The Burnham Institute

John C. Reed, M.D., Ph.D.
10901 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA
(858) 646-3132
http://www.burnham.org/

Burnham Institute for Medical Research is dedicated to discovering the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devising the innovative therapies of tomorrow. Burnham, with operations in California and Florida, is one of the fastest-growing research institutes in the country.

The Institute ranks among the top 4 institutions nationally for NIH grant funding. For the past decade (1999-2009), Burnham ranked #1 worldwide in the fields of biology and biochemistry for the impact of its research publications (defined by citations per publication), according to the Institute for Scientific Information.

Burnham utilizes a unique, collaborative approach to medical research and has established major research programs in cancer, neurodegeneration, diabetes, and infectious, inflammatory, and childhood diseases. The Institute is especially known for its world-class capabilities in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies.

In September 2008, Burnham was awarded a $98 million grant by the NIH to establish the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics. The Center has capabilities more commonly found in large pharmaceutical companies when it comes to taking basic research and translating it into compounds that could become the prototype medicines of tomorrow.

Dr. John. C. Reed

Research Focus: Apoptosis & Cell Death
Cell death is a natural part of life. Every day in the human body, 50-70 billion cells die, making room for the equivalent number of new cells produced daily through cell division. So massive is the flux of cell birth and death in our bodies, that in the course of single year, each of us will produce and in parallel eradicate a mass of cells equal to our entire body weight.

Our cells are endowed with a suicide mechanism that instructs cells when it is time to die. Unfortunately, defects in the regulation of this cell suicide program can occur, leading to diseases characterized by either too much cell death [cell loss] (stroke; heart failure; Alzheimer’s; Parkinson’s; AIDS) or too little cell death [cell accumulation] (cancer; auto-immunity; coronary artery restenosis). In fact, it is estimated that over half of the major medical illnesses for which effective treatments or preventions are currently lacking can be attributed directly or indirectly to defective regulation of programmed cell death mechanisms.

Our laboratory studies fundamental mechanisms of cell life-span regulation, and analyzes how those mechanisms go awry in disease states. We use tools of genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics to discover genes involved in the causation or suppression of cell death. Characterization of the molecular mechanisms by which the proteins encoded by those genes control cell life and death then provides insights that set the stage for drug discovery. Advances from our laboratory have thus far resulted in a new therapy for cancer, which is in final Phase III clinical trials, and numerous drug-discovery programs at earlier stages of development for cancer, stroke, inflammation, and auto-immunity. Discoveries from our laboratory have also revealed potential new diagnostic tests that can predict whether cancer patients will or will not relapse after receiving therapy, thus providing much need information in planning optimal medical management.