Treatments and cures are yet undiscovered, and approving drugs for widespread use takes considerable time and resources. In addition, clinical trials face many challenges. For example, diseases induced during an experimental trial don’t always mimic how a disease naturally develops, and scaling up from a trial group to a whole population can require changing a drug’s dosage or potency unfavorably.
Comparative medicine strengthens clinical trials by studying naturally occurring diseases and multiple species of animals in veterinary clinical trials. These efforts bring new therapies to veterinary patients and can speed up human drug development at the same time.

How Translational Research Helps Health Care
In translational research, scientists who study biology and genetics partner with community members, engineers, pharmacists, bioinformaticists, policymakers and others. Multidisciplinary collaborations result in diagnostic devices, chemical agents, powerful algorithms, business enterprises and a culture of creating knowledge to answer complex medical questions.
A Head Start on Successful Translations
Physicians and veterinarians have already teamed up at UC Davis to fight cancer, treat facial disorders and alleviate pain. These promising starts improve quality of life for patients now and lay a foundation for more collaboration and innovation to come.
Translational Research Opportunities at UC Davis
The Clinical and Translational Science Center at UC Davis Health offers a full-fledged toolbox of resources that faculty and staff across the spectrum of scientific research can use to improve health and health care delivery.
The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine leads scientific studies, provides clinical services and trains the next generation of veterinary doctors to cross boundaries for timely solutions. View their approach to translational medicine.
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