20th Anniversary Highlights of Hope
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
EPIGENETICS<br />
CONTINUED FROM PG 25 ><br />
disease. It is also now home to a<br />
Cryo-EM Core, a suite <strong>of</strong> high-powered<br />
electron microscopes that can determine<br />
the structure <strong>of</strong> minute molecules<br />
1/10,000 th the width <strong>of</strong> a human hair.<br />
Perhaps most exciting, the Institute is<br />
supporting clinical trials across the U.S.<br />
and abroad in the hope <strong>of</strong> moving new<br />
therapies into clinical practice.<br />
Further Together<br />
Before new drugs are used in patients<br />
they must run the gauntlet <strong>of</strong> clinical trials,<br />
which are complex, costly and rigorously<br />
conducted studies designed to ensure a<br />
drug’s efficacy and safety. These trials also<br />
require a tremendous amount <strong>of</strong> support<br />
and time. Jones and his team knew this<br />
obstacle presented an opportunity to have<br />
an immediate impact.<br />
They also knew that joining forces with some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the most influential and well-respected<br />
cancer research, medical and philanthropic<br />
organizations in the U.S. and abroad would<br />
strengthen and streamline their efforts.<br />
So, on a fall day in 2014, leading scientists<br />
and clinicians from these organizations,<br />
along with representatives from Stand Up To<br />
Cancer, the American Association for Cancer<br />
Research and industry, met at the Institute<br />
with one goal—to compete against cancer<br />
rather than each other.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the results was the Van Andel<br />
Research Institute–Stand Up To Cancer<br />
Epigenetics Dream Team, a multiinstitutional<br />
effort to move epigenetic<br />
combination therapies into clinical trials<br />
and, ultimately, to patients. It was built on<br />
Stand Up To Cancer’s paradigm-shifting<br />
Dream Team model, which focuses on<br />
supporting cutting-edge research by<br />
collaborative teams.<br />
The first trial under the team’s auspices<br />
was launched in 2016 and focused on<br />
a promising combination therapy for<br />
VARI IS HOME TO THREE FELLOWS OF THE<br />
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH ACADEMY; DR. PETER JONES, VARI'S CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER<br />
AND CO-LEADER OF THE VARI-SU2C EPIGENETICS DREAM TEAM; DR. GEORGE VANDE WOUDE, VARI'S FOUNDING<br />
RESEARCH DIRECTOR; AND DR. STEPHEN BAYLIN, CO-LEADER OF THE VARI-SU2C EPIGENETICS DREAM TEAM.<br />
26 | VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE HIGHLIGHTS OF HOPE
Change language