At the 200-year mark, some institutions would be content to rest on their laurels. But not Indiana University. As their bicentennial celebrations nears, the Hoosiers have dedicated themselves to a tackling what they are calling Grand Challenges, a suite of economic, social and environmental problems plaguing Indiana and the world. These challenges are marked by their impressive scale, immense impact, driven commitment to solutions, and a spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration.
One of the Grand Challenges is the Precision Health Initiative, which aims to match patients more closely and carefully with treatments that meet their individual needs. According to Anatha Shekhar, the executive associate dean of research affairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine, the initiative derives that precision by taking a decidedly holistic look at a patient's health.
"What we're trying to do here is to have a comprehensive approach to understanding a person's health, taking into account their genetics, their environment, their behavior, their culture, and to understand the diseases that are caused by these factors," Shekar explains. "We're particularly focusing on five major serious illnesses that currently have no good treatments and that are uniformly lethal or disabling."
Those five diseases include three types of cancer: triple-negative breast cancer, multiple myeloma, and pediatric sarcoma. They're also targeting diabetes, in particular gestational diabetes affecting pregnant women, as well as Alzheimer's disease.
The Precision Health Initiative was the first project to receive Grand Challenges funding. A truly transformative undertaking, Indiana is pulling together researchers and physicians from across the university ecosystem to create new approaches to prevention, treatment and health care delivery.
"The Precision Health Initiative is trying to just marshal the great resources we have here, all the scientific minds, all the technology, to attack big, bold problems," says Aaron Carroll, professor of pediatrics and associate dean for research mentoring at the IU School of Medicine.
The project is funneling $120 million into six different major scientific pillars: Genomic Medicine; Cell, Gene & Immune Therapy; Regenerative Medicine & Engineering; Psychosocial, Behavioral & Ethics; Data & Informatics; and Chemical Biology & Biotherapeutics.
Carroll likens it all to a moonshot. Where research is normally understood to move slowly, taking tiny steps towards a solution, Indiana seeks great strides founded in unfettered access to both real and mental capital. And, as the only medical school in the state, as well as a regional and national research leader, their charge is an imperative. "It's certainly very Hoosier. I think the idea that we're going to take our local expertise and really try to band together and cross boundaries to try to make a big difference, it's, it's very Indiana," Carroll says.
Clinically speaking, the Precision Health Initiative is not just seeking to draw down instances of the maladies their targeting. Rather, they seek wholesale cures for the cancers, and robust, workable preventative measures for diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
Their patient-focused approach is already being taught to physicians-in-training at the IU School of Medicine. The importance of factors such as genetic and family medical history, sleep and eating habits, exercise levels and overall mental health is emphasized alongside traditional testing in making a diagnosis.
In the lab, Indiana researchers are matching that holistic approach to patient health with an equally vibrant understanding of how diseases operate. They're working towards a more-perfect model of exactly how cancers evolve and how they become resistant to certain treatments. Concurrently, pharmaceutical scientists are making gains in drug discovery for the treatment of Alzheimer's.
Shekhar says that the feeling among the Precision Health Initiative team is that the work being done now is serving as inspiration for others to "think big and to go for the fences rather than do incremental work."
There are, though, factors limiting the speed at which the team can make new discoveries. Key among them is the need for an expansion in data analysis and management as well as advances need in AI to help researchers make sense of extremely large data sets.
One such set derives from the All In project, which is under the Precision Health Initiative umbrella. Researchers are asking people from across the state and all walks of life to share with them a blood sample as well as specific, yet anonymous health data. This will aid immensely in their understanding of how and why diseases flourish and progress in various populations.
That particular project is indicative of the larger initiative, says Shekhar, echoing Carroll's sentiment that Indiana is uniquely positioned to helm such an audacious undertaking.
"I think Indiana is unique in that first of all, we have the largest medical school in the country, that is a state wide medical school with nine campuses," he says. "We have the largest health system in the state. We serve about two million people every year for their health needs. So, we have gone all the way from engaging large scientific teams, recruiting nearly 50 new scientists to Indiana University to work on this, to engaging nearly hundred thousand people from the community. It's an initiative that couldn't happen in very many places except in Indiana."
Go here to see the original:
Inside Indiana's Precision Health Initiative: BTN LiveBIG - Big Ten Network
- Stem cells for a Webby! [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2010]
- Stem cells for a Webby! [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2010]
- Latest Cell Therapy Approval by FDA. Dendreon's Provenge. [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2010]
- Latest Cell Therapy Approval by FDA. Dendreon's Provenge. [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2010] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2010]
- Google to Invest in Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: May 5th, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 5th, 2010]
- Biotech tax credit appears perfectly designed for cell therapy companies to recoup research dollars spent in 2009-10 [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2010] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2010]
- The changing face of PR and why it matters to regenmed [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2010]
- The changing face of PR and why it matters to regenmed [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2010]
- FDA files injunction again Regenerative Sciences citing Regenexx violates regulations [Last Updated On: August 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: August 12th, 2010]
- FDA files injunction again Regenerative Sciences citing Regenexx violates regulations [Last Updated On: August 12th, 2010] [Originally Added On: August 12th, 2010]
- Careers in cell therapy & regenerative medicine [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2010]
- Careers in cell therapy & regenerative medicine [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2010]
- The LinkedIn Cell Therapy Industry Group - 1,000 members strong [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2011]
- Cell Therapies: Commercializing a New Class of Biopharmaceuticals [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2011]
- The LinkedIn Cell Therapy Industry Group - 1,000 members strong [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2011]
- Cell Therapies: Commercializing a New Class of Biopharmaceuticals [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2011]
- Hydra VII - The European Summer School on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: April 6th, 2011] [Originally Added On: April 6th, 2011]
- Alan Russell: Why can't we grow new body parts? [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Preserving Stem Cells: Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2011]
- Disease in a Dish: Using Stem Cells to Model Huntington's Disease and Spinal Muscular Atrophy [Last Updated On: June 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 8th, 2011]
- Spotlight on Cancer Stem Cell Research [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2011]
- In vivo cell trafficking just took a leap forward [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2011]
- In vivo cell trafficking just took a leap forward [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2011]
- A Dose of Reality on Alternative Stem Cell Treatments: What you don't know can hurt you [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2011]
- Cell Therapy's Got Talent Technology Showcase - A Call for Cell Therapy Manufacturing Technology Presentations [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2011]
- Cell Therapy's Got Talent Technology Showcase - A Call for Cell Therapy Manufacturing Technology Presentations [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2011]
- Opening Remarks, Screening Stem Cells 2009: From Reprogramming to Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: July 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 22nd, 2011]
- Clinical trial costs [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2011]
- Clinical trial costs [Last Updated On: July 31st, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 31st, 2011]
- A New Era in Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2011]
- Good Data? $100. Good Product Development? $100. Good Commercialization Strategy? Priceless. [Last Updated On: August 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 14th, 2011]
- Good Data? $100. Good Product Development? $100. Good Commercialization Strategy? Priceless. [Last Updated On: August 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 14th, 2011]
- You and Your Heath TV Show - Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine Part 1 [Last Updated On: August 16th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 16th, 2011]
- The Future of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine [Last Updated On: August 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 19th, 2011]
- Potential far-reaching implications of the ongoing fight over point-of-care autologous cell therapy [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2011]
- Commercial-stage Cell Therapy Companies and Products [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2011]
- Potential far-reaching implications of the ongoing fight over point-of-care autologous cell therapy [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2011]
- Commercial-stage Cell Therapy Companies and Products [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2011]
- Cell Therapy & Regenerative Medicine Domains Available [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2011]
- Cell Therapy & Regenerative Medicine Domains Available [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2011]
- Laurel Barchas: The World Stem Cell Summit brings people together to find therapies [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2011]
- Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: October 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 13th, 2011]
- Commercializing Cell-based Regenerative Medicines [Last Updated On: November 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 13th, 2011]
- Commercializing Cell-based Regenerative Medicines [Last Updated On: November 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 13th, 2011]
- C2CAM - 2011.11.15 - Regenerative Medicine - Dulce Base - Video [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2011]
- Dr. Craig Saunders Discusses Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the Evolution of Fat Workshop - Video [Last Updated On: November 25th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 25th, 2011]
- Sabrina Cohen Foundation Thanks Stem Cell Researchers [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2011]
- Sabrina Cohen Foundation Thanks Stem Cell Researchers [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2011]
- Medical tourism in Croatia - Regenerative medicine-Stem cells in reconstructive surgery - Video [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2011]
- "You and Your Health" TV Show - Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2011]
- Dr. Craig Saunders Discusses Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the Evolution of Fat Workshop - Video [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2011]
- The Future of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2011]
- A New Era in Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2011]
- What is Regenerative Medicine? | Los Angeles | Hollywood | Beverly Hills - Video [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2011]
- You and Your Heath TV Show - Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine Part 1 - Video [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2011]
- Dr Farshchian: Regenerative Medicine shows Potentials - Video [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2011]
- An amazing story of stem cells, regenerative medicine and healing power: - Video [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2011]
- TEDxPhoenix - Jane Maienschein - Stem Cells, Regenerative Medicine and Us - Video [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2011]
- Retroviruses, Reproduction, and Regenerative Medicine: The Influence of Federal Funding - Video [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2011]
- McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2011]
- Mayo Clinic Regenerative Medicine Consult Service - Video [Last Updated On: December 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 3rd, 2011]
- 4th International Symposium on Regenerative Medicine, Tissue and Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2011]
- StemCellTV Talks to Elona Baum of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: December 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 10th, 2011]
- StemCellTV Talks to Morrie Ruffin of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine at Meeting on the Mesa - Video [Last Updated On: December 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 10th, 2011]
- StemCellTV Talks to Elona Baum of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine - Video [Last Updated On: December 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 10th, 2011]
- StemCellTV Talks to Morrie Ruffin of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine at Meeting on the Mesa - Video [Last Updated On: December 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 10th, 2011]
- Active phase III or II/III cell therapy trials [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2011]
- Active phase III or II/III cell therapy trials [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2011]
- 2011 Summit: Harnessing Regenerative Medicine for US Service-members, Major General James K. Gilman - Video [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2011]
- Inactive and recently failed or terminated phase III or II/III cell therapy trials [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2011]
- Recently approved cell therapy products [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2011]
- Recently approved cell therapy products [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2011]
- Inactive and recently failed or terminated phase III or II/III cell therapy trials [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2011]
- Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Heart Failure: Eduardo Marban - CIRM Spotlight on Disease - Video [Last Updated On: December 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 22nd, 2011]
- Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Heart Failure: Eduardo Marban - CIRM Spotlight on Disease - Video [Last Updated On: December 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 22nd, 2011]
- Coast To Coast AM: 15.11.2011 - Regenerative Medicine/ Dulce Base - Video [Last Updated On: December 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 24th, 2011]
- Coast To Coast AM: 15.11.2011 - Regenerative Medicine/ Dulce Base - Video [Last Updated On: December 25th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 25th, 2011]
- 2011 EMA Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) classification record. What can be learned? [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2012]
- 2011 EMA Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) classification record. What can be learned? [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2012]
- ACT Announces Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland as Additional Site for Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial Using hESC-Derived ... [Last Updated On: January 31st, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 31st, 2012]