The Spark that Ignites Innovation

Thanks to recent leaps in technology, the cost of whole-genome sequencing had dropped, and the speed had increased.

“What if” conversations gave way to formal proposals.

Timothy Ley, MD, a Washington University cancer genomics and leukemia researcher, as well as Richard Wilson, PhD, and Elaine Mardis, PhD, then co-directors of the university’s McDonnell Genome Institute, offered their expertise in high-speed, large-scale genomic sequencing. St. Jude would provide research and treatment experience — and access to one of the world’s largest collections of childhood cancer tissue.

With those pieces in place, St. Jude committed $65 million to a three-year collaboration with Washington University to uncover why childhood cancer arises, spreads and resists treatment. We unveiled the PCGP January 25, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

As I traveled back to Memphis after that announcement, the weight of the task ahead set in. Many sleepless nights followed. At the time, scientists had not sequenced even one pediatric cancer genome. No one else had tried to conduct this level of sequencing on such a massive scale.

The collaboration among PCGP scientists made all the difference. The project included more than 150 faculty and staff at St. Jude and more than 200 people at Washington University.

In general, brain tumor doctors don’t work with leukemia doctors, and leukemia doctors don’t work with solid tumor doctors. People in computational biology don’t often talk with clinicians. But the PCGP brought everyone together. It transformed the culture of St. Jude and brought the power of collaboration to the forefront.

The first year, we sequenced the normal and cancer genomes of 50 patients, with another 250 in the second year. By the end, we had whole genome sequences from 800 cancer patients with 23 types of cancer.