Proteomics

Jim Spigarelli posed the question of how the life science community might "take advantage of the new opportunities with proteonomics?"

As the group learned, one of the first spawn of the KCALSI was an entity known as the Kansas City Proteomics Consortium. The original proposal, a five-year plan, envisioned the creation of an infrastructure that would make Kansas City competitive in this emerging field.

"Where do we stand?" asked Bill Duncan. He then candidly laid out the results to date. Of the $20 million dollars needed for new facilities, $13 million was invested. Of the $30 million needed for new people, "Maybe it’s zero." Pulling back, Duncan acknowledged that recruitment was better than zero but not much. The bottom line: it’s easier to get money for new facilities than new people. Still, Duncan added, "we are making progress." Kansas City may have missed genomics, but "It is not our intention to miss proteomics."

Translational Research

Saint Luke’s and Price Water-house completed an extensive strategic plan to help determine the future of the Mid America Heart Institute. The result was that there would be no further basic research and that the Institute and the Hospital would focus instead on becoming "a center for translation."

This plays to Saint Luke’s strength—a patient population, a vast data base developed over time, and excellent personnel. Their goal is to be the principal investigator in top echelon national trials.

The Mid America Heart Institute already has strong national collaborations with the best of the nation’s research centers. What it does not have are, from Ben McAllister’s perspective, "the strong ties that we’d like here." McAllister is confident, however, that Kansas City will one day have quality basic science work "from the lab to the bedside and back again" and is currently developing relations with MRI and UMKC to accomplish just that.

Tom Krol of Cydex suggested that one area in which pharmaceutical company could find common cause with an organization like the Mid America Heart Institute is in researching the day to day needs of patients and physicians and developing devices or drugs to fill existing niches.

The NIH is beginning to think about changing the face of how clinical research is done, Bill Duncan suggested. One way is by establishing translational research centers around the country. "Maybe we might want to zero in and see how we might address one of these possible centers," said Duncan.

At KU, the emphasis is on cancer. As Tom Noffsinger observed, the chancellor has identified cancer as the number one priority for the two campuses. The weakness now is KU’s clinical research program. Clinical care is important, Noffsinger offered, but the key to becoming a national comprehensive cancer center is research.

Bill Duncan asked what the odds were of KU being named a comprehensive care center in the near future. Noffsinger suggested 75% although he cautioned that he was not the person to ask. When asked about the ramifications of such a designation, Duncan and Noffsinger both agree that they were "huge."

Jim Spigarelli summed up the several ideas that came out of the session. One was the possibility of taking advantage of the area’s strong veterinary schools in treating animal to human diseases, especially in a bio-terrorist environment. A second was the creation of translational centers of excellence like the Mid America Heart Institute. A third was the potential for a comprehensive cancer center at KU.

"It all comes back to a fourth thing," Ben McAllister offered, "And that’s people."