Translational Cardiology: defining limits and targets at the International Archives of Medicine

Abstract

The Merriam-Webster dictionary reports the first use of “Translational Research” as early as 1986 and the definition given for this term was: “medical research that is concerned with facilitating the practical application of scientific discoveries to the development and implementation of new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease, called also translational medicine” .

The adjective “translational” stems from Classical Latin “translatio”, then probably Middle French ”translation”, to reach Middle English “translacioun”. The idea is to make a transfer from one idiom to another, yet keeping the intimate significance and sense, which is common to language translation methods. It properly stresses the relation to the transfer of scientific knowledge into practical applications. It is obvious how, in less than 30 years, translational research has pervaded all Science domains and how large is the interest of scientists and lay people for this subject