linical research is the backbone of clinical medicine. No matter how promising a treatment appears to be during in vivo testing, only when data collected through human testing are fully evaluated are we able to determine if a treatment will live up to its promise. Many great ideas have fallen once tested through sound clinical research programs, while other ideas have gained ground.

For example, we learned that the value of coronary bypass surgery is best in patients with left main or 3-vessel coronary artery disease, but we did not learn this until the Coronary Artery Surgery Study (CASS) was completed and reported. We thought it would be lifesaving to suppress premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) with antiarrhythmic medications in patients with frequent PVCs after myocardial infarction. A clinical trial was designed to study the best available antiarrhythmic medications, but we found that “PVC killers” were also patient killers. Through careful observation and good research studies, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which were developed to treat high blood pressure, found an even more important role in preventing myocardial dilatation post–myocardial infarction and now are in widespread use for the treatment of congestive heart failure. Always, as we try to better the human condition, we begin at the bench and end at the bedside.

Research is also the backbone of Baylor's clinical care. Without it, Baylor can be a kind and caring institution but not a truly great institution. Baylor's research programs serve several purposes. First, research provides our patients with access to experimental treatments and medications, which may be helpful for patients for whom conventional therapy is inadequate or contraindicated. Second, research studies provide care at no or reduced cost to individuals who choose to participate. This supports our housestaff clinical program and is a benefit to all the communities in which Baylor is located. Finally, research studies help keep our physicians, nurses, and research staff intellectually stimulated and on the forefront of medical knowledge, through reading, writing, and attending national meetings with the acclaimed leaders of the field. Clearly, clinical research aids Baylor's never-ending quest to be the highest quality institution.

I know this both professionally and personally. On April 23, 1996, I underwent a baseline mammogram study at the age of 40, and a mass was found. When the technician brought the study for me to see, I knew intuitively that I had a serious problem. I knew this even when others around me attempted to be reassuring:

“It will be a small cancer easily treated with surgery.”

“Perhaps the mammogram will be wrong; you are so healthy!”

“But you take such good care of yourself! How could this be?”

It was precisely because I do take care of myself that I had discovered the problem.

Knowing that I had premenopausal breast cancer, which is a high-risk cancer, I began to assess my options. As a physician, I can talk to many individuals about my choices. Perhaps even more importantly, as a research cardiologist myself, directing a team that has brought 20 studies and more than $750,000 to Baylor, I know the value of a good research program and its benefits for patients.

I took time to research my care. I chose good physicians to take care of me. They were Baylor physicians. I spoke with physicians across this nation, including several women physicians who had the same disease as I. It became clear that I wanted a bone marrow or stem cell transplantation, as this would essentially double my cure rate. I then spoke with women transplanted at a number of programs around the nation. I evaluated several cancer centers and the programs each had available. My supportive husband would have sent me anywhere we thought best. I CHOSE BAYLOR.

Throughout my treatment, which included chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplantation at Baylor, I was never disappointed in my choice. I believe my care was excellent and intelligently guided, and I am here today, still happily working as a cardiologist and still doing my own outstanding research, as a result of my care at Baylor.

Now, Baylor has an opportunity to take its research programs to a new level by wedding basic research, led by world-renowned scientist Dr. Jacques Banchereau, with Baylor's excellent patient-centered research. The Baylor Institute for Immunology Research will be housed in the new Lieberman Research Building. This is an opportunity to see our high-quality clinical research improve even further.

Despite the concerns generated by managed care, competition for patients, and the many stresses that can drive physicians and hospitals apart, this is an exciting time in medicine. Many individuals will live to be 100 years old and will live to this age both well and vigorous. To date, there have been only rare instances in which diseases have been truly eradicated from the world, the best example being small pox, but even more diseases have been at least partially controlled. We will conquer even more diseases in the new millennium, and the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research in the Zelig H. Lieberman Research Building will be there, doing high-quality clinical research that will benefit all those who come after us.