The Translational Research Center for Medical Innovation, or ‘TRI’, was founded in 2003 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Kobe City. It is the first academic data and statistical analysis center in Japan dedicated solely to transforming basic medical research into useful clinical practices. In order to do this, TRI provides comprehensive support programmes for medical researchers for all phases of clinical study, from research planning to data analysis.