On Nov. 10, HonorHealth Research Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary.
So, what’s changed in 20 years?
In 2005, kids could still find toys in cereal boxes. You could look up phone numbers in telephone books and make calls from public pay phones. You watched movies rented from local video stores. To pay bills, people still wrote checks and used stamps to mail them to creditors.
Twenty years ago, Scottsdale’s mayor was Mary Manross and Arizona’s governor was Janet Napolitano. Home to just two hospitals, HonorHealth was known as Scottsdale Healthcare
And if you were a Phoenix-area resident and had exhausted all current standard-of-care treatments for your cancer, your closest alternative was to travel to Tucson to access cutting-edge clinical trials.
“We had many patients driving down from Phoenix. Long days of therapy to get new investigational agents in Tucson,” said Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., a world-renowned cancer researcher who was then the director of the Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona.
“At the end of the day, they’d have to drive back up. It was very difficult. Some of the treatments were daily. We decided that we needed to make sure that new therapies were more easily available for these patients,” added Dr. Von Hoff, who, among other positions and titles, is a former Chief Science Officer and an emeritus Virginia G. Piper Chair for Innovative Cancer Research at the HonorHealth Research Institute.
At key points along the Research Institute’s journey, significant multi-million-dollar philanthropic gifts from groups like Virginia G. Piper, the Starlight Foundation, Desert Mountain CARE and others provided funding for new research ideas and innovations.
After canvassing Phoenix-area hospitals, only Scottsdale Healthcare — then led by President and CEO Max Poll — was willing to help. Already operating since 2001 on the campus of Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center in 2005 became a launching pad for what originally was then known as Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute at Scottsdale Healthcare.
Following the 2000 recruitment of Michael Gordon, M.D., FASCO, who since 2021 has been the Research Institute’s Chief Medical Officer, the Institute’s five research divisions began with Oncology studies. A year later, it added Cardiovascular and trauma research. Over time, the institute would add research divisions for Neuroscience, Bariatric/GI and Multispecialty (a platform for various up-and-coming disease research).
“This was about truly making an impact on the community where we could provide options and hope for patients and their families,” recalled HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte, citing an example of the changes over time:
“The therapies available for pancreatic cancer patients today have advanced tremendously from where they were 20 years ago.”
Perhaps no one knows that better than Dr. Gordon, a pancreatic cancer survivor, who when he was diagnosed chose to be treated at the HonorHealth Research Institute, rather than any of the other premier hospitals or universities with which he has been affiliated over his career. Because of his own illness, Dr. Gordon has a heightened empathy for patients.
“There’s no way to come through such a journey and not have a sense of, and appreciation for, all the wonderful things in life, as well as an appreciation for the challenges we face,” said Dr. Gordon, who also serves as medical director of the Multispecialty Research Division. “Perhaps few are as challenging as a cancer diagnosis.”
“What’s in a name?”
As it has evolved over the years, the Institute has been known by several names. The original Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute at Scottsdale Healthcare was soon bolstered by the incorporation of TGen Clinical Research Services (an alliance between Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute). After the creation a decade ago of HonorHealth — a merger of Scottsdale Healthcare and the John C. Lincoln Health Network — the research enterprise morphed into the HonorHealth Research Institute, as it is known today.
Shakespeare suggested that the true essence of someone or something is not determined by their name but by their identity and qualities. One constant over the past two decades is HonorHealth Research Institute’s pursuit of top-notch leadership, doctors, researchers and staff, and of state-of-the-art, innovative healthcare devices, drugs and techniques for patients, characterized by highly effective, leading-edge and safe clinical trials, sometimes the first in the world.
Institute gets its own CEO
A major inflection point came in 2007 with the appointment of Mark Slater, Ph.D., as CEO of the Research Institute, providing a clear vision and philosophy to guide expansion into the future:
- An institute without walls, where collaboration is paramount.
- The best academic and scientific rigor matched to real-world community care.
- Nimble: fighting bureaucracy, eliminating obstacles, allowing innovation to proceed with urgency.
- Patient-centered strategic initiatives: leveraging the best science in pursuit of personalized medicine that addresses the unique circumstances of each patient.
- Commitment to compassionate care, treating every patient as we would want to be treated, combining the best science and care to give patients a fighting chance.
“My vision was — and remains — to create the kind of clinical research environment that I always wanted when I was a clinical scientist,” said Dr. Slater, CEO of the Institute and Vice President for Research at HonorHealth. “I always come back to one thing, gratitude: for HonorHealth, our dedicated physicians, scientists and staff; for our donors, our partners, and, most of all, for the courage of our patients and their families.”
Dr. Slater’s vision has helped guide the development of the Institute’s five research divisions and will help lead the way in the future as the Institute develops more research branches, such as the new expansion of laboratory science for the Center for Translational Science, and as the Institute establishes new partnerships, such as the recent affiliation with Arizona State University’s new John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, both on the bioscience campus in downtown Phoenix.
“This affiliation provides a transformative opportunity for Arizona by combining the unparallelled strengths of both ASU — in education, basic and data science — and the HonorHealth Research Institute — in translational and clinical science and care — to accelerate medical innovation for bringing tomorrow’s advances to our community today,” Dr. Slater said.
Oncology Research Division
Born to meet the needs of patients, the Oncology Research Division notched significant early wins:
Bisgrove Pavilion
In 2007, the Debi and Jerry Bisgrove Research Pavilion was dedicated on the Shea campus, providing some of the institute’s first laboratory space and clinical care facilities, and serving as a bridge between the research bench and bedside treatments.
Debi Bisgrove was the subject of some of the Institute’s initial efforts to characterize, or profile, patient tumors by using the power of the human genome to unveil a patient’s unique genetic vulnerabilities to various cancers and identify potential drugs to treat each individual’s specific disease. Generous funding from the Stardust Foundation supported the Institute in leading a national network of investigators to pioneer the clinical application of genomics to develop targeted therapies that transformed drug development and care for many challenging cancers.
Hedgehog pathway
One such characterization led to the discovery of what is known as the hedgehog signaling pathway, so named because its molecular structure looks like the cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog. This pathway guides a chemical called vismodegib, which is derived from a plant called the corn lily.
Vismodegib, as it turned out, blocked abnormal cell growth in a number of human cancers, including basal-cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer that, left untreated, can turn into a deadly malignancy. The Institute’s initial first-in-human research with the world’s first clinical trial patient (a local resident) showed that vismodegib could clear up even late-stage basal-cell skin cancers that had spread to other parts of the body, including the liver, bone and lungs.
Follow-up collaborative, larger-scale global clinical trials led to FDA’s 2012 approval of vismodegib as an oral pill for the treatment of basil-cell carcinoma — the first drug developed through HonorHealth Research Institute to receive FDA approval. Remarkably, this drug was approved in less than 5 years; a fraction of the time it takes most cancer drugs to be approved.
The Triplet
Another early victory was the creation of “The Triplet,” a combination of Abraxane, Gemcitabine and Cisplatin. Dr. Erkut Borazanci, now the medical director of the Oncology Research Division, enrolled the first patient with advanced stage pancreatic cancer treated with this combination.
“It was incredible. Early on, with that very first patient, it was clear she was benefitting,” Dr. Borazanci said. “Though she came to us with stage four pancreas cancer, on her scans every two months, it was harder and harder to see the cancer. And she felt well.”
Clinical trials would show a 71% response rate, meaning most advanced stage pancreatic cancer patients saw their tumors shrink, a finding that would lead to The Triplet becoming a new nationwide standard-of-care treatment for pancreatic cancer patients.
This achievement was a result of an $18 million Stand Up to Cancer award for a Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team comprised of HonorHealth, TGen, John Hopkins, the Salk Institute, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Cellular therapies
In addition to targeted therapies, HRI is transforming cancer care through innovations in cellular therapies. New cellular therapies harness the power of the body’s own immune system to treat cancer. One such therapy is called TIL, short for Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, immune cells embedded in cancer that are too weak to defeat the tumor. TIL-containing tumors are removed from the patient, then the TILs are isolated, enhanced and multiplied in a lab before being reintroduced back to the patient. The result is an army of billions of powerful immune cells to attack the cancer.
This type of therapy has produced results In melanoma patients supervised by Justin Moser, M.D., an associate clinical investigator at HonorHealth who also holds affiliations with both the U of A and ASU medical schools.
“The data suggests that this is likely the best option for patients with refractory Melanoma, and that it can provide long-time, durable disease control in some patients,” Dr. Moser said.
Cardiovascular Research Division
In 2006, on the heels of the Institute’s cancer research, the Cardiovascular Research Division was established, and with it came a raft of significant breakthroughs in treating cardiovascular disease affecting the arteries and other vascular structures with innovative stents, heart valves, and devices to help the heart keep a healthy rhythm. Using minimally invasive techniques to route therapeutic devices via catheters through large blood vessels, the division has invented new ways to avoid the trauma of open-heart surgery.
Cardiovascular clinical trials had been conducted since 1998 throughout the Scottsdale Healthcare network. The cardiovascular division also incorporated the Scottsdale Interventional Forum, begun in 2004, an annual international gathering of heart experts to share the latest findings and techniques, including live televised heart procedures.
Shockwave lithotripsy
HonorHealth contributed to the studies that led to the development of shockwave lithotripsy, which received FDA approval in 2021 for a highly effective, non-surgical method of breaking up and removing kidney stones.
Stents
One example of the many innovations with new types of stents, the Research Institute in 2024 was one of the first in the nation and the first in the Southwest to treat a patient with a stroke-prevention stent that eliminates blockages in neck arteries that could potentially cause a deadly stroke by depriving the brain of oxygen.
Heart valves
The Institute helped pioneer trials that led to the 2019 FDA approval of the MitraClip, a now common method of repairing the mitral valve, which prevents blood from regurgitating, or backing up, into the left atrium and lungs from the left ventricle, the largest of the heart’s four chambers, which pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. More than 200,000 patients worldwide have received the MitraClip via vascular catheters; without the need for open-heart surgery.
Clinical trials at the Institute led to the 2025 FDA approval of the Tendyne Valve, an artificial replacement valve for the mitral valve.
In 2024, the Institute enrolled some of the nation’s first J-Valve patients into a clinical trial. This device prevents blood from regurgitating from the aorta, the main artery that feeds oxygenated blood to the body, into the left ventricle, a condition that if left untreated could lead to heart failure and death.
We got rhythm
Through the years, the Institute has been at the forefront of helping develop relatively non-invasive implants that help the heart maintain a strong, steady beat. Where once they were large, some connected by wires from outside the body to inside the heart that had limited battery life. Today’s devices are small, wireless, and often reside completely inside the heart. Some devices can even be recharged from outside the body.
“Our research efforts have expanded across the breadth of cardiovascular medicine,” said Rahul Doshi, M.D., medical director for the Cardiovascular Research Division.
“This includes cardiothoracic surgery, interventional, valves, electrophysiology, vascular, adult congenital, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure — it’s every aspect of care related to cardiovascular medicine that we can bring to our patients at HonorHealth.”
National leadership
In 2024, the Institute was one of the first in the nation to begin installing radiation shields in its cardiovascular interventional operating rooms, providing greater protection for doctors, nurses and technicians.
Neuroscience Research Division
In 2017, Todd Levine, M.D., became medical director, two years after the establishment of the Neuroscience Research Division, studying new treatments for diseases of the central nervous system and brain, including strokes and diseases of the immune system, and how they might affect other bodily systems such as muscles and the digestive tract.
Under his leadership, the division quickly expanded to several HonorHealth hospital campuses, culminating in the 2021 opening of the Bob Bové Neuroscience Institute on the campus of Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center.
Named after a prominent Phoenix businessman and philanthropist, the Bob Bové center is a beacon of hope for patients and their families facing some of the most challenging diseases of our time, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rapid-onset muscle weakness brought on by the immune system attacking the nerves. The division is also researching Parkinson’s disease, dementia, migraine headaches and concussions.
Progress on many fronts
Symptoms of these types of diseases and conditions often take years to develop, but progress is being made, not only in treating diseases but also in early detection of illnesses.
“In neurology, we’ve gotten to a stage now of having some very specific biomarkers,” Dr. Levine said. “So, for example, we can do a blood test and tell if an individual is at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease within the next five years.”
And in contrast to past decades, few patients today are ever hospitalized for Multiple Sclerosis — an auto-immune disease that can cause a range of physical, mental and sometimes psychological problems — thanks to a proliferation of new drugs that are effective at keeping patients functional and healthy.
In collaboration with Don Penzien, Ph.D., of Wake Forest University, Dr. Levine is spearheading a study to test an online self-management program for patients to control chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.
The division also is part of a first-of-its-kind global effort begun in 2021 to prevent Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), another debilitating and eventually fatal muscle-weaking auto-immune disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the historically popular Major League Baseball player who died from this condition nearly a century ago. There still is no cure.
Bariatric/GI Research Division
James Swain, M.D., was brought on as medical director of the Bariatric/GI Research Division when it began in 2011, focused in part on helping patients achieve healthy weight, a growing challenge in a world where most American adults are overweight, and nearly 2 in 5 are considered obese.
The Institute is the first site in the nation to study genetic-based obesity:
“That is just an area that was never really explored before,” said Dr. Swain, whose division is a prime example of cross-divisional studies. “The most exciting thing is when (Bariatric/GI problems) affect other body systems, and that means other research divisions, whether it’s cancer in our GI group or working with cardiology and the link between weight loss and improved cardiac function.”
The division also studies digestive problems, such as GERD, blood-sugar abnormalities such as diabetes, and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s Disease. In 2022, the division helped secure FDA approval of the first and only interleukin-23 drug to treat moderate to severe Crohn’s Disease in adults.
Multispecialty Research Division
What its medical director, Dr. Michael Gordon, likes to call the “incubator division,” Multispecialty officially began in 2022 as a place to organize research efforts that don’t fall into any of the Institute’s other four divisions.
While many of its functions began in 2019 — just in time for COVID pandemic studies into COVID-related pneumonia and high-risk adults — it since has also adopted studies surrounding an interventional pulmonary program (2022), a pulmonary hypertension program (2023), and a rheumatology program (2024).
It also has included studies related to spine pain and breast cancer surgery.
“As we’ve grown the HonorHealth Research Institute, we’ve looked at what are the unmet needs for our patients and our physician communities, and how can we overlay research in both a clinical trial and a translational way to enhance the quality of care that we deliver,” said Dr. Gordon, who also has served as the associate dean for research for the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, and associate director of the Arizona Cancer Center.
Back to the future: The next 20 years
In building for the future, one of the most promising developments is the Institute’s new Center for Translational Science, headed by Sunil Sharma, M.D., MBA who first joined the Institute nearly a decade ago in the pursuit of new cancer treatments as Chief of Translational Research and Drug Discovery.
“The Center for Translational Science is a new initiative to bring laboratory based, or what you might call bench research, to integrate with the Institute’s already fabulous clinical research in a really interesting and almost serendipitous way,” said Dr. Sharma, who now holds Dr. Von Hoff’s old position as the Virginia G. Piper Chair for Innovative Cancer Research.
John Neil, M.D., HonorHealth’s Chief Physician Executive and Network Strategy Officer, said the new Center for Translational Science will further cement HonorHealth’s global reputation for delivering among the very best medical care: “We have served patients from all 50 states and more than 30 nations worldwide. Our new Center for Translational Science will build on our successes and exponentially increase the scientific rigor that is the backbone of our medical service.”
“The Research Institute brings a level of continuous learning and growth to the organization that wouldn’t otherwise be here,” Dr. Neil added. “It allows us to attract a level of clinical research talent that most community health systems simply don’t have. Although 20 years is a long time, we’re just getting started; it’s only going to accelerate.”
When it comes to longevity, the aim of Nicholas Schork, Ph.D., research director of Longevity, Prevention and Interception, and Laura Goetz, M.D., research director of Precision Medicine, is to help patients live longer and better, reducing their risk of disease. This includes not only finding ways to prevent disease but to promote the interception of disease, using biomarkers to detect pre-disease and prompt interventions before their condition turns into something more serious.
Power of Philanthropy
Donations have empowered the Institute to accelerate medical breakthroughs and improve patient outcomes.
“We receive gifts from all across the country as well as locally — we have a lot of local communities in town that raise money for the Research Institute,” said Joanne Smith, MBA, Senior Vice-President, Fundraising Development, HonorHealth Foundation. “We also have patient families, and one of the best ways for patient families to express gratitude is to make a gift or direct gifts to the HonorHealth Foundation in honor of the care that their loved one has received.”
Eyes on the horizon
“We will continue to work collaboratively, telling the stories of not only what we accomplish here but also what we achieve in partnership with ASU and others,” Dr. Slater said. “We will continue to deepen our science and make sure it is well integrated with our clinical research, instead of relying on the clinical research alone. We will focus on individualized solutions and early identification and early intervention of diseases, and ultimately on disease prevention, which could help people live longer and healthier.”
From small beginnings, the Institute has evolved into a powerhouse of nationally and internationally recognized research innovation, with virtually unlimited potential, he said: “The best is yet to come.”
