Penn Creates Three New Biomedical Institutes
September / October 2005
Harnessing more than $100 million in research funding
to create a new template for research, education and patient
care
The University of Pennsylvania has established three new
biomedical institutes aimed at integrating research, clinical,
and educational missions in a new model of care that cuts
across traditional academic disciplinary and departmental
lines. The new entities are the Penn Cardiovascular
Institute;
the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism;
and the Institute for Translational Medicine
and Therapeutics.
Development of the institutes progresses directly from the
Strategic Plan for Penn Medicine, which highlights the need
for cross-collaboration among departments and schools, enhanced
teamwork, and the extension of professional relationships—all
with the purpose of improving the public's health.
Penn Cardiovascular Institute
Cardiovascular disease
remains the number one killer of patients in the U.S. and
approximately 60.8 million Americans have one or more forms
of cardiovascular disease. The Penn Cardiovascular Institute
will support multi-disciplinary initiatives in the areas
of heart failure and transplantation/myocyte biology, atherosclerosis/acute
coronary syndromes, cardiac electrophysiology/channel biology,
congenital heart disease/cardiovascular development, diabetic/metabolic
cardiovascular disease, and molecular diagnostics and imaging.
It will also initiate a state-of-the-art Outpatient Cardiovascular
Center in the new Center for Advanced Medicine in 2008.
“Our mission is to promote patient-oriented cardiovascular
research across schools, departments, and centers at Penn,” says
Michael
S. Parmacek, MD, Herbert C. Rorer Professor of Medicine
and chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, and
director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute. “Another
goal of the center is to optimize communication with referring
physicians. We are upgrading our information technology systems,
alleviating the shortage of beds, and have moved to a system
in which patient transfers go directly from attending physician
to attending physician.”
Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism
The
aim of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism
will be to understand the genetic, biochemical, molecular,
environmental, and behavioral origins of diabetes, obesity,
and other metabolic diseases and reduce their incidence and
severity. Approximately 18 million people in the U.S. have
diabetes and 58 million people are obese. The Institute will
provide technical and administrative support and resources
for clinical research and care on behalf of patients with
these afflictions—from epidemiological studies to behavioral
manipulations to trials of promising new medications and
therapies.
“The Institute will allow us more than ever to offer
patients the most sophisticated treatment for both Type 1
and Type 2 diabetes and to improve research that will, hopefully,
include novel understanding and approaches to obesity, the
cardiovascular complications of obesity, and diabetes,” says
Mitchell
A. Lazar, MD, PhD, Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine
and Genetics, and chief of the Division of Endocrinology,
Diabetes and Metabolism and director of the Institute for
Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism.
Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
The mission
of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
will be to increase the quantity and quality of translational
research at Penn: the application of ideas, insights, and
discoveries generated through basic scientific inquiry to
the treatment or prevention of human disease. In support
of this undertaking, the Institute will train current professionals
and students, as well as recruit faculty with translational-research
proficiency.
Examples of work that will be pursued at the
Institute include a focus on strategies to individualize
the safety and efficacy of medicines, the integration of
genomic, proteomic and lipidomic approaches to discover
novel anti-inflammatory drugs; and original approaches to
targeting drug delivery to specific sites of disease. The
Institute will identify and develop core functions to facilitate
translational research and contribute to the evolution of
a new scientific discipline which will harness the currently
disparate skills relevant to moving from proof of concept
in model systems through to an understanding of drug action
in humans and a rational selection of dosage.
“Translating discoveries in basic science to new
drugs for humans can be a long and difficult process. Our
goal is facilitate this connection. We plan to collaborate
with other academic institutions and industry in our region
to harmonize the way we approach translational research and
develop common standards. This is a unique opportunity in
Philadelphia, because of the large representation of pharmaceutical
companies in this region,” says Garret A. Fitzgerald,
MD, Robinette Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Elmer
Bobst Professor of Pharmacology, and director of the Institute
for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics.
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Referring Physicians: To speak with a Penn physician
or refer a patient, contact PennHealth through the secure online
referral form or by calling
1-800-789-PENN
(7366). |
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