Thornton went on to commend “the level of collaboration that’s happen-ing in the biosciences on both sides of the border, but also between industry and academia.”
“That level of collaboration is key to bioscience growth in this region,” he said. “I think it is happening increasingly and that will benefit this region dramatically.”
Jim Spigarelli, President and CEO of the Midwest Research Institute, provided a little background. Ten years ago, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City asked itself whether this region could become a force in life sciences. The conclusion was that this area already had existing islands of excellence. If industry leaders have a good strategic approach to collaboration and substantive resources, such aspirations were within reach.
“I think we have made progress. I think we need to continue to work at (collaborating and seeking resources),” he said.
Linda Cook, MRI’s vice president of communications, addressed a challenge not only in collaborating, but also in creating “a collective cohesive message” and then communicating it to the world.
Duncan agreed that regional collaboration is not always easy, but is essential. It is in that spirit that Ingram’s facilitates this and other Industry Outlook Assemblies.
The Affiliation Agreement
Recently, Saint Luke’s Health System agreed to align its cancer research efforts with other major research institutions including the University of Kansas Medical Center. The move followed a separate,10-year education and research affiliation signed by Saint Luke’s and KU Medical Center last year. Duncan queried the group as to the ramifications and challenges implicit in such an affiliation.
The task at hand is to bring a National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center to this region. That’s according to Roy Jensen, director of the Cancer Center at the University of Kansas. Although not easily accomplished, he believes that the move by Saint Luke’s may represent the first step towards the realization of that vision. “We are very excited about that,” said Jensen.
“Children’s Mercy is very excitedabout working on this with KU,” said Robin Rusconi, director of medical research administration at Children’s Mercy Hospital. With about 170 newcancer diagnoses every year, the hospital is keen on strengthening its cancer treatment program.
The hospital plans on adding about 100 new physicians over the next three years with a goal of enhancing its ability to do translational research, not just in cancer care but across the board.
Translational Research
Betty Drees, dean of UMKC’s School of Medicine, sees real opportunity in the development of an overall, comprehensive cancer center. She observed that multiple area institutions might be able tobuild a physician capacity in “translational research,” meaning the capacity to translate basic research into patient care. “This may be a particularly special opportunity to develop the overall physician work force around a focal point,” added Drees. Nick Franano, founder and chief scientific officer of Proteon Therapeutics, described the push-pull nature of successful translational research. “Push” occurs when scientist discovers a new molecule and figures out what to do with it. “Pull” occurs when a physician identifies a patient problem and engages the research community in a solution. “I think we do very good push research in this region,” said Franano. “We don’t do as good a job of pull research.” Ron Trewyn, vice president for research at Kansas State University, had aunique perspective on the issue, having also spent 16 years as a member of a comprehensive cancer center. “It was the collaborations with the clinicians that I really found were the most rewarding,” said Trewyn. Although challenging as well, these collaborations “pushed the frontiers a lot faster.”