Social Network for Translational Scientist...( To enhance t...),Health

To enhance the career development of scientists and science trainees who hope to translate laboratory research into clinical medicine, AAAS, Science Careers, and Science have launched a new online social-networking site called CTSciNet, the Clinical and Translational Science Network.

(PRWEB) November 6, 2009 -- Launched October 20 by Science Careers, AAAS's career development initiative, CTSciNet is an online community for people pursuing careers in clinical and translational research. CTSciNet aims to encourage and support scientists and trainees who wish to become a part of the clinical and translational research community. The site was developed by AAAS with continuing contributions from several other scientific societies. It was funded by a generous grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a long-time supporter of Science Careers.

CTSciNet “seeks to promote the professional development of the scientists while helping to meet key science policy objectives,” said Jim Austin, editor of Science Careers and principal investigator for the CTSciNet project. With CTSciNet, “We want to show early career scientists how they can help solve one of the most important scientific challenges of our lifetimes: figuring out how to efficiently translate scientific breakthroughs into practical therapies.”

In recent years, major scientific advances have not reliably lead to new treatments for disease. The pipeline of new drugs, for example, has stagnated even as important breakthroughs, such as the sequencing of the human genome, have opened up vast new terrain for scientific investigation.

CTSciNet's efforts to address these challenges are two-fold: First, it will work with