More about the TRI
TRI Technologies
The TRI is a pioneering initiative for clinical translational research at Florida Hospital – a large tertiary care hospital and health care system. The TRI aims to bridge the typical silos of clinical and laboratory research in order to translate fundamental biomedical discoveries and technologies, and to implement specific treatment strategies to deliver care in a manner that is tailored to the individual patient.
Translational research is the bidirectional flow of information between “bench” and “bedside” to ultimately assess the relative merits of an innovative disease target or a novel disease modifying agent in patients. TRI investigators working directly with patients will make pivotal observations about disease processes and provide blood and tissue samples from highly characterized patients to Sanford-Burnham researchers in a collaborative two-way interaction.
Metabolomics, genomics, and proteomics technology platforms facilitate the success of Sanford-Burnham’s basic discovery research. These technologies will also be employed in the molecular phenotyping of patient samples who participate in clinical research at the TRI. Profiling metabolites, genes, and proteins will identify biomarkers that serve as signatures of health and disease, identify new therapeutic targets, and provide additional guidance on the sub-classification of diabetes.
Sanford-Burnham’s ability to engage in cutting-edge pre-clinical research using mouse models of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease enables researchers to test hypotheses which are drawn from observations in patient-oriented research. Mouse models of different diseases, such as heart failure, for example, can be used to develop diagnostic biomarkers, and metabolomics analysis will help determine if a patient’s heart failure is more related to diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart attack.
Collaborative activities between basic science research, pre-clinical investigations and patient-oriented clinical research will foster exciting discoveries for complex, heterogeneous metabolic diseases.
TRI History
In 2006, Sanford-Burnham Institute initiated plans for a research facility in Orlando, Florida, and began discussions with regional life science organizations about collaborative opportunities. Florida Hospital, one of the largest not-for-profit hospitals in the country, became an early partner of Sanford-Burnham with complementary clinical expertise in diabetes and metabolism and a shared commitment to add translational research to an established program of clinical diabetes research. In 2008, the Florida Hospital - Sanford-Burnham TRI was formed to facilitate the translation of novel scientific discoveries into practical therapeutic applications for diabetes and obesity. The TRI will be located in a state-of-the-art, 54,000 square foot building being constructed in Orlando on the Florida Hospital campus due for completion in March 2012.
Florida Hospital cares for more than a million patient visits per year and includes one of the largest and most comprehensive Diabetes and Endocrine Institutes in the country with 30,000 patient visits annually. The more than 2,000-bed system is comprised of eight hospitals and 18 out-patient care locations throughout Central Florida. www.floridahospital.com