Newswise — HOUSTON -- ( Oct. 8, 2014 ) -- Houston Methodist and Imperial College London leaders say they will jointly explore programs to develop new medical technologies and create Houston educational opportunities for Imperial College London medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.
Houston Methodist Research Institute President and CEO Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., was joined by Imperial College London vice presidents David Gann, Ph.D., and Dermot Kelleher, M.D., in signing a memorandum of understanding Tuesday as part of a visit and tour of Houston Methodist's clinical and scientific facilities. The memorandum was previously signed by Imperial College London Provost James Stirling, Ph.D.
"We are excited about developing unique educational and research opportunities with an institution as widely respected as Imperial College London," Ferrari said. "We see vast potential for collaboration and the rapid development of spectacular new therapeutics and medical technologies. Our partnership can reduce the time it takes for promising new medical technologies to get to patients, and provide a wealth of educational and training opportunities to Imperial College London students and fellows who seek experience in Houston Methodist laboratories and clinics.”
Ferrari said the joint programs could also broaden Imperial College London students' educational experiences by providing them with opportunities to hone their skills in Houston Methodist's areas of clinical and research strength.
"The Houston Methodist Research Institute and Imperial College London both share in their missions a commitment to work across disciplines and to translate their discoveries and innovations into health and wealth improvements," said Gann, Imperial College London Vice President of Development and Innovation and a chartered civil engineer. "Collaboration is the name of the game and we look forward to discussing how we can create new models for enterprise and achievement between both institutions, in Houston and in London."
Imperial College London is a comprehensive research university in the British capital. It enrolls about 15,000 students, one-third of whom are graduate students, and receives over $484 million (£300 million) in grants and contracts each year. Imperial College London is consistently ranked among the world's top 5 or 10 universities, depending on the ranking organization. The most recent QS World University Rankings placed Imperial College London second (tied with England rival University of Cambridge). For more information about Imperial College London, see http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/.
Houston Methodist Hospital is a large academic hospital in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest campus for patient treatment, education, and biomedical research, in terms of both population and physical size. Houston Methodist Hospital is highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report in more specialties than any other hospital in Texas. Its Research Institute receives about $55 million yearly in research support, $15 million of which comes from the National Institutes of Health.
The Houston Methodist Research Institute was created 10 years ago because doctors and administrators wanted to create a unique research administration solely focused on bringing safe and effective technologies to market as quickly as possible. At the same time, physicians and surgeons at the Houston Methodist Hospital next door are able to offer patients -- particularly those patients who've exhausted all standard treatment options -- alternative treatments in the form of clinical trials.
Houston Methodist leaders say the partnership would also provide some Imperial College London students the chance to do research in Houston Methodist's areas of excellence, including nanomedicine, cancer immunotherapy, stem cell-aided cardiovascular regenerative medicine, and biomedical microfluidics.
"The Houston Methodist Research Institute has outstanding strengths in the clinical and translational medical areas and Imperial College London is excited to be exploring the development of new collaborative research and education programs," said Dermot Kelleher, M.D., Imperial College London Vice President of Health and dean of the faculty of medicine. "There is great synergy between our biomedical, science, and engineering strengths that potentially unlocks new clinical and scientific student exchange programs, new clinical trials capabilities and new approaches to therapeutic and medical device development."
Houston Methodist Research Institute Director of Operations Tong Sun says a partnership with Imperial College London might become a model for the international commercialization of new medical technologies.
"The development of medical technologies has changed in many fundamental ways," Sun said. "Increasingly, the commercialization of new technologies in medicine requires a global perspective, not a regional or national perspective. Most new technologies aren't only relevant to the U.S. or England or Europe, but may dramatically change lives all over the world. Imperial College London could one day be our strategic partner in overseeing clinical trials of a Houston Methodist technology in Europe, as we could be their partner in the U.S. or North America for technology they develop. We hope to learn a lot from this mutually beneficial partnership."
For more information about the Houston Methodist Research Institute, visit http://www.houstonmethodist.org/research.
To speak with Mauro Ferrari or Tong Sun, please contact David Bricker, Houston Methodist, at (USA) +1 (832) 627-2639 or [email protected]. To speak with David Gann or Dermot Kelleher, please contact Andrew Scheuber, Imperial College London, at (UK) +44 (0)20 7594 8197 or [email protected].
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