The importance of discovery science in the development of therapies for the critically ill

Discovery science, a term which encompasses basic, translational, and computational science with the aim to discover new therapies, has advanced critical care. By combining knowledge on inflammatory and genomic pathways with computational methods, discovery science is currently enabling us to optimize clinical trials design by predictive enrichment and to move into the era of personalized medicine for complex syndromes such as sepsis and ARDS. Whereas computational methods are gaining in interest, efforts to invest in basic and translational science in critical care are declining. As basic and translational science is essential to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of organ failure, this loss of interest may result in failure to discover new therapies for the critically ill. A renewed emphasis on basic and translational science is essential to find solutions for fundamental questions that remain in critical care. This requires a strategy to prioritize basic and translational science as an essential component within the critical care research “toolkit.” Key aspects of this strategy include an increased focus on basic science in critical care medical curricula as well as in critical care platforms such as conferences and medical journals. Training of critical care clinician scientists in basic and translational research will require new organizational models within the academic institutions, as well as the development of new funding opportunities for early career critical care clinician scientists.