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TEMPLE, FOX CHASE AND GEISINGER CREATE KEYSTONE INSTITUTE FOR TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

The School of Medicine's Alan Maurer, M.D., and Linda Knight, Ph.D., study radio-labelled disintegrins, derived from snake venom, in humans. (Photo by Ryan Brandenberg, Temple University Photography)

The School of Medicine's Alan Maurer, MD, and Linda Knight, PhD, study radio-labelled disintegrins, derived from snake venom, in humans. (Photo by Ryan Brandenberg, Temple University Photography)  Read story>>

 

Three Pennsylvania leaders in medical research and health care have joined forces to conduct translational research focused on the most pressing concerns of its collective patient populations.

 

The Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine (KITM) based at Temple University, brings together Fox Chase Cancer Center, Geisinger Health System and Temple University School of Medicine to speed the transformation of basic science discoveries into better patient care.

 

The Institute will focus its investigations on the genetic and social causes of disease that disproportionately affect urban and rural Pennsylvanians, primarily lung disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and specific cancers. 

 

Together, the institutions serve among the most diverse patient populations in the country, creating a unique opportunity to contribute significantly to translational research discoveries.

 

“We are proud to be partnering with Fox Chase Cancer Center and Geisinger Health System, who will play key roles in the Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine at Temple University,” said Ann Weaver Hart, Temple University president.  “KITM demonstrates Temple’s commitment to developing a robust infrastructure that enables world-class multidisciplinary research, innovative educational opportunities for our medical residents and PhD students, and expansion of our community service initiatives.”

 

The Keystone Institute boasts world-class expertise in behavioral health, social psychology, social networking, information technology, medical informatics, health services research, and health outcomes research.

 

"These collective intellectual assets will allow us to translate discoveries to clinical practice in our areas of research strength that include autoimmune diseases, pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular disease and thrombosis, obesity, cancer, and drugs of abuse,” said Richard Coico, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Research at the School of Medicine and KITM program director.

 

“The establishment of the Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine is a natural evolution of our growing alliances with Fox Chase Cancer Center and Geisinger Health System,” said John M. Daly, MD, Dean of Temple University School of Medicine.

 

“Members of these preeminent institutions have been working diligently with faculty at our School of Medicine and other Temple schools and colleges in creating new and emerging educational and research initiatives including mechanisms to support pilot projects in translational research,” said Daly. 

 

“KITM will be the academic home for our scientists, academic physician scientists, and students,” added Daly.  “Given its supportive infrastructure, they will all have access to cutting-edge medical informatics tools, bioresources, and innovative educational opportunities to enable them to move discoveries from bench to bedside and ultimately to our communities.”

 

“We are excited to participate in The Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine,” said J. Robert Beck, MD, Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer.  “Fox Chase Cancer Center has strong traditions in basic biomedical research, population science, and clinical trials in oncology.  The Institute offers an opportunity to bridge these areas with outstanding partners to complete the cycle of bench-to-bedside-to-bench in many areas of medicine and among the diverse populations we all serve.”

 

A special feature of the Institute is its virtual nature, which will enhance the collaboration through a social network, much like Facebook, thereby erasing the physical boundaries that separate Temple and Fox Chase researchers in Philadelphia and those at Geisinger Health System in Danville.

 

The three institutions are jointly pursuing a place within the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium, a network of medical research institutions across the nation.

 

In 2006, Temple was awarded the National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Planning Grant, which helps prepare institutions to become full-fledged CTSAs. Support from this grant has led to the Master’s Program in Clinical Research and Translational Sciences, as well as the training and education of faculty in translational science research.

 

To strengthen its achievements, an overarching goal of the Keystone Institute will be to make patient participation in research more a routine part of health care and treatment. One such project already underway in urban Philadelphia and rural Danville is investigating the power of churches as a base for weight loss support groups.

 

“This collaboration allows us to move beyond standard clinical and research practices to play a large role in moving knowledge from the bench to the bedside,” said Glenn D. Steele, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Geisinger Health System. “The synergy is expected to lead to major new therapies that can be safely and efficiently delivered to a broader healthcare market.”     


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August 12, 2008

 

Contacts:

Eryn Jelesiewicz, 215-707-0730

dobeck@temple.edu

 

Patricia Urosevich, 570-271-7441

purosevich@geisinger.edu

 

Franklin Hoke, 215-728-2700

franklin.hoke@fccc.edu

 

Turning a Lab Discovery into a Lifesaver

If Linda Knight’s hypothesis proved correct, thousands of people disabled or killed by blood clots each year could be saved by snake venom. But first she needed to see if her discovery worked in humans.

 

Translating research discoveries like Knight’s quickly from the lab to patients is what the Keystone Institute for Translational Medicine is all about.

 

For Knight, it all started 31 years ago, when she came to Temple University School of Medicine to conduct research on how to detect blood clots using imaging techniques.   Knight, Professor of Radiology and Research Associate Professor in the Sol Sherry Thrombosis Research Center, has a PhD in radiopharmaceutical chemistry and specializes in designing ways to track biologic elements like proteins and cells using noninvasive imaging.

 

In the late 1980s, researchers in the laboratory of Dr. Stefan Niewiarowski (now deceased) in the Sol Sherry Thrombosis Research Center at the School of Medicine were the first to discover that many snake venoms contain proteins known as disintegrins which attach to blood platelets.  Platelets are part of the blood and responsible for hemostasis, or stopping of bleeding, by sticking together to form a plug.  Helpful when sealing off a cut and stopping bleeding, platelets turn harmful when they form a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel

 

Knight figured out a way to use a disintegrin as a tracking device for blood clots that would alert clinicians to a potentially dangerous blockage. By adding a radioactive tag to the disintegrin, she could then spot it, and the clots it attached to, on imaging tests.

 

The first step was laboratory research to show that the venom had potential. Over a three-year period, Knight and her research team studied purified disintegrins from eight different kinds of snake venoms, eventually narrowing it down to the one that worked best.

 

The second step took much longer, 10 years, and focused on how to purify and modify the snake venom disintegrin into an imaging agent that would be safe and convenient for use, paving the way to study the technique in humans.  The team also figured out a way to create synthetic disintegrin so that they could produce larger quantities.

 

As soon as the venom project appeared to hold promise as the basis for an eventual imaging test for humans, Knight teamed with Alan Maurer, MD, Chief of Nuclear Medicine, to provide a physician's input on the need for such a test, how it might be used clinically, and more recently, to conduct human trials.

 

"In order for basic laboratory discoveries to reach the clinic, it is essential for laboratory scientists to work together with physicians who are interested in taking the idea forward into the clinic for patients, and who are willing and able to devote the time to research,” said Knight. “It has to be a team effort."

 

A phase I study, successfully replicating the results of the lab work and focusing on safety in human subjects, has been completed. A phase II study, which will focus on demonstrating that this technique can detect blood clots in humans, will begin soon.