McGowan Institute?
March 2003 | VOL. 3 | www.McGowan.pitt.edu
Over 140 Institute Faculty, Post Doctoral Fellows, Graduate Students and Guests participated in the McGowan Institute Scientific Retreat on March
3 and 4, 2003. The Retreat highlights include stimulating presentations
by Dr. Joseph Bielitzki, Director of the DARPA Tissue Engineering Program,
and Institute faculty members Professor Stephen Badylak, Professor Joerg
Gerlach, Professor Kacey Marra and Professor Bruno Peault.
The
Retreat agenda included seven breakout sessions addressing pediatric
heart needs, new initiatives in liver research, opportunities in the
controlled delivery of therapeutic agents, formulation of advanced stem
cell treatment modalities, opportunities for an enhanced biomaterials
programs, assessment of the opportunities for organ recovery and engineering
research, and updates on the new graduate training programs being offered.
The results from these sessions will be used to update the Institute
Strategic Plan and to set priorities for new initiatives.
The
poster session provided a forum for sharing new ideas and to explore
opportunities for additional collaboration and networking. There were
fifty-five posters addressing all aspects of regenerative medicine.
The winners of the poster contest were: “Approaches to Biohybrid
Artificial Lungs”, by Kriste Henchir and Alexa Polk; “Reconstructive
Tissue Engineering and Composite Allografting”, by Sarah E. Petricca,
and; “Surface Modification of Vascular Tissue for Targeted Drug
Delivery of Cells and Microspheres”, by Timothy E. Deglau.
Robert Bowser, Associate Professor of Pathology was one of four professors who received the Chancellor's Distinguished Public Service Award for outstanding contributions to the community. Professor Bowser's research on understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease) has led to various public service activities that directly benefit patients with neurologic diseases. In establishing the University's ALS Tissue Bank, Bowser was instrumental in helping to create the largest such tissue repository in the country.
While intertwined with his research interests, Bowser's public service activities also have had an impact on the education and training of medical students and residents at the University and schools in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to speaking at local elementary and high schools, Bowser is a member of the Community College of Allegheny County's (CCAC) Biotechnology Advisory Board, which has been instrumental in the design and implementation of a new associate degree program in biotechnology at CCAC. Professor Bowser also volunteers with support groups for patients who suffer from neurologic diseases.
The Artificial Heart Program Team was recognized on March 6, 2003 by being selected as the recipient of the 2003 Health Care Hero Award in the medical professional/non-physician category. The team includes: Steve Winowich, the program's clinical director, Rob Stone, Eileen Stanford, Lisa Carozza, Doug Lohmann, Donald Severyn and Richard Schaub. The finalists were chosen by an independent panel of five judges selected from the health care community.
The patients know the Team very well and all agree that these five bioengineers and two nurses are essential to making the whole program work. The team has an impressive track record and reputation for its scientific research and training programs. Each year, about 25 training sessions are held to accommodate the demand by other centers seeking to learn the skills the Team is recognized having.
Beyond serving its research and training functions, the Artificial Heart Program exists foremost to give patients with end-stage heart failure a chance at life at a time when mechanical support is their only hope. In 17 years, the program has given 234 patients such hope. Most patients were successfully "bridged" to transplant. Some even recovered while on the devices and did not require heart transplantation after all.
May we all extend our thanks and congratulations to the Artificial Heart Program Team for your achievements and recognition!
Freddie H. Fu, M.D. has received an honorary professorship at Peking University in Beijing, China. Dr. Fu received the honorary professorship from Yu Changlong, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Institute of Sports Medicine, Peking University. The honorary professorship is in recognition of Dr. Fu's vast contributions to the research, clinical and educational realms of sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery at Peking University as well as throughout the world. "Receiving this honor means a great deal to me," said Dr. Fu, a native of
Hong Kong. "I am very proud of the educational collaboration we
have built between UPMC, Peking University and the Chinese Olympics
sports medicine community in Beijing."
ARTIFICIAL LIVER USED SUCCESSFULLY IN TWO PATIENTS
George V. Mazariegos, M.D. (photo right), and Peter Linden, M.D., D.M.D. participating in a national study, have used an experimental artificial liver assist system to help stabilize two patients, who were in acute liver failure and close to death, until donor organs were available for transplantation. Both of the patients subsequently received successful transplants and are doing well.
UPMC is one of 12 centers participating ina multi-center Phase II trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the ELADâ (Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device) Artificial Liver system developed by VitaGen, Inc. of La Jolla, Calif., to temporarily support patients in fulminant hepatic failure, acute liver failure that has a sudden onset.
The ELAD is an external device that works in a similar fashion to kidney dialysis, whereby waste products are removed from the blood. A pump pushes the patient's blood through a catheter into a large filter that separates blood cells from plasma, creating what is called ultrafiltrate. The ultrafiltrate in turn passes through cartridges containing a cultured human cell line and is then returned through another catheter back to the patient.
"Development of an artificial liver is a daunting challenge because of the many complex functions that the liver performs. But the need is urgent, as more than 2,000 patients needing liver transplants die on the national waiting list each year. This number could be reduced if we had an artificial liver to support some of these critically ill patients," said Dr. Mazariegos. Of the more than 80,000 patients awaiting organ transplants in the United States, about 17,000 are in need of livers. At any given time, approximately 5 percent of these patients are patients in acute liver failure who are not expected to live beyond seven days without transplants.
HORMONE LEADS TO SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN BONE MINERAL DENSITY
Andrew Stewart, M.D reports in February issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology
and Metabolism that large doses of a bone anabolic hormone called parathyroid
hormone-related protein, PTHrP, increases spine bone mineral density
in post-menopausal women by almost five percent in only three months.
"Our study results were remarkable since PTHrP was found to produce significant results in only three months when it would normally take as much as one to three years for this much of an increase to occur using most currently available treatments," said collaborator Mara Horwitz, M.D.
Despite the large dose of PTHrP as compared to other osteoporosis medications, participants tolerated the treatment without developing hypercalcemia, hypotension, nausea, flushing or other adverse effects.
Even though the study was designed as a pilot, the results were surprisingly more favorable than expected, according to Dr. Stewart. A larger study will be needed to confirm the results. Also, he added, no data are available on the PTHrP's ability to prevent fractures.
PTHrP is one of several normal hormones that regulate calcium metabolism. It was discovered by several investigators including Dr. Stewart in 1987 and is responsible for hypercalcemia in cancer patients. Since that time, Dr. Stewart's research has led to the purification, sequencing and synthesis of PTHrP.
Tao Cheng, M.D., has received a Scholar Award from the American Society
of Hematology for his work on Targeting the cyclin-dependent kinase
inhibitor P18 in stem cells. The ASH Scholar Awards in the amount of
$150,000 are designed to encourage hematologists to begin a career in
research by providing support during that critical period required for
completion of training and achievement of status as an independent investigator.
In addition, Dr. Cheng is the second recipient of The PNC Foundation Innovation Award which supports novel research in cancer. The award provides $50,000 for his research on the development of an acute myeloid leukemia.
Congratulations to Alan and Janice Russell on the arrival of their fifth child; daughter Emily was born on Saturday, March 1st. In addition to Emily, the Russell's are the proud parents of Hannah, Vincent, Christian and Trevor.
 |
Douglas P. Lohmann, Senior Biomedical Engineer. Doug joined the
Vital Engineering team in March of 2002 with over 13 years of clinical
VAD/TAH experience, including over 100 VAD/TAH patients. He pioneered
a new cardiac assist device program at Wake Forest University School
of Medicine, and served as a biomedical engineer in cardiothoracic
services at St. Louis University Health Sciences Center. He has
been involved in numerous clinical trials for cardiac assist devices,
and has trained several centers in the use of VADs. He is authored/co-authored
over 20 articles, chapters, & abstracts. Email: lohmannd@upmc.edu |
 |
Robert S. Parker, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering. Professor Parker joined the faculty in January 2000
after completing his Ph.D. His research focuses on process modeling,
analysis, and control, with an interest in biomedical and biological
systems applications. Specific research project areas in Professor
Parker's group include: Cancer tumor growth modeling and optimal
therapy; diabetic patient modeling and blood glucose regulation;
bioreactor modeling and controller synthesis; batch reactor control;
simultaneous process identification and control, and; empirical
model identification and validation. Email: rparker@engrng.pitt.edu |
 |
Ann M. Robertson, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering. Professor Robertson's research interests are in continuum
mechanics with particular emphasis on (i) Newtonian and non-Newtonian
fluid dynamics, (ii) cerebral vascular disease and (iii) constitutive
modeling of soft biological tissues. Professor Robertson has also
served as a member, NASA Biofluids Peer Review Panel, 2003; co-organizer
International School on Biomathematics, Bioengineering and Clinical
Aspects of Blood Flow, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
(MSRI), Berkeley, CA, 2002, and; course lecturer, The Arterial Wall
in the International School on Biomathematics, Bioengineering
and Clinical Aspects of Blood Flow, Mathematical Sciences Research
Institute (MSRI), Berkeley, CA, 2002. Email: annerob@engrng.pitt.edu |