SPARTANBURG, SC--(Marketwired - January 29, 2016) - The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU) in Winston-Salem, N.C., has joined Guardian Research Network (GRN). The rapidly growing nationwide collaborative with a vision to expand clinical trial access and provide new clinical insights has grown to nearly 80 hospitals in 10 states. Guardian Research Network intends to accelerate the clinical trial and drug development process through its unique clinically integrated platform.
"We welcome the CCCWFU to the network," said Timothy J. Yeatman, MD, President of Guardian Research Network. "They have a long and distinguished history in cancer research and its precision medicine program is one of the best in the world -- we are honored they have joined the team."
Guardian Research Network is a nationwide consortium of health systems harnessing the power of big data and aggregating hundreds of thousands of patient clinical and molecular profiles into dynamic knowledge architecture. This provider-led revolutionary collaboration with sophisticated healthcare data analytics brings advanced targeted therapies to the community and clinicians. Guardian Research Network benefits patients, member hospitals, clinicians and life science professionals by providing patient access to leading therapies without leaving home.
Guardian Research Network intends to halve the time for clinical trial accrual, shorten drug development cycles, improve data quality through real-time electronic feeds, and make the cancer drug development process cost-effective for innovative drugs. Speed-to-trial accrual will be dramatically increased for actionable patients since searches are based on a nationwide database of integrated electronic data from EMRs that includes all protocol eligibility criteria.
"A major principle of the network is to eliminate treatment disparities, particularly for the poor and underserved," said James Bearden, MD, Vice President of Research, Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute. "The elite CCCWFU is perfectly aligned with that principle."
"The CCCWFU team brings to the network a tremendous addition of expertise in advancing the science of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer oncology," said Mark Watson, MD, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, Guardian Research Network. "We are thrilled that they have joined the network."
Wake Forest Cancer Center Director Boris Pasche, MD, Ph.D. said he was hopeful about the future of precision medicine and the development of a cure for cancer.
"The availability of these large structured data sets and the disease biology insights they provide will benefit CCCWFU patients in the immediate future and will expedite progress toward precision medicine and enhance our research capabilities with a combined goal to cure cancer," Pasche said.
For media relations inquiries, please contact Maria Williamson at 864-560-6425.
Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (www.wakehealth.edu) is a nationally recognized academic medical center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with an integrated enterprise including educational and research facilities, hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers and other primary and specialty care facilities serving 24 counties in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia. Its divisions are Wake Forest Baptist Health, a regional clinical system that includes Brenner Children's Hospital and has close to 175 locations, 900 physicians and 1,000 acute care beds; Wake Forest School of Medicine, an established leader in medical education and research; and Wake Forest Innovations, which accelerates the commercialization of research discoveries and specialized research capabilities of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and operates Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, an urban district for research, business and education. Wake Forest Baptist clinical, research and educational programs are annually ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU) started in the early 1960's and became an NCI-designated cancer center in 1972 and a comprehensive center in 1990. The mission of the Cancer Center is to improve the lives of cancer patients by focusing basic, clinical, and population sciences on the problems of cancer prevention, early diagnosis, and novel treatment. The Center's research is divided into four programs: Cell Growth and Survival, Cellular Damage and Defense, Clinical Research, and Cancer Prevention and Control. To facilitate the scientific and translational goals of the programs, the CCCWFU has established three Centers of Excellence in brain, breast, and prostate cancer. The CCCWFU was founded with a strong community orientation and continues this tradition by addressing cancer issues that are important to the region's large contingents of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, rural poor, and pockets of urban poor. The Center works very closely with the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at WFU, which was founded by the renowned poet to address health disparities across the region and the nation.
Guardian Research Network
Guardian Research Network is a nationwide consortium of not-for-profit health systems that has established the infrastructure to store, analyze, integrate, and query large amounts of biological data and related information and uses advanced computing, intimate provider knowledge and mathematics to physically store, structure, analyze, and understand unique patient profiles. The common database, its structured architecture and research compliant format allow for the rapid identification of molecularly and clinically defined subpopulations to support targeted clinical trials provide new treatment insights and accelerate cures for cancer. The goal of Guardian Research Network is to dramatically increase clinical trial access, allowing patients to stay in their close to home and receive the best therapies, while at the same time revolutionizing the drug development process. To learn more, visit: www.guardianresearch.org.
"We welcome the CCCWFU to the network," said Timothy J. Yeatman, MD, President of Guardian Research Network. "They have a long and distinguished history in cancer research and its precision medicine program is one of the best in the world -- we are honored they have joined the team."
Guardian Research Network is a nationwide consortium of health systems harnessing the power of big data and aggregating hundreds of thousands of patient clinical and molecular profiles into dynamic knowledge architecture. This provider-led revolutionary collaboration with sophisticated healthcare data analytics brings advanced targeted therapies to the community and clinicians. Guardian Research Network benefits patients, member hospitals, clinicians and life science professionals by providing patient access to leading therapies without leaving home.
Guardian Research Network intends to halve the time for clinical trial accrual, shorten drug development cycles, improve data quality through real-time electronic feeds, and make the cancer drug development process cost-effective for innovative drugs. Speed-to-trial accrual will be dramatically increased for actionable patients since searches are based on a nationwide database of integrated electronic data from EMRs that includes all protocol eligibility criteria.
"A major principle of the network is to eliminate treatment disparities, particularly for the poor and underserved," said James Bearden, MD, Vice President of Research, Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute. "The elite CCCWFU is perfectly aligned with that principle."
"The CCCWFU team brings to the network a tremendous addition of expertise in advancing the science of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer oncology," said Mark Watson, MD, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, Guardian Research Network. "We are thrilled that they have joined the network."
Wake Forest Cancer Center Director Boris Pasche, MD, Ph.D. said he was hopeful about the future of precision medicine and the development of a cure for cancer.
"The availability of these large structured data sets and the disease biology insights they provide will benefit CCCWFU patients in the immediate future and will expedite progress toward precision medicine and enhance our research capabilities with a combined goal to cure cancer," Pasche said.
For media relations inquiries, please contact Maria Williamson at 864-560-6425.
Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (www.wakehealth.edu) is a nationally recognized academic medical center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with an integrated enterprise including educational and research facilities, hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers and other primary and specialty care facilities serving 24 counties in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia. Its divisions are Wake Forest Baptist Health, a regional clinical system that includes Brenner Children's Hospital and has close to 175 locations, 900 physicians and 1,000 acute care beds; Wake Forest School of Medicine, an established leader in medical education and research; and Wake Forest Innovations, which accelerates the commercialization of research discoveries and specialized research capabilities of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and operates Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, an urban district for research, business and education. Wake Forest Baptist clinical, research and educational programs are annually ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU) started in the early 1960's and became an NCI-designated cancer center in 1972 and a comprehensive center in 1990. The mission of the Cancer Center is to improve the lives of cancer patients by focusing basic, clinical, and population sciences on the problems of cancer prevention, early diagnosis, and novel treatment. The Center's research is divided into four programs: Cell Growth and Survival, Cellular Damage and Defense, Clinical Research, and Cancer Prevention and Control. To facilitate the scientific and translational goals of the programs, the CCCWFU has established three Centers of Excellence in brain, breast, and prostate cancer. The CCCWFU was founded with a strong community orientation and continues this tradition by addressing cancer issues that are important to the region's large contingents of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, rural poor, and pockets of urban poor. The Center works very closely with the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at WFU, which was founded by the renowned poet to address health disparities across the region and the nation.
Guardian Research Network
Guardian Research Network is a nationwide consortium of not-for-profit health systems that has established the infrastructure to store, analyze, integrate, and query large amounts of biological data and related information and uses advanced computing, intimate provider knowledge and mathematics to physically store, structure, analyze, and understand unique patient profiles. The common database, its structured architecture and research compliant format allow for the rapid identification of molecularly and clinically defined subpopulations to support targeted clinical trials provide new treatment insights and accelerate cures for cancer. The goal of Guardian Research Network is to dramatically increase clinical trial access, allowing patients to stay in their close to home and receive the best therapies, while at the same time revolutionizing the drug development process. To learn more, visit: www.guardianresearch.org.