Giving Compass' Take:

• New medical developments, construction of buildings dedicated to research, and science industry partnerships are all on the horizon for Seattle Children's Research Institute.

• Can philanthropy play a bigger role in ensuring medical research makes an impact? 

• While there are many medical advances happening here in the U.S., new information and new medicine are not always accessible at the global scale. 

Seattle Children’s Research Institute has accomplished so much in its 11-year history, and there is much to look forward to in 2018. Here, Dr. Jim Hendricks, president of Seattle Children’s Research Institute shares with On the Pulse what’s in store for the year ahead.

  1. Cancer Immunotherapy - Currently, there are four Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy clinical trials underway at Seattle Children’s (PLAT-02, PLAT-03, PLAT-04 and PLAT-05), with others expected to open this year.
  2. Non-cancer gene therapy - Seattle Children’s is also a world leader in developing a type of cell therapy called gene therapy. Gene therapies fix the genes that cause disease by inserting new, synthetic genes into cells, repairing the genes in those cells, disabling faulty genes or manipulating genes to change a cell’s function.
  3. Building Cure - Much of 2018 will be spent preparing for the opening of Building Cure. Building Cure is Seattle Children’s investment in cures for childhood diseases. When the new building opens in 2019, it will more than double the size of our research institute campus to more than one million square feet.
  4. Science-industry partnerships - By developing collaborative relationships within the scientific industry, we will continue to translate the work of our research investigators and clinicians into innovative products, devices and medical technology to improve the lives of children and their families around the globe.
  5. Precision medicine - Precision medicine remains at the forefront of Seattle Children’s research priorities. In 2017, we celebrated the launch of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine – a partnership that combines the research strengths and capabilities of Seattle Children’s, UW Medicine and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to pursue new, personalized approaches to the prevention and treatment of disease.

Read the full article about developments in the pipeline by Jim Hendricks at Seattle Children's Hospital.