Translational Science

Translation is the process of ‘turning science into health.’¹ Translational science is systematically addressing a major barrier(s) that prohibits translating research from one stage to the next. The goal is to address common causes of inefficiency and failure in research (i.e. translational barriers) to elevate the efficiency and effectiveness of getting more treatments to more people. Some examples of translational barriers include lack of patient/community engagement in the development and implementation of health interventions, ineffective participant recruitment and retention, lack of data fidelity, interoperability and/or transparency, failure in clinical trial design, and incorrect predictions of drug toxicity and efficacy.

Translational Science in Pilot Projects

Pilot grants allow the generation of preliminary data in targeted, high-priority/mission-aligned areas of research that are likely to lead to a subsequent extramurally-sponsored research projects. Through the conduct of pilot projects, investigators also have the important opportunity to identify and test strategies to overcome barriers in the conduct of that research, so these issues can be minimized or eliminated in the subsequent work. CCTS pilot projects provide a treasure trove of local examples of translational science in action – examples are below.

Translational Barrier: Novel Clinical Trial Design

In several clinical settings, physicians lack evidenced-based methods to predict health outcomes, especially at the point of care, which represents a major translational barrier towards examining the efficacy of health interventions (i.e. clinical trial design). Dr. Peter Morris, MD, Professor in UAB’s Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, is addressing this barrier by identifying clinical predictors of poor health outcomes. Using sepsis survivors as the initial use-case, Dr. Morris and team will conduct an observational, prospective study to assess if physical function recovery trajectory and rehospitalization events can inform the development of post-intensive care unit recovery subgroups. Establishment of these subgroups could inform a novel approach to clinical trial design within and beyond the context of sepsis.

Translational Barrier: Fidelity of remote data collection.

Remotely delivered health interventions represent a relatively new era of clinical research. However, remotely measuring health benefits represents a barrier to larger utilization and participation, particularly for individuals with disabilities and transportation issues. Dr. Byron Lai, PhD, Assistant Professor in UAB’s Department of Pediatrics and Lakeshore Foundation, is addressing this gap by validating a method to remotely measure health outcomes, which is expected to increase the enrollment and retention of healthy and disabled participants in remotely delivered exercise studies as it will minimize or remove the need for participants to report to a clinical laboratory for measurements.

Translational Barrier: Patient Recruitment

Clinical trial failure is frequently attributed to lack of patient recruitment, particularly amongst minority pediatric populations. Dr. Christy Foster, MD, Assistant Professor at in Pediatric Endocrinology at UAB, aims to address this translational barrier by examining the feasibility of a novel recruitment method – adolescent peer recruitment. Specifically, Dr. Foster and team will evaluate the feasibility of peer recruiters improving clinical study engagement of adolescents with similar age, background, and experiences. The results of this study will inform the development of a novel recruitment method, which are desperately needed as part of clinicians providing evidence-based health interventions to the populations most disparately impacted.

Translational Barrier: Patient Recruitment

Participant and patient recruitment to clinical studies and clinical programs, respectively, are key to health equity. The demographics of patients engaging the Information is Power (IiP) initiative, an inherited risk cancer screening program, did not reflect the area served. To address this gap, Dr. Sara Cooper, PhD, Faculty Investigator at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, engaged a new patient recruitment method designed to increase participation by individuals underrepresented in the program and identify drivers towards their participation to inform future programmatic outreach.

With modest pilot funds, investigators can systematically address barriers in their research plans, thereby developing more predictive and successful health interventions. Is there a barrier inhibiting your research from moving one stage to the next?

For additional guidance on translational science, check out the publications listed below, read about the CCTS Pilot Program and listen to this webinar, or contact your CCTS (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

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1. Opportunities and challenges in translational science
2. Divining the Venn Diagram of Translational Research versus Translational Science
3. Situating dissemination and implementation sciences within an across the translational research spectrum