Translational Medicine aims to improve human health and longevity by moving new preclinical discoveries e.g. of new drugs or other interventions to their evaluation in man (‘bench-to-bedside’). Translational Medicine also seeks to use new knowledge gained in clinical practice and to incorporate clinical observations into scientific hypothesis in the laboratory (‘bed-to-benchside’). The evaluation of new treatments in man will not only inform us about their efficacy but may also lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of action of a drug or lead to the development of new concepts that improve the quality of our preclinical disease models.
The centre comprises of more than 60 members of staff (including PhD-students) who have either a medical background or are basic scientists with a strong interest in applied healthcare research. Together with the Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine Group, our research aims are to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology and ultimately therapy of both acute, critical illnesses (e.g. sepsis, trauma, surgery & perioperative care, acute kidney injury, acute myocardial infarction) as well as chronic diseases (diabetes, chronic kidney disease, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure).
Over the years, our preclinical research has led to the discovery of new therapeutics, which are currently being tested in clinical trials in man: COMPARE is a phase II clinical trial that investigates the ‘Combination therapy with racecadotril in pulmonary artery hypertension’, while TOP-ART evaluates (together with the Centre for Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University of London) the effects of the anti-malarial drug artesunate in patients with trauma and severe blood loss (together with the Centre for Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University of London). We hope that our efforts will improve the care of our patients in East London and well beyond. Our translational efforts have also resulted in the discovery that bicarbonate supplements prevent end-stage kidney disease (already forming part of the guidelines), while our PEAR is evaluating the effects of pentoxyphylline in patients with dialysis and vascular inflammation.
Phionah Mondo - Centre AdministratorEmail: p.mondo@qmul.ac.ukTel: +44(0) 20 7882 2107