Obstacles facing translational research in academic medical centers

Over the last quarter of the 20th century, there has been a boom in biomedical research discoveries that, for the most part, has not been successfully exploited for improving medical therapy or diagnosis. This lack of success is surprising because there is a broad consensus within academic medical centers (AMCs) that a primary mission is to move scientific discoveries into meaningful clinical outcomes, and there are numerous opportunities for doing so. We illustrate the latter point with 10 clinical opportunities for translating scientific discoveries from our field of vascular biology and transplantation. We attribute the limited success of translation to various factors, chief of which is that translation is rarely straightforward and requires continuing research in both the clinic and the laboratory. Translational research is hindered by insufficient targeted resources, a shortage of qualified investigators, an academic culture that hinders collaboration between clinical and laboratory-based investigators, a traditional structure of the AMC that favors departmental efforts over interdisciplinary programs, an increasing regulatory burden, and a lack of specific mechanisms within the AMC for facilitating solutions to these problems. We offer several suggestions to reduce these impediments.