Fields of Biomedical Research
Biomedical research is typically broken into several fields, while biomedical researchers are most often specialized in one field alone. Many fields of biomedical research intersect with one another which is why the research itself is usually carried out by a research team consisting of several scientists rather than one scientist alone.
Public health is one of the main objectives of biomedical research. It is a broad term which encompasses just about everything that could have an effect on public health and is typically subdivided into epidemiology, preventive medicine and behavioural health. Epidemiology refers to a study of health of a wider population rather than of an individual, while its main objectives are identification of causes of diseases, spread of diseases and disease control. Like its name suggests, preventive medicine focuses on prevention of diseases by promotion of healthy lifestyle and other measures that help reduce the risk of diseases. Examples include promotion of influenza vaccines, antimalarials before travelling to a malaria-endemic region, use of condoms, etc. Researchers in the field of behavioural health focus on mental and behavioural disorders, their causes, prevention and treatment as well as promotion of awareness and more open discussion.
Due to the increasing incidence of cancer, biomedical research that works in the field of oncology is getting a lot of attention in the recent years. Unfortunately, the scientists still have not managed to find a cure for all types of cancer nor determine what makes the healthy cells to turn into cancerous. However, significant advances have been made in the field of early detection, screening as well as treatment options and follow up care.
Microbiology is one of the most important fields of biomedical research because micro-organisms are not only one of the main causes of diseases in humans but are often also contagious. This makes development of effective treatments and preventive measures of vital importance for both public health and health of an individual. This field of biomedical research is typically subdivided into bacteriology (researching bacteria), virology (researching viruses), parasitology (researching parasites) and mycology (researching fungi). All study the characteristics of micro-organisms, the diseases they cause, treatment of diseases they cause and their potential use for treatments.
Biomedical researchers who work in the field of cellular biology study cells, their structure, properties, life cycle, etc. Since knowledge of the cell function is of fundamental importance to all fields of biomedical research, in the first place oncology, molecular biology (studying molecular structure, function and interaction including DNA and RNA), genetics, immunology and biochemistry, cellular biologists are indispensable to the biomedical research centres.
Pharmacology is also one of the main fields of biomedical research. Like its name suggests, it researches everything that has to do with pharmaceuticals. This field of biomedical research studies composition of the drugs, their properties, toxicology, interaction with other drugs, medical applications and potential side effects.
There are a number of other fields of biomedical research such as neuroscience and endocrinology (dealing with the diseases of endocrine system and the hormones it secrets, for example diabetes and thyroid gland disease) but like most of the above mentioned fields, they require an interdisciplinary approach.