In support of this argument, we describe data from our survey of doctoral students in the basic biomedical sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
'Basic biomedical science will [continue to] churn out candidate biomarkers with tantalizing potential to improve [drug development], whereas methods to use them effectively…will evolve more slowly.
This is but one example.Counter to more traditional arguments that basic biomedical science is best left to blue skies thinking among researchers, it may be that a more strategic focus on final impact and outcomes could improve the quality of the science base in some fields.
Our active recruiting efforts have led to a rise in the number of applications to the basic biomedical sciences and to the UPGG program in particular.
It was important to observe basic biomedical science lectures which were likely to be rich in narratives or stories, as those were the focus of the observations.
Despite remarkable advances in basic biomedical science that have led to improved patient care, there is a wide and persistent gap in the abilities of researchers and clinicians to understand and appreciate each other.
The foregoing discussion of competencies for eco-health literacy provides some support for the view, expressed in the eco-health medical education literature more generally, that 'ecological concepts, principles and models can be used to facilitate learning of basic biomedical sciences, and to provide an additional analytical dimension useful in diagnosis and treatment'.
To best understand the needs of basic biomedical science trainees, many of whom are trained in institutions similar to UCSF, we need to pursue cross-institutional studies specific to students within this field and within the research-intensive context of health science campuses.
I would therefore recommend to my fellow cell biologists and newly minted Nobel Laureate, Dr Schekman – for whom I have the greatest respect – that we first focus energies on securing sufficient funding to keep basic biomedical science afloat.
