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- Posted Thursday June 30, 2005
TGen's Cancer Drug Discovery Laboratory Relocates to Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building
Move enhances multidisciplinary environment, accelerates
research
Phoenix, AZ, June 30, 2005 -- The Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen) today announced the transition of its Cancer Drug
Discovery Laboratory (CDDL) from their Gaithersburg, MD, facility
to the new Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building on the
Scottsdale campus of the Mayo Clinic. The CDDL was established as
TGen's drug discovery and development arm.
Co-locating CDDL and TGen's Drug Development (TD2) Services Unit
with researchers at the Mayo Clinic is a key component of TGen's
patient-centered research approach. The combination of world-class
researchers and the latest technologies creates a highly
collaborative multidisciplinary research environment, ensuring that
innovative preclinical research products will be moved from the lab
to the patient as quickly as possible. This will hopefully
ultimately improve and extend the lives of patients living with
cancer.
"The TGen-Mayo Clinic collaboration signifies a milestone, both in
terms of Arizona's leadership in bringing the best that biomedicine
has to offer to patients nationally and internationally and the
potential that research results between these two institutions will
have toward defeating cancer," said Sen. John McCain.
CDDL investigators are a multi-disciplinary team of scientists
with expertise ranging from cell biology to bioinformatics. The lab
uses a powerful cutting-edge technology called RNA interference
(RNAi) technology to accelerate their research. The area of RNAi
opens up a new field for drug discovery and will allow researchers
to develop specific and potent drugs. RNAi technology centers on
understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells and what the
effect is on those cells.
"The CDDL team has assembled some of the most sophisticated and
high-throughput technology in the world for studying cancer cells,"
said Dr. Spyro Mousses, Director of CDDL. "Our RNAi technology
should greatly accelerate the discovery of new anti-cancer
compounds."
The move to the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building will
nearly triple CDDL's current capacity. The new building, which
officially opens its doors today, is an 110,000-square-foot
facility specifically devoted to developing and supporting medical
research that will help patients in Arizona and beyond.
"The CDDL's proximity to our researchers and clinicians
accelerates our joint pursuit of identifying strategies to defeat
all forms of cancer and further strengthens the Mayo Clinic mission
of integrating research and educational efforts with clinical
medicine to provide the best care for our patients," said Victor F.
Trastek, MD, Chair, Board of Governors at Mayo Clinic.
Mousses and his team are settling into the lab over the next few
months and will be completely moved in by early next year.
"CDDL's move to Arizona strengthens TGen's attack on cancer. The
addition of these researchers not only bolsters the translational
arm of TGen's discovery work, but proves that good science is
happening right here in Arizona, and with it comes the hope of
finding new ways to stop cancer in its tracks," said Dr. Jeffrey
Trent, TGen's President and Scientific Director.
# # #
About TGen
The mission of the Translational Genomics Research Institute
(TGen) is to make and translate genomic discoveries into advances
in human health. Translational genomics research is a relatively
new field employing innovative advances arising from the Human
Genome Project and applying them to the development of diagnostics,
prognostics and therapies for cancer, neurological disorders,
diabetes and other complex diseases. TGen is focused on
personalized medicine and plans to accomplish its goals through
robust and disease-focused research programs and its
state-of-the-art bioinformatics and computational biology
facilities.
Media Contacts:
Galen Perry (602) 343-8423
Amy Erickson (602) 343-8522
