Last fall when the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce unveiled their five big ideas for moving the metro forward, they named life sciences as one of them. More specifically the initiative is branded as “Growing Kansas City’s Medical Research, From Discovery to Cure.” The overarching goal of this big idea is to make KC a nationally-recognized center for translational research.
Translational research is the hot new area in the life sciences. It means moving discoveries from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside.
Patrick James, managing director of Quest Diagnostics, is leading the Chamber’s Big 5 life sciences effort. He was the emcee at a major gala dinner last week to celebrate the work of the Kansas City Life Sciences Insitute. Over 600 guests gathered to hear from area scientists.
Sometimes though it takes an outsider to put your accomplishments into perspective. The gala’s keynote speaker was the deputy director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, Dr. David Livingston. Nick Haines sat down with Dr. Livingston to untangle the complicated subject of translational research.
