Four New Cancer Centers Join Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium
Eleven Institutions Accelerating Myeloma Research, Drug Discovery through Unique Consortium
New Canaan, Conn. (April 10, 2006) - The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) announced today that four additional academic institutions have joined its innovative research model. The new institutions are City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J., Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.
"We are excited to expand our model with the addition of four new Member Institutions," said Kathy Giusti, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the MMRC. "It is our hope that our collaborative research efforts in genomics, validation, and clinical trials will result in the rapid development of better, more effective treatments for myeloma."
These new MMRC Member Institutions join seven leading academic institutions already conducting novel research and discovery efforts through the MMRC, bringing the total number of MMRC Member Institutions to 11. Importantly, the addition of these new centers will accelerate the pace by which tissue samples are accrued into the MMRC Tissue Bank and will enable the MMRC to support additional Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and associated correlative studies.
"We believe the MMRC's unique research model has tremendous potential to advance myeloma research and drug discovery efforts," said Sherif Farag, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. "It is our true privilege to join the MMRC in their mission of bringing new treatments to patients as quickly as possible."
About Multiple Myeloma
The second most common hematologic (blood) cancer, multiple myeloma, which affects the plasma cell, represents one percent of all cancer diagnoses and two percent of all cancer deaths. Approximately 46,000 people in the United States are living with multiple myeloma and an estimated 14,600 new cases are diagnosed each year. Although the peak age of onset of multiple myeloma is 65 to 70 years of age, recent statistics suggest that incidence is increasing and at an earlier age.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) is a 509a3 non-profit organization that integrates leading academic institutions to accelerate drug development in multiple myeloma. It is comprised of the MMRC and 11 member institutions: City of Hope National Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, Hackensack University Medical Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, St. Vincent’s Comprehensive Cancer Center of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York, University Health Network (Princess Margaret Hospital), and University of Chicago.
The MMRC was founded in 2004 by Kathy Giusti, a myeloma patient, and with the help of the scientific community, as an optimal research model to rapidly address critical challenges in accelerating drug development and explore opportunities in the most promising areas of myeloma research—genomics, compound validation, and clinical trials. The MMRC is the only consortium to join academic institutions through membership agreements, customized IT systems, and an integrated tissue bank. For more information, please visit www.themmrc.org.
Eleven Institutions Accelerating Myeloma Research, Drug Discovery through Unique Consortium
New Canaan, Conn. (April 10, 2006) - The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) announced today that four additional academic institutions have joined its innovative research model. The new institutions are City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J., Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.
"We are excited to expand our model with the addition of four new Member Institutions," said Kathy Giusti, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the MMRC. "It is our hope that our collaborative research efforts in genomics, validation, and clinical trials will result in the rapid development of better, more effective treatments for myeloma."
These new MMRC Member Institutions join seven leading academic institutions already conducting novel research and discovery efforts through the MMRC, bringing the total number of MMRC Member Institutions to 11. Importantly, the addition of these new centers will accelerate the pace by which tissue samples are accrued into the MMRC Tissue Bank and will enable the MMRC to support additional Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and associated correlative studies.
"We believe the MMRC's unique research model has tremendous potential to advance myeloma research and drug discovery efforts," said Sherif Farag, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. "It is our true privilege to join the MMRC in their mission of bringing new treatments to patients as quickly as possible."
About Multiple Myeloma
The second most common hematologic (blood) cancer, multiple myeloma, which affects the plasma cell, represents one percent of all cancer diagnoses and two percent of all cancer deaths. Approximately 46,000 people in the United States are living with multiple myeloma and an estimated 14,600 new cases are diagnosed each year. Although the peak age of onset of multiple myeloma is 65 to 70 years of age, recent statistics suggest that incidence is increasing and at an earlier age.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) is a 509a3 non-profit organization that integrates leading academic institutions to accelerate drug development in multiple myeloma. It is comprised of the MMRC and 11 member institutions: City of Hope National Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, Hackensack University Medical Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, St. Vincent’s Comprehensive Cancer Center of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York, University Health Network (Princess Margaret Hospital), and University of Chicago.
The MMRC was founded in 2004 by Kathy Giusti, a myeloma patient, and with the help of the scientific community, as an optimal research model to rapidly address critical challenges in accelerating drug development and explore opportunities in the most promising areas of myeloma research—genomics, compound validation, and clinical trials. The MMRC is the only consortium to join academic institutions through membership agreements, customized IT systems, and an integrated tissue bank. For more information, please visit www.themmrc.org.
