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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2008;28:s3.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Translational Therapeutics at the Platelet Vascular Interface: A CME-Certified Activity

Introduction

Garret A. FitzGerald

From the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Correspondence to G.A. FitzGerald, 153 Johnson Pavilion, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail garret@spirit.gcrc.upenn.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

This article is part of a multi-part CME-certified activity titled Translational Therapeutics at the Platelet Vascular Interface. In order to achieve all of the activity’s learning objectives, please read all of the components of the activity listed in the Table of Contents and follow the "Instructions for Participation and Obtaining CME Credit" outlined prior to the Introduction.

The past 15 years have witnessed a revolution in drug discovery, fueled by investment in high throughput screening, bioinformatics, genomics, and combinatorial chemistry. However, despite an increasing abundance of "validated" drug targets, the number of drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reaching the market has stalled. A similar revolution in the process of drug development¹ could alleviate this problem but is hindered by a critical dearth of the relevant human capital—individuals who can take proof-of-concept studies using quantitative assays of drug action in cells and model systems and project them across the translational divide to perform detailed studies of drug response in humans. Ideally, these mechanistic studies in humans would guide the selection of dose on a "personalized" basis. Although the number of individuals who command expertise in the relevant skill sets to pursue such research has dwindled in academia, industry, and the regulatory agencies, fewer still of this cadre are equipped to apply "unbiased" technologies further to refine studies of drug action and safety in humans.

Nascent interdisciplinary training programs are increasingly emphasizing the importance of translational research in academic institutions in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.^2,3 . . . [Full Text of this Article]