McGowan Institute?
June 2008 | VOL. 7, NO. 6 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu
McGowan Faculty Members Recognized
Dr. William Wagner and Dr. Michael Sacks have been named Fellows by two prominent engineering societies. Dr. Wagner was recognized as a Fellow, Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE). He is the first from the University of Pittsburgh to be honored with this title.
Dr. Sacks was named a 2008 Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), an organization with over 127,000 members. Fellow status is the highest elected grade of membership from the ASME.
Dr. Sacks is William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the Bioengineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also director of the Engineered Tissue Mechanics and Mechanobiology Lab. Dr. Sacks’ appointment acknowledges his international reputation as a leader in the field of soft tissue mechanics employing several innovative experimental measurement techniques and computational modeling to characterize biological soft tissues. His work on the biomechanics of native and prosthetic heart valves and in the development of tissue engineered heart valves has earned him a reputation as a premier researcher in his field.
Earlier this year, Dr. Sacks was recognized by Pitt with the 2008 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award. Among other honors, he was also named to the prestigious 2006 Scientific American50 sponsored by Scientific American Magazine.
Dr. Wagner is a deputy director at McGowan Institute as well as a professor of Surgery, Bioengineering, and Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also director of the Thrombosis Research for the Artificial Heart and Lung Program. The FBSE appointment recognizes Dr. Wagner’s work in applying biomaterials science and engineering principles to address cardiovascular disease and his leadership in the international biomaterials community.
Much of Dr. Wagner’s current work revolves around biomaterials and cardiovascular tissue engineering. Dr. Wagner and his colleagues are working on developing polymers that function as biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers. The polymers must be readily processed into a variety of shapes and have high strength combined with flexibility.
Dr. Wagner is the recipient of many awards, most recently the 2008 Carnegie Science Award for Life Sciences. He was also named to the Scientific American 50 with Dr. Sacks in 2006.
In a story reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 26, 2008, Dr. John Kellum announced the results of a study on levels of the protein interleukin-6 in the bloodstream of donor patients prior to transplantation. The study has also been published in the June issue of the journal Critical Care Medicine. Study results showed that lower levels of interleukin-6 are associated with increased survival in patients receiving transplanted organs.
The study began with the measurement of several immune system proteins in donor patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. It then followed the recipients, whose transplants occurred at many hospitals around the country.
The study found that lower concentrations of the protein interleukin-6 in the bloodstreams of donors “were associated with improved survival” of organ recipients according to Dr. Kellum, the study’s senior author, a McGowan faculty member, and a professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Critical Care Medicine. It is hoped that the researcher’s confirmation of the study findings may lead to protocols that will improve organ selection and patient outcomes.
Abstract from Pub Med and Critical Care Medicine
Dr. Andrew Schwartz, McGowan faculty member and professor of Neurobiology, has completed a significant study where monkeys successfully learned to feed themselves with the help of a human-like robotic arm using only the signals transmitted from the monkeys’ brains. An important outcome of the study could be the development of prosthetics for people with spinal-cord injuries and those with other paralytic diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Our immediate goal is to make a prosthetic device for people with total paralysis,” said Dr. Schwartz, senior author of the paper describing the study which was published in Nature. Now that Dr. Schwartz and his team are beginning to better understand the brain and its complexity, it is possible that a wider range of brain disorders can eventually be treated, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and possibly even mental illness.
Using the brain-machine interface technology, monkeys in the Schwartz lab are able to move a robotic arm to feed themselves marshmallows and chunks of fruit. Computer software interprets signals picked up by probes the width of a human hair that have been attached to neuronal pathways in the motor cortex of the brain, a region where voluntary movement originates as electrical impulses. The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health.
Abstract from PubMed and Nature
McGowan Institute faculty member Michael P. Siegenthaler, MD is co-principal investigator on a study involving the Abiomed Impella 2.5 System, the world’s smallest heart pump. The pump, which is only slightly larger in diameter than a drinking straw, is under evaluation at UPMC to determine whether it could eliminate the need for emergency open-heart surgery in patients undergoing high-risk coronary catheter procedures. The study will determine the pump’s safety and efficacy, particularly for these high-risk patients.
Dr. Siegenthaler, an internationally known heart surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh and the UPMC Heart, Lung and Esophageal Institute, specializes in the use of cardiac-assist devices to improve survival and quality of life for patients. Dr. Siegenthaler is also involved with the newly established UPMC Cardiogenic Shock Team, which allows him to work collaboratively with a hybrid of cardiac specialists to determine the best treatment strategies for patients suffering from an advanced form of heart failure known as cardiogenic shock.
He had this to say about the Impella device: “One of the potential main advantages of the Impella is that it may eliminate the need for major surgery with an open chest incision and placement of the patient on heart/lung bypass.”
The Impella 2.5 is placed percutaneously with a small groin incision and inserted like a balloon tip or cardiac stent. The advantage to the patient is less recovery time, fewer complications, and a shorter hospital stay.
Dr. Woo Accepts Diamond Award
From the University of Washington’s (UW) Website: “Perhaps more than any other discipline, engineering shapes the world around us. But just as those changes are often taken for granted, so, too, are the engineers who work behind the scenes to make change possible. With that in mind, the UW College of Engineering seeks to bring recognition [by establishing the UW Engineering Diamond Awards] to engineers who have made significant contributions.”
As reported previously in this newsletter, Dr. Savio L-Y Woo of McGowan Institute and the Musculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC) was chosen as the 2008 winner of the Distinguished Achievement in Academia award, a part of the UW Engineering Diamond Awards. He was presented with the award at the May 30, 2008 Diamond Awards ceremony held in Seattle, Wash. Congratulations, Dr. Woo!
McGowan Newsletter, January 2008
Dr. Beckman “Translates” Ideas to Reality
During the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Enterprise Development’s spring Limbach lecture, Dr. Eric Beckman, professor of Chemical Engineering and a McGowan faculty member, offered his insight on what he’s learned during his entrepreneurial leave from the University of Pittsburgh. As reported in the University Times, Dr. Beckman took an entrepreneurial leave to concentrate on the formation and launching of the company he co-founded, Cohera Medical. Much of Cohera’s early success has revolved around its main product, TissuGlu®, a surgical adhesive.
Dr. Beckman discusses the propitious meeting with Cohera’s co-founder Dr. Michael Buckley, mistakes he’s made during the initial establishment and growth of Cohera, and how to continue to move a product forward.
Dr. Rubin and Dr. Marra in PITTMED Feature Story
The history of research using human adipose tissue that is removed from liposuction patients and then coaxed to become other kinds of tissue is outlined in a story called “Liquid Gold” in the Summer 2008 issue of PITTMED. Two of the field’s primary researchers, Dr. J. Peter Rubin and Dr. Kacey Marra are also mentioned in the article as the author, Michael Fitzgerald, follows Dr. Rubin through a typical work day that includes a liposuction surgery.
While early response in the 1990’s to the possibility that there could be stem cells in waste tissue like fat was an incredulous one, it is now widely recognized that it is possible to turn fat stem cells into bone, cartilage, and nerves. Researchers have also used fat stem cells to kill cancer cells in mice.
Dr. Rubin and Dr. Marra co-direct the Adipose Stem Cell Center and currently have nine grants between them, five of which explore various aspects of stem cells in tissue regeneration.
Pittsburgh Magazine’s Top Doctor List
Ten McGowan Institute faculty members have been recognized by Pittsburgh Magazine as the best area medical professionals in their field. Each year the magazine commissions Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. and their physician-led research team to identify highly skilled, exceptional doctors by evaluating their medical education, training, and hospital appointments. Another criteria in the highly rigorous screening process is to ask area health professionals to name the doctors to whom they would entrust a family member suffering from a specific medical problem.
The list contains 129 doctors in 46 specialties. It reflects the depth of the Pittsburgh medical community, its role as an economic engine, and its value as a source of medical advances. The inclusion of 10 physicians who are also affiliated with McGowan Institute and regenerative medicine speaks to the progress made in regenerative technology and the changing face of medicine today.
Congratulations are extended to:
- Gastroenterology: David Whitcomb, MD, PhD, and Michael A. Pezzone, MD, PhD
- Orthopedic Surgery: Freddie H. Fu, MD
- Otolaryngology: Clark A. Rosen, MD, FACS
- Plastic Surgery: Ernest K. Manders, MD
- Psychiatry: David J. Kupfer, MD
- Surgery: Howard Edington, MD, and Ron Shapiro, MD
- Thoracic Surgery: Robert L. Kormos, MD
- Vascular Surgery: David L. Steed, MD
Read more: Pittsburgh Magazine
The Regenerative Medicine Podcasts continue to explore pertinent topics. The most recent podcasts are:
#51 – Jörg Gerlach, MD, PhD – Dr. Gerlach, a professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, discusses his work on the development of bioreactors for the expansion of cells for use in cell-based therapies. He also discusses producing cells from bone marrow.
#52 – Latha Satish, PhD – Dr. Satish, of the Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, visits Regenerative Medicine Today to describe her work in identifying novel genes responsible for scarless wound healing.
Visit www.regenerativemedicinetoday.com to keep abreast of the new interviews.
| Authors: | Schipper BM, Marra KG, Zhang W, Donnenberg AD, Rubin JP. |
| Title: | Regional anatomic and age effects on cell function of human adipose-derived stem cells. |
| Summary: | Adipose tissue has been shown to contain adult mesenchymal stem cells that have therapeutic applications in regenerative medicine. There is evidence that the ability of adipose precursor cells to grow and differentiate varies among fat depots and changes with age. Defining these variations in cell function and molecular mechanisms of adipogenesis will facilitate the development of cell-based therapies. We compared cells harvested from 5 different subcutaneous (SC) adipose depots in 12 female patients classified into 3 age ranges (25-30, 40-45, and 55-60 years old). Capacity for differentiation of isolated adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) with and without ciglitazone, a strong peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPAR)-gamma agonist, was assessed in vitro. ASCs were also characterized by lipolytic function, proliferation, and sensitivity to apoptosis. Additionally, PPAR-gamma-2 protein expression was determined. We observed a difference in the apoptotic susceptibility of ASCs from various SC depots, with the superficial abdominal depot (above Scarpas layer) significantly more resistant to apoptosis when compared with the 4 other depots. We have also demonstrated that a PPAR-gamma agonist aids in the induction of differentiation in cells from all depots and ages. Although sensitivity to apoptosis was linked to anatomic depot, differences in cell proliferation were related primarily to age. Stimulated free glycerol release has been shown to be highest in the arm depot. The arm depot has also consistently shown expression of PPAR-gamma-2 with and without a PPAR-gamma agonist. Younger patients have increased PPAR-gamma-2 expression in all depots, whereas the older patients have consistent elevated expression only in the arm and thigh depots. We have shown there is variability in function of ASCs that have been harvested from different SC depots. Additionally, we have shown age-related changes in function. These data will help select patients and cell harvest sites most suitable for tissue engineering therapies. |
| Source: | Ann Plast Surg. 2008 May;60(5):538-44. |
| PIs: | Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD |
| Title: | Four Projects Funded by CR Bard, Inc. |
| Description: |
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| Source: | CR Bard, Inc. |
| Term: | 05/01/08-04/30/09 |
| Amount: | Total of $364,130 |
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