MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital continues to define the forefront of clinical care and research by announcing today the creation of a new alliance with two Southern California institutions: Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
The unique alliance is designed to benefit both patient care and research efforts. It will enable St. Jude, Rady Children’s and UCSD to combine their resources and expertise to pursue basic and translational research and clinical trials. With the treatment and research focus on pediatric cancer, other key partners include Children’s Specialists of San Diego.
A first for St. Jude is that the alliance will offer patients in Southern California protocols previously inaccessible in that region. The initial protocol will focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients who have relapsed.
“The alliance is designed to encourage and facilitate collaborative research that is of great interest to St. Jude, while allowing patients in the San Diego area to continue to receive medical care close to their homes,” said William E. Evans, Pharm.D., St. Jude hospital director and CEO. “This alliance will allow St. Jude to continue its mission of advancing cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.”
Kathleen Sellick, President and CEO of Rady Children’s Hospital added, “This new relationship with St. Jude and UC San Diego is another opportunity to further that vision. It enables UC San Diego, St. Jude, Rady Children’s and Children’s Specialists of San Diego to combine the strengths of each organization right here in San Diego.
Initially, the clinical trials available to children in Southern California will be studies of new cancer treatments; in the future, they will have access to clinical trials for other catastrophic diseases. In addition, St. Jude and UCSD investigators will collaborate on basic and translational research projects, including future efforts in nanotechnology.
“This exciting collaboration will bring promising experimental therapies for children to San Diego, and bring together the talents of the UCSD research community with those of St. Jude, one of the most impressive pediatric research centers in the country,” said David Brenner, M.D., Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at UC San Diego
Evans added, “We will take advantage of the intellectual capital of basic, translational and clinical researchers at all three institutions to advance medical knowledge of fundamental biological principles and systems underlying childhood cancers in order to increase the cure rates for children with catastrophic diseases around the world.”
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization. For more information, please visit http://www.stjude.org.
Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego
Since Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego first opened its doors in 1954, its mission has been “to restore, sustain and enhance the health and developmental potential of children through excellence in care, education, research and advocacy.” Rady Children’s is a 248-bed pediatric tertiary care facility providing the largest source of comprehensive pediatric medical services in San Diego and Imperial counties. As the sole hospital in the San Diego area dedicated exclusively to pediatric healthcare, Rady Children’s is the only designated pediatric trauma center for two counties, with pediatric Emergency and Trauma services. Rady Children’s has a 54-bed Pediatric Critical Care unit and a 38-bed Neonatal Intensive care unit, along with the largest comprehensive pediatric Cancer Care Center in San Diego, which includes both inpatient and outpatient care. There are a multitude of pediatric medical and behavioral health specialty services, including rehabilitation, orthopedic services, transplant services, respiratory care, psychiatry, trauma counseling and a full range of surgical services. Rady Children’s Convalescent Hospital is a 59-bed facility that cares for medically fragile children as well as children with sub-acute medical needs. For more information, please visit http://www.rchsd.org.
University of California, San Diego
Since its founding in 1959, the University of California, San Diego has rapidly risen to its status as one of the nation’s premier institutions for higher education and scientific exploration. Nestled along the Pacific coastline, UCSD is a powerful magnet for those seeking a fresh, next- generation approach to education, research and community service. The campus supports 20,200 undergraduate, graduate and medical students and 19,000 employees. The faculty includes five Nobel laureates and UCSD has one of the nation’s highest percentages of faculty elected to the prestigious national academies. The National Research Council ranks the quality of UCSD’s faculty and graduate programs 10th in the nation, including 14 academic programs ranked within the top 10. In its most recent survey, U.S. News and World Report ranked UCSD seventh among national public universities for educational excellence. Ninety-nine percent of UCSD’s entering freshmen graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class. In FY2000, UCSD’s $1.4 billion operating budget was comprised of federal, state and private revenue sources, including $135 million in private support and $461 million in research funding. The National Science Foundation lists UCSD as fifth in the nation for federal agency awards for research and development and sixth in the nation for federal R&D expenditures.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
CONTACT: Carrie Strehlau, +1-901-495-2295, carrie.strehlau@stjude.org, orSummer Freeman, +1-901-495-3061, summer.freeman@stjude.org, both of St.Jude Public Relations
