Discoveries
Dana-Farber's new applied science center speeds route from laboratory breakthroughs to patient therapies
Tapping the latest technology and the power of collaboration, Dana-Farber recently established a center designed to quicken the conversion of basic molecular findings into new ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancer.
The new applied science center supports the Institute's efforts to translate laboratory findings into treatments.
The Center for Applied Cancer Science—a "center without walls" involving teams of researchers throughout the Institute—aims to overcome some of the traditional barriers that have slowed the discovery and development of effective therapies. Under the direction of Ronald DePinho, MD, its scientific teams will use large-scale, high-resolution techniques to locate and confirm cancer genes. Taking advantage of the genes' unique features, they will then devise specific drugs or antibodies to counter them.
The center is an integral part of Dana-Farber's strategic plan, which commits the Institute to conquering at least one form of cancer within the decade. (See "Strategic Vision" in Winter/Spring 2004 Paths of Progress.) One of the center's goals is to create more productive working relationships between academically based scientists and those in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
"The challenges of cancer are formidable," DePinho remarks. "But we believe we have reached a critical threshold of knowledge and technologies that will enable us to identify the genetic Achilles' heel of cancer and convert these molecular discoveries into effective cancer medicines in a more directed way."
