In 2015, Children’s Mercy created the Children’s Research Institute to coordinate the work of its scientists and physicians and to expand its research portfolio.
This institute was designed to bridge science and medicine to benefit the pediatric community.
In February of 2016, Children’s Mercy welcomed Tom Curran, PhD to lead the new institute.
Hear from Dr. Curran as he shares the role the Children’s Research Institute will have within Children’s Mercy and vision to be the leader in pediatric research.
Selected Podcast
Children’s Research Institute: Expanding Research Efforts
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about Tom Curran, PhD
Tom Curran, PhD
Tom Curran, PhD., received his PhD from London’s Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories and University College in 1982. Curran then studied as a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California. After his academic training, Curran moved to the East Coast to work at Hoffmann-La Roche, a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey. And from there, he went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., where he founded its department of developmental neurobiology. He moved to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2006.Learn more about Tom Curran, PhD
Transcription:
Children’s Research Institute: Expanding Research Efforts
Dr. Michael Smith (Host): Our topic today is “Children's Mercy Research Institute: Expanding Research Efforts”. My guest is Dr. Tom Curran. He is the Executive Director of the Children's Mercy Research Institute. Dr. Curran, welcome to the show.
Dr. Tom Curran (Guest): Thank you very much, Dr. Mike, I'm happy to be here.
Dr. Mike: So, what is the Children's Research Institute?
Dr. Curran: The Children's Research Institute is the structure that supports all research that will be conducted at Children's Mercy Hospital. In the past, we've had pockets of research excellence, but we've really grown to the point where we need an infrastructure that can support and promote our research across the board in pediatrics.
Dr. Mike: And what impact will the research institute have on Children's Mercy and the community?
Dr. Curran: We hope there will be a substantial impact. Children's Mercy is a truly outstanding hospital. It's really a jewel in the crown of Kansas City. In fact, I tell people here, "You're much better than you think you are. You're just too modest." But, the hospital has grown to the point where, in addition to delivering outstanding care, it has the potential to change the lives of children treated here and even children treated elsewhere by conducting research that will deliver cures or understanding or diagnostics that go beyond the individual patient. So, in a sense, by treating one child here at Children's Mercy, we may impact thousands elsewhere.
Dr. Mike: So, how do you think or how do you see the research institute building stronger communication, not just within the community, but also between scientists and clinicians?
Dr. Curran: That communication between scientists and clinicians is paramount to what we call "translational research". Even the name translational research implies there's a kind of communication issue. Scientists and physicians often speak about the same entities but with different language. But, we want to translate a science discovery into new medicine, so we have to be able to talk together. The research institute will provide a whole series of support structures that improve that communication both internally and externally with the broader community.
Dr. Mike: You know, Dr. Curran, I can imagine, with the goal of the Institute being to expand research efforts, I can only imagine there are probably multiple strategies that you are implementing right now to achieve that goal. What are some of the ways that you are trying to expand research efforts?
Dr. Curran: Sure. There are several things that we're working on right now. One is that we, like other top hospitals, have an electronic health care system. That electronic health care system collects masses and masses of data that can be used actually to benefit our own patients as well as other patients with similar diseases. Building what's called an "informatics network" that allows data mining that the so-called "big data analysis" is one of the key steps to taking advantage of all that information. The other thing that we're building right now is a vial repository. Now, what is a vial repository? It's essentially a bank of patient samples and by depositing into that bank, patients preserve their tissues to allow future research and that future research could potentially come back and mediate advances in their own particular disease.
Dr. Mike: IS there any particular line of research that the institute wants to promote more? Or, when you talk about expanding research efforts, you're talking about any type of research that might be done in a pediatric setting, or is there a specific type of research that you want to support the most?
Dr. Curran: We're very interested in supporting research broadly, but the best way to do that is to start building on your strengths. Children's Mercy has great strengths in clinical pharmacology, in the new science of genomics, in outcomes research, and in behavioral research. Those are the four pillars that will be our initial points of strength that we'll build on, but we're very interested in looking more broadly. In a sense, our patients are teaching us what direction to take. We have a wealth of really interesting, very complex patients, some with very challenging disorders and their challenges are really the research challenges that we face moving forward.
Dr. Mike: Is most of the research that is being funded right now at the institute, is it pre-clinical research or is it mostly clinical?
Dr. Curran: There's really a mixture. I wouldn't want to say most one way or the other. There's a bit of a balance between pre-clinical research and clinical trials research and outcome research. We have a pretty healthy diversity of research going on, that we can build on moving forward.
Dr. Mike: I guess when you go back to the topic and the title of this show, Dr. Curran. It's "Expanding Research Efforts" and how challenging has this been and how successful have you been in obtaining the expansion of your efforts?
Dr. Curran: Well, I've been here three months [laughter] so I would say that I'm just at the very, very beginning.
Dr. Mike: We'll give you a break.
Dr. Curran: I would say at this point, I understand the size of the challenge and the depth of the problem, but we have a long way to go.
Dr. Mike: Yes. So, you're brand-new to the Children's Mercy team and that's awesome. I look forward to what you're going to be able to accomplish. Is there anything that you would like the listeners who are mostly clinicians listening to this show, is there anything you would like for them to know that we haven't covered about Children's Mercy Research Institute?
Dr. Curran: Absolutely. I would like to tell the clinicians out there that they are part of this whole research structure. We truly appreciate and admire their efforts in caring for their patients. The way their data collection is processed and put into the medical record provides a fundamental basis of future research. So, in a sense, I want to welcome and acknowledge that every physician is part of the research team, even if they don't know it themselves.
Dr. Mike: Is there a specific website that the research institute has that clinicians can go and check out what's going on and contact you or is it just the Childrensmercy.org website?
Dr. Curran: Just the Childrensmercy.org site right now. We will be building more communication venues moving forward, but right now it'll all be handled through the Children's Mercy website.
Dr. Mike: So, it must be a very exciting time for you, Dr. Curran, to be at Children's Mercy and truly be at the forefront of expanding the research efforts. I know that it's going to be challenging, but I also think it could be very successful for you. So, I want to thank you for the work that you're doing and thank you for coming on the show. You're listening to Transformational Pediatrics with Children's Mercy--Kansas City. For more information you can go to childrensmercy.org. That's childrensmercy.org. I'm Dr. Michael Smith. Thanks for listening.
Children’s Research Institute: Expanding Research Efforts
Dr. Michael Smith (Host): Our topic today is “Children's Mercy Research Institute: Expanding Research Efforts”. My guest is Dr. Tom Curran. He is the Executive Director of the Children's Mercy Research Institute. Dr. Curran, welcome to the show.
Dr. Tom Curran (Guest): Thank you very much, Dr. Mike, I'm happy to be here.
Dr. Mike: So, what is the Children's Research Institute?
Dr. Curran: The Children's Research Institute is the structure that supports all research that will be conducted at Children's Mercy Hospital. In the past, we've had pockets of research excellence, but we've really grown to the point where we need an infrastructure that can support and promote our research across the board in pediatrics.
Dr. Mike: And what impact will the research institute have on Children's Mercy and the community?
Dr. Curran: We hope there will be a substantial impact. Children's Mercy is a truly outstanding hospital. It's really a jewel in the crown of Kansas City. In fact, I tell people here, "You're much better than you think you are. You're just too modest." But, the hospital has grown to the point where, in addition to delivering outstanding care, it has the potential to change the lives of children treated here and even children treated elsewhere by conducting research that will deliver cures or understanding or diagnostics that go beyond the individual patient. So, in a sense, by treating one child here at Children's Mercy, we may impact thousands elsewhere.
Dr. Mike: So, how do you think or how do you see the research institute building stronger communication, not just within the community, but also between scientists and clinicians?
Dr. Curran: That communication between scientists and clinicians is paramount to what we call "translational research". Even the name translational research implies there's a kind of communication issue. Scientists and physicians often speak about the same entities but with different language. But, we want to translate a science discovery into new medicine, so we have to be able to talk together. The research institute will provide a whole series of support structures that improve that communication both internally and externally with the broader community.
Dr. Mike: You know, Dr. Curran, I can imagine, with the goal of the Institute being to expand research efforts, I can only imagine there are probably multiple strategies that you are implementing right now to achieve that goal. What are some of the ways that you are trying to expand research efforts?
Dr. Curran: Sure. There are several things that we're working on right now. One is that we, like other top hospitals, have an electronic health care system. That electronic health care system collects masses and masses of data that can be used actually to benefit our own patients as well as other patients with similar diseases. Building what's called an "informatics network" that allows data mining that the so-called "big data analysis" is one of the key steps to taking advantage of all that information. The other thing that we're building right now is a vial repository. Now, what is a vial repository? It's essentially a bank of patient samples and by depositing into that bank, patients preserve their tissues to allow future research and that future research could potentially come back and mediate advances in their own particular disease.
Dr. Mike: IS there any particular line of research that the institute wants to promote more? Or, when you talk about expanding research efforts, you're talking about any type of research that might be done in a pediatric setting, or is there a specific type of research that you want to support the most?
Dr. Curran: We're very interested in supporting research broadly, but the best way to do that is to start building on your strengths. Children's Mercy has great strengths in clinical pharmacology, in the new science of genomics, in outcomes research, and in behavioral research. Those are the four pillars that will be our initial points of strength that we'll build on, but we're very interested in looking more broadly. In a sense, our patients are teaching us what direction to take. We have a wealth of really interesting, very complex patients, some with very challenging disorders and their challenges are really the research challenges that we face moving forward.
Dr. Mike: Is most of the research that is being funded right now at the institute, is it pre-clinical research or is it mostly clinical?
Dr. Curran: There's really a mixture. I wouldn't want to say most one way or the other. There's a bit of a balance between pre-clinical research and clinical trials research and outcome research. We have a pretty healthy diversity of research going on, that we can build on moving forward.
Dr. Mike: I guess when you go back to the topic and the title of this show, Dr. Curran. It's "Expanding Research Efforts" and how challenging has this been and how successful have you been in obtaining the expansion of your efforts?
Dr. Curran: Well, I've been here three months [laughter] so I would say that I'm just at the very, very beginning.
Dr. Mike: We'll give you a break.
Dr. Curran: I would say at this point, I understand the size of the challenge and the depth of the problem, but we have a long way to go.
Dr. Mike: Yes. So, you're brand-new to the Children's Mercy team and that's awesome. I look forward to what you're going to be able to accomplish. Is there anything that you would like the listeners who are mostly clinicians listening to this show, is there anything you would like for them to know that we haven't covered about Children's Mercy Research Institute?
Dr. Curran: Absolutely. I would like to tell the clinicians out there that they are part of this whole research structure. We truly appreciate and admire their efforts in caring for their patients. The way their data collection is processed and put into the medical record provides a fundamental basis of future research. So, in a sense, I want to welcome and acknowledge that every physician is part of the research team, even if they don't know it themselves.
Dr. Mike: Is there a specific website that the research institute has that clinicians can go and check out what's going on and contact you or is it just the Childrensmercy.org website?
Dr. Curran: Just the Childrensmercy.org site right now. We will be building more communication venues moving forward, but right now it'll all be handled through the Children's Mercy website.
Dr. Mike: So, it must be a very exciting time for you, Dr. Curran, to be at Children's Mercy and truly be at the forefront of expanding the research efforts. I know that it's going to be challenging, but I also think it could be very successful for you. So, I want to thank you for the work that you're doing and thank you for coming on the show. You're listening to Transformational Pediatrics with Children's Mercy--Kansas City. For more information you can go to childrensmercy.org. That's childrensmercy.org. I'm Dr. Michael Smith. Thanks for listening.