Posts tagged ‘Penn State’
CEO Perspectives: Funding for Health Sciences Research
Below is an excerpt from the April 2012 edition of Perspectives, a monthly electronic newsletter from Harold L. Paz, M.D., chief executive officer, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, senior vice president for health affairs, Penn State, and dean, Penn State College of Medicine.
Harold L. Paz, M.D., M.S.
Conducting research is one of the key missions of any academic health center, and it’s a fundamental characteristic that distinguishes institutions like Penn State Hershey from other hospitals in the community. But biomedical research is expensive, and increasingly, researchers are having difficulty getting even the most excellent proposals funded. This challenge has become especially acute since the economic downturn in 2008. Government support for research is being cut back not only at the federal level, but also by many states, including Pennsylvania. In addition, many private sources of support for research – including philanthropic foundations and non-profit organizations – have reduced the amount of funding available, in response to the reduced value of their endowments or diminished philanthropic support these organizations rely on.
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Penn State CTSI aims to push research findings to the people
As a physician on the front line of the obesity and diabetes epidemics gripping the United States, Urs Leuenberger, M.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the Penn State Hershey Heart and Vascular Institute, has seen the disconnect between medical knowledge and reality. “We know an immense amount about many of the major health problems today, say obesity or diabetes, and we know a lot more than we did ten years ago or thirty or fifty years ago,” Leuenberger says. “So why is it that when we know so much more, the epidemic is getting worse?”
That is precisely the kind of question that the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) will tackle over the next five years, thanks to a $27.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Penn State CTSI, a collaborative effort of the University, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and Penn State College of Medicine, joins a prestigious consortium of institutions that include Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Yale, and the University of Chicago. In Pennsylvania, only the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania are also members.
“The CTSAs (Clinical and Translational Science Awards) support the innovation and partnerships necessary to bridge the traditional divides between basic research and medical practice,” NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., said in announcing the latest awards. “The combination of resources and collaboration made possible by these awards is essential for developing and delivering new treatments and prevention strategies.”
Resources and collaboration are two of Penn State’s strengths in winning the CTSI grant. “Already, our Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute is bringing together researchers from across the University’s colleges, campuses, programs, and departments and fostering collaborative research,” says Harold L. Paz, M.D., CEO of Penn State Hershey Medical Center. “This CTSA funding award will add to this momentum and substantially increase our infrastructure for supporting translational research, expanding our ability to take scientific progress from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside.” (more…)
An Interview with Daniel Notterman, M.A., M.D.
Daniel A. Notterman, M.A., M.D., became vice dean, research and graduate studies, for the College of Medicine in December of last year. He is a professor of pediatrics, biochemistry, and molecular biology and serves as associate vice president, health sciences research, Penn State. He brings a great deal of experience to his role, having served Princeton University as senior research scientist, molecular biology, and chair, Committee on the Health Professions, Office of the Dean of the College. Prior to this he was at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he served as University Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, and physician-in-chief of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Cornell, Notterman received a master’s degree in philosophy from Tufts and a medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Cornell, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at Princeton.
Dr. Notterman recently answered some questions about his research background, what brought him to the College of Medicine, and what his vision is for the research mission. (more…)
