Péter Hegyi

Translational medicine forms a bridge between clinical and basic research. It is an umbrella term for ‘translating’ preclinical research findings to everyday clinical practice and patient care, thus going from bench to bedside. Translational medicine involves experiments that facilitate a better understanding of the development of diseases within basic research, the discovery of pharmaceutical points of attack, effect studies applicable to human therapies, the biological study of human diseases and new improvements in treating human diseases. It also includes non-human or non-clinical studies, which can even form the foundation for new clinical applications and drug development trials in clinical phases 1–3 (as Maria Sznol, a member of the Journal of Translational Medicine editorial board, has observed). Like translational thinking, establishing a link between theoretical and clinical potential, that is, between the potential for basic research and patient care, is unique not only in Hungary, but also in Central Eastern Europe. The aim of the Centre for Translational Medicine is to a) promote the practical application of scientific results and innovations in health care, b) stimulate and unify the exchange of information and data flow between universities, hospitals and research centres, and to help their quality control, which can significantly improve the quality of multicenter research projects and reduce the amount of resources needed for research projects, c) help all members of the population (including healthy individuals, patients, doctors, etc.) to understand and implement evidence-based knowledge in everyday life through various platforms (web, printed materials, videos, etc.), d) participate in the organization of conferences and trainings, in procuring research-related services and in providing financial aid in the search and selection of human resources.