Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Highmark partner to expand clinical research activity in central Pennsylvania

$5 million commitment will expand vital research infrastructure to enable local providers to participate in clinical trials for cancer and other diseases

Hershey, Pa. -- Community hospitals and health care providers will have increased access to clinical trials and translational research thanks to a $5 million investment by Highmark Inc. to expand research infrastructure throughout central Pennsylvania. The commitment by Highmark, part of a 10-year agreement with Penn State and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center announced today, will enable physicians in private practice and community hospitals to directly enroll patients in clinical trials for new therapies to combat diseases such as cancer.

"As an academic health center, Penn State Hershey's role is to improve the breadth and depth of health care services available throughout the region," said Harold L. Paz, Penn State's senior vice president for health affairs, dean of Penn State College of Medicine and chief executive officer of Penn State Hershey Medical Center. "With Highmark's investment in research we can expand data collection capabilities as well as our number of clinical trial coordinators to enable local hospitals and health care providers to enroll patients directly into active trials for leading-edge treatments. This expanded infrastructure will allow our community partners to offer hope to patients whose options under traditional therapies are limited."

Penn State and its Medical Center are preparing to apply for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), a highly competitive federal research funding initiative. The CTSA program is specifically designed to change the local, regional and national health care environment to more swiftly and efficiently move scientific discoveries from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside to more effectively combat disease and improve health. Penn State's partnership Highmark is consistent with the NIH goals for the CTSA program:

-- It will support formal research education, training and career development for the next generation of clinical and translational researchers, including doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and other health professionals;

-- It will provide the technologies and knowledge base to support many types and sizes of clinical and translational studies;

-- It will provide a point of contact for partnerships with industry, foundations and community physicians;

-- It will foster collaboration within educational and research institutions as well as between those institutions and industry.

"One of the goals of this partnership is to improve the overall availability of excellent health care," said Kenneth R. Melani, president and chief executive officer of Highmark Inc. "We believe that by enhancing Penn State's ability to expand its research capabilities out into the community, we are helping to create a system of care that will enable thousands of cancer patients and individuals with other challenging illnesses to receive the most advanced treatment close to home."

Penn State Hershey Medical Center is part of a network of hospitals and health systems that form the Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI). Along with PSCI's other members, Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College and Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network Cancer Services in Allentown, nearly 6,000 new cancer patients are treated annually. Services also are provided at PSCI affiliates Lewistown Hospital, Wyoming Valley Health Care System in Wilkes-Barre and the Susquehanna Health System in Williamsport. These hospitals already collaborate on cancer research and health services, but Highmark's involvement will enhance their ability to work with other community providers and grow their overall number of available cancer trials.

Penn State Hershey Medical Center is on the verge of constructing a 175,000 square-foot cancer center on the Medical Center campus in Hershey that will serve as home to both outpatient cancer care and cancer research. The integrated facility is expected to be complete in early 2009, at which time the Medical Center will apply for National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. NCI designation is considered the gold standard for cancer care and research and once achieved can significantly increase an organization's access to cancer research funding and the most advanced clinical caner trials, and serves as a magnet for attracting and retaining cancer care specialists and researchers.

"This extension of clinical research capabilities into the community is critically important for patients and care providers alike in making cutting-edge cancer treatments available to patients, who might not otherwise have access to them," said Thomas Loughran, M.D., Penn State Cancer Institute director. "It is the kind of community engagement that NCI wants to see when considering whether an organization is deserving of NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center designation."

For more information, visit http://live.psu.edu/healthcare online.

Related stories:
-- Highmark, Penn State and Penn State Hershey Medical Center announce 10-year partnership, http://live.psu.edu/story/22770
-- Penn State, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Highmark to work together to develop health and wellness programs, http://live.psu.edu/story/22767
-- New Penn State Children's Hospital moves closer to reality, http://live.psu.edu/story/22765

* * *
MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT:
Sean Young, (717) 531-8606, e-mail: syoung@psu.edu
Bill Mahon, (814) 865-7517, e-mail: Bmahon@psu.edu
Leilyn Perri, (717) 302-4243, e-mail: Leilyn.perri@highmark.com