"One [aspect of translational research] would be something like the discovery, you know, 35 or 40 years ago of the Philadelphia chromosome in patients with CML. And subsequently taking that observation on a chromosomal level into the molecular realm and discovering that it's a translocation of the bcr and abl gene loci and the role of the abl oncogene in tumor angiogenesis. And subsequently the transformation of that knowledge into an effective inhibitor like Gleevec. That's a very interesting approach for bench to bedside; it took decades, in that instance, and to make the translation yet nevertheless at the end of the day, now you end up with a drug that's marketed and is prolonging the lives of vast numbers of individuals with CML."

"It's kind of a classic example. Another one that I was more proximally involved in with is something like, again, you can trace these things back a long way. The role of prostaglandins in cancer development that was discovered back in the 70s subsequently identified that cyclooxygenase was an important enzyme. In developing those prostaglandins and discovering, through animal studies and observational studies and the population, as well as mechanistic studies, the role of cyclooxygenase in the development of a variety of cancers, in particular, intestinal cancer and then ultimately into randomized controlled trials that demonstrated drugs like aspirin or celecoxib are useful in inhibiting intestinal cancer."