Sunday, December 16, 2012

Visionaries required - urgently!

For cure to happen with the CPRIT intervention, someone must have an idea or a vision based on science of what it could possibly look like.   Otherwise we will  be advancing in all kinds of directions.  There will be sound research activities without a soul.  It is the vision of what the cure will most likely look like that will help prioritize the type of projects to be funded and decide steps to be taken to achieve that objective.
If what I said is true.  Then the CRBCM will call Todd Ackerman to attention.  As an investigative journalist he needed to ask a follow-up question to DR Margaret Kripke, the new Chief Scientific Officer at CPRIT.
Todd asked :
"There seems to be friction between MD Anderson and the University of Texas South Western Medical Center at Dallas, the 2 institutions that have so far received most money from CPRIT.  Are you, the second consecutive Chief Scientific Officer to be closely aligned with one of those institutions, concerned about real or perceived bias?"

Dr Kripke answered:
"It's certainly a concern (given) my long history with MD Anderson, I am sure there'll be a perception of some conflict of interest on my part.  I hope to be able to dispel that.  Under the peer review process that I hope to rebuild, I would have nothing to do with the prioritization of grants or the review of grants."

This raises a question: " WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHY THE REVIEW OF GRANTS SHOULD BE FREE OF INFLUENCE, BUT WHO THEN WILL PRIORITIZE THEM SO THAT FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS CAN LEAD TO THE CURE?"  WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE VISION FOR THE CURE?  WE MISS THAT AS A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION, MR ACKERMAN!

THIS MIGHT OPEN THE DOOR ONE MORE TIME TO VULTURES AND HYENAS IF THERE IS NO COMPASS SHOWING THE WAY!

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