Issue #2: Fall 2007 (pdf) - KU Endowment

“Just running into each other in the hall, you share ideas. You have
a problem, and you get it fixed in the hallway at the water cooler.”
LISA STEHNO-BITTEL on the collaborative working environment at the Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center
LISA SCHELLER
The Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center, which opened
in January, houses more than 300 researchers and staff. They
collaborate in their research as they seek ways to prevent,
treat and cure many serious diseases and medical conditions.
Synergy at work
To understand how diseases and the environment affect
reproductive success, Michael Wolfe studies functions at the
cellular and molecular levels. His laboratory is designed for
many types of research — so scientists with related goals can
work together easily.
Broad view
Diabetes is just one area of research at the life sciences
innovation center, which opened in January in Kansas City,
Kan. Every day, more than 300 researchers and staff are
looking for ways to treat, cure or prevent serious diseases
and medical conditions.
At the corner of 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard,
the center stands tall and filled with light. It’s the newest
addition to the KU Medical Center complex, symbolizing
the Medical Center’s commitment to establishing itself as a
world-class research center.
The new building also symbolizes a partnership
among the state of Kansas, the Medical Center and private
philanthropy. Funding of the $57-million, 205,000-squarefoot
facility resulted from an agreement between the state
and the Medical Center. In addition, the Hall Family
Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., donated $27 million for
state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.
Paul Terranova, the Medical Center’s vice chancellor
for research, said the life sciences innovation center
Joyce Slusser directs the Flow Cytometry Laboratory, one of the
center’s research cores. Above, she uses laser light to analyze
and detect differences between cells. The technology has many
applications, including detection of cancer. A gift from the Hall
Family Foundation provided the lab’s high-tech equipment.
includes established programs, such as those in liver
research, reproductive sciences and neuroscience, that
draw significant grant funding. The building also houses
emerging programs in diabetes management and in
proteomics, the study of proteins and their functions.
The center’s exceptional laboratory spaces and
technology have enhanced recruitment efforts. Terranova
estimated more than a third of the researchers are
new. Moreover, the center was designed to increase
communication among researchers by designating a
separate research focus for each floor.
“We thought if we had people together who could talk
to each other, share research, share ideas, we could develop
a certain degree of synergy so that the whole would be
greater than the sum of its parts,” Terranova said.
Though research is ongoing, it’s difficult to predict
when the results of the findings will make it into
mainstream medicine.
“You never know,” Terranova said. “You could make a
major discovery tomorrow, and it could have a major impact.”
Designed to foster interaction, the center’s interior architecture
includes conference rooms and informal seating areas as well as space
for impromptu meetings. Here, Paul Terranova, KU Medical Center
vice chancellor for research, confers with Yvonne Wan, one of the
Medical Center’s leading liver researchers.
Better lives
This research eventually will make a difference in the lives
of those diagnosed with many diseases, including diabetes.
“Research today has already led me to a new drug that
allows me to be free from insulin completely,” Butler Payne
said. “I feel great and, with exercise, can manage my diabetes
easily; think how far research can lead us in the future.”
Stehno-Bittel appreciates how the life sciences center’s
design helps researchers work together. “There is so much
more collaboration among the groups here,” she said. “Just
running into each other in the hall, you share ideas. You
have a problem, and you get it fixed in the hallway at the
water cooler.”
HELP FIND A CURE
To support any area of research at the Kansas Life Sciences
Innovation Center, give online at kuendowment.org/medcenter
or contact Stephanie Grinage at KU Endowment’s office at
KU Medical Center, 1-888-588-5249.
Fourth floor: Yvonne Wan leads researchers who study
factors that control liver functions. Their work will lead
to treatment and prevention of diseases such as alcoholic
hepatitis, gallstones, liver cancer and diabetes.
Third floor: Investigators led by Paul Terranova
study male and female reproductive function as well as
pregnancy. They also search for causes and treatments for
diseases that cause infertility and ovarian cancer.
Second floor: In the neuroscience center, directed
by Peter Smith, researchers study the nervous system.
Research is aimed at areas such as diabetes, disorders
affecting hearing and balance, and female pain syndromes
associated with estrogen (including migraine and
fibromyalgia).
First floor: Investigators in the proteomics program, led
by Gerald Carlson, study proteins that make up the body
and regulate cell function. Their work relates to various
diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Ground floor: Dr. David Robbins directs the Diabetes
Institute, where outpatients learn about nutrition and
exercise in preventing and managing diabetes.
Research cores: Twelve specialized laboratories provide
the latest technology to all Medical Center researchers
and other area research institutions.
14 KU GIVING FALL 2007 kuendowment.org 15