Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Translational research: A case history

Nature volume 453, pages 846–849 (2008)Cite this article

The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research is focused on translating research into cures. Helen Pearson investigates whether its sometimes unusual methods are producing results.

There were two phones on the Baltic island: one in the barn near where Webster Cavenee was seeking seclusion to write up a paper, the other on a village telephone pole. Both were ringing. When Cavenee ignored the first, the villagers brought him messages from the second: a mysterious American was trying to contact him from Brazil, then England, then Australia. He paid them no heed: “Calls from a guy I didn't know, from an organization I didn't know anything about — I thought he was a crank.”

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Divgi, C. et al. Lancet Oncol. 8, 304–310 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Skipper, J., Hoffman, E. W., O'Donnell-Tormey, J. & Old, L. J. Nature Med. 10, 1154–1155 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Helen Pearson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

See Editorial, page 823, and online at http://tinyurl.com/3tt3y3.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Translational research special

Related external links

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pearson, H. Translational research: A case history. Nature 453, 846–849 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453846a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/453846a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing