Translational research is a hallmark of the NYU Cancer Institute, where laboratory scientists and clinicians work together to facilitate the translation of laboratory findings to the clinic, accelerating the development of new therapeutics for patient care. To formalize this approach, the NYU Cancer Institute established a Translational Research Program. The program is directed by Robert Schneider, PhD, a cancer researcher and Associate Director of the Cancer Institute for Translational Research, who is co-leading the breast cancer research program with Silvia Formenti, MD; and co-directed by Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, an immunologist who is leading the Institute's cancer vaccine program.

The mission of the Translational Research Program is to identify and nurture important ongoing and new opportunities for translational research conducted at the NYU School of Medicine and to accelerate the pace by which these findings are translated to the clinic. The Translational Research Program is finding new ways to integrate the extraordinary growth and understanding made in basic research with the ever growing need for the development of new therapies and approaches in the clinic to a variety of cancers that have remained difficult to treat.

Almost every aspect of oncology is represented in one form or another in NYUCI's Translational Research Program. The 17-member group meets regularly, and includes some of our most distinguished academic investigators in medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, clinical research, biostatistics, epidemiology, basic science, translational research, developmental therapeutics, and study design.

The Translational Research Program is developing guidelines for conducting translational research at the NYU School of Medicine. The group has also devised new approaches for accelerating preclinical studies leading to clinical trials. They are also creating a program to inform basic scientists about the clinical protocol review process.

Similarly, the Translational Research Program is developing programs to educate clinicians about basic science and research opportunities. A major goal of this program is to encourage clinical residents and fellows to explore clinical research opportunities, and to promote the education of young physicians to excel as physician-scientists. The program aids in providing clinical residents and fellows with opportunities for laboratory and clinical research, integrating scientifically sound laboratory research and scientific principles with new developments in clinical trials and patient care.

The Translation Research Program also provides seed funding for translational research projects in oncology. The program receives proposals in response to a request for applications for research funding. In reviewing the proposed research, program members have been able to bring together a number of basic research scientists with clinical investigators to explore common areas of study.

The NYU Cancer Institute's Translational Research Program goes to the heart of the Cancer Institute's mission: to accelerate the pace, identification, and movement of early-stage, promising discoveries in the laboratory to the clinical setting.