KELSEY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Established in 1983, the mission of the Joe and Jessie Crump Cancer Center, a joint program of the Kelsey Research Foundation and Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, is to improve the quality of cancer care and health outcomes of patients with cancer at Kelsey-Seybold. Joe and Jessie Crump Cancer Center continues to develop and maintain integrated programs in cancer education, prevention, patient care and research. These programs assure that patients and family members receive the highest quality health services available and provide clinicians with up-to-date information and research findings to prevent and treat this multifaceted disease.

In 2012, the Joe and Jessie Crump Cancer Center received a three-year approval with commendation for its achievements in cancer treatment, research and supportive care service efforts by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). The Kelsey-Seybold Cancer Center is the first freestanding CoC-Approved Cancer Program in the U.S. The program also provides cancer patients with educational materials about cancer and its treatment and information about community resources to help patients and their family members.

Kelsey Research Foundation researchers hypothesize that restoring the balance and diversity of the tiny microbes within us holds the power and possibility of preventing, treating and improving the symptoms of these diseases. The process of restoring good gut bacteria is called Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, or FMT, and researchers at the KRF-UTHealth Center for Microbiome Research, in partnership with UTHealth School of Public Health and McGovern Medical School, have embarked on an ambitious line of research aimed at treating and improving individuals who are impacted by these diseases through FMT. Researchers here were among the first in the country to offer FMT to patients suffering from a fatal bacterial infection called Clostridium difficile, or C.Diff. 200 patients with recurrent C.Diff have been treated through FMT with a 90% cure rate after the first treatment and 100% after the second. Because of this success, beginning in Fall 2018, the Center for Microbiome Research is launching FMT clinical trials in other major diseases, the first of which is Parkinson’s.

At the heart of the Microbiome Center is the concept of research that is both translational, taking basic science to the bedside and also transformational, leading medicine away from expensive, complex and toxic drugs to inexpensive natural methods to produce health that could be cost effective for all, including underserved and developing countries. This approach deals with restoration of body health from the inside out providing the body what is lacking. The Microbiome Center focuses on a high science-low tech approach to promoting intestinal health with broad applications.

Active Living after Cancer (ALAC), is a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) funded program in partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The program aims to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors by promoting physical activity, and by providing navigation services for survivorship issues. A large and growing number of cancer survivors in Texas, especially those who are medically underserved, necessitates effective programs to help survivors improve their health and physical functioning, thereby reducing the risk of cancer recurrence or new cancers.

Active Living after Cancer uses an alternative approach to increasing physical activity. Rather than promote a structured exercise regimen which would include the use of a gym or fitness equipment, the program recommends increased physical activity by incorporating short bouts of moderate intensity activity into daily life. The program consists of 12 weekly sessions, followed by a reunion at the conclusion of the program. Each session is comprised of cognitive and behavioral skills training related to increasing physical activity, a guided discussion on a survivorship topic, and short bouts of moderate physical activity.