What does CMB mean in MEDICAL

The Comparative Medicine Branch (CMB) is a research unit of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. CMB develops, deploys and evaluates innovative strategies to optimize preclinical research in order to better translational outcomes. CMB works with both researchers and clinicians to ensure new treatments are optimally designed and tested.

The CMB strives to bridge the gap between basic laboratory research and clinical trials by developing and deploying new ways to test potential new treatments. This effort is designed to help researchers gain a deeper understanding of how therapies may work in humans before they are tested in clinical trials..

The CMB researches a broad range of diseases across various disciplines such as cancer, chronic pain, neurological conditions, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and more. It strives to integrate knowledge from multiple fields into its studies in order to best understand complex pathologies.

The CMB provides resources such as tools for designing improved preclinical models, protocols for ethical animal use, educational programs for trainees on responsible animal care practices, access to expertise related to testing novel therapies, and innovative approaches that can speed drug development while reducing costly trial errors.

Animal welfare is central to the practice of ethical scientific inquiry at the NIH-CMB and all protocols must adhere strictly to strict ethical standards for responsible animal use. In order implement humane practices that meet these regulations, highly trained professionals continuously monitor animals’ health and well-being throughout any experiment or trial conducted at the facility.