Translating from the laboratory to the bedside
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.
One of the new "key words" in medicine is translational. Simply put, that means taking findings in the laboratory and "translating" them to treatment in patients as soon as is safe and possible.
It's a good idea, but in truth, it's always been the aim of medicine. Indeed, Baylor College of Medicine and its chancellor emeritus Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., pioneered some "translational" medicine in the 1950s when he developed the Dacron® graft for use in repairing weakened aortic arteries (aortic aneurysms). He found the material, he developed the technique for putting the arteries together, he tried them in animals and then in humans.
Over time, regulations and rules have lengthened the process somewhat. Research has to be approved by federal and institutional groups designated to determine safety and appropriateness of research. However, individuals at BCM have persevered in trying to get the benefits of what they learn to patients as soon as possible.
That was certainly the aim of Helen Heslop, M.D., and Cliona Rooney, Ph.D., two recent winners of the Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Awards for BCM faculty. The pair has collaborated to develop ground-breaking treatments that manipulate the ability of immune system cells to fight cancers. Already, patients are benefiting from their work, and more will in the future as they fine-tune their work with T-cells to make them even more effective.
The two are quick to point out that they do not do this alone. A whole team makes it possible, meeting every Monday to discuss where to go next.
"The people who grow the cells know what's happening as do the research nurses. Everyone needs to talk to everyone else," said Heslop. "It's a huge effort that requires different skills."
Scientists, particularly those who work at academic institutions, are often stereotyped as living in an ivory tower. It is one of those metaphors that owe more to language than reality.
In an environment like the Texas Medical Center, the towers cannot be so tall or so insulated that individuals can ignore the patients who walk the halls of the many institutions. They seek help and hope.
With those kinds of reminders, it is no wonder that so many work so hard to take their hard-won findings into the clinic as quickly as they can – for the benefit of many.
