The accord is a marriage of basic and clinical research in little-studied areas that could lead to new treatment approaches, said university and hospital officials.

"With this agreement, the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) will be leading the way in bringing genome-enabled discoveries directly to clinical medicine," said IGB Director Harris A. Lewin, a professor of animal sciences. "The partnership between the IGB and Carle Foundation Hospital is an ideal mechanism for promoting translational biomedical research, precisely at a time when the public is expecting direct health-care benefits from years of investing in genome sciences."

James C. Leonard, M.D., the president and CEO of The Carle Foundation, further commented on the significance of this collaboration, recognizing its impact on the future of health care. "We see these university researchers partnering with our local physicians to create solutions and advancements in direct patient care. Our vision at Carle Foundation Hospital is to claim our position as a research organization through collaboration with University of Illinois researchers, placing a stronger focus on translational research."

Scientists working under the IGB's Host-Microbe Systems research theme, led by microbiologist Brenda A. Wilson, will collaborate with Carle physician Jon S. Weisbaum, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, to obtain vaginal tissue samples from consenting healthy women.

IGB scientists will then use newly emerging DNA technologies to isolate and identify all microbes in the samples and determine how changes in their composition and concentrations influence women's health and susceptibility or resistance to vaginal infections. Thera
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Contact: Jim Barlow, Life Sciences Editor
jebarlow@uiuc.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
4-Feb-2005