The Anesthesiologist as Translational Scientist

Translational science seeks to accelerate the multi-step process by which scientific discoveries are transformed into therapies that can improve the health of individuals and their communities. To facilitate crossing the traditional boundaries between basic and clinical research for instance, a systematic understanding of the scientific and operational principles that underlie each step of the translational cycle is developed to identify and address barriers to translation. Skills required by translational scientists, such as being systems thinkers and process innovators, overlap with those of anesthesiologists, and therefore, it is no surprise that anesthesiologists have contributed to this field. Indeed, the safety and efficacy of anesthesia care has greatly evolved over many decades because anesthesiologists have recognized the importance of readily incorporating physiological and pharmacological basic research findings into clinical practice. This article highlights the characteristics that make anesthesiologists well suited to be translational scientists. We also discuss one example of anesthesiology contributing to the field of translational science during the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that anesthesiologists, regardless of their specific clinical or research interests, have the skill set to become effective and critical players in the field of translational science and emphasize the importance of continued leadership in this field to academic anesthesiology.