University Times

Pitt's School of Medicine has partnered with UPMC Health System to develop the Molecular Medicine Institute (MMI). Molecular medicine, the study of the genetic basis of disease, is widely recognized as integral to the future of modern medicine.

"Molecular medicine has provided us with seemingly unlimited possibilities for the development of new therapies," said Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. "As we begin to map the human proteome, we will enter a new era in medical practice."

The goal of MMI is twofold: First, the institute seeks to catalyze the growth and development of multidisciplinary pre-clinical and clinical research programs aimed at the use of novel molecular therapies, including gene transfer technologies and protein therapeutic methods, for the treatment of human disease. Second, MMI seeks to become a national model of how entities in diverse scientific areas can work together to advance molecular medicine.

Research within MMI will involve studying animal models of human disease to reveal obstacles and provide solutions to impediments to gene and protein therapy. These model systems also will be used to investigate new gene and protein transfer methods, and to measure their expression and their potential for human therapy.

Joseph Glorioso, MMI director, the William S. McEllory Professor of biochemistry and chairman of molecular genetics and biochemistry at the medical school, said, "The MMI will formally organize all of the School of Medicine's broadly based programs in gene therapy and the engineering of genetically modified cells and tissues used for transplant or tissue repair. Members of the institute will work closely with other institutes whose missions include diabetes, regenerative medicine, cancer and transplantation, providing expertise in gene transfer methodologies and purified proteins for manipulation of cells and tissues."

Leading MMI, in addition to Glorioso, will be deputy director Timothy R. Billiar, George V. Foster Professor of Surgery and chairman of the Department of Surgery, School of Medicine; research director Paul D. Robbins, professor of molecular genetics and biochemistry, School of Medicine, and medical director John A. Barranger, professor, Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health.

UPMC Health System will provide many of the resources necessary to carry out this complex scientific venture, including vector development and manufacturing capabilities, a vast patient base, funding and professional support.

Additional funding for MMI will come from the General Clinical Research Center; the Program of Excellence in Gene Therapy; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The Molecular Medicine Institute will be housed in the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center on the South Side, which will provide manufacturing facilities for production of peptide and gene drugs as well as vectors for gene drug delivery to patients.