Emails
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:39 AM
To: Partnership for Cures
Subject: ChEAFS
Dear Dr. Bloom:
I was the fortunate recipient in the Culpeper Medical Scholars Program 2001-2003. The research program funded, the Chikankata Epilepsy & Febrile Seizure Study (ChEAFS), was completed but due to unanticipated laboratory limitations we spent some time pondering the value of our findings. I am pleased to say that the findings of this work have now been disseminated with appropriate acknowledgement to Culpeper. Please see attached.
I continue to be extremely grateful for the support I received for this. Based upon the ChEAFS work, I was able to obtain a 5-year NIH NINDS K23 award to continue this line of scientific investigation in a Malawian population where my access to laboratory support was more substantive. The findings of this Malawi-based work, now being prepared for dissemination, will serve as the basis for an R01 application to NINDS to conduct a clinical trial of neuroprotective agents for pediatric cerebral malaria. The Culpeper funds proved critical in the early stages of this work. Please convey my appreciation to all involved.
Gretchen L. Birbeck, MD MPH DTMH FAAN
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 5:36 PM
To: PFC
Subject: Partnership for Cures Comment: Why PFC Makes Great Sense
One of the failures of modern American medical science and research has been the fragmentation of the effort. While we attract brilliant scientists and provide them the world's most modern technology, the pace of our progress against catastrophic diseases has been too slow. One reason is that research is conducted independently at various centers. Such duplication of effort is uneconomical and counterproductive.
PFC addresses the shortcomings of these current imperfect efforts and offers a logical and practical re-thinking of how to get to the finish line faster. When manpower/talent from assorted disciplines interact and pool knowledge and experience, the pace of the learning accelerates. Further, PFC is dedicated to moving the achievements of laboratory science more quickly to the bedside. No longer should basic science research stand as a separate field. Such research should not be conducting strictly for research's sake but rather must be immediately translated to improved patient treatments.
Rather than tolerate energy and resource depletion from competition between centers without a keen eye on the prize of curing human illness, we need to mobilize our most promising talent and then gather them together with all necessary technical support.
PFC has the model for a modern-day medical Manhattan Project.
Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Clinical Instructor
UCLA Center for the Health Sciences
