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Lawrence M. Pfeffer, PhD, scientific director of the UT Center for Cancer Research

Memphis is increasingly becoming a hotbed of basic science research and with foundations in orthopedics, pediatric cancer and neurology, administrators at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) understand the valuable opportunities available in cancer research that correlate to the strengths of the local medical industry. Open a year last November, the new 90,000 square foot cancer research building is steadily being filled by interdisciplinary scientific teams with researchers in basic science, medicine, pharmacy and dentistry. The first new research building to be constructed at UTHSC in 17 years, it houses 32 research laboratories, 33 offices and a 60-seat auditorium. The first two floors of the four-story cancer research building are completely filled with investigators from across the globe. The third floor labs are expected to fill by the end of the year.

Basic science is beefing up the fastest. With programs in genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and microarray emphasizing cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis researchers are armed with state-of-the-art equipment, ready to identify new molecular targets for cancer drugs, and ultimately develop clinical trials. This exchange of knowledge between those at the bench and bedside is critical to the success of the research mission.

“We want to translate research to the patient,” said Lawrence M. Pfeffer, PhD, scientific director of the UT Center for Cancer Research. “Initial steps of bench side research treatments developed in our lab would eventually be made marketable.”

Tennessee does not have the best record in cancer death rates. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the national death rate from cancer in 2004 per 100,000 was approximately 185; in Tennessee it was 209 with highest incidences in lung, prostate and breast cancer. Tennessee also has an increasing rate of skin cancer diagnoses. With focus on adult cancers, which make up 95 percent of cancer diagnoses, UTHSC cancer research is primed for birthing the vision of developing centers of excellence in cancer research in Memphis.

Memphis is in the business of treating major diseases with strong foundations in neurology and brain cancer.

“We think we have the potential to be a leader there,” he said.

With more than 10 grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), collaborations with other scientific institutions in the community and the newest addition to the building, the mouse house, the cancer research center is reaching for a critical mass toward their strongest niches. UT is also promoting research at the student level with the Molecular Resource Center, which offers the university community access to the latest technologies for exploring the molecular bases of disease and basic biological processes.

“Bringing all these people together under one roof really creates a synergy of efforts,” Pfeffer said. “New ideas are coming up all the time.”



March 2008

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