McGowan Institute?
January 2006 | VOL. 1 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu
The Carnegie Science Center announced that the McGowan Institute is the 2006 recipient of the Chairman’s Award, a part of the Science Center’s Annual Awards for Excellence program. This award is presented to the company or institution in the region that advances the boundaries of science for the good of mankind and society via cutting edge initiatives.
The Life Sciences Award will be presented to Savio L-Y. Woo, Ph.D., D.Sc. (Hon.) for his work that has revolutionized the field of orthopedic biomechanics and served as the foundation upon which many patient rehabilitation protocols are currently based for various types of ligament and tendon injury.
The awards will be presented at the annual awards ceremony to be held on May 3, 2006 at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Specialized Therapies has forged a partnership to expedite the development and the clinical assessment of several McGowan Institute innovations detailed below.
The Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Specialized Therapies (Instituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione, or ISMETT) is an international center for specialized medicine serving the people of the Mediterranean region. Located in Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, ISMETT was founded as a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Cervello and Civico hospitals in Palermo, and the Sicilian regional government.
The McGowan/ISMETT partnership is based on the pioneering studies of Jörg Gerlach, M.D., Ph.D., of the McGowan Institute and the clinical pioneers at ISMETT headed by Bruno Gridelli, M.D., ISMETT Medical and Scientific Director. The technologies that have been developed by the Gerlach Lab focuses on building bioreactors that combine synthetic components with human cells to scale-up cell availability and create support for cell transplantation therapies. This approach offers new opportunities for the clinical translation of tissue engineering and stem cell biology by providing specialized tools that significantly enhance cell based therapies. For additional details on the Gerlach Bioreactor Group, click here.
The McGowan Institute/ISMETT partnership will initially focus on the use of the Gerlach Lab bioreactor technologies to provide an extracorporeal liver support system. Future collaboration is likely to include studies addressing regeneration of other organs based on cellular therapies and advanced bioreactor technologies.
In another ISMETT program, we will be creating two leading cell-therapy clinical programs. In the first we will explore the clinical implementation of stem cell therapy for heart failure. In the second, through a partnership with Dr. Camillo Riccordi (University of Miami) we will be offering patients the option of pancreatic islet transplantation.
The McGowan Institute continues to believe that accelerating the progress of regenerative medicine toward a routine therapeutic option requires clinical implementation of our technologies and partnering with the best clinical regenerative medicine specialists around the world. The ISMETT-McGowan partnership is the latest demonstration that the global reach of the University of Pittsburgh Medical System (UPMC) allows us to remain at the cutting edge of the discipline.
The 2006 McGowan Institute Retreat will focus on enhancing our networking with industry, sharing our capabilities with prospective industrial partners and learning about the needs of industry relative to bringing regenerative medicine technologies to clinical use.
Prior McGowan Institute Scientific Retreats have traditionally been attended by McGowan Institute faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral trainees as well as select guests from industry, government and other academic institutions. These events have been an excellent forum for internal networking.
For the 2006 Retreat, the Program Committee has identified 50 key industrial leaders in different industrial sectors related to regenerative medicine. These leaders have been invited to attend the Retreat. Their role will be to participate in industrial panel sessions on needs identification and discussion of potential barriers to collaboration, as well as in one-on-one interactions with McGowan Faculty and their research teams.
The participation and contributions of the industrial leaders along with McGowan Faculty and Trainees will provide for insightful discussions and opportunities for promising outcomes for each organization that participates.
The highlights of the retreat program include:
- Keynote address by Gail Naughton, Ph.D., Dean of College of Business Administration, San Diego State University, and Advanced Tissue Sciences Co-Founder and Vice Chair;
- Overviews of capabilities and interests of McGowan Institute Faculty;
- Introduction of the new and improved pathways to collaborate with and license University of Pittsburgh technologies;
- One-on-one “mini-sessions” between key industry personnel and faculty;
- Definition of industrial needs and development of means for enhanced collaboration;
- Poster session to introduce the focus and interests of Institute faculty (posters from the industrial participants are welcomed but not required);
- Special postdoctoral networking session.
The plans are for all of the Retreat participants to check in at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort on Sunday evening (March 5th) and departure will be on Tuesday at ~5 PM. For additional details on the Resort, please see www.nemacolin.com
Due to the large industrial delegation, space at Nemacolin is limited. If you wish to attend the Retreat, please register on-line NOW and ALSO follow the instructions to reserve your room at Nemacolin. If you have any questions, please contact Katy Wharton at 412-235-5112 or whartonkm@upmc.edu.
We look forward to you joining us at Nemacolin in March for a very productive meeting. REGISTER
As the newly appointed editor for North America of the Journal “Current Genomics”, Johnny Huard joins an international team of experts committed to publishing state of the art work in genomics.
“Current Genomics” aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments in genomics. Each issue of the journal contains a series of timely in-depth reviews written by leaders in the field covering a wide range of current topics in genomics. All aspects of genetic analysis and gene function will be covered; particularly in the growing areas of human and functional genomics. Current Genomics is targeted toward academic, clinical, government and pharmaceutical scientists who wish to be kept informed and up-to-date with the latest and most important developments.
In an editorial in Tissue Engineering (Volume 11, Number 9/10, 2005), Alan Russell addresses the increasingly important subject of the need for minimal standards in publishing research results related to tissue engineering. Professor Russell notes that tissue engineering has the potential to greatly improve or replace current clinical therapies. He submits that global progress in this field will be significantly accelerated if a coordinated strategy is developed and utilized to compare data generated, and to enhance the methods of data sharing. His editorial details the need for a negotiated minimal data set when publishing tissue engineering research, and describes how compiled and standardized data could be used to accelerate research using new informatics technologies.
Professor Russell notes that perhaps the only drawback to many standards is their voluntary nature. Unless required in some way, standards have no “teeth.” He recommends that the editorial board of Tissue Engineering should set negotiated minimal data standards and methodologies for authors publishing in the Journal as a first step toward broad adoption of research standards and data sharing. He suggests that the tissue engineering research community could come together and agree that when publishing about a new biomaterial that enhances the adhesion of cells to a plate, for example, there are a minimum set of experiments that must be performed prior to publication using negotiated standard materials and techniques. If such standards were in place, overnight we would begin to develop a global data set that could be used to accelerate the pace of research of all working in the field. Data sharing and virtual collaboration would become feasible at an unmatched scale.
Read Professor Russell’s Editorial
Freddie H. Fu, MD is using an innovative new approach to repairing one of the most common sports knee injuries: the torn anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. The anterior cruciate ligament and posterior cruciate ligament are the major stabilizing ligaments of the knee joint. The ACL has a complex structure consisting of two different bundles. Most ACL repairs currently done in the United States utilize an ACL single-bundle reconstruction technique.
However, Dr. Fu is one of the first surgeons in the United States to perform a “double-bundle” reconstruction of the torn ACL. This technique restores both functional bundles of the ACL, the vertical bundle (anteromedial bundle), and the oblique bundle (posterolateral bundle). Dr. Fu has already helped several top professional athletes with the double-bundle procedure.
Dr. Fu notes that “the traditional ACL repair uses a single-bundle reconstruction using the patellar or hamstring tendons. Studies show an average success rate of 70 to 90 percent. But I believe the double-bundle technique can lead to even better outcomes because it is a more accurate anatomical reconstruction.”
The rehabilitation period for double-bundle technique is the same as for single-bundle technique: immediate physical therapy and protective bracing and crutches for the first few weeks, followed by light sports activities after three months, with a return to contact sports at around nine months. It is one of the most exciting advances in orthopaedics and sports medicine in years.
Carbon monoxide, a highly toxic gas often called the “silent killer,” may prove useful for extending the life of transplanted organs, suggests a University of Pittsburgh study that found prolonged, low-dose exposure to be protective against chronic rejection in a rat kidney transplant model. Chronic rejection is the primary reason that patients require second or third transplant operations.
In the study, to be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology and available now as an online publication, the researchers report minimal signs of inflammation and tissue damage indicative of chronic rejection following kidney transplantation in rats housed for 30 days in cages with air consisting of 20 parts per million of carbon dioxide. In contrast, the kidneys transplanted into rats maintained in normal air conditions began to deteriorate almost immediately, and microscopic examination revealed progressive rejection. Both groups were given a six-day course of the anti-rejection drug tacrolimus.
Although carbon monoxide is toxic at high concentrations, at low concentrations it appears to function as a signaling molecule that protects cells against bombardment by the inflammatory immune response, says senior author Noriko Murase, M.D., associate professor of surgery at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, School of Medicine. The idea to study the effects of carbon monoxide in the transplant setting came from co-author Augustine M. K. Choi, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine, who is a leading expert on the effects of carbon monoxide.
University of Pittsburgh study suggests that standard anti-inflammatory therapy may not be appropriate for many interstitial lung disease patients.
In an article in the Jan. 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh researchers report that a serious, life-threatening form of pulmonary fibrosis, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lacks all the hallmarks of inflammation and is probably unnecessarily treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. Moreover, in a related study, the investigators identified a protein found in excess amounts in the lung tissue of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which may be a more appropriate target for therapy.
The study was led by James Dauber, M.D., medical director of the University’s Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, and professor of medicine, division of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine and Naftali Kaminski, M.D.
Publication of the Month
Author(s) |
Amit N. Patel MD, MS, Luis Geffner MD, Roberto F. Vina MD, Jorge Saslavsky MD, Harold C. Urschel, Jr MD, Robert Kormos MD and Federico Benetti MD |
Title |
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Summary |
This paper addresses autologous adult stem cell transplantation which has been touted as the latest tool in regenerative medical therapy. Its potential for use in cardiovascular disease has only recently been recognized. A randomized study was conducted by the authors using a novel epicardial technique to deploy stem cells as an adjuvant to conventional revascularization therapy in patients with congestive heart failure. |
Source |
The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Volume 130, Issue 6, December 2005, Page 1631 |
Grant of the Month
Author(s) |
John A. Kellum, MD |
Title |
Systems Engineering of a Pheresis Intervention for Sepsis (SEPsIS) |
Description |
The NIH has announced the funding of a $7 million grant entitled "Systems Engineering of a Pheresis Intervention for Sepsis (SEPsIS)" to design and test an extracorporeal device for the treatment of severe sepsis, based on the principle of hemoadsorption. John A. Kellum, MD , Department of Critical Care Medicine, will lead a multi-disciplinary team comprised of basic science and clinical researchers, bioengineering and biomaterials experts, and experts in complex systems modeling. Severe sepsis (acute onset organ failure in the setting of infection) is a major health problem that kills nearly 250,000 Americans each year and costs billions of dollars. Available therapies for sepsis, including those recently approved, are suboptimal and new therapies are urgently needed. However, the complexities of the inflammatory response network and the high cost of clinical trials, particularly in the critically ill, renders the traditional drug/device development paradigm obsolete. The research team has previously developed and tested an extracorporeal blood purification device for treatment in chronic renal disease and has adapted this device for the treatment of acute inflammatory diseases. They have also developed and partially calibrated—in both rodents and humans—a mathematical model of sepsis. SEPsIS will integrate these two achievements and, through an iterative design process, develop a device that can be used to treat severe sepsis. The goal of the SEPsIS grant is to design an extracorporeal blood purification device for the treatment of severe sepsis. The project brings together investigators from departments of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Critical Care Medicine, Surgery, Medicine, and Mathematics. Investigators will also call on the expertise of two companies, one specializing in adsorbent polymer technology (MedaSorb Technologies, LLC) and the other in complex systems modeling (Immunetrics, Inc.). McGowan Institute faculty and their roles in the SEPsIS Grant are:
Dr. William Wagner is an expert in the area of cardiovascular device biocompatibility, having worked extensively with circulatory and pulmonary support devices. His lab performs evaluations from in vitro surface analyses to clinical trials focusing on thrombosis, thromboembolism, and inflammation. In this partnership, he is responsible for directing the work in the biocompatibility core. |
Source |
R01-HL-080926-01 |
Date |
9/28/05 – 8/31/10 |
The McGowan Institute joins in welcoming Steven R. Little, PhD to Pittsburgh. Dr. Little’s primary appointment is in the Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor with joint appointments in Bioengineering, Immunology, and Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he served as a Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, and NSF fellow.
Specific research project areas in Professor Little’s lab include:
- Controlled delivery of targeted stimulus as smart immunotherapeutics
- Non-viral gene delivery to mononuclear cells
- Micro and Nanoparticles for genetic vaccine delivery
- Development of biomimetic polymers for tissue engineering
- Controlled release of bioactive molecules for de novo bone formation
- Study of immune cell chemotaxis (directed migration)
- Tumor immunotherapy through regulatory T-cell manipulation
McGowan faulty member Philip LeDuc, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Dr. LeDuc is the 2006 recipient of the George Tallman Ladd Research Award which is given annually to a faculty member at CMU in recognition of outstanding research and professional accomplishments and potential. The award is restricted to Assistant Professors and Research Engineers in the School of Engineering.
The selection is based on excellence in research as measured by: scholarly publications, research program development, development of funding, and awards and other recognition.
The LeDuc Lab focuses on linking mechanics to biochemistry through exploring the science of molecular to cellular biomechanics through nano- and micro-technology, control theory approaches, and computational biology.
Congratulations Dr. LeDuc and best wishes for continued success!