Methods for identifying biomedical translation: a systematic review

Abstract

Translational medicine is an important area of biomedicine, and has significantly facilitated the development of biomedical research. Despite its relevance, there is no consensus on how to evaluate its progress and impact. A systematic review was carried out to identify all the methods to evaluate translational research. Seven methods were found according to the established criteria to analyze their characteristics, advantages, and limitations. They allow us to perform this type of evaluation in different ways. No relevant advantages were found between them; each one presented its specific limitations that need to be considered. Nevertheless, the Triangle of Biomedicine could be considered the most relevant method, concerning the time since its publication and usefulness. In conclusion, there is still a lack of a gold-standard method for evaluating biomedical translational research.