The University of Nebraska Medical Center received approval Friday from the University of Nebraska Board of Regent for the UNMC Center for Research in Leukemia and Lymphoma. The center will facilitate a more rapid translation of research discoveries to benefit cancer patients.
The center will physically and administratively bring together basic, translational, and clinical research activities with the goal of providing a comprehensive system of support, collaboration and communication for researchers who study cancers of the blood, said Julie Vose, M.D., professor and chief of the section of hematology/oncology in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Vose will serve as director of the center.
Blood cancers include Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, myelodysplasia, and multiple myeloma.
“The center will bring together researchers, currently many of whom are spread out all over campus,” Dr. Vose said. “It will promote a collaborative environment where researchers can gain a better understanding of cancer and develop improvements in cancer treatment. The center will make it easier for researchers to share ideas, information, solve problems and test hypotheses and this should allow researchers to develop and test innovative practice models and bring discoveries to the patient sooner.”
Resources, start-up funds and ongoing development of core labs will be provided by reallocating existing budgets, Dr. Vose said. The center, which will be located in the Lied Transplant Center, will include laboratories, faculty and staff, and educational and recruitment activities. The center will be co-directed by Wing (John) Chan, M.D., UNMC professor of pathology and microbiology.
The Lied Transplant Center is comprised of physician offices, clinics, research labs, inpatient beds, lodging, a patient resource center and health education center for cancer and solid organ transplant patients and their families.
Researchers will pursue grants from a variety of sources, including private, industry, state, and federal grants, including from the U.S. National Institutes of Health – one of the world’s foremost medical research centers and the federal focal point for health research. Dr. Vose said translational research centers are attractive to grantors because of their focus on collaboration and application of research to patients.
The clinical cancer program at UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center is recognized as one of the most successful centers in the world, and is known particularly for its expertise in leukemias and lymphomas. The cancer team performs more transplants for lymphoma than most institutions around the world.
About half the clinical and basic research grants awarded to UNMC are cancer-related. UNMC’s cancer team has led and participated in scores of studies that have led to better cancer treatments and changes in the way the cancers are treated around the world.
Dr. Vose said the UNMC Center for Research in Leukemia and Lymphoma will further develop UNMC’s current research strengths and look to expand other areas of cutting edge cancer research. Recruitment of at least three new basic and translational researchers also is planned over the next three years.
Additionally, the center will focus on attracting graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and clinical fellows for ongoing research and education.
Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research, said the center will make it easier to take research from the ‘bench to the bedside.’ “It’s an ideal interaction between the clinical and the basic scientists where they stimulate each others’ research. Here, we’re trying to elevate both the clinical care and the basic sciences research in specifically lymphoma research. It’s very focused.”