Troubled Byrd Alzheimer's Center Should Be Taken Over By USF

[CyberBull]

Troubled Byrd Alzheimer's Center Should Be Taken Over By USF

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

From the start, it didn't make sense to make the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Institute - built on the campus of the University of South Florida - an independent center.

After all, the neuroscience department at USF's medical school is just 40 feet away. There, researchers have treated Alzheimer's patients and performed related research for years. Just this month, USF Health announced it had hired the head of neurosciences at Columbia University, a big-time catch.

But duplication isn't the only reason the Byrd institute's executive committee today will ask its board of directors to place the center under USF's umbrella, where it will receive much-needed oversight.

An increasing number of board members are expressing concern about the institute's leadership and spending practices. Last week, they stopped Dr. Huntington Potter, the center's director, from hiring a business manager and opening the center's clinic. In the latter case, they said the director had not first secured the necessary paperwork.

Potter appears to be losing his board's confidence, partly because of a sense that straight answers are hard to come by.

For example, some executive committee members challenge his claim that the institute spends only 12 percent of its budget on administrative costs. In arriving at that number, they say Potter is including capital expenses. Generally, administrative costs are calculated only as a share of operating costs.

The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the university system, supports the change in governance. Efficiencies could be achieved and duplication reduced, a review team found.

The move would not affect the center's mission of supporting Alzheimer's research across the state. Indeed, Florida has other research centers - for transportation research, as one example - that serve the state from the campus of a single university.

Controversial From The Start

The Byrd Institute is a rare bird in scientific circles because it sits smack dab in the center of a university with which it has no affiliation. It's hard to find any other center - anywhere in the nation - fashioned in such a way.

The center was the creation of former House Speaker Johnnie Byrd Jr., whose father died of Alzheimer's. Byrd patterned the institute after Moffitt Cancer Center, which is on USF's campus but independent of the university. However, Moffitt has a hospital and generates most of its operating budget from patient care and research grants. The Byrd Institute, on the other hand, relies almost totally on state funds.

Since its creation, the institute has been controversial, partly because the former House speaker, who left Tallahassee as an unpopular figure, got his friends and a law partner appointed to the board, giving him enormous sway. Every year, the fledgling institute seems to wage a fight for its life.

Last year, the Legislature wanted to cut its annual $15 million appropriation in half, though it wound up cutting just $1.5 million.

This year, however, with state revenues coming up short, Gov. Charlie Crist again proposes cutting the institute's budget in half, which would be a crippling blow. It's believed that if the institute were under USF's governance, funding shocks could be tamped down.

Potter argues the center should remain independent because it commands support from lawmakers in other parts of the state whose support is needed to help it flourish. He fears that if it's placed under USF, it would lose its image as an independent center serving a statewide mission.

But the proposal goes beyond that. It also calls for replacing Potter as CEO with Dr. Stephen Klasko, vice president of USF Health.

Potter says scientists might object to Klasko, an obstetrician, running a brain-research institute. But Klasko, who also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has proven himself a capable recruiter, manager and visionary. Besides, he would still appoint an institute director who would work under his supervision.

Some Would Give Center To FSU

The board's action today addresses concerns raised in recent months, ever since word spread that Byrd was trying to have Florida State University take over the institute. Sen. Durell Peaden Jr., R-Crestview who chairs the appropriations committee for health and human services, would like to see FSU take ownership of the Byrd Institute. He's also sponsoring legislation to eliminate the center altogether.

It makes no sense for FSU's medical school to run a research center located 40 feet away from USF's medical school.

USF President Judy Genshaft is fighting to make sure that doesn't happen, as she should.

The Byrd Center needs to work its way out of the headlines, and onto a stronger path toward finding a cure for Alzheimer's.

For the sake of its stability and mission, the board should agree today to place the institute under USF's governance.

 

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