In the spotlight: Translational Medicine & Life Sciences

Translational Medicine literally means: translating (fundamental) research into daily practice. So that society can really benefit from the results of scientific research. It has long been a household name in the medical research world.

Marco van Brussel: "It is the process of optimally translating fundamental research results into tangible, usable products for clinical and social practice. In doing so, research questions should arise from clinical care and unmet medical needs. The New Utrecht School (DNUS) connects science, clinical practice and society, teaching students how to move between these areas. In this way, they prepare for the healthcare of the future and the increasingly complex challenges that come with it."

Complex, major challenges in the future of healthcare

But what are these complex, major challenges within healthcare in the near future and what does the New Utrecht School have to do with them? Examples are climate change, global pandemics, rapid technological developments and the changing role of patients and society. Within the strategy of the New Utrecht School, students think about difficult questions and solutions from the perspective of the patient and society: 'What effect does air pollution have on people's health?', or: 'Are PFAS really carcinogenic and to what extent?'.

Marco: "At UMC Utrecht, we are focusing on training our (future) researchers and healthcare professionals within this theme, with the following approach to Translational Medicine: research questions from complex clinical and social practice should be leading for fundamental research,

and fundamental research results should be applicable in complex clinical and social practice."

Health challenges: working together and strengthening each other

Within the educational strategy The New Utrecht School, students investigate complex health challenges from clinical and social practice, for example by means of 'health challenges'. Marco: "When our students have completed their education, they have to deal with complex care and health problems. It cannot be solved from one discipline: it requires collaboration with other disciplines and professions. You can't stay in your own box, but you have to be able to bridge the gap to other disciplines. Complementing each other in order to arrive at new solutions.

That is why we encourage them early on in the training with health challenges that deal with real and current complex health challenges. The patient, civil society organisations, researchers or healthcare professionals bring these challenges to the table. Students and researchers learn to work together in an interdisciplinary and interprofessional way and to strengthen each other. The ultimate goal is for patients to receive better care and to generate new insights into research."

New insights into Long-COVID

One example is the Long-COVID challenge. For two weeks, more than 400 students thought about (bio)medical project proposals. The goal: to take research into the causes, effects and treatment of Long-COVID a step further. At the time – and still today – there was insufficient biomedical research into the causes and treatment of Long-COVID. The best idea was carried out by sixteen students from different study programmes as electives. They did this in collaboration with patients, healthcare professionals, researchers and the Long-COVID Foundation in the Bachelor Research Hub of UMC Utrecht. Ultimately, the results led to new insights and as a result, new grant applications were submitted (and awarded) by principal investigators from UMC Utrecht and Amsterdam AMC.

The importance of Translational Medicine & Life Sciences

Translational Medicine & Life Sciences is an important theme for UMC Utrecht. Due to the complexity of the challenges in healthcare, the still existing gap between (bio)medical research and the clinical/societal context and the increasing distrust of scientific research. Marco: "Ultimately, we at UMC Utrecht are responsible for training our students to become researchers and health professionals who can build bridges between the research world, clinical practice and society. Students of the future must be able to cope with the complexity and rapid changes in healthcare."

See the link for the full article (in Dutch)