At the Center of Medical Breakthroughs Clinical Research Center
receives NIH funding and new space at hospital
HOUSTON—(Oct. 02, 2006)—On a recent Thursday, Thomas Walker picked up a Houston Chronicle and read an article that would change his life.
John D. Reveille, M.D., (right) professor and director of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunogenetics at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and senior research assistant Laura Diekman, work with Thomas Walker (left) during a recent appointment at the University Clinical Research Center. Walker is enrolled in a clinical trial that is studying the effectiveness of a medication for ankylosing spondylitis. Photo by Ester Fant
John D. Reveille, M.D., professor and director of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunogenetics at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, was recruiting patients with ankylosing spondylitis to participate in a clinical trial.
Walker, 66, was intrigued by the news. He had been living with the arthritic condition since the mid-1970s, and he was willing to test a medication that may loosen his stiff joints and alleviate pain in his spine and shoulders.
He quickly called the telephone number listed in the newspaper article. It led him to the University Clinical Research Center, or UCRC, where he became one of thousands of patients to enroll in trials that help shape the future of medicine.
In the past two decades, faculty members at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have conducted more than 300 clinical trials at the center, which is located in and supported in part by Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.
Recently, the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health awarded the research center $9.4 million over the next five years to support and expand its program. This is the fifth grant renewal since the center’s initial NIH funding in 1986.
The grant supports the work of approximately 80 investigators, seven nurses, a biostatistician, an ethicist, a dietitian, a unit manager, a nursing manager, two clerical positions, a bioinformatics manager, two staff positions in the genetics core lab, a director and two associate directors: Dianna Milewicz, M.D., and W. Keith Hoots, M.D.
This is only one step in the improvement and transformation of clinical research. In the near future, Okhuysen anticipates even more expansion.
“We are looking forward to a very bright future,” Okhuysen said. “With our strong partners and alliances, we are strongly embracing and facing head-on the challenge that the NIH initiative to re-engineer the clinical research enterprise has set forth. In the course of the coming months and years you will witness our further transformation to meet the challenge with the creation of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research,” Okhuysen said.
In conjunction with the grant award, UT-Houston and Memorial Hermann recently hosted the grand opening of the UCRC in its new, expanded space on the third floor of the hospital’s Robertson Pavilion. The facility’s location is next to the new Memorial Hermann Center for Clinical Innovation and Research.
The combined centers now have approximately 14,000 square feet to support clinical research studies. Prior space on the sixth floor of the Robertson Pavilion was about 4,000 square feet.
“Only 80 medical centers in the United States have one of these highly sophisticated units that are the birthplace for many of the medical breakthroughs that have occurred during the past half of a century,” said Pablo Okhuysen, M.D., professor of internal medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the UCRC since 2002. “UT-Houston’s clinical research center at Memorial Hermann has been in operation for 20 years and has maintained an active membership in this elite group.”
Juanita Romans, chief executive officer of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, said the research center gives patients access to important, experimental treatments.
“The UCRC is a flagship research center, currently supporting 80 to 100 unique and groundbreaking studies,” Romans said. “I believe that we have immense opportunities for new developments, clinical innovations and remarkable treatments that we have not yet envisioned.”
At the center, investigators study potential therapies for many types of diseases and injuries – from traumatic brain injury in children to pancreatic cancer to severe, sometimes fatal, autoimmune disorders.
Madelene Ottosen, MSN, nurse manager at the research center, said the center’s medical staff sees more than 3,200 patients annually. For some, it may be a one-time visit to have their blood drawn for a genetics study. Others may come to the UCRC once a month for 10 years for long-term assessments.
“Each and every patient’s contribution is so important,” Ottosen said.
The center’s experienced staff is committed to patient safety, protocol accuracy and thorough documentation of research results, Ottosen said. The staff also emphasizes informed patient consent.
Cheryl M. Chanaud, Ph.D., executive director of the Memorial Hermann Center for Clinical Innovation and Research, said the facility includes the addition of four inpatient rooms so that the center can begin conducting inpatient clinical research studies.
“The center also has six outpatient rooms, a treatment room, two laboratories, a bioinformatics training room, a bionutrition room and centrally located nursing station,” Chanaud said.
In addition to the extra space and expanded programs the new facility offers, the UCRC is extending its services into the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Okhuysen said the grant funding supports research of health access disparities that Joseph B. McCormick, M.D., and collaborators are conducting at The University of Texas School of Public Health’s Brownsville Regional Campus.
Reveille, the George H. Bruce, Jr. Professor in Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases and one of the top users of the UCRC, said he looks forward to the significant informatics resources the transformation to the Center for Clinical and Translational Research will bring.
Until then, Reveille said, the UCRC is a tremendous asset in the advancement of clinical research.
“We could not do the work without them. They’ve been invaluable to all our studies,” Reveille said.
Walker, one of Reveille’s patients, said he would recommend the UCRC to any patient who wants to do his or her part for the advancement of medicine.
Since he enrolled in a medication trial, his joint pain has diminished, allowing him to enjoy his hobby of restoring antique furniture.
“I don’t know if I’m enrolled in the drug trial or if I’m taking a placebo, but something is working for me,” Walker said. “It has loosened up a lot of the tightness in my joints. I’m able to sit over a table and work on furniture. It’s definitely helped. Plus I’ve met a lot of nice people at the UCRC.
“Participating in the research makes me feel good – both physically and just knowing that I’m doing my part for research that could lead to more effective treatments for ankylosing spondylitis,” Walker said.
By Meredith Raine