“You have all the basic medical science disciplines – biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and toxicology,
as well as some of the physical sciences and engineering,” Narayan says. “All these areas that can interface with clinical medicine are now doing so. Federal and private funding are making it possible.” An understanding of development and application can also help. “Basic research is only part of the training needed,” Spack explains. “Chemists may be good basic chemists but lack experience in formulation. Some companies have very strong engineers but little knowledge of regulatory affairs. Universities often lack regulatory expertise. One of the advantages we have here at SRI is technological divisions that can bring groups to bear on multidisciplinary challenges such as medical devices.”
Recruiters don’t ignore specialized skills. “All our
translational medicine studies are based on biochemical or imaging markers,” Novartis’s Mundel says. “So our
scientists need great familiarity with imaging techniques and their deficiencies.”
However, a feel for multidisciplinary matters certainly helps scientists involved in translational medicine. “Those working most successfully are working across disciplinary boundaries,” Northwestern’s Harris points out. That doesn’t necessarily demand broad training. “The skills don’t need to be in one person, but must exist within the team,” Narayan explains. “You can be largely trained as a specialist in one field,” Harris agrees. “What’s most important is to think broadly and think about subjects in a variety of ways. You need to be able to communicate with the people caring for patients – listening to them as well as explaining what you are doing.”
Not many individuals fill the necessary criteria. “The number of people who fit into this is vanishingly small,” Mundel says. “Within the cardiovascular metabolism area I must have reviewed 286 CVs of interested people. We got this down to a short list of six to eight scientists. Ultimately the one who joined us had actual clinical experience.”