Since its formation in June 2002, TGen has established a solid administrative and facilities infrastructure. In addition to its headquarters location in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, TGen occupies laboratory space at the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building in Scottsdale, Arizona, which houses TGen's Pharmaceutical Genomics Division and TGen Drug Development, LLC.

TGen's Clinical Research Service (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare, a strategic alliance between TGen and Scottsdale Healthcare's Clinical Research Institute. The TCRS is housed within the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center on the Scottsdale Healthcare Campus.

TGen North, a pathogen genomics and biodefense research facility in Flagstaff, Arizona, was developed in partnership with Northern Arizona University.

What is translational research?
Recent breakthroughs in technology, mathematics and physics have advanced our understanding of life down to its smallest component, DNA, which is the basic building block of life. In the wake of sequencing the human genome, genetic research, fueled by advanced technology, is happening at an accelerated pace. Translational research is the process of translating basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications such as new diagnostics and treatments. It serves as a bridge between lab bench discoveries and the patient bedside. Information collected at the patient bedside can circle back to the laboratory to fuel additional discoveries.

What is personalized medicine?
Traditional diagnosis focuses on the symptoms of a patient's illness. A personalized medicine approach looks an individual’s genetic make up, allowing physicians to give the right drug, at the right dose, to the right patient, at the right time. TGen's vision is of a world where an understanding the subtle differences in an individuals genome be rapidly translated to the diagnosis and treatment of disease in a manner tailored to individual patients, i.e., personalized medicine.

What is TGen's research focus?
TGen's labs are staffed by teams of researchers focused on making genomic discoveries in diseases and disorders in the areas of oncology, neurogenomics and metabolic disease. The institute’s research platform combines cutting-edge technology with basic science to sift through the human genome to identify the genes that play a role in disease development and progression. TGen’s research divisions are multidisciplinary and are designed to foster a wide range of genetic discoveries. For a more in-depth look at TGen’s research, please visit the individual investigator pages where you will learn about the various research projects undertaken by our investigators and their teams.

Do you have clinical trials?
TGen, through TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS), currently has a number of active clinical trials, which include both phase I and II trials. Clinical trials with agents directed at specific targets in patients' tumors were launched in November 2005. Phase I clinical trials of two new cancer drugs were also launched at this time. Current trials give options that did not exist before to Phoenix-area patients as well as patients from all over the country. TCRS is conducting clinical trials across a number of cancer types. Further development of cancer specific divisions in pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, prostate cancer and melanoma are under development.

How can I participate in a clinical study?
Patient participation in clinical trials is a necessary component to the research process. According to the National Institutes for Health, only 3% of adults with cancer are participating in clinical trials. At TCRS, the clinical trial participation rate is a remarkable 60%. Interestingly, a recent study shows that if given the opportunity and access to clinical trials, 63% of the population would participate, according to a survey by the Charlton Research Co. Patient participation in clinical trials at TCRS includes:

- 125 visits per month

- 35-45 new patients per month

- 400-600 patient samples collected per month

For a list of current active studies, please click here.

For ALL patients inquiring about a particular study, please contact patient care coordinator, Joyce Schaffer.

Joyce Schaffer RN MSN OCN
TGen Clinical Research Services at SHC
Debi & Jerry Bisgrove Research Pavilion
10510 N. 92nd Street, 2nd Floor
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Office 480-323-1339
Fax 480-323-1276
Alternative Fax 480-323-1359
joschaffer@shc.org

How can I help support TGen's research?
Making a donation to TGen will help fund our research needs for improving the health of humankind as we target new treatments, therapies and cures for such diseases as acc, autism, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, brain tumors and diabetes. For more information, please visit the Foundation web site at http://www.tgenfoundation.org.

Who are TGen's leaders and what are their roles?
TGen is led by Jeffry M. Trent, Ph.D., F.A.C.M.G. who serves as President and Scientific Director. In these roles Dr. Trent provides the overall administrative and research direction for the Institute. Scientifically, Dr. Trent leads more than three dozen researchers and clinicians, investigating a diverse base of illnesses, including pancreatic cancer, diabetes, melanoma, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, brain tumors, autism, and cardiovascular disease, among others. With a research strategy based on three guiding principals: discovery, translation, and clinical application, TGen's world-class scientists and physicians are focused on accelerating the application of scientific discoveries made in the laboratory to patients who need them most.

Prior to founding TGen in late 2002, Dr. Trent served for nearly a decade as the founding Scientific Director of the Division of Intramural Research of the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Trent also serves as Senior Investigator and Acting Director of TGen’s Genetic Basis of Human Disease Division. For a complete research profile, please visit Dr. Trent’s faculty page.

TGen’s clinical efforts are led by Daniel Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P. who serves at TGen’s Physician-in-Chief and Chief Medical Officer for the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute at Scottsdale Healthcare, which houses TGen's clinical arm, TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS). TCRS clinicians focus on clinical trials with targeted agents and genomics-based individualized therapy. The TCRS, with an initial focus on cancer, allows the unique opportunity for TGen to transition its laboratory-based research to patient care centered on individualized therapy. TCRS includes the Genomics Medicine and Individual Therapy Center, the Pancreas Cancer Center, and a Pharmacodynamic and Pharmacokinetic Lab. Additional clinical research programs focused on other cancer types are planned.

Dr. Von Hoff also serves as Senior Investigator and Director of TGen's Clinical Translational Research Division. For a complete research profile, please visit Dr. Von Hoff’s faculty page.