Biomedical research is generally known as medical research and covers the following discrete research areas:
basic research, applied research, or translational research
Biomedical scientists in collaboration with molecular biologists carry out most of the research in these biomedical research fields and these research fields are all conducted to aid, support and update the knowledge within the greater field of medicine.
Biomedical research can be broadly divided into two general categories:
- Clinical trials – the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and effectiveness in what are known as “clinical trials”.
- Preclinical research – all other research that adds to the development of new treatments if its goal is specifically to enhance knowledge for the development of new curative strategies.
Translational research is a new term in biomedical research focusing on the repetitious feedback loops between the basic and clinical research domains, and endeavouring to speed up the knowledge conversion from bedside to bench, and back again.
The increased life expectancy of humans over the past century can be accredited to advances resulting from medical research with the chief benefits having been the following:-
- Vaccines for measles and polio,
- Insulin treatment for diabetes,
- Classes of antibiotics for treating a host of maladies,
- Medication for high blood pressure,
- Improved treatments for AIDS,
- Statins and other treatments for atherosclerosis,
- New surgical techniques such as microsurgery, and
- Increasingly successful treatments for cancer.
Following the human genome project, new valuable tests and treatments are expected, however many challenges still remain such as the emergence of antibiotic resistance and the latest obesity epidemic to name just a couple.
