Fifty year study to alter the future of medicine

A medical study based at the North Carolina Research Campus needs a few good people to volunteer – 50,000 people to be exact.

The MURDOCK Study started enrolling people Monday for the research project that scientists say will rewrite medical treatment patients receive.

The Rev. Andy Langford, the pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Concord, is one of the participants in the study. His pride as a Duke alumnus is one of the reason's he chose to volunteer.

“This is a gift that people in our community can give not only to ourselves, but also to our children and our grandchildren,” Langford said. "We have no clue what they are going to discover."

MURDOCK stands for Measurement to Understand the Reclassification of Disease Of Cabarrus and Kannapolis. In October 2007, billionaire and Research Campus Developer David Murdock donated $35 million to launch the extensive study. Research will be done at the Core Lab of the North Carolina Research Campus.

Dr. Ashley Dunham, one of the many leaders conducting the study, said doctors will use the lab's technology "to look at response to disease at a molecular level." That means using science to personalize health care to the individual, instead of a one-pill-fits-all type of medicine.

”Hopefully with care that's more individualized, your response will be better, you'll get better faster and you'll stay healthy,” said Dr. Dunham.

The Cabarrus Health Alliance is one of the places around the county that is helping enroll participants in the MURDOCK study. This is a major undertaking because the goal is to have 50,000 people enrolled in the multi-million dollar health research initiative.

“We hope to have 50,000 people enrolled in four years. And we'll follow them over time. So it will be a longitudinal health study. And we'll collect that sample of blood when they join and that will be used for future research that comes out of the Core Lab and other things that Duke is doing,” said Dr. Dunham.

The health study will examine all major chronic diseases and illnesses.

It will take at least 50 years, so volunteers like Langford may never know the full impact of their participation.

"I'm not sure we'll ever actually see the results of that, but if we can contribute to somebody else, actually helping them, that might make a significant difference,” said Langford.

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If you're a Cabarrus County resident, find out more about how to get involved with the MURDOCK study here.