Highlights of Hope 20th Anniversary

EPIGENETICS
CONTINUED FROM PG 25 >
disease. It is also now home to a
Cryo-EM Core, a suite of high-powered
electron microscopes that can determine
the structure of minute molecules
1/10,000 th the width of a human hair.
Perhaps most exciting, the Institute is
supporting clinical trials across the U.S.
and abroad in the hope of moving new
therapies into clinical practice.
Further Together
Before new drugs are used in patients
they must run the gauntlet of clinical trials,
which are complex, costly and rigorously
conducted studies designed to ensure a
drug’s efficacy and safety. These trials also
require a tremendous amount of support
and time. Jones and his team knew this
obstacle presented an opportunity to have
an immediate impact.
They also knew that joining forces with some
of the most influential and well-respected
cancer research, medical and philanthropic
organizations in the U.S. and abroad would
strengthen and streamline their efforts. So,
on a fall day in 2014, leading scientists and
clinicians from these organizations along with
representatives from Stand Up To Cancer, the
American Association for Cancer Research,
and industry met at the Institute with one
goal—to compete against cancer rather
than each other.
One of the results was the Van Andel
Research Institute–Stand Up To Cancer
Epigenetics Dream Team, a multiinstitutional
effort to move epigenetic
combination therapies into clinical trials
and, ultimately, to patients. It was built on
Stand Up To Cancer’s paradigm-shifting
Dream Team model, which focuses on
supporting cutting-edge research by
collaborative teams.
The first trial under the team’s auspices
was launched in 2016 and focused on
a promising combination therapy for
AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT THE DALE CHIHULY SCULPTURE, LIFE, THAT
IS INSTALLED IN THE INSTITUTE'S LOBBY.
VARI IS HOME TO THREE FELLOWS OF THE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH ACADEMY; DR. PETER JONES, VARI'S CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
AND CO-LEADER OF THE VARI-SU2C EPIGENETICS DREAM TEAM; DR. GEORGE VANDE WOUDE, VARI'S FOUNDING
RESEARCH DIRECTOR; AND DR. STEPHEN BAYLIN, CO-LEADER OF THE VARI-SU2C EPIGENETICS DREAM TEAM.
metastatic colorectal cancer. Multiple
trials are in the pipeline to investigate
new therapies for other cancers such
as myelodysplastic syndrome and acute
myeloid leukemia.
“Collaborations like this are important—
they harness resources and expertise that
go beyond any one organization,” Jones
said. “It’s impossible for one place to have
all of the experts and the best of everything.
By joining forces, we can have an impact
not only here, but globally. We can do so
much more.”
Forward Momentum
What started in Grand Rapids is now
moving far beyond the city’s boundaries,
a revolution reflected in the scientific
discoveries shaping tomorrow’s lifechanging
therapies. The Institute has always
“When people say Van Andel Research
Institute, we want them to say
epigenetics, and when people say
epigenetics, we want them to say
Van Andel Research Institute.
- Dr. Peter Jones
been and will continue to be a connector,
a way to bring people and organizations
together in the pursuit of a common goal,
one outlined by Jay and Betty Van Andel in
the earliest days of VAI—improving health
and impacting lives. The ability to weave
together the expertise and resources of
many is more important now than ever
before; scientific fields and new technology
have become increasingly specialized, and
going it alone is no longer an option.
As the Institute has grown so has the city,
especially the Medical Mile that now crowns
Belknap Hill. At the same time, science
and medicine have been in the midst of
unprecedented discoveries, ever refining
the understanding of life’s most intricate
mechanisms.
The last 20 years have laid the foundation
for the Institute’s future—one that is
predicated on translating hope into
discovery and discovery into impact.
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