Synonyms
Definition
The terms translational research (TR), translational medicine, and translational science are currently seeing widespread usage in a variety of biomedical and health research fields. Yet, they remain slippery concepts. Indeed, TR has been used to describe research and development activities taking place anywhere in the biomedical innovation process, from animal studies to verify hypotheses about the molecular mechanisms of disease or physiology to health outcomes or health technology assessment studies. Most often, however, TR is used by biomedical actors to designate studies performed to validate hypotheses leading to short-term therapeutic or diagnostic innovations. This includes studies with animals, in vitro cell cultures, biomarker discovery, and validation studies but also early clinical trials up to proof of concept (Khoury et al. 2007; NCI 2007; Wehling 2010).
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Vignola-Gagné, E., Biegelbauer, P. (2020). Translational Research. In: Carayannis, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15347-6_338
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