Driving a Genomics Revolution Through Open Source Innovation
“We’re living in a big data world. Not just in bio and life sciences, but in every aspect of life,” observed Dr. Eric Schadt, co-founder of Sage Bionetworks, Director of the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, and Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mt. Sinai Medical School.

In Ann Arbor as the guest of the BD team and the International Society of Nephrology Conference, Dr. Schadt spoke at the BioArbor Life Sciences Forum along with Dr. Brian Athey, Chair of U-M's new Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and chairman of tranSMART. Over 200 guests from business and academia--what Dr. Athey called the local life sciences “ecosystem”--had the unique opportunity to hear the views on open source innovation from two globally recognized leaders in the "omics" field. CLICK HERE for photos and to view a complete video of the June 6 event co-hosted by the BD team.

Story credit: Ann Curtis, UMMS Business Development

First U-M/MedImmune Projects Launch
In May the U-M Medical School and MedImmune officially launched their ground-breaking collaboration with the announcement of three inaugural research projects. These first projects will focus on cancer, with future efforts planned to target areas with significant unmet medical needs, including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases.

"Bridging discovery to clinical expertise is one of the strengths we bring to the partnership with MedImmune," notes U-M's Colin Duckett, PhD, pictured above with Jacques Nor, PhD, as well as MedImmune's David Tice, PhD and Robert Hollingsworth, PhD. "These first projects in oncology are a perfect example of the wide collaborative teams that are possible here at the University of Michigan."

Story credit: Ann Curtis, UMMS Business Development

U-M Study Finds Antidepressant Helps Relieve Pain From Chemotherapy
The antidepressant drug duloxetine, known commercially as Cymbalta, helped relieve painful tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59 percent of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of certain chemotherapy drugs. The tingling feeling -- usually felt in the toes, feet, fingers and hands -- can be uncomfortable for many patients, but for about 30 percent of patients, it's a painful sensation. Previous studies have found no reliable way to treat this type of pain.

In the current study, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, researchers looked at 231 patients who reported painful neuropathy after receiving the chemotherapy drugs oxaliplatin or paclitaxel. Patients were randomly assigned to receive duloxetine or a placebo for five weeks. They were asked to report on their pain levels weekly throughout the study.

The researchers found that 59 percent of patients who received duloxetine reported reduced pain, while only 39 percent of those taking placebo did.

"These drugs don't work in everyone. The good news is it worked in the majority of patients. We need to figure out who are the responders. If we can predict who they are, we can target the treatment to the people it's going to work for," said lead study author Ellen M. Lavoie Smith, Ph.D., APRN, AOCN, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and a researcher at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Duloxetine has previously been shown to help relieve painful diabetic neuropathy. This type of antidepressant is believed to work on pain by increasing neurotransmitters that interrupt pain signals to the brain.

In this study, participants received a half dose of duloxetine – 30 milligrams a day - the first week before ramping up to a full dose of 60 mg daily for four more weeks. Few severe side effects were reported with this approach. The most common side effect was fatigue.

Treating painful peripheral neuropathy is critical because the condition can lead doctors to limit the patient's chemotherapy dose if the pain becomes too severe.

"In addition to improving symptoms and quality of life, treating peripheral neuropathy pain potentially improves quantity of life if it helps patients avoid decreasing their chemotherapy medications," Smith says.

Often, Smith adds, patients avoid telling their doctors about pain because they do not want their chemotherapy dose decreased.

"Patients make this trade-off sometimes: They don't want to give up the chemotherapy and decide they'd rather have this pain. That's a terrible trade off to make," Smith says.

The researchers' next steps are to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from duloxetine.

Story credit: Nicole Fawcett, UMHS PRMC

UMHS Collaborates with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to Improve Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan Health System, along with 11 other hospitals, have launched a new initiative aimed at improving the quality of hip and knee replacement for thousands of Michigan residents who annually undergo these procedures.

The initiative builds upon an award-winning model of collaboration between the Blues and hospitals that has improved quality and reduced unnecessary costs for other surgical and medical procedures in the state, saving $232 million statewide.

The longer-term approach could reduce the need for patients to undergo subsequent surgeries to replace or repair the implant.

Data from participating hospitals will be collected by the newly formed Michigan Arthroplasty Registry Collaborative Quality Initiative, and then used to develop best practices for the procedures. Orthopedic surgeons statewide will meet regularly to review the data, share information and identify improvements to achieve effective, quality results.

"Our data registry will first focus on how to improve outcomes right after surgery, helping reduce the number of infections and other complications," says Brian Hallstrom, M.D., clinical leader of the arthroplasty initiative and orthopedic surgeon at the University of Michigan Health System. "Then we'll also take a longer-term approach to see what changes could improve the outcome, such as implant choice or other factors."

Hallstrom estimates a typical hip or knee replacement surgery costs $20,000 to $30,000. Re-replacement or revision surgeries can cost three to four times more, and usually require longer hospital stays.

"We're aiming to catch problems with implants and other aspects of surgery, so we can avoid complications and revision surgeries. This would significantly reduce the trouble and the pain for patients and the cost to the health system in general," says Hallstrom.

"This new initiative is one of 12 collaborations that the Michigan Blues support in partnership with hospitals across Michigan," says David Share, M.D., M.P.H., vice president, Value Partnerships, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. "These collaborations are saving valuable health care dollars by increasing safety, reducing complications and improving the quality of medical and surgical procedures for over 200,000 patients in Michigan each year."

The collaborations are part of Value Partnerships, a series of initiatives among physicians, hospitals and the Michigan Blues, all aimed at improving quality and safety in medical care.

Story credit: Shantell Kirkendoll, UMHS PRMC