SESSION 4: Strategies for Biomedical Research

Discussion Chair:  Kathryn Zoon (National Cancer Institute)
Reporters:  Andrew Pope and Cathy Liverman (IOM)
Participants (partial list):  K. Zoon, K. McCormick, S. S. Iverstein, M. C. Kim, G. Douglas, D. Acarnoff, R. Brent, F. Hazeltine, R. Johnson, N. Ascher, A. Stunkard, J. Roberts, S. Donaldson

Introduction by K. Zoon:

• Natural and man-made challenges:
  
  • Biological threats – e.g., SARS, pandemic influenza, smallpox, anthrax
  • Chemical threats – e.g., nerve gas
  • Nuclear and radiological threats
  • Noncommunicable diseases

• Research opportunities:
  
  • Pathogenesis or mechanism of action
  • Preclinical models
  • Understanding host-defense response
  • Prevention
  • Detection and diagnosis
  • Treatment
  • Monitoring
  • Decontamination/inactivation
  • Knowledge management – computational biology, bioinformatics, integrated data systems

• What will it take?
  
  • Strategic planning
  • Resources
  • Coordination and teamwork
  • Government, academia, and industry cooperation
  • Risk assessment, management, and communication
  • Education and training for a range of expertise and the public

Discussion with topics for IOM studies/further discussion:

Transferring Knowledge

• Shift in the paradigm of traditional clinical trials – need new models, methodology

• Knowledge transfer – getting the vast amount of biomedical information to the primary care providers – new mechanisms for knowledge transfer

• Cultural issues in biomedical research – cultural differences between industry and academia
  
  • Identify issues and strategies to address these issues – e.g., intellectual property, time schedules, shared grant information

Basic Science

• Integrating fundamental science into health systems (particularly schools of public health) – need for interdisciplinary activity, national strategies

• Incentives for translation of biomedical research to the clinic
  • Need for rewards in academic institutions for work on applied science

  • Need for public-private partnerships (business community not always responding well) 

  • Building on positive models – need more interdisciplinary work; recent RFA from NIH and CDC on biodefense – combine basic science with connectivity to state and local agencies; encourage young investigators to bring research to bear on applied problems

Global Context

• Global surveillance and other mechanisms for identifying what organisms/agents may be the next health problem (e.g., flu vaccine model)

Priorities

• Balancing and determining priorities in public health research – terrorism agents vs. other public health concerns (e.g., obesity, smoking)
  
  • Ensuring public health benefits from the investment in counter-terrorism research
  • Balancing research funding mandates –
    • Degree of specificity about particular agents (e.g., focusing just on smallpox to the exclusion of other agents)
  • Accessibility of information on research on bioterrorism agents/therapeutics – balancing the desire for open information on where research stands with security issues
  • Career paths and current security/research policies – protection for scientists