Collaboration Between Publicly Funded Research Institutions and Hospitals: A Case Study of Translational Research in the Field of Cell Therapy

Since National and public research and development institutions, including those that are set up under the Act on General Rules for Independent Administrative Agency, are funded by taxation, they are in-creasingly required to contribute research outcomes to society. Society’s needs for research outcomes are high in medicine, and in this case, publicly funded research institutions need to collaborate with hospitals in conducting research. This article analyzes collaboration between publicly funded research institutions and hospitals using two clinical cases in the area of cell therapy research, which is at the translational re-search stage. The analysis shows that factors that have probably promoted collaboration between publicly funded research institutions and hospitals include: (a) the cutting-edge nature of the research theme, which cannot be pursued by hospitals only, (b) the existence of a locally focused policy framework for institutional collaboration, and (c) the existence of core researchers and their migration between institutions. In addition, it is necessary to amend the law and system for streamlining the process of medical research and clinical trials in order to realize medical treatment based on outcome of translational research.