From bench to bedside and back again

Joshua R. Moon

Chapter 3 in Handbook of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Studies, 2026, pp 43-58 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Despite the 80 years since Vannevar Bush's Science, the Endless Frontier, scientific research continues to be considered the main source of medical innovations. Contemporary perspectives, however, highlight that translation is iterative, multi-directional, and contextually dependent. In this chapter, we develop the concept of sites of translation (specific spaces in which actors exchange knowledge) to better understand three distinct methods of translation. First, in the laboratory, we explore how standards enable actors to translate knowledge by black-boxing contested knowledge into uncontested artefacts and protocols to make them easily exchanged. Second, in the clinic, we explore how differing problematizations enable diverse actors to exchange knowledge across multiple boundaries by presenting differing interpretations of the same problem. Finally, in the public sphere, we explore how values are mobilized to enable and shape translation through determining acceptable limits, defining credible evidence, and transforming lived experiences into expertise. While these methods are not limited to the specific sites that we present in this chapter, nor are these sites the only sites of translation that exist, we aim to demonstrate the value of observing sites of translation as a means to understanding how translation involves sustained processes of engagement rather than discrete exchanges of knowledge.

Keywords: Knowledge translation; Sites of translation; Boundary spanning; Standardization; Knowledge exchange; Medical innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035338443
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