April 22, 2010
U. of I., Carle
Announce Strategic Research Alliance
Agreement will enable advances in biomedical
research, education, and clinical care
URBANA, IL- The
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carle have formed a biomedical
research alliance to foster medical discoveries, improve student educational
opportunities, enhance access to clinical and translational research trials for
patients in downstate Illinois, encourage the recruitment of specialty
physicians, and provide an environment that supports collaboration.
The research agreement,
announced Thursday, means that Illinois and Carle researchers will share space
in the new Biomedical Research Center at the Mills Breast Cancer Institute in
Urbana, working jointly to address four main research areas: cancer,
cardiology, neurosciences and gastrointestinal health.
"This is a historical
agreement that represents the further commitment of the university to support
our vibrant, healthy community," said Lawrence Schook, the director of the U.
of I. Division of Biomedical Sciences. "Our goal is to stimulate research
collaborations among scientists and clinicians, work that we hope will
ultimately provide real societal benefit."
Carle Foundation President
and CEO James C. Leonard, M.D, said: "Officially partnering with the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a research affiliate is a critical factor in
our mission to support research that sparks ideas and investigations,
ultimately leading to new medical discoveries. We want patients and their families from Central and
Southern Illinois to have access to the newest and most progressive treatments
and therapies in medical care, close to home."
The Biomedical Research
Center at Carle will provide an exceptional environment to advance
collaborative research among medical and scientific professionals. This
agreement provides the necessary organizational structure to achieve this,
Leonard said.
Negotiations to create
the alliance have been going on for a year, as part of the university's
strategic plan. "Creating a strong, strategic alliance with Carle will provide
an essential link with the revolutionary technologies at the university and
will build on recent investments we have made in genomics, bioengineering, and
computing," said Robert Easter, the interim chancellor of the Urbana campus.
"Our mission as a land-grant university is to take on the grand challenges of
our times, and this commitment with Carle to improve health care is a good fit
for Illinois."
The alliance will give
university faculty access to research space in the Mills Breast Cancer
Institute, allowing close interactions with Carle physicians. It also will
enhance the recruitment of researchers focused on clinical problems and
physicians with subspecialties that require access to university facilities as
well as faculty status. This agreement establishes the first academic health
center in the Champaign-Urbana community.
"I can honestly say that
the opportunities the combination of Carle's remarkably designed laboratory
facility and this local alliance offer are extraordinary," said Carle
neurosurgeon and U. of I. professor Huan Wang, M.D., whose research is funded
by Carle. "Carle and university
leadership have, indeed, created the kind of research environment any physician
or scientist would thoroughly enjoy working in."
"We have such expertise
to draw from - a real history of innovation and discovery in biomedical
research at the U of I," Schook said. "I'd love to really harness our strengths
in genomics, computing and bioengineering, for example, to restore neurological
function in those impaired by injury or disease, improve cancer diagnosis and
treatment options, restore heart and gastrointestinal function or, perhaps most
important, develop effective strategies to prevent disease in the first place."
"Carle brings to the
research table the clinical expertise of 300 physicians in 50 medical
specialties," Leonard said. "With our current participation in 150 oncologic
and non-oncologic clinical trials for patients and with nearly 100 other
studies under way by Carle physician researchers, this work will have an impact
on advancing patient care right here in Illinois and beyond."
Annual spending on
research and development in science and engineering at Illinois totals nearly
$500 million, and there are more than 150 affiliated research centers and
institutes on campus. Learn more: http://biomedical.illinois.edu/.
Media Photo
Download a large image of the Biomedical Research Institute laboratory.