The efforts undertaken at Wake Forest emphasize converting basic scientific discoveries into practical applications that improve human health. This process involves accelerating the transfer of findings from the laboratory into clinical settings, ultimately leading to new treatments, therapies, and preventative measures. An example of this would be identifying a novel therapeutic target in a cell culture model of a disease, then developing and testing a drug targeting that pathway in clinical trials with patients suffering from the condition.
Such an approach is vital for bridging the gap between scientific advancement and tangible patient benefit. It reduces the time required to move promising discoveries from the bench to the bedside, ensuring that research findings are translated into real-world solutions as efficiently as possible. Historically, the process of moving research from the laboratory to clinical practice has been slow and fragmented; focused endeavors address these inefficiencies by creating infrastructure and partnerships that foster collaboration and accelerate the progression of knowledge.