‘Translational research’ encompasses all activities that apply basic scientific research findings to clinical practice. Although it has taken almost 20 years since the first scientific discoveries, the approval of new ‘drugs’ such as Herceptin and Avastin represents a successful example. There has also been successful translation of science into the clinic in the field of otolaryngology.

In the last decade, we have seen major developments in molecular biology and genetics. Two notable achievements have been the completion of the human genome project and the parallel advances in high-throughput molecular genomic and proteomic technologies. Linked with these events has been the enormous accumulation of new data which offers the promise of important future clinical applications.

This review aims to discuss these major scientific developments, to demonstrate successes in thyroid translational research, and to summarise more recent research findings in thyroid disease which provide hope for the development of future clinical tools.