Lab Partners
Collaboration defines success at the Lilly Laboratory for Clinical
Research.
From the sixth floor atop Indiana University Hospital, the framed
glass windows offer a panoramic portrait of downtown Indianapolis'
glass-and-concrete skyline. Inside, however, the view is more precise,
narrowly focused on research ultimately designed to improve health
and quality of life for people worldwide.
Long before the Lilly Laboratory for Clinical Research set up shop
at its new facility, researchers with the pharmaceutical giant and
the nation's second-largest medical school were working side-by-side
to pioneer medications. It's a relationship that began in the mid-1920s
and was cemented with establishment of research facilities at nearby
Wishard Memorial Hospital.
As demand grew for more laboratory space in the 1980s and 1990s,
Lilly sought other locations for its clinical research. It had top-notch
research labs in Europe and Asia, yet it scanned the globe for other
locations. In the end, Lilly opted to stay put in its hometown.
In 1996, IU and Lilly officials unveiled plans to build a $17 million,
two-level research complex atop IU Hospital's four-story outpatient
section.
The 90,000-square-foot research facility has examination rooms,
laboratories, pharmacy and computer centers for physicians, scientists,
pharmokineticists, nurses and statisticians.
"There are several synergisms that work well for Lilly and
IU, all of which totally support the School of Medicine's mission
of education, clinical care and research," said John T. Callaghan,
MD, PhD, director of the Lilly Laboratory for Clinical Research
and an IUSM assistant professor of medicine and of pharmacology
and toxicology.
Foremost, the Lilly lab conducts Phase I clinical trials, involving
healthy volunteers who are compensated for their participation.
Such trials - which occur years after extensive laboratory investigation
- carefully gauge and monitor the tolerability and safety of drugs
under development. Patients are treated with the utmost confidentiality
to ensure full protection of their privacy. And all studies receive
in-depth reviews by Lilly, the IUPUI Institutional Review Boards
and the Food and Drug Administration.
Beyond the clinic areas, there is little to suggest that patients
are in research environments. The facility accommodates up to fifty-six
volunteers in semi-private rooms. On average, participants stay
one to three days, depending on the nature of the study. Each of
the rooms has a full bath. There's also a modern dining facility,
recreation room, library, rooftop sundeck and spacious lounge area.
IU physicians and researchers at the Lilly lab have been involved
in pharmaceutical research related to Alzheimer disease, pulmonary
and gastrointestinal disorders and osteoarthritis.
Partnering is the operative word for the future at the Lilly Laboratory
for Clinical Research. "Collaboration is absolutely vital to
research - it can't be conducted in a vacuum and ultimately gives
us the ability to deliver safe and effective medications that benefit
all of society," said Dr. Callaghan.
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