Study will go on even if Duke scientist takes FDA post

Thursday, May 21, 2009 3:07 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — Duke University's MURDOCK Study would continue as planned if lead investigator Dr. Rob Califf is tapped to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"We would carry on without a moment's hesitation," said Victoria Christian, chief operating officer for the long-term medical study based at the N.C. Research Campus.

The ambitious study already has plans to expand. Researchers will add cancer and disorders of the central nervous system to their list of targeted diseases, which include hepatitis C, heart disease, obesity and arthritis, Christian said.

Online blogs that cover the pharmaceutical industry have been buzzing since the Nov. 4 election with predictions about who will lead the FDA. Califf is a major contender.

Dr. John McHutchison, one of Califf's co-principal investigators for the MURDOCK Study, said he isn't surprised. "Of course he's under consideration," McHutchison said. "He's one of world's foremost authorities on clinical research."

If President-elect Barack Obama appoints Califf to lead the FDA, the N.C. Research Campus and Duke will suffer a great loss, Christian said.

"But it would be a great benefit to the country," she said. "He's uniquely suited to a role like that."

The MURDOCK Study would proceed because Califf has developed an "extraordinarily deep bench" of researchers and scientists at Duke who are committed to his vision to rewrite the textbook of medicine, Christian said.

"Certainly, the study is his creation," she said. "But the reality is that on a day-to-day, assay-to-assay basis, the study is the product of a very large team."

Duke has rented a house on Ridge Avenue across from the Core Laboratory in Kannapolis for MURDOCK Study researchers who need to spend the night. Duke also has several scientists helping to get the Core Lab up and running.

Califf, a cardiologist and director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, is also the visionary behind Duke's Biomarker Factory, a multi-million dollar business incubator proposed for the Research Campus. He did not respond to an interview request.

Christian, who has worked with Califf for 20 years, said he has dedicated his professional life to Duke. "But if you watch his career over the last 35 years, this would be a very difficult thing to pass up," she said. "Much of what he has done has defined the discipline, and he would have the chance to implement that on a national scale."

Duke researchers and staff are moving to add cancer and central nervous system disorders like Parkinson's disease to the study.

Christian said she has been considering proposals and working with investigative teams to broaden the scope of the study.

"We are looking to cover all of the prevalent diseases that affect humans," she said. "We are really discerning the right role for Duke on the Research Campus."

That work will have to continue without Califf if he's chosen to lead the FDA. "He would do an extraordinary job," McHutchison said. "But we all want him to stay here."

The MURDOCK Study and Research Campus benefit from having Califf under consideration for a federal appointment, Christian said. "It says the guy we have leading us is one of the best in the world," McHutchison said. "But we already knew that anyway."