Lyndsay N. Harris, MD, Bringing a translational approach to breast cancer

[March 2009] Medical research typically advances on two separate fronts: in clinical trials and the laboratory. But in recent years translational medicine has become common, a team approach in which lab scientists and clinical researchers join forces to tackle a specific problem. Medical oncologist Lyndsay N. Harris, MD, who co-directs the Yale Breast Cancer Program, is an expert on such partnerships. “The goal is to get those people together in the sandbox and have them start talking to one another,” she says. “The era of the monolithic scientist is really either gone or almost gone.” Translational researchers aim to advance research insights and help patients faster than basic science or clinical research could do separately. “[It] is really a specialty in and of itself.”

At Yale Medical Group (YMG), Harris assembles teams of researchers and clinicians who collaborate on studies and grants for breast cancer research. She is in a good position to do so, as she plays several roles herself. As a clinician, she treats patients in the clinic; as a clinical researcher, she runs clinical trials at the Breast Cancer Center; and as a basic scientist she designs lab experiments to elucidate the mechanism of breast cancer treatments. Moving among these three worlds allows her the perspective a translational researcher needs. “We incorporate novel new biological and new treatment strategies into our clinical trials,” she says. “The research insights into the biology of breast cancer have allowed us to develop new biological treatments, such as antibodies against specific targets.”

Translational research is not without controversy, with some basic scientists concerned that a “team approach” will force them to put important basic research questions aside or do tasks they weren’t trained for. But Harris says the point is not to hamper pure science or make everyone into a translational researcher—rather, it is to see to it that all kinds of researchers communicate. When basic scientists interact with clinicians, she says, “[they] start to think about what’s really happening in people, and it improves his or her ability to do their job.

“You have to be just as rigorous in translational research as you do in any other specialty,” says Harris. “But it requires the merging of a couple of different mindsets, and that’s a challenge.”

- Originally published in the February 2009 issue of Yale Practice.