On Sept. 12, 2013, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced it had launched a clinical and translational science initiative to turn the tables on pancreatic disease. With support from a landmark $25 million philanthropic pledge announced today, a team of OHSU’s top pancreatic surgeons and Knight Cancer Institute scientists will co-develop new detection and treatment methods for pancreatic cancer while solving longstanding mysteries of pancreatic disease at the molecular level. Pancreatic cancer is currently the fourth leading cause of death from cancer and will climb to the second leading cause of death by 2020.

A philanthropic partnership between Norman and Linda Brenden and the Colson Family Foundation will fund the initiative through gifts totaling $25 million over five years. OHSU has established the Brenden-Colson Center for Pancreatic Health as a mechanism for directing money to research projects led by four faculty leaders. Collaborative projects will pursue intertwined goals in patient-centered clinical care and pancreatic disease research. Studies will seek to curb mortality by advancing promising new drugs through the development pipeline, refining surgical procedures, identifying markers and novel imaging techniques for early cancer detection, interrupting the transformation of benign pancreatitis into full-blown pancreatic cancer and learning how to improve the care of patients with pancreatitis.

Initial projects are designed for near-term impact: the rapid development and clinical testing of new therapies, the identification of new early-detection targets, and the use of exclusive-to-OHSU imaging and genomics technology to study the molecular dynamics of pancreatic tumors and the microenvironments they inhabit. Patient-centric clinical care and laboratory discovery are integrated throughout these projects, facilitating a two-way flow of new knowledge that benefits current patients while advancing the search for lasting cures.