Translational Medicine brings together science and clinical experiences

Translational Medicine’s goal is to take science’s discoveries to the assistance and put them back into research, based on the main challenges that doctors face daily. This is a two-way street, in which scientists, doctors and other health professionals work together, strive for innovations in illnesses’ diagnoses and treatments. This initiative in Pequeno Príncipe Complex received a boost in 2018 by creating the Translational Medicine Directory, located in the Pelé Pequeno Príncipe Research Institute.

“Basic science can contribute significantly to improving clinical medical outcomes. Also, there is great potential for collaboration between clinical fields and research in our own institution to promote innovation in health,” explained doctor Carolina Prando, director of Translational Medicine.

According to her, one of the directory’s first initiatives are actions that strive to expand the environment for exchanges between clinical practices and research, with meetings open to the institution’s staff. In these meetings, each one of the Institute’s researcher will present the impact of their ongoing project to assistance practices, promoting dialogue between two extremes in medicine – basic and clinical science – as a jumping off point to create new projects.

First benefits

Translational Medicine is already starting to have an impact in Pequeno Príncipe. One of the ongoing projects establishes a collaboration between researchers and the Cardiology ICU team for immunological and genetic evaluation for 100 babies between the ages of 0 and 3 years old. With basic research, this initiative has the goal of identifying heart defects with congenital immune system defects. Researchers hope that the knowledge gained from this study be applied to clinical practice, helping medical conducts in pre and post cardiac surgery, reducing infections during the post-operation period.

Pequeno Príncipe Hospital’s Cardiology Service is one of the three largest in Brazil. Just in 2018, 496 surgeries were performed, of which 55% of them were on babies up to one-year-old. Another project that will begin soon integrates basic research in Genetics and Microbiology to Hematology and bone marrow transplants.