A solutions-focused translational research framework for wildlife health

Wildlife health is of emerging relevance for conservation, human health, and domestic animal health. Increased research on wildlife health problems has not been accompanied by a relative increase in effective solutions. Translational research was developed in human health to overcome blocks impeding the development of solutions out of basic research, and a translational research framework is proposed to overcome the same barriers in wildlife health. This framework has four translational phases: problem definition, potential solution development, efficacious solution development, and effective solution development. Implementation of translational research will require a restructuring of the wildlife health research enterprise with a shift, supported by funding sources and journals, to solutions-focused research including later translational phases, the creation of more deeply integrated multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams incorporating better representation from human social sciences, and the inclusion of end user and stakeholder participation in all phases of research.