FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Patricia Enright202-452-9511[email protected]
CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER AND JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS AWARDED $14 MILLION TO STUDY CARDIOPULMONARY DISEASE
Washington, DC (October 25, 2000) -- As part of their newly established Programs for Genetic Applications (PGAs), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has awarded Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) and the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHUMI) a $14 million research grant to examine the genetics of cardiopulmonary disease. The CNMC/JHMI study will use the new technology of microarrays to examine gene samples from patients with conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis and determine if there are specific genes that may predict increased risk/severity for those diseases.
The CNMC/JHUMI study, entitled "Applied Genomics in Cardiopulmonary Disease," was one of 11 proposals to be awarded a Programs for Genetic Applications grant. The $14 million grant will last for four years (at $3.5 million/year) and could be renewed for an additional four years at its completion. This endowment is part of the NHLBI's new initiative to apply and expand the applications of genomic research.
The grant was awarded as the result of a nation-wide competition among major medical centers that could use the emerging technology of microarrays to analyze large numbers of human tissue samples. Microarray technology is an innovative method of studying how a cell's regulatory system can control genes and how numbers of genes interact. Researchers use microarrays to create expression profiles of genes--encoded genetic information that is converted into protein or RNA and can subsequently be analyzed.
"Cardiopulmonary disease represents a wide range of chronic conditions, which together are currently the leading cause of death in the U.S.," said Dr. Eric Hoffman, Ph.D., director of CNMC's Research Center for Genetic Medicine. "The data collected from this study will be made readily available to the scientific community and will ultimately support the development of new preventative and therapeutic treatments for cardiopulmonary diseases."
The study is a highly-integrated program consisting of the following components: a clinical component, gene expression profiling, an animal model and proteomics component, a biostatistical/bioinformatics component, and genotyping. CNMC is responsible for the expression profiling aspect of the program, which is the study's major goal.
The clinical arm of the study will involve collecting thousands of tissue samples from patients. These samples will then be analyzed via expression profiling to define a set of possible disease-specific predictor genes. The animal model and proteomics component will confirm the role of these predictor genes by comparing them to expression profiles of human disease (i.e. asthma and allergies) in animal models. The genotyping and biostatistical/bioinformatics aspects of the study will look at whether different forms of these predictor genes are associated with increased risk or severity of disease.
The considerable scope and depth of this integrated program is the result of collaboration between one of the centers of pulmonary research (JHUMI) and one of the leaders in the use of microarrays in human tissue samples (CNMC). A recent survey found that the Research Center of Genetic Medicine at CNMC is one of only seven centers in the world to use both emerging types of genechip technologies (Affymetrix GeneChips, and cDNA microarrays). Drawing on its extensive network of in-house and worldwide collaborators, CNMC's genetic research center has set out to examine human disease with high-resolution microarray technology.
As a direct result of CNMC's expertise in microarray applications, Dr. Joe G. N. Garcia, director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at JHUMI and overall program director for this initiative, asked them if they would serve as the genechip technology center for this project.
Children's National Medical Center, located in Washington, D.C., is a leader in the development of innovative new treatments for childhood illness and injury. Among the top pediatric hospitals in America, CNMC has been serving the nation's children for over 125 years. CNMC's newly developed Centers of Excellence programs include: Neurosciences and Behavioral Medicine; Cancer and Blood Disorders; Heart and Kidney Disease; and Community Pediatric Health. The Centers of Excellence program and an internationally recognized team of pediatric health care professionals allow Children's National Medical Center to care for thousands of families throughout the region, the nation, and the world. In addition, Children's serves as the regional referral center for pediatric emergency, trauma care, cancer, burn, neonatology, and critical care.
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For additional information on the Centers of Excellence program at Children's National Medical Center, please contact Patricia Enright at 202-452-9511 or via e-mail at: [email protected].
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