From Ideas to Treatments

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be writing a series that gets into the deep, dark secrets of the research world. Actually, it’s really just a chance for me to put my science researcher hat on one last time as a contributor to New Voices, and talk about an area to which I devoted better part of my adult life.

We use drugs every day to cure that headache, calm that cough, or even soothe that poison ivy rash that resulted from a weekend of gardening. But do you ever stop to think how that medicine came to be? Research goes beyond drugs. Your Great Aunt Mildred* couldn’t have gotten that coronary bypass surgery if not for research trials that tested, and then perfected, the technique.
So given that the results of research can be seen in everything that we do, let’s talk about how this process works. How does an idea become a life-saving therapy?

I'd love to give you a two sentence answer, but unfortunately, the process isn't that easy. Throughout the series, I'm going to do my best to explain the idea to treatment process in the hopes that by the end, we can all better appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into this process that we call scientific research.


*She's married to Great Uncle Milton.

This is Part 1 of 13 in our From Ideas to Treatments series.
Part 1 - From Ideas to Treatments
Part 2 - Basic Research: It Starts with an Idea
Part 3 - You're an Animal!
Part 4 - Can I care about animals and do research too?
Part 5 - Regulations for Animal Research
Part 6 - Clinical Research Trials
Part 7 - Patient Safety in Clinical Trials: IRB Approval
Part 8 - Recruitment
Part 9 - Health Disparities in Clinical Research
Part 10 - A Brief History of Inclusion Policies
Part 11 - Breaking News: Women and Men are Different
Part 12 - Including Minorities in Clinical Trial Research
Part 13 - Bringing From Ideas to Treatments Home