Banner Research unveiled: Provides umbrella for Banner's extensive research activities

PHOENIX (Sept. 10, 2009) -- Today Banner Health announced that it will merge all of its research activities into a single area of the health system that will strategically direct how research is conducted, managed, monitored and published.

Banner Research will oversee research to benefit patients in Banner’s 22 hospitals and other clinical operations in seven states.

Banner Research will be headquartered in Sun City on the existing campus of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute. The three buildings on that campus currently house more than 100 researchers working in numerous centers and laboratories. This location also is home to the world-renowned Brain and Body Tissue Bank.

“When brought into a single area, research at Banner Health is a major area of activity,” said John Hensing, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer for Banner. “As we work towards our vision of industry leadership in the coming years, research will play an essential role in reaching this distinction.”

“Clinical research trials of advanced drugs, surgical devices, and medical techniques are offered in many of our hospitals by physicians and nurses,” said Banner Research’s newly named Chief Executive Officer Bill Camp. “As we combine this capability with the distinctive and often ground-breaking research on treatments and preventions discovered at our Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and our Banner Sun Health Research Institute, we can provide unique benefits to our patients. All of this research and more will be the focus of the Banner Research.”

Camp, who has been CEO of Banner Sun Health Research Institute, has extensive experience managing research organizations to achieve scientific and operational success.

In addition to Camp, Eric Reiman, MD, has been appointed chief scientific officer of Banner Research. Reiman, who also serves as the executive director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in central Phoenix, and director of the Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium, is world-renowned for his contributions to brain imaging and Alzheimer’s disease research, which have been reported in the most prestigious medical and scientific journals. He and his colleagues have used imaging techniques to detect and track Alzheimer’s disease decades before the onset of symptoms, and they have developed a new research paradigm to evaluate prevention therapies as quickly as possible. In addition to its other research programs, the Institute oversees more than 20 clinical trials.

Created in 2006, the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute was established to find treatments to end Alzheimer’s without losing a generation, set a new national standard of care that addresses the medical and non-medical needs of patients and family caregivers, give patients access to the most promising investigational treatments, and forge a model of collaboration in biomedical research.

 “Our organization’s scientific resources and programs will be used to further address the clinical needs of patients, families and colleagues throughout Banner,” said Reiman, “and they will be used in a forward-looking and strategically focused way to help transform the treatment and prevention of certain catastrophic medical disorders.”

The Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City was founded in 1986. This institute is a world-class leader in basic and translational research, clinical care, prevention and education. Its bench scientists have made a number of discoveries that are currently in clinical trials and preclinical testing. These discoveries have targeted improved treatments and cures for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, arthritis and improved orthopedic surgery techniques and devices. Its Tissue Bank boasts the highest quality tissue of any bank and is supplies tissue to researchers worldwide. And, its Center for Healthy Aging looks at why some people remain healthy late into life and how these secrets can be unlocked for the benefit of all.

Our research programs include:

• Alzheimer's: L.J. Roberts Center for Alzheimer's Research
• Arthritis: Robert J. Hoover Center for Arthritis Research
• Cardiovascular: Center for Cardiovascular Research
• Clinical Research: Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research
• Healthy Aging: Center for Healthy Aging
• Molecular Biology: Napolean Longtine Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Molecular Endocrinology: Laboratory for Molecular Endocrinology
• Neurobiology: Robert S. Haldeman Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology
• Neurodegenerative Research: Ralph and Murial Roberts Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research
• Neuroinflammation: Laboratory of Neuroinflammation
• Neuropathology: Civin Laboratory of Neuropathology
• Orthopedics: SHRI-CORE Orthopedics Laboratory
• Parkinson's: Thomas H. Christopher Center for Parkinson's Research
• Prostate Cancer/Urology: Center for Prostate Cancer and Urologic Research

“Research at Banner Health has always been robust,” said Camp. “In forming Banner Research to bring all of our research components together, we’re able to maximize our operations to support research and better integrate the valuable findings of this research into patient care,” he said.

About Banner Health
Headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns or manages 22 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care and hospice services, and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. To learn more about Banner health, go to http://www.bannerhealth.com.