaboration across disciplines and diseases, the Hope Center is focused on translational research. With support from Hope Happens, it has assembled the necessary core facilities and trained scientists with the expertise to design pre-clinical experiments that might demonstrate evidence of a potential cure so that pharmaceutical companies and the NIH will back clinical trails to test its safety and efficacy.

Newsweek Reports on Crisis in Translational Research
“Where are the Cures?” asks science writer Sharon Begley in the Nov. 10, 2008 issue of Newsweek. In an article well worth reading, she goes on to describe translational research—the gulf between a biomedical discovery and new treatment—as “the valley of death.” After noting that curing disease is a byproduct of the NIH system, not a goal, the articled added that “most scientists don’t want to and don’t have the skills to translate a discovery into a treatment; researchers at a dedicated center would try to do that full-time.” Of course, that is exactly what the Hope Center does.  See Article