[EQ] The Emergence of Translational Epidemiology: From Scientific Discovery to Population Health Impact

de: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) : ruglucia@paho.org
fecha: 1 de septiembre de 2010 09:19
asunto: [EQ] The Emergence of Translational Epidemiology: From Scientific Discovery to Population Health Impact



The Emergence of Translational Epidemiology:
From Scientific Discovery to Population Health Impact


Muin J. Khoury, Marta Gwinn, and John P. A. Ioannidis


American Journal of Epidemiology - August 5, 2010
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2010 172: 517-524; doi:10.1093/aje/kwq211


Available online at: http://bit.ly/c2skoq



“……In a recent editorial launching the new journal Science Translational Medicine, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former director of the National Institutes of Health, remarked that despite decades of advances in our understanding of human biology and the emergence of powerful new technologies, such as genomics, the transformation of scientific discoveries into effective health interventions continues to elude us (2).

There is daunting complexity when applying basic discoveries and experimental approaches to treating and preventing human disease, requiring a strong translational research (TR) agenda. He stressed the need for ‘‘more and better TR, both for the sake of our patients and because much of the research funding comes from the primary expectation of the public that such scientific investigations will reduce the burden of disease’’ (2, p. 1)…..”


“….Knowledge synthesis methods, such as meta-analysis, are becoming standard in developing evidence-based recommendations for practice (T2 research).The Cochrane Collaboration (51), an international not-forprofit and independent organization founded in 1993, produces and disseminates systematic reviews of health-care interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. It continues to play a pivotal role in developing and promoting quantitative synthesis of evidence of what works and what does not work in health-care interventions. Increasingly, other independent groups, such as the US Preventive Services Task Force, are adopting similar methods (33, 52). In human genomics, knowledge synthesis plays a key role in T1 epidemiologic research….”



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