A new MD-PhD collaboration between Yale and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) is set expand the scope of research and clinical trials for both institutions.
Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience Daniel Colón-Ramos, PhD, says that that by connecting researchers from each institution through their students, the new program “aspires to act as a spearhead to create clinical research links” between Yale and UPR.
Earlier in January, representatives from YCCI, including Director Robert Sherwin, MD, traveled to Puerto Rico and met with faculty and deans at UPR to discuss potential clinical research priorities and logistics for the collaboration. They also met with the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, & Research Trust (PRSTRT) to discuss conducting Yale-led clinical trials in Puerto Rico. Last summer, UPR officials made a similar trip to Yale, meeting with President Peter Salovey and touring Yale’s research facilities.
In the new program, students accepted into the MD program at the University of Puerto Rico can enroll in Yale’s Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, where they will develop advanced research skills with Yale mentors. The first students from Puerto Rico are set to arrive in New Haven in the summer of 2017.
UPR students can then use the research training they receive at Yale to address problems they see in clinics in Puerto Rico. One example is the Zika virus, which is the cause of a current travel advisory to Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America. A mosquito-borne illness, Zika is concerning because of its link to the birth defect microcephaly, which causes smaller than normal head size in infants.
This is a unique opportunity for us to examine environmental factors that affect diseases such as diabetes, which have a high impact on the Hispanic population, allowing us to compare individuals both here and in Puerto Rico.
YCCI Director Robert Sherwin, MD
Expansion of clinical trials is another major benefit of this new collaboration to both institutions. The new program would allow many more Hispanics – who have historically been underrepresented in research - to be added to clinical trials. More than half of Connecticut’s Hispanic population is of Puerto Rican descent. “This is a unique opportunity for us to examine environmental factors that affect diseases such as diabetes, which have a high impact on the Hispanic population, allowing us to compare individuals both here and in Puerto Rico,” says Sherwin.
Patients in Puerto Rico would also benefit by gaining access to experimental treatments and medications, which have, to date, only been available to wealthy Puerto Ricans who have the means to travel to research centers outside Puerto Rico for treatment. “This is an opportunity to democratize the potential benefits of clinical trials,” says. Lucy Crespo, CEO official of PRSTRT “We’re tremendously proud to be a part of it.”
Colón-Ramos will act as a facilitator for the collaboration process, as it was his connection to both Yale and his native Puerto Rico that served as the inspiration for the new program. He is also a trustee of the PRSTRT and a faculty member of UPR. YCCI and UPR are working together to create a list of priorities for the new collaboration, and researchers are giving their input about how they might take advantage of the program.
Colón-Ramos says that almost immediately, Yale researchers stepped forward to express interest in conducting their clinical trials in Puerto Rico. From there, Colón-Ramos will work to make the collaboration run smoothly. “We want to make it as easy for the researchers as possible, “he says, “so all they have to worry about is their research.”