Loma Linda University (LLU) topped the list of recipients of federal research grants in the 2000 fiscal year
Loma Linda University (LLU) topped the list of recipients of federal research grants in the 2000 fiscal year, with $36 million going to help development of the groundbreaking Proton Treatment Center and to aid research into a new laser approach to strengthening buildings against earthquakes.
W. Augustus Cheatham, a vice-president of the Seventh-day Adventist-affiliated university, says that such grants have allowed the university to add advanced high-tech equipment and capabilities to the Proton Treatment Center. The Center, which Cheatham calls “one of a kind, anywhere in the world,” has until now concentrated on the treatment of prostate cancer patients using non-invasive proton beam therapy. Researchers at the Center are now exploring ways in which the method can be utilized in the treatment of breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease. (See ANN report April 25, 2000.) Federal research grants, says Cheatham, will assist the university in carrying out the software and equipment development necessary to adapt and refine the proton beam therapy for these purposes.
The university’s long history of cutting-edge medical research is one reason why LLU receives such large federal grants relative to the university’s size, says Cheatham. “Each year we have the opportunity to take our research plans to members of Congress. Because we have been so successful in making progress with [previous grants]-because we have made advances-Congress has looked on us with favor in allowing us to go to the next stage.”
Another research project that will benefit from the federal support came about when the university and medical center attempted to find a “patient-friendly” way of doing the noisy, dusty work required to make the hospital buildings compliant with California’s new earthquake safety regulations.
“In order to strengthen a building of concrete and steel you have to join together the new construction to the old,” explains Cheatham. “But you can’t continue to treat patients and perform surgery with noise from jack-hammers and drills radiating through the building. So we came up with an idea to drill the necessary holes in the cement with a laser beam instead-resulting in little noise and no dust.” The concept, Cheatham acknowledges, has the potential to revolutionize the way buildings are “retrofitted” to bring them up to earthquake safety standards.