Basic science research in pediatric radiology - how to empower the leading edge of our field.

Basic science research aims to explore, understand and predict phenomena in the natural world. It spurs the discovery of fundamentally new principles and leads to new knowledge and new concepts. By comparison, applied research employs basic science knowledge toward practical applications. In the clinical realm, basic science research and applied research should be closely connected. Basic science discoveries can build the foundation for a broad range of practical applications and thereby bring major benefits to human health, education, environment and economy. This article explains how basic science research impacts our field, it describes examples of new research directions in pediatric imaging and it outlines current challenges that we need to overcome in order to enable the next groundbreaking discovery.