First-class research facility

Are you aware that Maine has a nationally recognized medical school? That school is the College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of New England in Biddeford. Part of a quality education is teaching students how to think critically and independently. That’s why we require our students and physicians to study and work in an atmosphere of scientific inquiry and research. As we approach the graduation of our 20th medical school class, our medical school is now poised to move to a higher level of research activity. We are now attracting research faculty and federal funds that are enriching our educational environment and, in the process, creating a powerful economic generator for Maine.

But to reach our ultimate goals, we must find the resources to build a first-class research facility at the University of New England. Ideally, our facility will be part of an integrated biomedical research infrastructure across the state of Maine. To that end, the medical school has recently joined with The Jackson Laboratory, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, the Foundation for Blood Research and Maine Medical Center Research Institute to form the Biomedical Research Coalition. The coalition’s goal is to create a dynamic economic industry in this state with the creation of state-of-the-art laboratories and world-class investigators.

We know from our own experience that such research alliances reap substantial benefits. Since 1995, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor, the state’s largest oceanographic research institution, has been a research affiliate and educational partner with the University of New England. That affiliation has generated a number of federally- funded scientific research projects conducted by UNE professors working with Bigelow scientists.

This fall, the university will open its Marine Science Education and Research Center, located at the mouth of the Saco River on UNE’s Biddeford campus. This unique facility will provide opportunities for faculty to explore exciting research areas such as the development of new medicines from the sea.

Currently, the medical school has a significant cohort of grant-funded faculty conducting biomedical research. A primary research focus is the treatment and prevention of diseases.

Last fall, the university re-ceived a $1.4 million grant from the National Institute of Health to fund basic biomedical research into the debilitating and sometimes deadly effects of diabetes on the heart. There are some 16 million Americans who have diabetes, a chronic disease that, to date, has no cure. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death by disease in the United States, and the majority of diabetes deaths result from heart disease.

For reasons now being studied at UNE, diabetics are at much greater risk for heart disease than the general population. Professors Deborah Podolin, Ph.D. and Amy Davidoff, Ph.D., two rising stars on our faculty, are collaborating with colleagues from Harvard University to the University of Melbourne in Australia to understand the relationship between diabetes and heart disease.

Another area of research is neuroscience, or the study of the brain. Professor David Mokler, Ph.D. is investigating the effects of drugs like ecstasy on the brain. Professor David Johnson, Ph.D. is studying memory disorders. Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., is investigating chronic pain and drug addiction. Together, these faculty are advancing our understanding of the complicated relationship between the brain and human health.

In addition, Professors James Novotny, Ph.D. and James Vaughn, Ph.D. of the Microbiology Department have conducted research on wide range of topics, including how marine viruses absorb and scatter light in sea water, tooth decay, and the immune system of diabetics. They also have searched for viruses, harmful bacteria and parasites in the drinking water, estuaries, landfills and recreational waters of a number of Maine municipalities, along with cities from around the United States.

The search for knowledge about the treatment and prevention of disease is a natural focus for a medical school. Fighting disease and educating physicians go hand in hand, as do collaboration amongst Maine’s biomedical research institutions. But biomedical research also directly benefits Maine’s communities.

The millions of dollars of out-of-state research funding attracted to Maine’s biomedical research institutions will be spent in Maine, creating hundreds of new well-paying jobs and training opportunities that will contribute to achieving a thriving biomedical research industry in Maine. It is clearly within our state’s interest to continue supporting the development of this growing industry. It will benefit us all in untold ways.

Stephen C. Shannon, D.O., MPH is dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and vice president of University Health Services at the University of New England.