Sept. 12, 2003
Walther Oncology Looks To The Future In Cancer Treatments
INDIANAPOLIS - Investigators at the Walther Oncology Center represent
many disciplines and specialties, but they share a common goal - to advance
research from the bench to the bedside.
The strength of the research program is in its diversity. Since the Walther
Oncology Center was created, it has grown on the Indiana University School
of Medicine campus to include nearly 30 principal investigators and 151
other staff representing seven departments: medicine, biochemistry and
molecular biology, microbiology and immunology, medical and molecular
genetics, pharmacology and toxicology, urology and surgery.
The center is a joint venture between the Walther Cancer Institute, a
private non-profit research organization, and the IU School of Medicine.
In 1988, the Walther Oncology Center had only one researcher, its founding scientific director Hal E. Broxmeyer, Ph.D., chair and Mary Margaret Walther Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and professor of medicine. He essentially built the program into a nationally recognized center for basic science research. In 1992, the center claimed grants totaling $1.83 million. Today, extramural funding has reached more than $15 million, with several outstanding grant applications awaiting review.
Progressive, basic scientific laboratory research focusing on the cellular, biochemical and molecular biology of cancer is the trademark of the center. Investigators at the Walther Oncology Center also are studying immune systems deficiencies and possible treatments and viruses of the central nervous system and their association with AIDS-related dementia and other neurological disorders.
Dr. Broxmeyer is internationally recognized for his research in the use of umbilical cord blood as a source for transplantable stem and progenitor cells. The first umbilical cord blood transplant, which was a multi-national research effort, occurred in France in 1988. The cord blood used in the transplant was processed and stored in the world's first cord blood bank in Dr. Broxmeyer's lab. He and his staff delivered the precious cargo to France for the successful transplant.
Walther Oncology Center has been described as a lab without walls but that is in theory only. Its administrative office and many of its principal investigators' laboratories now are located in the newly opened Research II building.
Within the walls of the state-of-the-art laboratory building, the objectives
of the Center will continue to progress. Walther researchers seek to:
- Understand the mechanisms involved in the proliferation, differentiation and function of normal cells and the abnormalities in functions which can lead to tumor cell growth.
- Accelerate the translation of new basic scientific information to the clinical research area in order to slow disease progression and improve the quality of life for patients suffering from cancer and related disorders.
- Develop and disseminate information that will lead, or help lead, to cures for the different cancers.
To this end, Walther Oncology Center scientists currently are focused
on how normal and malignant cells grow and develop their unique characteristics;
gene regulation; DNA repair; cytokine (product of white blood cells involved
with immune response) production; intracellular communication; gene therapy,
and transplantation biology and immunology with bone marrow and cord blood.
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Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu
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