NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Baptist Memorial Health Care have reached an agreement that extends Vanderbilt's cancer-related research discoveries and treatments to a wider swath of patients in the South.
Under the academic affiliation agreement, a framework for collaborative oncology initiatives will be established between the partners, providing cancer patients at Baptist access to Vanderbilt's clinical research trials and genetic diagnostic tools. Patients in local communities throughout Baptist's 14-hospital system in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas will have access to many of these services created by the partnership, Vanderbilt and Baptist said in a joint statement.
“What this means to mid-South residents is enhanced access to specialized research and genomic medicine,” Jason Little, executive vice president and COO for Baptist, said in the statement. “This relationship will allow us to bring a whole new level of cancer research to Memphis and the surrounding area. We will be working with Vanderbilt-Ingram to develop more personalized cancer programs based on patients’ genetic makeup, which is the future of cancer therapy.”
The collaboration's goal is to advance cancer care in the region served by Baptist and to advance Vanderbilt's mission to prevent cancer. Specifically, the two organizations will partner on joint clinical trials, share clinical pathways, and share cancer tissue in order to progress personalized, genomic-based therapies.
Additional aims of the collaboration include jointly held conferences for physicians and staff; research-based fellowship training programs in oncology subspecialties; joint educational programs in cancer prevention, treatment, and control; and partnering on grant applications for cancer-related funding.
Baptist will participate In National Comprehensive Cancer Network activities as a Vanderbilt subsite. Vanderbilt is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.