Medical physics is, in general, the application of physics concepts, theories, and methods to medicine or healthcare. Medical physics departments may be found in hospitals or universities. Medical physics is generally split into two major subgroups, specifically radiation therapy and radiology. Medical physics of radiation therapy can involve work such as dosimetry, linac quality assurance, and brachytherapy. Medical physics of radiology involves medical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, computed tomography, positron emission tomography, and x-ray.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created in 2004 after 59% of California voters approved California Proposition 71: the Research and Cures Initiative, which allocated $3 billion to fund stem cell research in California.
The Theodor Bilharz Research Institute is located in Giza, Egypt.
Translational medicine is defined by the European Society for Translational Medicine (EUSTM) as "an interdisciplinary branch of the biomedical field supported by three main pillars: benchside, bedside, and community". The goal of TM is to combine disciplines, resources, expertise, and techniques within these pillars to promote enhancements in prevention, diagnosis, and therapies. Accordingly, translational medicine is a highly interdisciplinary field, the primary goal of which is to coalesce assets of various natures within the individual pillars in order to improve the global healthcare system significantly.
Cancer and Leukemia Group B is a cancer research cooperative group in the United States.
The Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) is a nonprofit research institute founded in 1990, aiming to foster research in biomedicine and biotechnology and multidisciplinary graduate teaching at the University of Coimbra. CNC was the first established “Laboratório Associado” in Portugal, and it has steadily increased the scope of scientific competences over the years, with a strong focus on the exploitation of the fundamental mechanisms of ageing and brain diseases.
Translational research – a term often used interchangeably with translational medicine or translational science or bench to bedside – is an effort to build on basic scientific research to create new therapies, medical procedures, or diagnostics. Basic biomedical research is based on studies of disease processes using, for example, cell cultures or animal models. The adjective "translational" refers to the "translation" of basic scientific findings in a laboratory setting into potential treatments for disease.
Established in 2001, The Stem Cell Network (SCN) has become Canada’s foremost research organization dedicated to enabling the translation of stem cell research into clinical applications, commercial products and public policy. Supported by the Government of Canada, SCN has facilitated the growth of Canada’s stem cell research community, and has provided approximately $85 million for innovative, translational research. Funding has supported over 130 world-class researchers and 2,500 trainees from across Canada. Additionally, SCN has catalyzed 12 clinical trials, 11 start-up companies, incubated several international and Canadian research networks and organizations, and established the Till & McCulloch Meetings, Canada’s foremost stem cell research event.
The International Clinical Research Centre at St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno (FNUSA-ICRC) is a next-generation research and development center that focuses on finding new methods, technologies and medicines used to prevent, diagnose and treat cardiovascular and neurological diseases and disorders such as heart failure, coronary syndromes, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, sleep apnea, stroke, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Such diseases are among the leading diseases and causes of death in modern society.
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering is a cross-disciplinary research institute at Harvard University which focuses on developing new bioinspired materials and devices for applications in healthcare, manufacturing, robotics, energy, and sustainable architecture. The institute has two sites: one in the Center for Life Science building in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area and one on Harvard's main campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Wyss Institute was launched in January 2009 with a $125 million gift to Harvard—at the time, the largest single philanthropic gift in its history—from Hansjörg Wyss. In 2013, Hansjörg Wyss doubled his gift to $250 million and in 2019 he donated a further $131 million.
The Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function is a consortium of fifty-three researchers. It is based at Hunter College in Manhattan. It focuses on cross-disciplinary and translational research by promoting dialogue and cooperation among scientists working in diverse biomedical research fields. It is funded by the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program of the National Center for Research Resources(NCRR) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Since its establishment in 1985, the NIH has awarded the Gene Center over $38 million in federal grants.
The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) is one of three interdisciplinary research centres at the University of Luxembourg. Since September 2011, the LCSB is based on the new university campus Esch-Belval.
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine is an institution engaged in basic and applied research at the interface between molecular and cell biology, computational and structural biology and chemistry, with experts in proteomics, genomics, biostatistics and advanced digital microscopy. The institute was created by the Government of Catalonia in October 2005 and is located at the Barcelona Science Park. The director of the Institute is Prof. Joan J. Guinovart i Cirera and the Prof. Joan Massagué Solé is scientific advisor. IRB Barcelona was recently named a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (2011), current Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
The NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) is the internal research program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), known for its synergistic approach to biomedical science. With 1,200 Principal Investigators and over 4,000 Postdoctoral Fellows conducting basic, translational, and clinical research, the NIH Intramural Research Program is the largest biomedical research institution on earth. The unique funding environment of the IRP facilitates opportunities to conduct both long-term and high-impact science that would otherwise be difficult to undertake. With rigorous external reviews ensuring that only the most outstanding research secures funding, the IRP is responsible for many scientific accomplishments, including the discovery of fluoride to prevent tooth decay, the use of lithium to manage bipolar disorder, and the creation of vaccines against hepatitis, Hemophilus influenzae (HIB), and human papillomavirus (HPV). In addition, the IRP has also produced or trained 21 Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
Translational neuroscience is the field of study which applies basic neuroscience research to translate or develop into clinical applications and novel therapies for nervous system disorders. The field encompasses areas such as deep brain stimulation, brain machine interfaces, neurorehabilitation and the development of devices for the sensory nervous system such as the use of auditory implants, retinal implants, and electronic skins.
Rosetta Martiniello-Wilks is an Australian cancer researcher and the current president of the Australasian Gene and Cell Therapy Society. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Ultimo, Sydney, Australia. Martiniello-Wilks is a core member of the Centre for Health Technologies at UTS and head of the Translational Cancer Research Group in the School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Science, UTS.
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is an institution engaged in basic and applied research in bioengineering and nanomedicine, with experts working on tissue regeneration, biomechanics, molecular dynamics, biomimetics, drug delivery, organs ‘on-a-chip’, cell migration, stem cells, artificial olfaction and microbial biotechnology. The institute was created by the Government of Catalonia, the University of Barcelona and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in December 2005 and is located at the Barcelona Science Park. The director of the institute is Prof. Josep Samitier, who took over from founding director Josep A. Planell i Estany in 2013. In 2014 IBEC was named a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
COVID‑19 drug development is the research process to develop preventative therapeutic prescription drugs that would alleviate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Internationally by August 2020, several hundred drug companies, biotechnology firms, university research groups, and health organizations were developing over 500 potential therapies for COVID‑19 disease in various stages of preclinical or clinical research.
Stem cell tourism, a form of medical tourism, is the internet based-industry in which stem cell procedures are advertised to the public as a proven cure. In the majority of cases resulting in patients and families traveling overseas to obtain procedures that are not proven, or part of an FDA approved clinical trial. These procedures have not gone through the vetting process of clinical research and they lack rigorous scientific support. Although for the general public, this advertising in glossy websites, may sound authoritative, for translational doctors and scientists this leads to the exploitation of vulnerable patients. These procedures lack the reproducibility, the rigor that is required for successful development of new effective medications. Although the term may imply traveling overseas, in recent years, there has been an explosion of "stem cell clinics' in the US which has been well documented. These activities are highly profitable for the clinic but no benefit for the patients, sometimes experiencing complications like spinal tumors, death, or financial ruin, all of which are documented in the scientific literature. There is a great deal of interest in educating the public and patients, families and doctors who deal with patients requesting stem cells clinics.
