Phone study reveals positive attitude backing lab research

The effects of clinical research may extend beyond the lives and laboratories of doctors across the nation.

A recent survey of 800 Michigan residents indicated that people believe it is important to spend money on medical research since it raises the income of many residents and creates new jobs.

The survey was conducted over the telephone and funded primarily by the University Health System.

Research!America, the non-profit medical research advocacy group, commissioned the poll.

"I wanted to be sure to put Michigan on the national map for a high visibility initiative with the United States Congress and/or many patient advocacy groups," said Gilbert Omenn, the University's executive vice president of medical affairs. "Research!America is an organization that brings together such groups."

Omenn said the Health System funded the poll to determine the Michigan residents' attitudes on the issue of health care in Michigan.

"The results are quite stunning in terms of people here in Michigan," Omenn said.

The poll indicated that a majority of residents believe that clinical research is especially valuable, and 59 percent of respondents would be willing to participate in a clinical trial themselves.

"People are not satisfied with present knowledge," Omenn said. "People really do believe in investment, and that is what research and education are about."

Omenn said he is planning on presenting the results to Congress.

"I think it will help all kinds of research - not just medical," Omenn said.

Omenn said he wants to stimulate more research on specific disease targets, beginning with cancer.

Medical School Associate Dean (for research and graduate studies) Dean Irwin Goldstein said biomedical research not only improves the health and welfare of the population on a national level, but also has economic benefits for the state.

"It also indicates that people are willing to support research that doesn't have immediate benefits," Goldstein said.

The increased support for research is translated into increased funding for the National Institutes of Health, and therefore for many researchers nationwide, Goldstein said.

Many research projects are put on hold due to a lack of grant funding, which is known to slow down scientific advances, Goldstein said.

"People get a little impatient," Goldstein said. "They want results."

Recent discoveries in cancer treatment have left many people talking about and anticipating future cures.

But Goldstein pointed out that "it can take years for these things to bear fruition" due to a long process of cell-culture experiments, animal trials and human trials.

Goldstein said this could indicate why so many of the Michigan residents surveyed said they would volunteer to participate in a research study or clinical trial.

"People realize that in order to bring a drug to the population, it is necessary to carry out clinical trials," Goldstein said.

And for those who suffer from terminal illness, these trials offer nothing to lose and everything to gain, Goldstein said.

"When Congressmen and senators see these polls, it gives them motivation to (support) these funds," Goldstein said. "It inspires them to vote the 'right' way."

Steven Goldstein, Medical School assistant dean of research and graduate studies, said the state understands that the universities are contributing to society, and that the state should give universities support.

"The government is particularly interested in how these advances are affecting economic development," Steven Goldstein said.

Steven Goldstein added that the best way to see the impact of University research on society is through a final commercialized product. Some projects at the University have turned into "spin-off companies," which began as University ideas and through research turned into medical treatments for the public.

"The University's understanding on how to move in this direction is continuing to evolve," Steven Goldstein said.

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