Partners in Research

Georgetown researchers have been responsible for numerous groundbreaking discoveries including:

• invention of the CAT scan
• development of the first artificial heart valve
• the country’s first clinical trial using gene therapy to slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease
• codevelopment of Gardasil (the first vaccine for cervical cancer)
• creation of Allegra (the popular antihistamine drug)

How does Partners in Research work?

Georgetown University Medical Center faculty are eligible for the Partners in Research grants to receive critical seed funding to pursue innovative ideas that help to address some of the world’s biggest medical challenges.

How can I become a Partner in Research?

You can become a Partner by making a gift of any size to the program each grant year (July 1–June 30).

What does it mean to be a Partner?

Each year, a diverse group of researchers present during Partners in Research programs. Partners have opportunities to engage with researchers directly by hearing about their projects, asking one-on-one questions, and learning about the ground-breaking scientific research being pursued at GUMC. Partners will have opportunities to join lab tours, an annual innovation showcase, and various other Partner’s-only activities.

Why is philanthropy so important to biomedical research?

With limited federal funding, the environment for biomedical researchers is extremely competitive. Promising discoveries that could improve or save lives go unexplored unless philanthropists like our Partners take the lead.

By pooling gifts made to the Partners in Research program, our Partners can collectively support multiple research projects at one time. As a result, every gift has an expanded impact.

Learn more about supporting biomedical research at Georgetown by exploring our ways to contribute funding and downloading our brochure about Partners in Research.

If you have questions or would like to get involved, please contact a member of our staff.

Meg Pagonis
Senior Director of Development, Georgetown University Medical Center
202-687-7152
meg.pagonis@georgetown.edu

Georgetown University Medical Center is home to a robust, disease-focused research enterprise that spans multiple disciplines and promotes lifesaving research. The Partners in Research program has been created to allow donors to join forces with the researchers who conduct this high-level research.

The link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s disease

“The Partners in Research program provided the stepping stone I needed to gather critical preliminary data to apply for federal research funding. Since the conclusion of my Partners in Research funding in 2014, my group has published 19 research papers, and I have been awarded $5.3 million from the National Institutes of Health for my innovative research plans to improve memory and prevent cognitive decline after traumatic brain injury. We are working on how to recover lost information from the traumatized brain to give hope to the many patients who live with forgotten memories.”

The link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer’s disease

“The Partners in Research program provided the stepping stone I needed to gather critical preliminary data to apply for federal research funding. Since the conclusion of my Partners in Research funding in 2014, my group has published 19 research papers, and I have been awarded $5.3 million from the National Institutes of Health for my innovative research plans to improve memory and prevent cognitive decline after traumatic brain injury. We are working on how to recover lost information from the traumatized brain to give hope to the many patients who live with forgotten memories.”

Infographic: Success by the Numbers

Since 2010

If you have questions or would like to get involved, please contact a member of our staff.

Meg Pagonis
Senior Director of Development, Georgetown University Medical Center
202-687-7152
meg.pagonis@georgetown.edu

In 2011, Georgetown University Medical Center Dean for Research Robert Clarke, PhD, DSc, invited top GUMC researchers to submit research proposals for the inaugural funding year of the Partners in Research program. The submissions were reviewed by a committee of experts from various research backgrounds who followed the stringent proposal review guidelines used by the National Institutes of Health. Five finalists were selected to present their proposals for consideration at the first Partners selection meeting. The three projects ranked highest by the Partners were awarded $30,000-50,000 grants.

Since then, Partners in Research members have contributed more than $1 million and funded 31 projects.

Grant Recipients: Fiscal Year 2019

• Defining the appropriate therapies for patients with triple negative breast cancer and a high risk of recurrence (Filipa Lynce, MD, Louis Weiner, MD, Claudine Isaacs, MD)
• Establishing the capital lung cancer screening registry at LCCC (Dejana Braithwaites, PhD, FRS, Eric Anderson, MD, Pranay Krishnan MD)
• Using transcranial direct current stimulation to treat HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (Xiong Jiang, PhD, Peter Turkeltaub, MD, PhD, Princy Kumar, MD)
• How does aging affect our ability to remember words? (Michael Ullman, PhD, Jana Reifegerste, PhD)
• Breakthrough Award: Age-related macular degeneration (Nady Golestaneh, PhD, MSc)