Washington University has been a CALGB main member institution since 1986. Due to loss of key personnel and limited groupwide CALGB funding, we were not funded during the previous grant cycle. Therefore, this proposal serves as a new institutional application to re-establish Washington University in the funded scientific activities of the CALGB. In 1994, Washington University recruited Dr. Daniel Ihde, a national expert in the treatment of lung cancer and Dr. John DiPersio, an expert in hematopoietic stem cell biology, as Chief of the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Stem Cell Biology. Since joining the faculty, Dr. Ihde has served as Washington University's CALGB Principal Investigator. Both Drs. lhde and DiPersio have a strong commitment to clinical research and have recruited and fostered many new clinical Investigators. The University was awarded a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Planning Grant in July, 1995. Dr. Ihde and Dr. Stanley Korsmeyer lead the Cancer Center planning efforts and have stimulated vigorous collaboration between clinical and basic science investigators over the last 18 months. Many of these collaborations have resulted in new institutional pilot studies, including studies of new multidrug resistance modulators and regulators of programmed cell death. Promising pilot studies will be presented to CALGB committees for possible incorporation into group protocols during the next grant cycle, Since Dr. lhde's recruitment, Washington University's commitment to CALGB has been demonstrated in several ways. Accrual has increased from 52 in 1994 to 118 in 1996. Our data management has improved substantially with our most recent IPEC report placing us in the top one third of CALGB institutions in completeness and consistency. The number of investigators on scientific committees has increased from five in 1993 to eighteen at present. Eleven current, recently closed, or proposed studies are chaired by Washington University investigators. Three members have participated in audit site visits, the membership committee, and the conflict of interest committee. Our large patient base will help us maintain excellent CALGB accrual during the coming years. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the largest hospital in St. Louis, diagnoses more than 4,000 patients a year with cancer and is the major referral center for southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. We expect referrals to increase significantly over the next five years with the construction of our new approved and funded state-of-the-art clinical cancer center building which is projected to be completed in 2000.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 59 publications
