Special Initiatives

Personalized Medicine

Investing in Personalized Medicinal Science
and Technology for Improved Patient Care

$50 Million Supports Arizona's Commitment

to Bioscience Excellence

 
Have you ever played the pharmaceutical guessing game? Your doctor prescribes a medication, you take it for two weeks and return to his office because you're still feeling under the weather. He writes a prescription for another medicine, and two weeks later you're back in his office with the same symptoms and no relief. Finally, on the third try, he prescribes a medication that works for you and, after tweaking the dosage for another month, you're finally getting results.

Across the country, patients and doctors routinely play this expensive and time-consuming trial-and-error method of finding effective pharmaceuticals. Doctors use the best data they have to determine which medications are more likely to work on the largest number of people in hopes that patients will respond. But the fact is that drugs work differently on different people.

Imagine another scenario of treatment: doctors use your
genetic information to deter-
mine which medications and dosages will produce the best response, getting you on the road to recovery more quickly and effectively.

With the mapping of the human genome, the second scenario may be closer than we think. Described as the basis of a “medical revolution,” personalized medicine will allow doctors to develop individual strategies for the detection, treatment and prevention of diseases based on a person’s genetic make-up.

The Piper Trust's commitment to Personalized Medicine

In its commitment to improve the quality of healthcare in Maricopa County, The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust in January 2006 announced plans to invest up to $50 million over the next five years to attract 10 of the world’s most distinguished leaders in the development of personalized medicine to the Valley. The Piper Trust’s Initiative in Personalized Medical Science and Technology will enable recognized research institutions in Maricopa County to attract 10 Piper Chairs – leading scientists, engineers and clinicians in the fields of bioscience, nanotechnology and advanced information technology who are working to advance personalized medicine.

“This initiative supports ongoing endeavors to propel Arizona’s bioscience industry to national prominence,” said Judy Jolley Mohraz, Ph.D., president and CEO of The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. “We are part of a much larger collaborative effort that will have long-term impact on the region’s economy and directly benefit the residents of Maricopa County. Personalized medicine promises a new level of medical care that utilizes diagnostic methods and treatment based on genetic information.”

Through the personalized medicine initiative, the Piper Trust in the next five years will provide up to 10 $5 million grants. Each grant will include $4 million for enhanced research; $500,000 for research by undergraduate and graduate students engaged in the chair’s research team; and $500,000 for a Piper Prize in Personalized Medicine to recognize the Piper Chair’s stellar achievements. The recipient institutions recruiting the Piper Chairs will provide funds for salaries for the chair and laboratory facilities.

Between the Trust’s investment and the funding by the recipient institutions, the amount of new dollars invested into Maricopa County’s economy will be upward of $100 million.

The appointments themselves will represent partnerships among the Valley’s various research institutions, since each Piper Chair will be required to hold joint appointments at more than one university, research institute or hospital operating in Maricopa County. They also will support the collaborative efforts underway to build the Valley’s bioscience capabilities.

In addition to working with potential grant recipients, the Trust has appointed an independent scientific advisory committee of national experts who are reviewing the recommended appointments and providing advice throughout the process.

While the new Personalized Medical Science and Technology Initiative is ambitious, it grew out of an investment focus established in the Piper Trust’s initial years of grantmaking and from Virginia Piper’s longstanding interest in cutting-edge medical research and state-of-the-art clinical care. In its first five years, the Trust made several individual investments totaling nearly $25 million in the field of cancer and bioscience research.