TRI

Medical innovation begins with research, but research can only commence when clinician-scientists and scientists have funding to pursue their ideas. Fueled by $28 million in total gifts and matching funds from 295 benefactors thus far, the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) provides vital funding for Houston Methodist’s brilliant minds to research new, innovative therapies with the goal of bringing them to the patients’ bedsides more expeditiously and at a fraction of the typical cost of new medical innovations. Now completing its third philanthropic fund, each TRI was established with a Challenge Fund gift and a goal to create a $10 million current-use fund to support translational research. Gifts made to the TRI are matched — currently dollar-for-dollar — by the Challenge Fund, and benefactors who make commitments of $50,000 or more are “Founding Members.” Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III created the first Challenge Fund that established TRI I and inspired 145 benefactors to contribute to meet the TRI I $10 million goal. The Jerold B. Katz Foundation created the second TRI Challenge Fund, TRI II, with 100 benefactors completing that $10 million goal. Paula and Rusty Walter again generously established TRI III — which focuses on neurorestoration — of which 50 benefactors have contributed, bringing the total so far to $8 million toward our $10 million goal. For Drs. Brian Parrish, Philip Horner and Gavin Britz, TRI has catapulted their work into the stratosphere of medical innovation.

‘MAPS’ Quest

Medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., but Dr. Parrish, a cardiology clinical specialist at Houston Methodist, says he hopes to change that statistic. “To err is human, but what if technology can help prevent some of those errors?” asks Dr. Parrish. “With the support of TRI, I found that technology can alert health care providers who are about to make medication errors.” Dr. Parrish has developed MAPS: Medication Administration Protection System. Incorporated within the electronic medical record system, MAPS provides real-time guidance and alerts to medical personnel to prevent errors in medication prescribing, monitoring or administration. The system is based on visual signals — green for proceed, yellow for proceed with caution and red for stop, and do not administer the medication. Currently, none of the marketed software are directly incorporated into the electronic medical records to detect and prevent medication errors. Dr. Parrish credits receiving funding from TRI as the reason his idea has advanced into the proof-of-concept trials. “I am grateful to those who gave to TRI,” says Dr. Parrish. “It is the reason why we’ve come so far. Without TRI, this type of innovation may not have gotten off the ground.”

Viva La Vagus

For Drs. Horner and Britz, their TRI project began during a conversation with a colleague around the water cooler. “This project is a great example of clinical and basic research experts stimulating ideas through a conversation,” says Dr. Horner, scientific director for the Houston Methodist Center for Neuroregeneration. “This idea was built on a wild idea, not decades of research. TRI gave us an opportunity to leapfrog ahead to connect the dots.” The project, “Roadmap for Neural Stimulation Induced Molecular Protective Therapy for Advanced Stroke Care,” builds off serendipitous circumstances in human anatomy and stroke interventions. It connects a pacemaker-like device to the intubation tube, which stimulates the vagus nerve — a large neuron that runs alongside the trachea in the throat and chest and controls part of those stress responses. This device reduces the body’s fightor-flight response and boosts the body’s rest-and-digest signals, which provides the brain with more blood and potentially prevents catastrophic brain damage. Normally, the body responds to a highstress situation by activating the fightor-flight response — a racing heart, cold and clammy hands, shallow breathing. Under low stress, the body activates a rest-and-digest response that nourishes the body and oxygenates organs for repair and restoration — slowing heart rate and warming extremities. During a stroke, the vagus nerve triggers the fight-or-flight response and suppresses the rest-and-digest response. Thus, less oxygen flows to the brain while the stroke is already cutting off blood/ oxygen to the brain. The device Drs. Horner and Britz designed to reduce the fight-or-flight response has tested successfully in multiple experiments in large animals. Alongside Dr. John Volpi, the Elkins Family Distinguished Centennial Academic Scholar in Neurology at Houston Methodist, the inventors are currently applying for FDA approval of the device to begin human clinical trials. “We could not have gotten this project off the ground through traditional funding sources, and many great ideas get lost to science because of that,” says Dr. Britz, the Candy and Tom Knudson Distinguished Centennial Chair in Neurosurgery and co-director of the Houston Methodist Center for Neuroregeneration. “TRI is a close-to-home funding opportunity that allows us to make progress toward new patient treatments.”

If you are interested in becoming a TRI III Founding Member, contact Josh Thiel at jjthiel@houstonmethodist.org or 832.982.4890. A gift can also qualify you for membership in The Society for Leading Medicine, Houston Methodist’s annual giving group.