The critical role of medical schools and teaching hospitals

Although advances in biomedical research have given new insights into the causes of disease, insights that could be translated into better medical treatments, such "translational science" faces major obstacles in the U.S., say authors from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

In a policy paper in PLoS Medicine, Howard Dickler and colleagues outline some of the obstacles that are getting in the way of such translational work.

These obstacles include the diminishing ability of clinical departments to underwrite research from patient-care revenues; the prospect of flat or declining National Institutes of Health budgets over the near term; overly burdensome regulatory requirements for translational research; undervaluation of translational work by academic medical culture; and the lure of greater financial rewards, and even professional satisfaction, in full-time clinical practice compared with doing translational research.

In response to these challenges, the AAMC convened a task force to advise the academic medical community on promoting translational research, and the authors lay out the key recommendations from the task force.