Many voluntary health organizations fund translational research. An increasing number of these organizations are looking at venture philanthropy as a critical way to advance their missions of helping patients and working to cure disease. A wide range of participants gathered on October 3, 2008 at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science for a workshop titled "Venture Philanthropy Strategies Used by Patient Organizations to Support Translational Research." Participants with experience in venture philanthropy shared their experiences and lessons learned in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in translational research.

Provides a definitive overview of the complex ecosystem facilitating Alzheimer's Disease drug research and development. Demonstrates a drug's journey from in the lab, clinical trial testing, regulatory review, and marketing by pharmaceutical companies. Details the use of artificial intelligence, clinical trial management, and financing models.

Preserving the Promise: Improving the Culture of Biotech Investment critically examines why most biotech startups fail, as they emerge from universities into an ecosystem that inhibits rather than encourages innovation. This "Valley of Death" squanders our public investments in medical research and with them, the promise of longer and healthier lives. The authors explicate the Translation Gap faced by early stage biotech companies, the result of problematic technology transfer and investment practices, and provide specific prescriptions for improving translation of important discoveries into safe and effective therapies. In Preserving the Promise, Dessain and Fishman build on their collective experience as company founders, healthcare investor (Fishman) and physician/scientist (Dessain). The book offers a forward-looking, critical analysis of "conventional wisdom" that encumbers commercialization practices. It exposes the self-defeating habits of drug development in the Valley of Death, that waste money and extinguish innovative technologies through distorted financial incentives. - Explains why translation of biotech discovery into medicine succeeds so infrequently that it's been dubbed the Valley of Death - Uncovers specific decision-making strategies that more effectively align incentives, improving clinical and financial outcomes for investors, inventor/entrepreneurs, and patients - Examines the critical, early stages of commercialization, where technology transfer offices and Angels act as gatekeepers to development, and where tension between short-term financial and long-term clinical aspirations sinks important technologies - Deconstructs the forces driving biotech, recasts them in a proven conceptual framework, and offers practical guidance for making the system better

Today, perhaps more than ever, health care is a key item on the nation's agenda. Government policy makers, health professionals, scientists, industrial and civic leaders, patient advocates, and private citizens across the social spectrum are focusing on how best to obtain a high-quality health system that is efficient and affordable in its operation and that functions well for everyone. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) regularly considers this challenge from a variety of perspectives. Recent efforts have focused on improving the organization and operation of the nation's largest health agency; working to assess what diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive services work best; gauging the overall health of the nation's population; and identifying ways to build an even stronger foundation of evidence-based medicine that effectively captures the promise of scientific discovery and technological innovation and enables doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to provide the right care for the right patient at the right time. The body of this book illustrates the work of IOM committees in selected, major areas in recent years, followed by a description of IOM's convening and collaborative activities and fellowship programs. The last section provides a comprehensive bibliography of IOM reports published since 2007.

Rare diseases collectively affect millions of Americans of all ages, but developing drugs and medical devices to prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions is challenging. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends implementing an integrated national strategy to promote rare diseases research and product development.

Prepared in collaboration with the Medical Library Association, this completely updated, revised, and expanded edition lists classic and up-to-the-minute print and electronic resources in the health sciences, helping librarians find the answers that library users seek. Included are electronic versions of traditionally print reference sources, trustworthy electronic-only resources, and resources that library users can access from home or on the go through freely available websites or via library licenses. In this benchmark guide, the authors Include new chapters on health information seeking, point-of-care sources, and global health sources Focus on works that can be considered foundational or essential, in both print and electronic formats Address questions librarians need to consider in developing and maintaining their reference collections When it comes to questions involving the health sciences, this valuable resource will point both library staff and the users they serve in the right direction.

During public health emergencies such as pandemic influenza outbreaks or terrorist attacks, effective vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other medical countermeasures are essential to protecting national security and the public's well-being. The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE)-a partnership among federal, state, and local governments; industry; and academia-is at the forefront of the effort to develop and manufacture these countermeasures. However, despite the PHEMCE's many successes, there are still serious challenges to overcome. Government-funded medical research is not always focused on countermeasures for the most serious potential threats, and it is difficult to engage pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop and manufacture medical countermeasures that have a limited commercial market. At the request of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the IOM held a workshop February 22-24, 2010, to address challenges facing the PHEMCE. Workshop participants discussed federal policies and procedures affecting the research, development, and approval of medical countermeasures and explored opportunities to improve the process and protect Americans' safety and health.

Clinical or translational science is the field of study devoted to investigating human health and disease, interventions and outcomes for the purposes of developing new treatment approaches, devices, and modalities to improve health. New molecular tools and diagnostic technologies based on clinical and translational research have lead to a better understanding of human disease and the application of new therapeutics for enhanced health. Clinical and Translational Science is designed as the most authoritative and modern resource for the broad range of investigators in various medical specialties taking on the challenge of clinical research. Prepared with an international perspective, this resource begins with experimental design and investigative tools to set the scene for readers. It then moves on to human genetics and pharmacology with a focus on statistics, epidemiology, genomic information, drug discovery and development, and clinical trials. Finally, it turns to legal, social, and ethical issues of clinical research concluding with a discussion of future prospects to provide readers with a comprehensive view of the this developing area of science. - Clinical research is one of the fastest growing fields in private practice and academic medicine with practical biological, physiological, cellular, and therapeutic applications - Contributions from international leaders provide insight into background and future understanding for clinical and translational science - Provides the structure for complete instruction and guidance on the subject from fundamental principles, approaches and infrastructure to human genetics, human pharmacology, research in special populations, the societal context of human research, and the future of human research