July 8, 2005

Right, an MGH researcher with her poster

Clinical Research Day addresses translational challenges

The challenge of applying discoveries from basic research labs to the treatment of patients and using findings from patient care to inform basic research set the theme of the third annual Clinical Research Day held June 28. In his welcome to participants in the day's activities, Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, described how today's cutting-edge scientific advances offer new opportunities to researchers at academic medical centers like the MGH. "This is the place where new medical technologies meet the needs of our patients and their families," he said.

Keynote speaker Jeffrey Drazen, MD, editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, noted that translational researchers — those who turn scientific discoveries into patient care advances and vice versa — have to speak the "two languages" of basic and clinical research. He described his own investigations into the biology underlying asthma and how the interplay of knowledge between the research lab and patient bedside leads to new ideas. He challenged the MGH and its clinical researchers to use the full range of opportunities and resources available within the hospital and the larger scientific environment in their search for new knowledge and treatments.

Of the more than 200 research posters presented under the Bulfinch tent, six research teams received hospitalwide awards of excellence — three of the teams gave talks on their work — and nine were honored with departmental awards (list of award-winning posters). William F. Crowley Jr., MD, director of the Clinical Research Program, described how the poster session can be a unique opportunity for researchers from different disciplines to find others working on similar problems and share experiences and approaches.

Several MGH researchers joined with representatives from leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to consider new ways that industry can work with academic medicine to get past what has been called the "first translational block" — obstacles that prevent basic science discoveries from being tested in clinical trials. In a remarkably candid discussion, the panel addressed the limitations of the current system — which is more than 50 years old — for bringing potential new drugs to trial. They touched on issues such as when potential new inventions should be brought to the attention of industry partners, the different cultures and incentives that apply to academic and industrial environments, and the best definition of a successful clinical trial or potential new drug.

"The vigor of the day was evident to anyone in attendance. Our clinical research community is robust and growing, fueled by our patients and their needs," says Crowley.