Translational Research in Radiology: Challenges and Role in a Patient-based Practice

Abstract

Translational research has, in recent years, become a popular agenda item at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and within the biomedical community at large. The NIH's interest in the topic, which arose from the apparent disconnection between basic science discoveries and their implementation in the clinic, is reflected in the Roadmap for Medical Research, announced in 2003 ( 1 National Institutes of Health, Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives. NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Available at: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/index.asp. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ). The Roadmap proposes three trends for the advancement of medical science: ( 1 National Institutes of Health, Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives. NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Available at: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/index.asp. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ) “new pathways to discovery,” dedicated to the development of new methods to understand complex biologic systems; ( 2 National Institutes of Health. RFA-RM-06-002: Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award. Available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/rfa-files/RFA-RM-06-002.html. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ) “research teams of the future,” aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary research; and ( 3 National Institutes of Health. NIH Rapid Access to Interventional Development (NIH-RAID Pilot). Available at: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/raid/. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ) “reengineering the clinical research enterprise,” emphasizing clinical and translational or “patient-oriented” research. This has spawned several new initiatives; the most important, with respect to translational research in radiology, are the Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards ( 2 National Institutes of Health. RFA-RM-06-002: Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award. Available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/rfa-files/RFA-RM-06-002.html. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ), the NIH Rapid Access to Interventional Development Pilot Program ( 3 National Institutes of Health. NIH Rapid Access to Interventional Development (NIH-RAID Pilot). Available at: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/raid/. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ), and the National Center for Biomedical Computing ( 4 National Institutes of Health. NIH Roadmap Centers for .Biomedical Computing. Available at: http://www.bisti.nih.gov/ncbc/index.cfm?. Accessed October 15, 2008. Google Scholar ).