2007 Research Annual Report - Director's Introduction

Research is a vital component of the mission of the Henry Ford Medical Group and Hospital.  Henry Ford Hospital is the major academic and research component of the Henry Ford Health System.  Since 1915, Henry Ford Hospital physicians and scientists have focused their efforts in a wide variety of research areas critical to understanding the mechanisms of disease and bringing new, viable treatment options to the patients' bedsides. Henry Ford Hospital research mainly focuses on: Diseases of the heart, blood vessels and kidney Diseases of the brain Diseases of the bones and joints Cancer Population and health sciences and healthcare financing

Margot C. LaPointe, Ph.D., Director of Research mlapoin1@hfhs.org

Much of Henry Ford Hospital research is translational in nature - from bench to bedside.  To support this, our basic sciences studies run the gamut from whole animal physiology to cell and molecular biology to bioengineering.  The departments with the largest basic sciences programs are Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Radiation Oncology.

Our health sciences research focuses on disease screening, prevention and management, health outcomes, disparities in care and health economics. Such studies are housed in the departments of Biostatistics and Research Epidemiology  and the Center for Health Services Research.

Henry Ford Hospital scientists and physicians participate in and lead many clinical trials which help us understand how to best treat diseases. This is also the mechanism by which new and potentially life-saving drugs are tested for safety and therapeutic efficacy. The Clinical Trials Office, one of our core services, manages the clinical research projects of several departments.  Clinical trials are run by research nurses and physicians in all of Henry Ford Hospital departments.  Altogether, there were more than 1,300 active studies in our medical and surgical departments in 2007.

Our basic and translational research studies are directed by a group of senior scientists (80 senior research staff) and their support personnel, as well as physician-scientists and Ph.D.s engaged in clinical activities. New research initiatives in 2007 included 139 clinical trial studies ($19.8M), 80 different clinical research projects ($12.7M) and 50 basic research projects ($16.3M), and 38 population and health sciences and healthcare financing projects ($7.3M).  The department of Clinical Systems Research and Integration of the HFHS also had $1M in funding.

Research Highlights

2007 Highlights of our National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research include 15 research projects totaling $7.1 million, one shared instrumentation grant totaling $500 thousand, 15 contracts/subcontracts totaling $1.5 million, and three ongoing grants totaling $4.1 million as described below:

New Grants Awarded by the NIH:

• Biostatistics and Research Epidemiology: 
• Admixture Mapping of Sarcoidosis Genes in African Americans (P.I.: Benjamin Rybicki, Ph.D.)
• A Nested Case-Controlled Study of Prostate Carciogenesis (P.I.: Benjamin Rybicki, Ph.D.)
• Regulatory T Cells in Gestation and Childhood Allergic Disease (P.I.: Ganesa Wegienka, Ph.D.)
• Epidemiology of Regulatory T Cells in Pregnancy and Childhood Atopic (P.I.: Ganesa Wegienka, Ph.D.)
• Center for Health Services Research:
  • The Impact of Diabetes Control on Employment and Work Productivity (P.I.: Jennifer Elston Lafata, Ph.D.)
• Emergency Medicine:
  • The Henry Ford Health System: A Hub for the NETT Network (P.I.: Christopher Lewandowski, M.D.)
• Hypertension and Vascular Research:
  • Vasoactive Autocoids in Blood Pressure Regulation (P.I.: Oscar Carreterro, M.D.)
  • Regulation of Macula Densa NAD(PH)H Oxidase Activiy During Tubuloglomerular Feedback (P.I.: Ruisheng Liu, Ph.D.)
  • Reactive Oxygen Species in Vascular Disease (P.I.: Patrick Pagano)
  • Hypertension and Collagen: Effect of Ac-SDCP (P.I.: Nour-Eddine Rhaleb, Ph.D.)
• Neurology:
  • Center for Stroke Research (P.I.: Michael Chopp, Ph.D.)
  • Resveratrol-Induced Apoptotic Cell Death in Glioma (P.I.: Hao Jiang, Ph.D.)
• Neurosurgery:
  • Simvastatin Treatment of Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage (P.I.: Donald Seyfried, M.D.)
• Radiology:
  • Cellular MRI in Glioma and Radiation Necrosis (P.I.: Syed Arbab Ali, Ph.D.)
  • Differentiation of Glioma from Radiation Injury Using Cellular MRI (P.I.: Syed Arbab Ali, Ph.D.)

New NIH Contracts/Subcontracts (greater than $100K):

• Biostatistics and Research Epidemiology:
  • CRN3-Infrastructure (P.I.: Christine Johnson, Ph.D.)
• Cardiology Research:
  • Cardiac Energy Metabolism in Heart Failure (P.I.: Hani Sabbah, Ph.D.)
• Infectious Diseases:
  • CPCRA Clinical Trial Unit ACTG (P.I.: Norman Markowitz, M.D.)
  • Center of Excellence in Oral and Craniofacial Biology (P.I.: Jose Vazquez, M.D.)
• Neurology
  • Progesterone Therapy for Women with Epilepsy (P.I.: Marianna Spanaki, M.D.)

Important Ongoing Grants from NIH:

• Neurology Research: Treatment of Neural Injury with MSCs (P.I.: Michael Chopp, Ph.D.)
• Pulmonary: Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening (Paul Kvale, M.D.)
• Radiation Oncology Research: Molecular Gene and Radiation Therapies for Cancer (P.I.: Svend Freytag, Ph.D.)