New Regional Medical Research Initiative Builds on Past Success

"Patient care has always been, and will always remain, our number one mission,” says Walter Urba, M.D., Ph.D., the newly named physician director for research for Providence Health & Services in Oregon.

The creation of Dr. Urba’s new position marks the beginning of an ambitious region-wide initiative at Providence to find new treatments and new cures for a variety of diseases, including cancer. Dr. Urba leads the initiative with Albert Starr, M.D., named director of academic affairs and bioscience development, and Calvin Harrison, named assistant administrator/executive director of cancer services and research.

While research is hardly new to Providence, the initiative strengthens ongoing scientific efforts by providing leadership across disciplines. Cardiac and vascular, cancer and neuroscience research units can now leverage greater access to public and private funding sources through their combined efforts. Patients benefit from being treated by doctors with the latest technology and research findings at their disposal.

Providence scientists and physicians look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Starr and Dr. Urba; both men are themselves internationally acclaimed researchers. The new initiative encompasses programs led by fellow physician researchers Ken Gregory, M.D., of the Oregon Medical Laser Center; Stanley Cohan, M.D., of Providence Brain Institute; Ted Lowenkopf, M.D., of Providence Stroke Center, and Heidi Nelson, M.D., M.P.H., of the Providence Women and Children’s Program. Together, these individuals are ushering in a new era of scientific discovery at Providence. New technology, new laboratories and greater collaboration with other research institutions are planned.

Providence’s renewed focus on research builds upon more than a decade of success in cancer research at the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, where Dr. Urba will continue to serve as medical director. Dr. Urba founded the Franz Cancer Research Center at Providence in 1993, and it remains the only research center in the Pacific Northwest exclusively focused on immunotherapy (helping the immune system to destroy tumor cells). Today, it garners more than $2 million annually in federal grants and has a research staff of 60. Harrison says the Franz Cancer Research Center is an important example of the kind of medical research that can be conducted outside of universities.

“Working in the context of a large community health system, medical researchers at Providence remain close to patients and their families,” he says. By design, laboratories are physically near patient rooms so that scientists never lose sight of the people their research is intended to serve. With these expanded research efforts, Providence patients will continue to enjoy world-class care fueled by the promising work of Providence researchers.