Translational research informatics (TRI) is a sister domain to or a sub-domain of
biomedical informatics
Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic hea ...
or
medical informatics
Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic hea ...
concerned with the application of
informatics theory and methods to
translational research
Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans ...
. There is some overlap with the related domain of
clinical research informatics, but TRI is more concerned with enabling multi-disciplinary research to accelerate clinical outcomes, with
clinical trials
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
often being the natural step beyond translational research.
Translational research
Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans ...
as defined by the National Institutes of Health includes two areas of translation. One is the process of applying discoveries generated during research in the laboratory, and in preclinical studies, to the development of trials and studies in humans. The second area of translation concerns research aimed at enhancing the adoption of best practices in the community. Cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies is also an important part of translational research.
Overview
Translational research informatics can be described as "an integrated software solution to manage the: (i) logistics, (ii) data integration, and (iii) collaboration, required by translational investigators and their supporting institutions". It is the class of informatics systems that sits between and often interoperates with: (i)
health information technology
Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the secure exchange of health information ...
/
electronic medical record
An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared throu ...
systems, (ii)
CTMS/
clinical research informatics, and (iii)
statistical analysis
Statistical inference is the process of using data analysis to infer properties of an underlying distribution of probability.Upton, G., Cook, I. (2008) ''Oxford Dictionary of Statistics'', OUP. . Inferential statistical analysis infers propertie ...
and
data mining.
Translational research informatics is relatively new, with most CTSA awardee academic medical centers actively acquiring and integrating systems to enable the end-to-end TRI requirements. One advanced TRI system is being implemented at the
Windber Research Institute in collaboration with GenoLogics and
InforSense. Translational Research Informatics systems are expected to rapidly develop and evolve over the next couple of years.
Systems
CTRI-dedicated wiki
Further discussion of this domain can be found at the Clinical Research Informatics Wiki (CRI Wiki), a
wiki
A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...
dedicated to issues in clinical and translational research informatics.
See also
*
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combin ...
References
*
Bioinformatics
Laboratory information management system
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