This short article rehearses the case that Victoria and Australia should find ways to invest in funded time for “Research Translators”.
These are skilled front-line clinical care staff who conduct and champion the translation of health and medical research to achieve better healthcare, reduced care costs and economic growth through successful commercialisation (see Figure). By contrast with competing health economies overseas, such as the UK, USA and Singapore, Australia has yet to invest at scale in such staff.
Indeed, because of internationally-leading strengths in other parts of the research and translation pathway, Research Translators seem to be a “missing link” in Australia