In the past 15 years, there have been great advancements in medical treatment for asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma. Still, mesothelioma remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat and the medical community still struggles with relatively low survival rates. In order to promote swift and significant progress to in medical development, the University of Pittsburgh has melded a bridge between the treatment and research community to aid in mesothelioma care.
Last week, Dr. Michael Becich spoke about the University of Pittsburgh National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (NMVB) at the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation 2012 Symposium. Dr. Becich contributed to a presentation aimed at demystifying medical breakthroughs for mesothelioma patients. Dr. Becich was joined by six leading researchers in a discussion of current and future trends in mesothelioma research based on the most influential science.
The NMVB is paramount to the progress of mesothelioma care, providing a resource designed to promote collaborative studies between clinicians and scientists through a biomedical informatics infrastructure. Established in 2006, The NMVB was created by the Department of Biomedical Informatic at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Bicech. The University of Pennsylvania and New York University have joined the NMVB, and the three universities collaborate to develop the most comprehensive network possible.
The goal of the NMVB is to support research by providing mesothelioma tissue samples and high-quality multi-nodal annotated data to researchers. The NMVB collects blood from patients with mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases and stored at the consenting institution's tissue bank. It compiles pathology, demographic and epidemiologic data and stores it at the NMVB central data base
There is a dire need for mesothelioma biospecimens so research scientists can test their hypotheses and advance treatment. The wealth of clinicopathology data collected by the NMVB allows for scientists to construct new hypotheses and test new theories of treatment. A biospecimen can be released for hypothesis testing once the research evaluation panel has approved a letter of intent. Soon, additional academic health science centers will be including their biospecimen collections from both retrospective and prospective cases.
Leaders in both the research and treatment communities praise Dr. Becich and the work of the NMVB for creating a more seamless community and for aiding in the advancement of mesothelioma therapies.
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation 2012 Symposium provided an impactful forum for innovators like Dr. Becich to come together and speak on their projects. Trendsetters from all over the country gathered to discuss significant breakthroughs in mesothelioma research and the hurdles that lie ahead. The NMVB represents a significant step in overcoming these hurdles and meeting the urgent needs of mesothelioma patients by connecting clinicians and research scientists through the use of biometical informatics tools.
