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scribe Winter 2002 - Volume 13, No. 1 |
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scribe Winter 2002 - Volume 13, No. 1 |
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current issue | past issues | alum notes | contact info | home |
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Articles
New Curriculum Addresses Aging and Geriatrics
Providing Answers About Viruses and Drug Resistance
Publication Shows Gene Programming is Coming Soon
Antacids May be More Important than Calcium in Osteoporosis Prevention
Congressman Rallies for Graduate Medical Education
Tracking Software Evaluates Students' Clinical Rotations
Prayer and Fellowship Promote Healthy Outcomes
Diabetes Program Participants See Sharp Drop in Risk Factors
Master's Degree Offered in Genetic Counseling
Influenza Vaccine Research Targets Large Capacity Virus
WSU School of Medicine Recognizes Excellence in Medical Student Research
In Memory of Professor Emeritus Maurice Bernstein
School Begins Multi-Million dollar Energy Savings Project
WSU Establishes Metabolic Research Center Dedicated to Diabetes/Obesity Research
Drug Delivery System Uses Liposomes to Treat Ocular Tumors
Medical Students Learn and Practice Professionsl Values
Leukemia Drug Gets Priority Approval
Psychiatry Students Awarded for Research
Lower Cardiovascular Risk is Added Benefit of Exercise
$5 Million Grant Partners WSU and Florida A&M for Environmental Health Research
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WSU Establishes Metabolic Research Center Dedicated to Diabetes/Obesity Research
Dr. James Granneman knows the importance of research partnerships between academic and corporate institutions. He’s been on both sides of such partnerships and believes the greatest potential for medical discovery lies someplace in the middle. A Wayne State faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences since 1986, Dr. Granneman spent three years as a research fellow in cell biology for Parke-Davis/Pfizer Global Research and Development. Late last year (2001) he returned to WSU full-time to become director and co-founder of the Center for Integrative Metabolic and Endocrine Research (CIMER) at the School of Medicine. CIMER will focus on industrial and applied research and its main purpose is to provide new molecular targets for drug discovery. Key to this vision was the recruitment of Dr. Robert MacKenzie and Dr. Todd Leff from Pfizer to co-found CIMER. Collectively, the group has highly complementary research interests and many years of drug discovery experience. “During our years at Pfizer, we were on the other side of the research question,” Dr. Granneman said. “We had targets and we looked for new drugs. We know what makes a good drug target from the industry’s perspective, so it’s very useful as we sift through possible molecular targets.” He explains the process this way: “Disease is caused by dysfunction in specialized cell types. We characterize sub-populations of cells using genomic and proteomic analysis. We determine whether or not the genes expressed in those cells will be good targets, and we validate them. We do the academic work for the drug industry and it makes sense for both institutions to do what they are best at.” The Center for Integrative Metabolic and Endocrine Research has resounding support from Dean John Crissman and has already received favorable initial reviews on two grant applications to the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor Initiative. In addition, the three CIMER faculty members have formed their own company, called NT 2, or New Targets Technologies, to rapidly translate new targets to commercialization. “We are working together to open up the cells and find out how they work,” Dr. MacKenzie said. “It is basic research with a strong view toward translation,” said Dr. Leff. |
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