The ten commandments of translational research informatics

Translational research applies findings from basic science to enhance human health and well-being. In translational research projects, academia and industry work together to improve healthcare, often through public-private partnerships. This “translation” is often not easy, because it means that the so-called “valley of death” will need to be crossed: many interesting findings from fundamental research do not result in new treatments, diagnostics and prevention. To cross the valley of death, fundamental researchers need to collaborate with clinical researchers and with industry so that promising results can be implemented in a product. The success of translational research projects often does not depend only on the fundamental science and the applied science, but also on the informatics needed to connect everything: the translational research informatics. This informatics, which includes data management, data stewardship and data governance, enables researchers to store and analyze their ‘big data’ in a meaningful way, and enable application in the clinic. The author has worked on the information technology infrastructure for several translational research projects in oncology for