With the increasing sophistication of diagnostic processes and expanding knowledge about association between biomolecules, genomics and acute disease, interest in biomarkers is at an all time high. Although there are many research studies into validating and understanding the prognostic and diagnostic value of biomarkers, this remains a relatively young field in terms of actual translation to the clinic. This thematic series covers recent advances in the clinical applications of biomarkers across a range of medically-relevant topics, demonstrating that biomarkers for acute illness are moving into the mainstream clinic but also highlighting the work that still lies ahead to make them more clinically useful.