Rising hopes, rising costs
Research funding at DFCI
By Richard Saltus
Basic scientist Peter Sicinski, MD, PhD, probes cell growth with Qunyan Yu, MD.
Clad in a crisp white coat over a blue shirt and tie, Matthew Kulke, MD, pops in and out of exam rooms at Dana-Farber to check on his patients, many of whom have rare cancers called neuroendocrine tumors. "I'm very interested in how this new pill is working for you," he tells a man whose cancer has spread. "How have you been this week?"
A clinical researcher trained in gastrointestinal oncology, Kulke studies experimental drugs in patients. Pharmaceutical companies have chosen him to lead various clinical trials at Dana-Farber, including one involving Endostatin™, the tumor-starving drug that went into testing in 1999 amid unusually high expectations. When Kulke is not seeing patients, he's looking at data, pondering new trials, and thinking about improved treatments.
Unlike Kulke, his DFCI colleague Peter Sicinski, MD, PhD, works at the fundamental frontiers of cancer as a basic scientist. His subjects are not humans, but isolated cells in the laboratory or, in many cases, genetically engineered mice. Probing the biological switches inside cells that keep them growing normally or — when damaged — allow them to multiply uncontrollably and form tumors, Sicinski uses high-tech microscopes, computers, and other equipment along with the altered mice, which are costly to maintain.
"We move heaven and earth to find funds, because we think these people are going to make a difference on the long road to controlling cancer."
—Robert Mayer, MD
All of this research is becoming increasingly expensive, and at Dana-Farber there are more than 700 scientists in need of financial support. Both Kulke and Sicinski survived the difficult early days of their careers, when research funding was particularly hard to get, and they are now launched in their respective specialties. Even today, though, securing sufficient ongoing support for their ambitious investigative plans isn't easy. "It's a very competitive and stressful process," Sicinski states.
For a newly trained scientist, obtaining funds for the initial work "is very tough terrain to navigate," says Robert Mayer, MD, vice chairman for academic affairs in Medical Oncology at DFCI. For that reason, the Institute, with the aid of many donors and foundations, allocates special funds to help during these transitions.
"We move heaven and earth to find funds," says Mayer, "because we think these people are going to make a difference on the long road to controlling cancer."
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