Feature
Targeting "The Region"
April 3, 2007
A new research collaboration, led by IUSM– Northwest, will bring the benefits of advanced medical research to Northwest Indiana
Patrick Bankston is working to build a health research institute that will target the needs of Northwest Indiana
There's a lot to get a grip on when looking at Northwest Indiana: Declining urban areas working on renewal alongside booming suburban growth. A history of heavy manufacturing that is a smaller, but still dominant part of the economy. A diverse mix of racial and ethnic populations.
Given all that, it's not surprising that officials at the Indiana University School of Medicine–Northwest have ambitious plans for research and patient care initiatives targeted specifically at the needs of what some call "The Region."
One important component of those plans came to light recently with the announcement of the Northwest Indiana Medical Research Consortium, a collaboration that will help bring the benefits of cutting-edge medical research to area residents.
"It has been our vision to have IUSM–Northwest serve as the center for all forms of teaching, research and service activity for our community," said Patrick W. Bankston, Ph.D., assistant dean and director of IUSM–Northwest.
"Our doctors and hospitals are among the best in the nation, and they are perfectly trained and equipped to provide access to national research trials of the latest medicines for our patients."
Hospitals participating in the consortium include: Community Hospital, Munster; LaPorte Regional Health System; Methodist Hospitals in Gary and Merrillville; Porter Health in Valparaiso; St. Anthony Medical Center, Crown Point; St. Anthony Memorial, Michigan City; St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers, Hammond; St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago; and St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart.
But the consortium is only part of a much larger vision, one that will bring clinical, applied and basic science research together in a Northwest Indiana Health Research Institute that will focus on the region's issues and opportunities.
That includes starting with the basic survey and epidemiological work, said Bankston.
In a heavily industrial, urban area, "we can assume that people are disproportionately affected by certain environmental, behavioral and other health risk factors, but we don't have good data on which to plan and act," he said.
Bankston foresees the center becoming a core resource that would regularly provide data to the school and the community, including epidemiological and health disparity studies, behavioral analyses, disease-specific studies pertaining to HIV/AIDs, asthma, cardiovascular and pulmonary health, as well as cancer.
He expects the center's faculty to grow to 15 scientists pursuing research in areas particularly relevant to the region. That would include basic science work, translational research — moving discoveries from the laboratory to patient care — and the clinical research that the recently announced medical research consortium will make available.
"The institute would also have a strong economic impact, not only from the high-paying jobs at the institute itself, but from those at spin-off companies that emerge from the research," Bankston said.
Fully implementing this vision would require an investment of about $15 million, and fund-raising is underway, he said. But center officials are not waiting for the arrival of a donor bearing a $15 million check — they plan to build on existing strengths, step by step. One step is represented by Roman Dziarski, professor of microbiology and immunology, whose laboratory is dedicated to HIV/AIDS research with help of a private donor's gift of $250,000.
"We have the basic science research, and we're going to expand it and add more clinical and translational research over time," Bankston said.
