By Umiemah Farrukh (Class of 2023)
Translational research has been essential in recent psychiatry and psychology research because of the emphasis it places on a relationship between two things. Firstly, it focuses on a better understanding of psychiatric and psychological diseases and secondly, it focuses on application of this understanding of real life by developing new diagnostic tests to develop better treatments for these diseases (Vieira, 2012). Translational research is important in medical fields such as psychiatry and we will be analyzing its emergence, why it is important, and some challenges and further actions to be taken.
The term translational research was first cited in 1993 in a study about the early detection and treatment of a gene that was linked to breast cancer, but was more widely popularized in the early 2000’s when it was cited hundreds of times in medical and research journals (Vieira, 2012, Butler., 2008). The reason it became so important suddenly had to do with a push to more accurate individualized treatment based on clinical, genetic, genomic and social/environmental factors of individual patients. It is also important for researchers because of a couple of key reasons. Firstly, it helps them develop clinically relevant questions like how to bridge the gap in clinical care access. Secondly, it helps to form collaborations between healthcare professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, data scientists, policy makers, funders and others with the common thread being that all these professionals have a vested interest in the outcomes, medical implications, and discoveries of translational research. Lastly, it helps researchers connect their work to real life scenarios and people (Ellis, 2019). For example, by looking at specific issues like the genes that cause a person to be more at risk for depression and then finding intervention strategies to minimize or completely avoid the onset of such diseases, it provides progress in research AND implements new interventions for children and adolescents to put this research to use so it can directly benefit patients (Rice, 2010).
However, although translational research has established its importance within the healthcare field and has become increasingly popular in the last two decades, there are still some significant challenges associated with it and its implementation. For example, there is a general lack of funding and there are also high costs associated with implementing new interventions and prevention strategies, which are both barriers that scientists have to push through to even have a chance of implementing new interventions into psychiatric hospitals and clinics. Furthermore, small sample sizes in research lower the generalizability of results and cause researchers to have to replicate the study and retest to confirm results and the length of time it takes to complete a study and analyze its results is usually long (average is 20 years according to Vieira, 2012) which is why fast and efficient implementation is not possible, rather it is gradual and happens over a long period of time. Lastly, there are physical barriers too such as incompatible databases within clinics and hospitals and lack of technical support that makes it hard to implement these new interventions into the healthcare system (Vieira, 2012).
Nevertheless, even through all the challenges, this work has been highly successful so far and there are many more ways in which we can continue it. Funding is an important factor to consider here, and a push for more funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as well as private funders is important if we wish to take this work forward. In addition, further collaborations between different fields such as those of academia and lawmakers as well as spreading awareness about the importance of personalized psychiatry (which translational science does) is critical in extending the reach of translational science to a wider audience (Vieira, 2012).
These are just two ways in which we can continue doing the amazing work of conducting and implementing translational science in the field of psychiatry, a field where it is paramount we implement it because through it we can change the lives of patients and improve the mental health care that professionals are able to provide.
References:
Main Article:
Machado-Vieira, R. Tracking the impact of translational research in psychiatry: state of the art and perspectives. J Transl Med 10, 175 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5876-10-175
Other articles used:
Butler, D. Translational research: Crossing the valley of death. Nature 453, 840–842 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453840a
Ellis, Lisa D. 4 Ways Translational Researchers Can Help Advance the Field of Medicine. Harvard Medical School-Trends in Medicine. November 2019. https://postgraduateeducation.hms.harvard.edu/trends-medicine/4-ways-translational-researchers-can-help-advance-field-medicine
Rice F. (2010). Genetics of childhood and adolescent depression: insights into etiological heterogeneity and challenges for future genomic research. Genome medicine, 2(9), 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/gm189
Rubio, D. M., Schoenbaum, E. E., Lee, L. S., Schteingart, D. E., Marantz, P. R., Anderson, K. E., Platt, L. D., Baez, A., & Esposito, K. (2010). Defining translational research: implications for training. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 85(3), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181ccd618
The term translational research was first cited in 1993 in a study about the early detection and treatment of a gene that was linked to breast cancer, but was more widely popularized in the early 2000’s when it was cited hundreds of times in medical and research journals (Vieira, 2012, Butler., 2008). The reason it became so important suddenly had to do with a push to more accurate individualized treatment based on clinical, genetic, genomic and social/environmental factors of individual patients. It is also important for researchers because of a couple of key reasons. Firstly, it helps them develop clinically relevant questions like how to bridge the gap in clinical care access. Secondly, it helps to form collaborations between healthcare professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists, data scientists, policy makers, funders and others with the common thread being that all these professionals have a vested interest in the outcomes, medical implications, and discoveries of translational research. Lastly, it helps researchers connect their work to real life scenarios and people (Ellis, 2019). For example, by looking at specific issues like the genes that cause a person to be more at risk for depression and then finding intervention strategies to minimize or completely avoid the onset of such diseases, it provides progress in research AND implements new interventions for children and adolescents to put this research to use so it can directly benefit patients (Rice, 2010).
However, although translational research has established its importance within the healthcare field and has become increasingly popular in the last two decades, there are still some significant challenges associated with it and its implementation. For example, there is a general lack of funding and there are also high costs associated with implementing new interventions and prevention strategies, which are both barriers that scientists have to push through to even have a chance of implementing new interventions into psychiatric hospitals and clinics. Furthermore, small sample sizes in research lower the generalizability of results and cause researchers to have to replicate the study and retest to confirm results and the length of time it takes to complete a study and analyze its results is usually long (average is 20 years according to Vieira, 2012) which is why fast and efficient implementation is not possible, rather it is gradual and happens over a long period of time. Lastly, there are physical barriers too such as incompatible databases within clinics and hospitals and lack of technical support that makes it hard to implement these new interventions into the healthcare system (Vieira, 2012).
Nevertheless, even through all the challenges, this work has been highly successful so far and there are many more ways in which we can continue it. Funding is an important factor to consider here, and a push for more funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as well as private funders is important if we wish to take this work forward. In addition, further collaborations between different fields such as those of academia and lawmakers as well as spreading awareness about the importance of personalized psychiatry (which translational science does) is critical in extending the reach of translational science to a wider audience (Vieira, 2012).
These are just two ways in which we can continue doing the amazing work of conducting and implementing translational science in the field of psychiatry, a field where it is paramount we implement it because through it we can change the lives of patients and improve the mental health care that professionals are able to provide.
References:
Main Article:
Machado-Vieira, R. Tracking the impact of translational research in psychiatry: state of the art and perspectives. J Transl Med 10, 175 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5876-10-175
Other articles used:
Butler, D. Translational research: Crossing the valley of death. Nature 453, 840–842 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453840a
Ellis, Lisa D. 4 Ways Translational Researchers Can Help Advance the Field of Medicine. Harvard Medical School-Trends in Medicine. November 2019. https://postgraduateeducation.hms.harvard.edu/trends-medicine/4-ways-translational-researchers-can-help-advance-field-medicine
Rice F. (2010). Genetics of childhood and adolescent depression: insights into etiological heterogeneity and challenges for future genomic research. Genome medicine, 2(9), 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/gm189
Rubio, D. M., Schoenbaum, E. E., Lee, L. S., Schteingart, D. E., Marantz, P. R., Anderson, K. E., Platt, L. D., Baez, A., & Esposito, K. (2010). Defining translational research: implications for training. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 85(3), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181ccd618
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