Basic biomedical research tries to answer the fundamental biological questions, without a targeted or specific interest in medical application. However, the answers to these fundamental questions have been shown time and again to contribute to the development of medical therapies. This category includes basic disease-oriented research, which tries to understand disease processes from a basic science perspective. The hope is that by understanding these mechanisms, we will be able to design more rational therapies and even develop cures for some diseases.
Clinical research is usually geared toward patient populations, often in terms of therapy. This usually includes a direct clinical application (i.e. testing drug efficacy). This can often have more immediate benefit, but is limited in that it does not address the fundamental biological issues.
Ultimately, we need both types of research to gain a full understanding of the normal and disease biological processes, and to develop good treatments and even prevention.
