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• v.110(3); 2019 Jun

Language: English | French

Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research

Lindsay mclaren.

1 University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

Paula Braitstein

2 University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

David Buckeridge

3 McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Damien Contandriopoulos

4 University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

Maria I. Creatore

5 CIHR Institute of Population & Public Health and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Guy Faulkner

6 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

David Hammond

7 University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

Steven J. Hoffman

8 CIHR Institute of Population & Public Health and York University, Toronto, Canada

Yan Kestens

9 Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Scott Leatherdale

Jonathan mcgavock.

10 University of Manitoba and the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Wendy V. Norman

11 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Candace Nykiforuk

12 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Valéry Ridde

13 IRD (French Institute For Research on Sustainable Development), CEPED (IRD-Université Paris Descartes), ERL INSERM SAGESUD, Université Paris Sorbonne Cités, Paris, France

14 University of Montreal Public Health Research Institute (IRSPUM), Montreal, Canada

Janet Smylie

Public health is critical to a healthy, fair, and sustainable society. Realizing this vision requires imagining a public health community that can maintain its foundational core while adapting and responding to contemporary imperatives such as entrenched inequities and ecological degradation. In this commentary, we reflect on what tomorrow’s public health might look like, from the point of view of our collective experiences as researchers in Canada who are part of an Applied Public Health Chairs program designed to support “innovative population health research that improves health equity for citizens in Canada and around the world.” We view applied public health research as sitting at the intersection of core principles for population and public health: namely sustainability, equity, and effectiveness. We further identify three attributes of a robust applied public health research community that we argue are necessary to permit contribution to those principles: researcher autonomy, sustained intersectoral research capacity, and a critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. Our intention is to catalyze further discussion and debate about why and how public health matters today and tomorrow, and the role of applied public health research therein.

Résumé

La santé publique est essentielle à une société saine, juste et durable. Pour donner forme à cette vision, il faut imaginer une communauté de la santé publique capable de préserver ses valeurs fondamentales tout en s’adaptant et en réagissant aux impératifs du moment, comme les inégalités persistantes et la dégradation de l’environnement. Dans notre commentaire, nous esquissons un portrait possible de la santé publique de demain en partant de notre expérience collective de chercheurs d’un programme canadien de chaires en santé publique appliquée qui visent à appuyer « la recherche innovatrice sur la santé de la population en vue d’améliorer l’équité en santé au Canada et ailleurs ». Nous considérons la recherche appliquée en santé publique comme se trouvant à la croisée des principes fondamentaux de la santé publique et des populations, à savoir : la durabilité, l’équité et l’efficacité. Nous définissons aussi les trois attributs d’une solide communauté de recherche appliquée en santé publique nécessaires selon nous au respect de ces principes : l’autonomie des chercheurs, une capacité de recherche intersectorielle soutenue et une perspective critique de l’interface entre la recherche, la pratique et les politiques. Nous voulons susciter des discussions et des débats approfondis sur l’importance de la santé publique pour aujourd’hui et pour demain et sur le rôle de la recherche appliquée en santé publique.

Introduction

Public health is critical to a healthy, fair, and sustainable society. Public health’s role in this vision stems from its foundational values of social justice and collectivity (Rutty and Sullivan 2010 ) and—we argue—from its position at the interface of research, practice, and policy.

Realizing this vision requires imagining a public health community that can maintain that foundational core, embrace opportunities of our changing world, and predict and adapt to emerging challenges in a timely manner. Unprecedented ecosystem disruption creates far-reaching health implications for which the public health community is unprepared (CPHA 2015 ; Whitmee et al. 2015 ). Human displacement is at its highest levels on record; those forced from home include “stateless people,” who are denied access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment, and freedom of movement ( http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html ). Significant growth in urban populations creates an urgent need to improve urban environments, including policies to reduce air pollution and prevent sprawl (CPHA 2015 ; Frumkin et al. 2004 ), to reduce the substantial burden of morbidity and mortality attributable to behaviours such as physical inactivity, which negatively impact quality and quantity of life (Manuel et al. 2016 ). Significant and entrenched forms of economic, social, political, and historical marginalization and exclusion (TRC 2015 ), coupled with inequitable and unsustainable patterns of resource consumption and technological development (CPHA 2015 ; Whitmee et al. 2015 ), cause and perpetuate health inequities. These inequities underlie the now longstanding recognition that the unequal distributions of health-damaging experiences are the main determinants of health (CSDH 2008 ; Ridde 2004 ).

These imperatives demand a broadly characterized public health community. A now classic definition of public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts of society (Last 2001 ). Public health, conceptualized in this manner, engages multiple sectors, embraces inclusion and empowerment (Ridde 2007 ), and demands navigating diverse political and economic agendas. Across Canada, a large and growing proportion of provincial spending is devoted to health care, while the proportion devoted to social spending (i.e., the social determinants of health) is small, flat-lining, and in some places declining (Dutton et al. 2018 ). Recent discourse has highlighted a weakening of formal public health infrastructure (Guyon et al. 2017 ) and points of fracture within the field (Lucyk and McLaren 2017 ). Efforts to strengthen public health, in its broadest sense, and to work towards unity of purpose (Talbot 2018 ) are needed now more than ever. What might such efforts look like?

We reflect on this question from our perspectives as researchers who are part of an Applied Public Health Chairs (APHC) program designed to support “innovative population health research that improves health equity for citizens in Canada and around the world.” 1 The applied dimension 2 is facilitated through the program’s focus on “interdisciplinary collaborations and mentorship of researchers and decision makers in health and other sectors” ( http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48898.html ). The APHC program (Box 1) is part of a broader set of efforts to address gaps in public health capacity, including research. Cross-cutting themes for the 2014 cohort (Box 2) include the following: healthy public policy, supportive environments (e.g., cities), diverse methodological approaches, global health, and health equity; many of which 3 align with a Public Health Services and Systems Research perspective in that they “identif[y] the implementation strategies that work, building evidence to support decision-making across the public health sphere” ( http://www.publichealthsystems.org/ ). Applied public health research is broad and could span CIHR Pillars 4 (social, cultural, environmental, and population health research) and 3 (health services research); the 2014 APHC cohort is predominantly aligned with Pillar 4.

The APHC program represents a significant Canadian investment in public health, and thus provides an important vantage point from which to reflect on why public health matters today, and tomorrow.

Box 1 The Applied Public Health Chairs program

Box 2 2014 cohort of Applied Public Health Chairs

More details available at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48898.html

Our proposal

We propose that applied public health research is a critical component of a robust population and public health community. As illustrated in Fig.  1 , we view applied public health research as sitting at the nexus of three core principles: (1) sustainability, (2) equity, and (3) effectiveness, which align with a vision of public health as critical to a healthy, fair, and sustainable society. By sustainability , we mean an approach or way of thinking, about public health in particular (e.g., Schell et al. 2013 ) and population well-being more broadly ( https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs ) that emphasizes “meet[ing] the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland et al. 1987 ). Sustainability has social, economic, environmental, and political dimensions. We define equity as a worldview concerned with the embedded or systemic—and often invisible—drivers of unfair distributions of health-damaging experiences. In Canada and elsewhere, inequity is entrenched in legacies of colonial, structural racism designed to sustain inequitable patterns of power and wealth. Equity transcends diverse axes and perspectives, and an equity lens is action-oriented (Ridde 2007 ). Finally, effectiveness refers to impact or benefits for population well-being, as demonstrated by rigorous research. Explicit core values (e.g., equity), while important, are insufficient without translation to demonstrable outcomes (Potvin and Jones 2011 ). These core principles—sustainability, equity, and effectiveness—overlap and are mutually reinforcing; for example, the inequitable concentration of power, wealth, and exploitation of resources precludes sustainability.

Visual depiction of the role and attributes of applied public health research, vis-à-vis core population and public health principles of equity, sustainability, and effectiveness

Although these principles are applicable to the public health community broadly (i.e., including but not limited to researchers), applied public health researchers are uniquely situated to embrace sustainability, equity, and effectiveness when asking questions and generating policy- and practice-relevant knowledge, as illustrated below. Drawing on our collective experiences, we describe three necessary attributes of applied public health research that support our model in Fig.  1 : researcher autonomy, sustained intersectoral research capacity; and a critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. We assert that applied public health research is best positioned to contribute meaningfully to the principles of sustainability, effectiveness, and equity if the attributes described below are in place.

Researcher autonomy

Researcher autonomy is a precondition for innovation and independent thinking, and for building and sustaining the conditions for collective efforts. Our working definition of researcher autonomy is the capacity to devote time and energy to activities that, at the researcher’s discretion, facilitate research that embraces principles of sustainability, effectiveness, and equity. Autonomy, beyond the scope of general academic independence, provides the freedom to build and nurture partnerships, and to navigate among universities, health care systems, governments, communities, and across sectors. Effective and respectful partnerships are critical to rigorous intersectoral work and can provide an important platform to discuss systemic forms of inequity (e.g., Olivier et al. 2016 ; Morton Ninomiya et al. 2017 ). Recognizing a potential tension around the role of the researcher in an applied public health context, we deliberately selected the word “autonomy,” which we view as conducive to meaningful collaboration (although that may be experienced differently by different researchers), rather than “independence” which can be seen as contrary to such collaboration. Yet despite their importance, the time and resources to form and sustain those relationships are often not accommodated within funding and academic structures.

Autonomy, when coupled with resources and recognition, permits applied public health researchers to balance foundations of public health with current policy relevance. Although many of us have research programs with particular thematic foci (e.g., physical activity, dental health, HIV), autonomy provides space and credibility to connect those focal issues to enduring and evolving problems in public health (e.g., determinants of population well-being and equity), and to inform the contemporary policy context. Examples include research on health implications of neighbourhood gentrification in urban settings (Steinmetz-Wood et al. 2017 ); using community water fluoridation as a window into public and political understanding and acceptance of public health interventions that are universal in nature (McLaren and Petit 2018 ); and using innovative sampling methods to identify how census methods can perpetuate exclusion (Rotondi et al. 2017 ). That latter work, which estimated that the national census undercounts urban Indigenous populations in Toronto by a factor of approximately 2–4, provides impetus to work towards an inclusive system that respects individual and collective data sovereignty, and that is accountable to the communities from whom data are collected.

These implications of autonomy are consistent with calls for greater reflexivity in public health research (Tremblay and Parent 2014 ).

Insight : To strengthen applied public health research in Canada, researcher autonomy – whereby researchers have the credibility and protected time to set their own agendas in partnerships with the communities they serve – must be privileged.

Sustained intersectoral research capacity

Applied public health research requires funding for resources and infrastructure that are essential to sustain an intersectoral research program, but for which operating funds are otherwise not readily available. Examples include ongoing cohort studies (e.g., Leatherdale et al. 2014 ), research software platforms (e.g., Shaban-Nejad et al. 2017 ), meaningful public sector engagement in developing public health priorities, and knowledge translation activities.

Partnerships, also considered under researcher autonomy above, are one form of intersectoral research capacity. In applied public health research, having strong partnerships in place permits timely response to research opportunities that arise quickly in real-world settings. Examples in our cohort include instances where researchers were able to mobilize for rapid response funding competitions in areas of environment and health, communicable disease in the global South, and Indigenous training networks, because collaborative teams and potential for knowledge co-creation and transfer were already in place.

Insight : A robust applied public health research community requires sustained funding to support foundations of a credible and internationally-competitive research program (e.g., cohort studies, research software platforms, meaningful public sector engagement) that are difficult to resource via usual operating grant channels.

A critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface

One barrier to evidence-based policy in applied public health is an assumption that evidence is the most important factor in making policy decisions, versus a more holistic view of the policymaking process where evidence is one of many factors, as discussed in recent work (Fafard and Hoffman 2018 ; O’Neill et al. 2019 ; Ridde and Yaméogo 2018 ).

Applied public health research is ideally positioned to embrace a critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. Several recent trends are promising in that regard. These include the following: substantive efforts to bridge public health and social science scholarship ( http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/50604.html ), growing success by Pillar 4 researchers (including applied public health) in CIHR’s open funding competitions ( http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/50488.html ), and the CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship initiative ( http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/50612.html ), which could facilitate the placement of doctoral and post-doctoral academic researchers within the public health system and related (e.g., public, NGO) organizations.

Insight : Applied public health researchers are ideally positioned to embrace and model a sophisticated and interdisciplinary perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. To do so, opportunities for researchers (including trainees) to gain skills and experience to navigate the policy context are needed.

Against the backdrop of discourse about a weakening of public health infrastructure and fracture within the field (Guyon et al. 2017 ; Lucyk and McLaren 2017 ), we believe that there is value in working towards a unity of purpose (Talbot 2018 ). This commentary was prompted by a shared belief that through our experience with the Applied Public Health Chair Program, we have seen a glimpse of what is needed to achieve a population and public health community that is positioned to tackle societal imperatives, which includes an important role for applied public health research, spanning CIHR Pillars 3 and 4. Anchored in principles of sustainability, equity, and effectiveness, we assert a strong need for applied research infrastructure that privileges and supports: researcher autonomy, sustained funding to support foundations of a credible and internationally competitive research program, and opportunities for researchers (including trainees) to gain skills and experience to navigate the policy context. We welcome and invite further discussion and debate.

1 Under CIHR-IPPH’s mandate, population health research refers to “research into the complex biological, social, cultural, and environmental interactions that determine the health of individuals, communities, and global populations.”

2 Applied may be defined as follows: “put to practical use,” as opposed to being theoretical ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/applied ).

3 For example: https://uwaterloo.ca/compass-system/ (Leatherdale); http://cart-grac.ubc.ca/ (Norman); http://www.healthsystemsglobal.org/ (Ridde).

The original version of this article was revised due to a retrospective Open Access order.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Change history

The article ���Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research,��� written by Lindsay McLaren et al., was originally published Online First without Open Access.

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Public health and research: an overview

Journal of Health Research

ISSN : 2586-940X

Article publication date: 15 October 2020

Issue publication date: 15 June 2021

This paper was to describe the overview of public health research.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a commentary piece of work from own long experience in working with the World Health Organization.

This study has innovative ideas in approaching priority areas in public health research.

Originality/value

This study opens up new thought in public health research.

• Public health

Public health research

Plianbangchang, S. (2021), "Public health and research: an overview", Journal of Health Research , Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 374-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHR-03-2020-0074

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Samlee Plianbangchang

Published in Journal of Health Research . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

An overview of public health

Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized community efforts as well as the informed choice of society, public, private and voluntary organizations and communities at large. Analyzing the health of a population and the threats to that health forms the basis for public health.

Additionally, “health”, as defined in the WHO Constitution in 1948 [ 1 ], considers physical, mental and social well-being and is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Furthermore, public health is interdisciplinary, thus, a “public health team” may include several related disciplines in health and other social fields. Access to public health initiatives for comprehensive and integrated health care and services is always a difficult challenge in any population setting.

The objective of this commentary is to provide an overview of public health research and highlight innovative thinking in the field.

Public health systems

Public health systems are commonly defined as “all public, private, and voluntary entities that contribute to the delivery of essential public health services to people within a jurisdiction” [ 2 ]. This concept is to ensure, among other things, that all contributions to the improved health and well-being of the community or state are appropriately recognized and counted in the assessment of the provision of public health services to the community. The public health system includes public health agencies at state and local levels; all healthcare providers; public safety agencies; human services and charity organizations; education and youth development agencies; recreation and art-related organizations; economic and philanthropic agencies and environmental organizations.

The 10 essential public health services/functions

Monitoring community health situations to identify and solve health problems and prevent any health risks in the community;

Investigating and diagnosing specific health threats and health hazards in the community with the view to their early prevention;

Through modern technology in communication, informing, educating and empowering people in the community about health issues and challenges and their interventions;

Identifying/investigating and solving any problems of public health importance;

Through the full participation of people, developing policies and plans that support individual and combined health efforts in the community;

Ensuring effective enforcement of laws and regulations that protect environmental health and assure the safety of the population;

Linking people to needed personal health services and ensuring the provision of quality health care when otherwise unavailable;

Assuring the availability of effective public health workforce and competent healthcare personnel in both public and private facilities;

Objectively evaluating efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal as well as population-based health care facilities and services and

Undertaking study/research for new insights and innovative solutions to effectively counter prevailing and emerging health problems.

Public health rsearch aims to elucidate the influence of factors that determine the health of a population, i.e. genetic, environmental, social-cultural, economic, political, etc. The objective of public health research is to use the knowledge gained to propose policies and interventions, based on scientific evidence, and to help improve the health and well-being of the population and ultimately reduce/eradicate health inequalities.

Public health research is characterized by its multidisciplinary approach. It draws on several disciplines in its development and management, especially epidemiology/human ecology; biostatistics; physical and social sciences as applied to health; biology; genetics and toxicology. It usually entails the analysis of data on population samples on varying scales, depending on the scope and purpose of the research [ 4 ].

In practical terms, public health researchers study the statuses of population health and well-being, disability and loss of independence. They analyze the determining risk factors of these statuses or conditions, whether biological, behavioral, psycho-social or environmental. In addition, the researchers develop and assess the interventions aiming to effectively promote population health, prevent disease and compensate for disabilities and loss of independence. They also develop and assess innovation to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the organization of healthcare facilities and personnel, in public health, medical and other social service areas.

Research in health may be in the fields of health research, medical research, public health research, health services research, health systems research, environmental health research and others. These are interlinked and need to be pursued in a parallel manner in public health development.

Funding agencies

Mission and role of funding agencies

(2)Quality of research proposal

Relevance to current health-related issues and problems; responding to priority public health needs and the challenges of community and country are crucial. Applications should also be in the interest of the international/global health community.

Formulation with rational and logical thinking; Research proposals should be well-conceived and developed according to sound research methodology/protocol on epidemiological principles.

Expected result of the proposal; The result must be of high quality and should imply strong feasibility in its subsequent application/implementation in both technical, managerial and financial terms.

Public health system development research

DEIDS (development and evaluation of integrated health delivery system) (Thailand Lampang Health Development Project), 1973-1978 [ 6 ].

(2)District Health Services Development Project based on the principle of the primary health care approach, Mongar Health Development Project in Bhutan, 1984–1990 [ 7 ].

(3)Comprehensive and Integrated Health Research Development Project on hill- tribe population, 2014–present (still ongoing)

This is a long-term large research and development project with many sub-projects focusing on various specific issues of the target population. It is a multi-agency and interdisciplinary endeavor developed and implemented through the coordination of the Maefah Luang University Center of Excellence on health of the hill-tribe population. It includes the development of integrated and comprehensive social and health care services with an emphasis on equity, social justice and self-reliance in the community. There are multiple sources of funding, however mainly from the National Research Council of Thailand.

Some suggested areas for contemporary public health research

Universal health coverage for all

Financial sustainability in the long term

Equal accessibility by all people, regardless of their social and economic status

The right approach to development, proactive or passive strategy

Affordability in financial and managerial terms of the country concerned.

(2)Social impact of drug abuse /addiction

The social and economic impact of (chaotic situations created by) drug abuse and addiction

The general health of a population that is gradually undermined by drug abuse and drug addiction, leading, among other things to worsened national social and economic growth.

(3)Health and social care of elderly population

Intervention to reduce the degree of morbidity/disability and dependence

Efforts to increase social and economic productivity/independence

Program for self-help and self-reliance in an aged population

Preference between aging and aged programs, the difference between the two.

(4)Emerging infectious disease (EID)

The epidemiological, environmental and ecological approach in an integrated manner

The importance of social and behavioral change

Emerging mutation, assortment and genetic change in infectious agents

Impact of global climate change on EID, etc.

Even though it is mainly conceptual, the article may be able to help open new visions in public health research for better and sustainable health in the entire population in various localities.

1 World Health Organization [WHO] . WHO basic document . 47th ed. Geneva : WHO ; 2009 [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44192 .

2 World Health Organization [WHO] . What is health policy and systems research (HPSR)? [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/about/hpsr/en/ .

3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] , Office for state, tribal, local and territorial support . The 10 Essential Public Health Services: An Overview [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/publichealthservices/pdf/essential-phs.pdf .

4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] . Public health 101 series [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/publichealth101/ .

5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] . 24/7 Saving Lives, Protecting People [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://www.cdcfoundation.org/cdc-247-saving-lives-protecting-people# .

6 Memoir on Occasion of the Death Anniversary of Dr. Somboon Vacharothai . Bangkok ; 2014 : 39 - 43 . (On Thailand DEIDS Project) .

7 World Health Organization [WHO] , Regional office for south-east asia [SEARO]. Sasakawa health prize: stories from south-east asia . New Delhi : WHO/SEARO ; 2012 : 125 - 146 [cited 2019 Nov 28]. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/205878/B4905.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y .

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The Importance of Medical Research

Dr. Peace Chikezie

Published 01 Jun 2022 - Updated 17 Mar 2023

Introduction

Every treatment, intervention, medication, way of care, and aftercare in the medical field or health care system came from discoveries. This high quality of care we can experience today was not discovered overnight, but rather through years of effort by medical professionals who investigated the risk factors, causes, preventions, and treatments of diseases. This type of investigation is known as medical/health research. 

The general definition of research is, 'an investigation that is intentionally designed to help develop or contribute to knowledge'. When you add a medical purpose to 'research', the general definition stays the same, but the goal becomes more specific. Ultimately, the goal shifts to a focus on increasing medical knowledge, improving patient care, developing new medicines or procedures, and enhancing the already existing medicines and procedures.

Forms of Medical Research

There are several forms of medical research being conducted today. Here are 3 common forms:

• Basic or Laboratory-based research: This is usually conducted in a laboratory where chemical interactions of biological materials are observed in a controlled environment. For most researchers, this is the first step toward developing methods or products that can be used in other forms of research studies.
• Clinical Trials: This is perhaps the most familiar form of healthcare research. Often, patients volunteer to participate in these studies to test the efficacy and safety of new medical interventions. Alternatively, medical interventions on participants may not be used, but only observation instead.
• Epidemiological Research: An increasingly large portion of health research is now information based. A great deal of research entails the analysis of data and biological samples that were initially collected for diagnostic, treatment, or billing purposes, or that were collected as part of other research projects, and are now being used for new research purposes. This secondary use of data is a common research approach in fields such as epidemiology, health services research, and public health research, and includes analysis of patterns of occurrences, determinants, and natural history of the disease; evaluation of health care interventions and services; drug safety surveillance; and some genetic and social studies

The Importance of Research in Medicine

Why is research important in medicine? The simple answer is that medical research has led to many medical breakthroughs and developments. It would also strongly contribute to shaping the future of medicine.

Here's how:

A. Medical research importance in disease diagnosis:

Medical research has led to the development of diagnostic tools and technologies that allow for earlier and more accurate diagnoses of diseases. 

For instance, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Medical research led to the development of an effective screening method known as mammography which has resulted in earlier detection and a 20% fall in mortality rates. 

Another example is the development of pap smears for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. This as well as caused a significant decrease in late presentation and mortality rates due to cervical cancer.

A host of other effective screening methods have been developed as a result of medical research such as genetic testing, imaging techniques, and so on. 

B. The importance of medical research in innovative treatments

Medical research has led to the development of new treatments for a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, allergies, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, and so on.

Research is essential to find out what treatments work best, and more specifically what treatments work best for what patient. It can provide important information about how effective a medical intervention is and its possible adverse effects. These interventions include drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and others. 

By being specific with participant requirements, medical professionals can study how certain groups of people react to certain treatments . An example of this can be seen here at Infiuss Health. As a CRO in Africa, we at Infiuss Health focus on the demographics of the continent to ensure people of African ancestry receive effective care.

Medical research would lead to newer developments in medicine such as personalized medicine and targeted therapies, that would ensure that each individual would have treatment options unique to them. Increasing research in this area is the only way to make this a reality in the future of medicine.

C. The role of medical research in disease prevention

Medical research has contributed to the prevention of diseases such as polio, smallpox, and measles which caused the deaths of millions of people in the past.

Recently, following the Covid-19 pandemic, medical research led to the development of vaccines that gradually slowed down the progress of the disease. 

D. The importance of medical research in public health

Medical research has contributed to our understanding of public health issues and how to address them.

A typical example was in 1854 when there was an outbreak of cholera in the Golden Square Area in London. An Anaesthesiologist known as John Snow conducted an epidemiological study and found that the source of contamination was a public pump. When the contaminated pump was closed from public access, the outbreak of cholera ended. 

Research provides important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatment or public health interventions, functional abilities, patterns of care, and health care costs and use. 

E. Medical research's importance in improving the economy:

Economists have found that medical research can have an enormous impact on the quality of healthcare which in turn affects human health and longevity.

Healthy individuals tend to be more productive and that contributes greatly to the national economy. If the research enterprise is impeded, or if it is less robust, important societal interests are affected.

Covid-19 vaccine development, for example, contributed to the lifting of the lockdown in many countries and allowed individuals to resume work.

Compared to treatment, current research on disease prevention shows that preventive services are able to significantly reduce deaths and illnesses at reasonable costs. All of these findings have informed and influenced national budget planning and policy decisions.

The simple fact is that clinical research improves our lives. It leads to significant discoveries, improves health care, and ensures that patients receive the best care possible. It is what makes the development of new medicines and treatments possible, without it we would not be able to move forward in the development of medicine.

Infiuss Health, as a CRO in Africa, aims to make it easier to do more clinical trials/ medical research in Africa by use of technology and other means.

When you support, participate in, or conduct medical research, you are helping to continue to build the future of medicine.

Find new health insights

Infiuss Health insights contains inspiring thought leadership on health issues and the future of health data management and new research.

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Operations research in public health

Affiliation.

• 1 Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India. [email protected]
• PMID: 21245584
• DOI: 10.4103/0019-557X.75737

Operations Research (OR) is gaining importance in public health interventions and programmes increasingly both nationally and internationally. The focus of these research techniques is to constantly guide the programme implementation to achieve best results. It modulates inputs and processes involved in the programme cycle and strive to produce optimal gains in achieving targets and goals. Utilizing the vast range of qualitative and quantitative tools, this research has produced significant results worth applying and testing in the real field. It also identifies problems; often programme managers encompass in operations of public health goods and test the feasible solutions for them. This paper highlights the relevance, themes, and methodological approaches in context to OR in public health. Multiple research and training opportunities currently exist locally and globally, to carry out OR for bringing out timely improvements.

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The dairy matrix: its importance, definition, and current application in the context of nutrition and health.

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Share and Cite

Mulet-Cabero, A.-I.; Torres-Gonzalez, M.; Geurts, J.; Rosales, A.; Farhang, B.; Marmonier, C.; Ulleberg, E.K.; Hocking, E.; Neiderer, I.; Gandolfi, I.; et al. The Dairy Matrix: Its Importance, Definition, and Current Application in the Context of Nutrition and Health. Nutrients 2024 , 16 , 2908. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172908

Mulet-Cabero A-I, Torres-Gonzalez M, Geurts J, Rosales A, Farhang B, Marmonier C, Ulleberg EK, Hocking E, Neiderer I, Gandolfi I, et al. The Dairy Matrix: Its Importance, Definition, and Current Application in the Context of Nutrition and Health. Nutrients . 2024; 16(17):2908. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172908

Mulet-Cabero, Ana-Isabel, Moises Torres-Gonzalez, Jan Geurts, Ashley Rosales, Bita Farhang, Corinne Marmonier, Ellen Kathrine Ulleberg, Erica Hocking, Isabelle Neiderer, Ivana Gandolfi, and et al. 2024. "The Dairy Matrix: Its Importance, Definition, and Current Application in the Context of Nutrition and Health" Nutrients 16, no. 17: 2908. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172908

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