HELIXMAGAZINE RESEARCH ISSUE 4 NEW LAUNCHPAD FOR CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH The Innovation and Research Park 16 GENOMICS: A FIELD ON FIRE The Center for Genetic Diseases aims to deliver options 30 PATHFINDER Alumna named director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute PLEASE JOIN US AS WE HONOR...YOU! CONNECT • DISCOVER • UNITE an interprofessional celebration for alumni, trustees, students, faculty and staff OCTOBER 19–20, 2018 REGISTER TODAY at https://rfu.ms/rfufest RESEARCH ISSUE SUMMER 2018 HELIX Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science proudly presents the summer issue of Helix magazine, dedicated to the exceptional research of its many investigators who are working to improve the health of all people. 2 MESSAGE FROM DR. MICHAEL WELCH AND DR. RONALD KAPLAN INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PARK 4 NEW LAUNCHPAD FOR CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH The new Innovation and Research Park helps fulfill RFU’s mission to create and translate knowledge that will improve the health of the population. 8 WORLD EXPERTISE IN NEUROSCIENCE The Brain Science Institute 10 NEW DIRECTIONS IN ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH The Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Therapeutics 12 DECODING THE SECRETS OF THE BRAIN The Center for Brain Function and Repair Helix is the official triannual magazine of Rosalind Franklin University of 14 SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF RESILIENCE Medicine and Science. The Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders Produced by the 16 GENOMICS: A FIELD ON FIRE Office of Marketing and The Center for Genetic Diseases Communications 18 BIG DATA, HUGE DISEASE TARGETS 3333 Green Bay Road North Chicago, IL The Center for Proteomics and Molecular Therapeutics 60064-3095 INTEGRATIVE IN APPROACH TO CANCER RESEARCH phone: 847-578-8313 20 www.rosalindfranklin.edu The Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection FEATURES 22 SUMMER LABS INVITATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Students explore the exciting world of academic research. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science is seeking comments from the public about the university in preparation for its periodic 26 BENCH STRENGTH evaluation by the Higher Learning Commission, RFU researchers and Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center its regional accrediting agency. The university will host a visit, Oct. 1-2, 2018, with a team representing clinicians collaborate to improve the lives of veterans and active duty military. the commission. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s criteria 30 PATHFINDER for accreditation. The public is invited to submit Lisa Monteggia, PhD ’99, is the new director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute. comments regarding the university to the following address: Public Comment on Rosalind Franklin University Higher Learning Commission RFU GIVING SOCIETIES 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500 Chicago, IL 60604-1411 32 LIVING LEGACY The public may also submit comments on HLC’s Mrs. Monica Ply honors her late husband through gifts to RFU medical website at www.hlcommission.org/comment. research and Lovell FHCC. Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing and should include the name, address and telephone number of the person providing the comments. Please note that comments will not be treated as confidential. They must be signed and they must be sent to HLC no later than one month prior to Oct. 1, 2018. Cover photo: Michelle Hastings, PhD, director of the Center for Genetic Diseases MESSAGE FROM UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP OUR LATEST RESEARCH EXPANSION AND REORGANIZATION SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT OUR UNIVERSITY AND SENDS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY, OUR PEER INSTITUTIONS, THE BIOSCIENCE INDUSTRY, OUR CLINICAL AND RESEARCH PARTNERS AND ALL WHO SUPPORT OUR MISSION. It says that we are moving forward with confidence and purpose by renewing our investment in discovery while building our capabilities for translational research as a means to producing new diagnostics and therapeutics that will improve the health and well-being of individuals and populations. It says that we are committed to overcoming barriers to innovation, to taking risks, to adapting and evolving to help solve seemingly intractable problems of chronic, preventable and genetic diseases. “Our new disease-focused Innovation and Research Park, which you will read about in this issue of Helix, will create new synergies and new stimulus and vitality that will foster the progress of our research.” It says that we are determined to break down the silos that so easily rise up between fields of research and institutions and their communities through our interprofessional culture of teamwork, civility, inclusion and excellence in scholarship. Our new disease-focused Innovation and Research Park, which you will read about in this issue of Helix, will create new synergies and new stimulus and vitality that will foster the progress of our research. Designed to increase interaction, the free exchange of ideas and a sharing of expertise and scientific tools, the new building will provide a supportive environment and enriching milieu for investigators, postdocs, students and life science partners. This highly collegial environment will facilitate workforce pathways, intensive mentoring and informal networking that will help launch young scientists, biomedical and health professionals from diverse backgrounds and experiences who are the lifeblood of our future. We must continue to look to the future, to move forward by building upon core ideas and expanding our scientific knowledge. We continue to rely on your commitment and our nation’s support for the basic and applied research that, generation upon generation, fuels scholarship and innovations that improve health and an ever deeper understanding of life and the world in which we live. K. MICHAEL WELCH, MB, ChB, FRCP RONALD S. KAPLAN, PhD PRESIDENT AND CEO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH 2 ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY RFU RESEARCH TOTAL AND FEDERAL RESEARCH DOLLARS PER YEAR $14M $12M $10M 13,548,865 13,502,650 13,108,172 $8M 12,751,095 12,172,767 11,266,157 11,262,865 11,019,485 10,992,661 10,890,674 $6M 10,584,761 9,998,724 9,615,142 9,533,655 9,196,004 9,165,321 8,815,534 $4M 7,960,370 7,464,506 7,207,420 $2M $0M 2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018* Total Research Dollars Federal Research Dollars * As of June 30, 2018, also includes recommended awards 2008/2009 2009/2010 20010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 MENTORING201718 19 37 UNDERGRADUATE 11 TOTAL: 85 AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OUR RESEARCH LABORATORIES 2016 15 9 35 20 TOTAL: 79 201718 19 37 11 TOTAL: 85 2015 18 25 13 11 TOTAL: 67 2016 15 9 35 20 TOTAL: 79 2014 23 14 14 15 TOTAL: 66 2015 18 25 13 11 TOTAL: 67 2013 10 23 12 13 TOTAL: 58 2014 23 14 14 15 TOTAL: 66 9 9 7 18 2012TOTAL: 7 43 9 9 2013 10 23 12 13 TOTAL: 58 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 9 9 7 18 2012TOTAL: 7 43 9 9 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 NUMBER OF STUDENTS DePaul Lake Forest College INSPIRE Undergraduate and high school volunteers RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS AND EXTRAMURAL FUNDING Visit https://rfu.ms/research2018 Rosalind Franklin University’s more than 50 researchers are nationally recognized for their work in basic and clinical sciences. They are making important contributions to the scientific literature in major disease-related research areas, including neuroscience, neurodegenerative disease, proteomics, diabetes and cancer. Our research funding is substantial, despite an increasingly competitive grant environment. HELIX SUMMER 2018 3 RFU RESEARCH THE INNOVATION AND RESEARCH PARK AND ITS DISEASE- FOCUSED CENTERS WILL DRIVE THE TRANSLATION OF NOVEL MEDICAL DISCOVERIES VIA EXPANDED COLLABORATIONS WITH INDUSTRY AND BIOTECH ENTREPRENEURS, RENEWED EMPHASIS ON CAPTURING AND COMMERCIALIZING THE UNIVERSITY’S INVENTIONS, AND SUPPORT OF THOSE FACULTY ENGAGED IN FORMING NEW COMPANIES. “We’re fulfilling our mission of not only advancing knowledge but creating knowledge that can be translated into improving the health of the population,” said Executive Vice President for Research Ronald Kaplan, PhD. “That’s part of our mission that we’re seeking to better fulfill, including capturing and commercializing our high- impact inventions.” “The centers will serve as focal points for industry collaborations, whether or not potential partners choose to actually locate within the park,” said Steven Kuemmerle, PhD, RFU’s special advisor for innovation and industry partnerships. “They serve as a signal to industry that we are collaboration ready, that we’re disease- and platform-focused, that we’re giving these initiatives the best possible launchpad for conducting novel and cutting-edge research. Our renewed effort to commercialize our patent portfolio shows that we are serious about deploying our discoveries to benefit patients.” “We’re aiming for center grants, program project grants and philanthropic disease- oriented funding.” RONALD S. KAPLAN, PhD RFU’s shift to disease-focused research represents an holistic approach to translational medicine, said Chicago Medical School alumnus Jeffrey W. Sherman, MD ’81, FACP, chief medical officer and executive vice president for Lake Forest, IL-based Horizon Pharma. “People can relate to disease-focused research, understand it and it resonates with everyone,” Dr. Sherman said. “There are finite government dollars to support research with more and more emphasis on the translation of basic science into possible therapies that can impact health and well-being. We’re seeing that at the NIH level and in foundations and patient groups eager to fund translational research.” Universities that leverage translational research into commercial therapeutics help improve both human health and their own financial health through diverse revenue streams, Dr.