Hospital leaders enroll in MURDOCK Study
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009
By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
CONCORD ó Saying the MURDOCK Study has the potential to change the face of medicine, two leaders at Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast rolled up their sleeves Friday and joined the ambitious research project.
“The study will determine, at a molecular level, how each person is different,” said Dr. Bob Kinney, vice president for medical education and research for CMC-Northeast.
Kinney and hospital President Mark Nantz gave blood samples before the cameras to raise awareness of the study and encourage others to join.
Duke University is conducting the long-term medical research project based at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
David Murdock, billionaire owner of Dole Food Co. and founder of the Research Campus, jumpstarted the study in 2007 with a $35 million gift.
Dubbed the Measurement to Understand Reclassification of Disease Of Cabarrus/Kannapolis, the study was named for him and focuses on chronic diseases like diabetes and arthritis.
In the first major discovery to come from the MURDOCK Study, hepatitis C researchers led by Dr. John McHutchison recently published the discovery of a marker that could predict which patients will respond to the drug most commonly used to treat the disease.
Only 50 percent of people with hepatitis C respond to the drug, which they must take for one year while enduring terrible side affects. Discoveries like this will alleviate suffering, Kinney said.
With about 1,600 participants, the study has a long way to go to reach its goal of 50,000 participants by 2013.
The study must enroll one out of every three adults in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County.
Project leader Dr. Ashley Dunham said it’s an ambitious but realistic goal.
“Once people understand the significance of the study and the chance to be a part of history, they will want to join,” she said.
Study leaders are especially interested in reaching out to the 400-plus physicians affiliated with CMC-Northeast.
Doctors know the community best, and they know what diseases people suffer from, Dunham said.
The study will enroll hospital employees Oct. 15, 16 and 17 at CMC-Northeast.
In 2010, the study will try to enroll 1,000 people each month, Dunham said. But with nine fulltime employees in the Kannapolis office, they need more help.
Dunham said she will hire additional staff this month to expand the office’s capabilities.
The study will have 11 or 12 enrollment sites by next year, she said. Currently, there are five.
Eventually, Duke researchers want to create personalized medicine, where people are treated as individuals instead of as a group, Dunham said.
Tests developed during the MURDOCK Study would help doctors determine which patients are at risk for certain diseases and whether a patient will respond to a particular drug.
New screenings and biomarkers could eliminate much of the trial-and-error that characterizes medicine today.
Participants who enroll in the study’s massive registry give blood and urine samples and agree to answer an annual health questionnaire. When researchers begin targeted studies for specific diseases, they will cull the registry for potential subjects.
Targeted intervention studies could begin within a few months, said Melissa Cornish, business development director for the study.
“We are actively pursuing funding for four to five other diseases,” Cornish said. “We will be recruiting from the people who are enrolled.”