SIMR History

Since 1959, Sutter Institute for Medical Research has participated in hundreds of research projects. The following is a summary of the major accomplishments in which SIMR played a fundamental role:

1959
Sutter Medical Research Foundation, forerunner of SIMR, is established.

1963
The National Fraternal Order of Eagles establishes the Max Baer Heart Research Laboratory.

1964
The Cutter-Smeloff heart valve is developed and eventually implanted into more than 75,000 patients.

1986
The SIMR Cancer Research Laboratory is established.

1987
Sutter performs Northern California’s first extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a pulmonary bypass procedure for neonates with severe respiratory distress. SIMR continues to train neonatal intensive care nurses in performing ECMO.

1988
SIMR spearheads a new program in custom hip replacements in orthopedic surgery.

1989
Sutter Memorial Hospital begins performing heart transplants.

1990
The newly remodeled Surgical Research and Training Laboratory opens. Since 1990, 1,371 physicians and 1,457 nurses and technicians from around the world have received training in the latest surgical procedures.

1991
The SIMR Clinical Trials Programs are established to bring new investigative treatment modalities to Sutter patients with heart disease, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Since then, more than 800 patients have been enrolled and followed.

Sutter uses monoclonal antibodies to detect small colorectal tumors at a very early stage, as well as deliver radiotherapy to the cancerous area.

SIMR receives a $2.5 million bequest for cancer research from the estate of Orel Crawford.

1992
Sutter General Hospital is the site of the first robot-assisted hip replacement surgery in a human patient.

Sutter Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Group is chosen as one of 120 sites throughout the nation to enroll women into the first large-scale clinical trial for the prevention of breast cancer.

The Heart Valve Cooperative Project begins as a multi-center, pilot study for gathering and analyzing data on patients who have undergone prosthetic heart valve surgery. By 1994, HVCP had enrolled more than 1,000 participants from four clinical sites.

The Northern California Positron Emission Tomography Center opens. A collaboration between SIMR, Radiological Associates and UC Davis is formed to conduct research using P.E.T. as a diagnostic tool for metastatic cancer.

1993
SIMR and Sutter's Comprehensive Epilepsy Services program are chosen as one of 50 sites nationwide to perform National Institutes of Health-sponsored studies of new anti-epileptic drugs.

Surgeons at Sutter Memorial Hospital perform the first cryoablation surgery for liver cancer in the Western U.S., after testing it in the SIMR Laboratory.

The Sutter Center of Progressive Endosurgery is established.

Sutter Cancer Center is chosen as one of 98 sites throughout the nation to enroll men into the first large-scale clinical trial for the prevention of prostate cancer.

1994
The SIMR Clinical Trials Program moves into its new, expanded patient care facility and collaborates with the Sutter Neuroscience Program to open the Sutter Alzheimer's Clinic.

1995
SIMR joins forces with Sutter Medical Foundation to expand full-service research support to outpatient facilities throughout the greater Sacramento region.

SIMR trains an intensive care team in preparation for the first ECMO program in Sacramento for pediatric patients in severe respiratory distress.

The Research and Training Laboratory provides testing and training for Sutter and Mercy hospitals for use of the first ABIOMED heart-assist pump.

1998
Sutter cardiovascular surgeons helped test and verify the efficacy of transmyocardial laser revascularization.

2003
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento was the only regional hospital in Sacramento chosen to participate in successful trials that led to FDA approval of a new medicated stent and blood filter for heart surgery patients.

SIMR is the only regional site in Sacramento chosen to participate in the National Diabetes Trials, a TrialNet Study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health for the prevention of type 1 diabetes in subjects at risk.

SIMR is the only regional hospital in Sacramento chosen to participate in a National Institutes of Health-funded 5 year study to determine the effect of hypertension and antiplatelet therapy in stroke patients.

Sutter and UCLA researchers join to establish the Bob Holm Tissue Bank for epileptic and tumor brain tissue.