Busse named director of General Clinical Research Center

Professor of Medicine William W. Busse has been studying and treating asthma for nearly 25 years. Now, in what he calls a “natural stepping stone” in his medical career, Busse will head up one of the university’s premier clinical research centers.

Busse has been appointed director of the University of Wisconsin General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), a research facility within UW Hospital and Clinics where a range of scientists and health care providers come together to conduct approved clinical studies on volunteers. The center’s goal is to provide researchers with the space and trained staff critical to conducting studies in today’s competitive and complex research environment. Ultimately, these studies will lead to a better understanding of and treatment for such serious diseases as asthma, cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and heart disease.

“The GCRC is not just a unit where medical school faculty put patients to do clinical research,” says Busse, who will continue to serve as section head of allergy and immunology at UW Medical School. “It’s a philosophy of care and clinical research and education all rolled into one.”

Established at the UW in 1986, the GCRC is one of 75 in the country and two in the state. Each is approved and funded on a competitive basis by the National Institutes of Health, and one of Busse’s first responsibilities will be to secure the center’s upcoming renewal for a five-year period.

Last year, the GCRC helped carry out studies funded by approximately $52 million in federal and non-federal funds. It currently has about 60 active studies, many at the forefront of scientific clinical research. The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, for example, has led to important findings on the prevalence of sleep apnea and its link to hypertension, smoking and automobile accidents. In terms of gene therapy, which Busse calls “the wave of the future,” GCRC researchers are testing a cancer vaccine that uses a gene gun to “shoot” new genetic commands into cells of people with cancer.

Busse’s own work with the GCRC has involved studies on the mechanisms of asthma and has led to important findings on the link between rhinovirus infections and asthma. He’s also served as the center’s director of training and led a recently approved effort to establish a Medical School Clinical Investigator Preparatory Program which will give the next generation of clinical researchers the support and skills to develop and compete in research, from preparing and competing for grants to conducting safe and high-quality research.

“If we lose sight of what medical research is all about, new advances in disease understanding and treatments will not be forthcoming,” says Busse. “Hopefully, I can use some of the experiences and skills I’ve been able to develop in terms of my unit’s research, cross-departmental collaboration, education and patient care to carry the GCRC further with greater use and productivity. So I think it’s a natural stepping stone from the experiences I’ve had.”

Busse succeeds Dr. George T. Bryan, who directed the GCRC for the past 12 years and was the center’s only other director. Bryan, now professor emeritus of medicine, will assist in the renewal process of the GCRC.

“George Bryan brought the GCRC to the UW and for that we owe him a debt of gratitude,” says Busse. “I was at this institution before we had the GCRC and you were limited as to what you could do, and it compromised us from competing with other major institutions. Dr. Bryan is an extremely gifted clinician and researcher, and it’s largely because I’ve had the benefit of his experience, insight and skills that I feel I will be able to carry out these new responsibilities.”

For information on studies involving the GCRC, contact Paul Reichel, administrator, at (608) 263-3271.