News from the NIH: using an experimental medicine approach to facilitate translational research

Basic research to understand the mechanisms of normal human functioning has been called “the engine of discovery,” driving innovation and underlying many therapeutic breakthroughs. But in order for basic research findings to inform therapeutic interventions, those findings need to be translated and tested in a clinical context. The challenges of translating basic findings into clinical care are well documented, including in the high-profile 2001 Institute of Medicine report that described the “quality chasm” between scientific knowledge and quality clinical care [1]. Since this landmark report, many institutes at the NIH have developed behavioral and social science initiatives to support translational research relevant to their individual missions. In 1992, The National Institute on Aging (NIA) established the Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging, with the explicit goal of translating basic behavioral and social research findings into programs and practices that will improve the lives of older people and the capacity of institutions to adapt to societal aging. Support for the Roybal Centers continues, with a significant expansion of the program in 2009. In 2001, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) developed a stage model of behavioral therapy development, adapted from the phases of medications development, to support translational research in drug abuse treatment [2]. In 2009, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in partnership with several other institutes, launched a program to support translational research on obesity called the Obesity-Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT) program. These translational programs, and others like them across the NIH, have led to important advances for their respective communities.