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Evaluating translational research: a process marker model
William Trochim1, Cathleen Kane, Mark J Graham
1Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. wmt1@cornell.edu
Objective:
We examine the concept of translational research from the perspective of evaluators charged with assessing translational efforts. One of the major tasks for evaluators involved in translational research is to help assess efforts that aim to reduce the time it takes to move research to practice and health impacts. Another is to assess efforts that are intended to increase the rate and volume of translation.
Methods:
We offer an alternative to the dominant contemporary tendency to define translational research in terms of a series of discrete "phases."
Results:
We contend that this phased approach has been confusing and that it is insufficient as a basis for evaluation. Instead, we argue for the identification of key operational and measurable markers along a generalized process pathway from research to practice.
Conclusions:
This model provides a foundation for the evaluation of interventions designed to improve translational research and the integration of these findings into a field of translational studies.
Related Concept Videos
02:07Improving Translational Accuracy
02:07Improving Translational Accuracy
01:31Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
01:31Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
01:29Translational Regulation
02:24Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...