Enhancing the quality of life in Indiana

By Dr. D. Craig Brater, Dean of the IU School of Medicine

This three-year grant supports the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN), giving IU the opportunity to compete for the resources needed to create a research and technology enterprise in genetics-related fields. This will benefit many industries, businesses and ultimately the individual in Indiana and elsewhere.

Our goals in INGEN are to advance the treatment and prevention of genetically linked illness, create technology and tools that will some day travel from the lab of the research scientist to the clinic of the family doctors to educate a workforce that can use these discoveries to provide better patient care, and to do this in an ethical and moral manner.

Just as technological and scientific advances developed by NASA have brought us CAT scanners and MRI technology used in hospitals to diagnose tumors, stroke and heart disease and other medical problems, it is very likely that out of the genomics research initiatives at institutions such as IU, new tools that use genetic information will emerge that will go a step further to diagnose and prevent disorders before they occur.

Let’s just imagine that a blood analyzer may be developed for use by your general physician to determine if you are predisposed to colon cancer or heart disease. If trained to make genetic diagnoses by a top medical school (read IU), your physician will be able to advise you in developing a plan that includes diet change, exercise regimen, and early and frequent monitoring to detect changes in your body before they have progressed to a disease state. The benefit is that though you may be predisposed for heart disease or colon cancer, you may be able to stave it off for many years, and when it does appear, treat it before it becomes life threatening.

This is now a dream, but not for long. Some of the brightest scholars and scientists in the world of genetics aim to make it come true. INGEN allows us to recruit others to join our teams of teachers and scientists. INGEN funds will also IU to attract the most outstanding students who will graduate to contribute to an already emerging industry based on an understanding of our genetic make-up. Chemical, biological and technical industries in Indiana such as Lilly, Guidant and Roche, health-care systems such as Clarian Health in Indianapolis, Deaconess in Evansville, Memorial Hospital in South Bend and Union in Terre Haute will need graduates educated by INGEN scholars to run laboratories, treat disease, and develop new tools and medications.

What does IU need to make this dream come true for Indiana? Funding for new research space and quality laboratories. Space is essential to recruit outstanding scientists to IU; we must be able to provide quality facilities and enough space to support their teams of researchers. Space is critical to draw students who are anxious to learn cutting edge science and technology.

The research buildings now under construction in Indianapolis and Bloomington are not enough to meet the goals of INGEN. So IU is seeking the means to build work spaces and laboratories for the scientists, ethicists, students and support staff needed to make INGEN a success.

INGEN will produce doctors prepared to understand and treat genetically based disease; it will produce scientists for industry, and it will attract individuals capable of enhancing the quality of life in Indiana.

Just as technological and scientific advances developed by NASA have brought us CAT scanners and MRI technology used in hospitals to diagnose tumors, stroke, heart disease and other medical problems, it is very likely that out of the genomics research initiatives at institutions such as IU, new tools that use genetic information will emerge that will go a step further to diagnose and prevent disorders before they occur.