Research HighlightsThe University of Virginia Health System ranks among the top medical research facilities in the United States. With 23 medical research centers, internationally acclaimed researchers in specialties ranging from infectious diseases to biomedical engineering are achieving breakthroughs that are improving life expectancy and eradicating serious diseases. In fiscal year 1999-2000, the University of Virginia Health System received $123.12 million in funding for medical research, with $80.34 million of the total from the National Institutes of Health. Examples of the most promising and innovative research underway at the University of Virginia School of Medicine include: Neurological Diseases, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Infectious Diseases, Contraception, Hearing Loss, Organogenesis, Bone Growth Factor, Gastrointestinal Diseases, and Motion Analysis Laboratory Identifying the underlying causes of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other "sporadic" neurological diseases. U.Va. researchers led by Dr. Davis Parker Jr. identified genetic defects that appear to cause Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and possibly schizophrenia and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Their findings suggest that these diseases may be inherited in a different way than scientists originally thought. The genetic defect they found is not in any of the 46 chromosomes, but in tiny organisms called mitochondria, which are present in every cell of the body and enable it to process oxygen. These findings give scientists a starting point for developing drugs to prevent or slow the progression of these diseases rather than simply treat the symptoms. Predicting Patients' Outcomes after a Stroke. Combining magnetic resonance brain scans with individual patients' health profiles at the time of stroke may help doctors predict how those stroke victims will fare in the months after their stroke. Led by Dr. Karen C. Johnston, researchers from the U.Va. departments of Health Evaluation Sciences, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Radiology are testing new data-gathering techniques that may help doctors make more informed decisions to help stroke victims. Developing vaccines for skin cancer and other cancers. U.Va. researchers are homing in on ways to harness the body's own immune system to destroy cancer cells. One team, led by Dr. Craig Slingluff, has already made great strides toward developing a vaccine against melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer. U.Va. is participating in exclusive clinical trials of a FDA-approved, NIH-funded melanoma vaccine program. This research could lead to development of more immunotherapies to fight several cancers, including breast and possibly lung cancer. Prostate cancer detection, prevention and cures. Researchers led by Dr. Dan Theodorescu have developed a new test to find residual or metastatic bladder or prostate cancer after surgery. The test is more accurate and may also be quicker and less costly than the current practice of examining tissue samples. Dr. Theodorescu is also targeting genes that create blood vessels to enhance and nourish tumor growth, in the process called angiogenesis, so they can be altered to inhibit this growth. U.Va. Cancer Center Director Dr. Michael Weber is studying how prostate cancer progresses from a localized, slow-growing tumor to one that develops rapidly. And Dr. Charles Myers is exploring the link between dietary fatty acids and prostate cancer, based on his findings that a diet containing fatty acid-rich meat and dairy products speeds the development of prostate cancer by causing cancer cells to grow, invade normal tissues and evade the immune system. His team is now working to develop compounds that block this mechanism. Breast cancer: better detection and easier treatments. U.Va. is one of only three sites participating in a series of studies to assess the safety and accuracy of laser beams for breast imaging. Principal investigator Dr. Jennifer Harvey says the method may allow precise breast imaging without ionizing radiation or compression. The laser technology allows three-dimensional images to be displayed digitally and enhanced by computer for greater clarity. To improve breast cancer treatment, U.Va. surgeons are testing minimally invasive sentinel node biopsy during breast surgery to help determine whether cancer has spread. Breast cancer usually spreads first to the pea-sized sentinel node, so that removing it first may prevent further surgery if it is not cancerous. Prevention through detection. Multidisciplinary teams of cardiologists, radiologists and biomedical engineers at U.Va. are honing imaging tools to see the heart and blood vessels more clearly and diagnose disease more accurately. One technique is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which stimulates atomic nuclei within the patient's body, causing them to release energy that is recorded with sensitive receivers. Typically, up to a dozen three-dimensional images are obtained, sometimes even from different angles. Regulating inflammation. Joel Linden, Ph.D., is studying adenosine, a byproduct of adenosine triphosphate, the compound used by cells to produce energy. Adenosine plays a critical role in regulating blood flow in the heart. When the heart is exercised or under-oxygenated, adenosine keeps the blood vessels dilated. Linden has identified and cloned four adenosine receptor subtypes, then activated them with synthetic versions of adenosine. This novel approach might prevent recurrent narrowing of an artery following balloon angioplasty. Adenosine also prevents inflammation that naturally follows transplantation, injury and disease. Detecting heart disease in its early stages. Clear images of structures within the body's organs are elusive because of the lack of tissue to reflect imaging signals. U.Va. researchers have developed a technique using microbubbles and ultrasound to detect early heart disease and assess inflammation, which plays a role in many diseases. The microbubbles, made of insoluble, high-molecular weight gases, produce a signal that can be detected and measured by ultrasound. This myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) technique can be used for greater accuracy in diagnosing heart disease and possibly in delivering drugs to sites of heart disease and inflammation. Predicting heart disease in diabetics. A new cardiac imaging procedure pioneered at U.Va. detects heart disease in diabetics, who are two to four times more likely than the general population to suffer from heart disease. Another study is investigating the possible role of high blood sugar levels in heart disease. Examining blood vessel contractions in coronary arteries. An $8 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health is enabling researchers to study how blood vessels develop and how their contractions are regulated. to better understand the causes of high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, which could eventually lead to new treatments for these conditions. Researchers in the U.Va. Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics expect to identify the groups of molecules responsible for muscle development, growth, gene expression and contraction in blood vessels. Gene therapy to arrest Type 1 diabetes. Today, more than one million people in the United States live with Type 1 diabetes mellitus, in which the body's immune system destroys beta cells. Because beta cells produce insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes must take injections of insulin four or five times a day. Dr. Jerry L. Nadler is leading a study examining ways to arrest the disease in the early stages by employing ribozymes, which act as molecular scissors that cut off genes that are destroying beta cells. In another study, Nadler's researchers showed that new genes can be transplanted into beta cells and replace damaged cells. Both approaches may also help to control Type 2 diabetes, which typically develops after age 45 and is the most common form of diabetes mellitus. Inhaled insulin to reduce injections for children. Children with Type 1 diabetes are usually prevented from many school and play activities because they must remain near a school or camp nurse who can give them insulin injections. Dr. William L. Clarke is testing a new device at U.Va. that enables pediatric diabetes patients to simply inhale a prepackaged dose of insulin so they can go on camping trips, scouting adventures and other important childhood activities. Discovering a drug to prevent the flu. U.Va. researcher Dr. Frederick G. Hayden successfully tested a new medication, oseltamivir, finding it to be up to 84 percent effective for long-term prevention of influenza, without side-effects. In two randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trials, the antiviral drug protected people who had flu symptoms. The U.Va. study results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the drug is expected to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001. Finding a vaccine for dysentery caused by parasitic infection. Amebiasis, the second leading cause of death by protozoan parasites, primarily afflicts children in developing nations. Basic and clinical investigations by Dr. William Petri and Dr. Barbara Mann have shown how amebas kill human cells and led to new FDA-licensed diagnostic tests. The team is now developing a prototype vaccine to prevent amebiasis. Clearing the body of viruses and other pathogens. Biochemist Ronald Taylor, Ph.D., has established that a receptor called CR1 on the surface of red blood cells plays a key role in removing pathogens, microorganisms or substances that cause diseases. He has developed a molecular substance that connects to both the CR1 receptor and to antigenic sites on pathogens. In rhesus and cynomolgus monkeys, Taylor's technique cleared substantial quantities of a model virus to the liver, where it was destroyed. This research holds significant implications for treating autoimmune diseases, bacterial and viral infections, including HIV and E-coli bacterial strains. Pursuing a contraceptive vaccine. U.Va. researcher John Herr, Ph.D., is leading the nation's most comprehensive effort to develop a vaccine that would use a woman's own natural antibodies to prevent fertilization. As director of the Center for Recombinant Gamete Contraceptive Vaccines, Herr leads a team of scientists at three institutions that has published 95 papers, received 13 patents and started to seek government approval for one element of a possible vaccine. His interdisciplinary team has isolated a human sperm antigen - CD52 - that may lead to development of an antibody-based birth control method. The potential to cure nerve deafness. One out of four Americans over the age of 65 suffers significant hearing loss, which is most frequently caused by a loss of the tiny hair cells that transmit signals to the nerves of the ear. Until recently, any loss of hair cells was believed to be permanent and irreversible. However, U.Va. researcher Jeffrey Corwin, Ph.D., has conducted internationally recognized research into successfully regenerating hair cells and restoring hearing for millions of people. Growing replacement organs. Dr. Ariel Gomez, professor of pediatrics, is leading research aimed at using a patient's own tissue cells to grow blood vessels, skin, kidneys and other organs. As head of the U.Va. Center for Organogenesis, funded by a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Gomez and his colleagues have succeeded in growing the specialized cells that make up basic kidney structures in a petri dish. Ultimately, patients could have cells harvested for later use should an organ be irreparably damaged. A patient's body should be less likely to reject an organ grown from its own cells, making organogenesis superior to traditional transplants. Healing and correcting bone defects. Led by Dr. Gregory Helm, the Health System's neurosurgery gene therapy research team has succeeded in growing mature bones in animal models by injecting them with genetically modified common cold virus carrying a human gene. The gene induces infected cells to produce bone tissue. If successfully applied to humans, this growth factor gene technology could revolutionize spinal fusion procedures, accelerate the healing of fractured bones, correct skull defects and possibly stave off the debilitating effects of osteoporosis. Finding causes and cures for digestive diseases. A $5.1 million NIH grant is funding a study of genetics and other factors contributing to Crohn's disease, an incurable autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of the bowels. Dr. Fabio Cominelli, principal investigator, is hoping to pinpoint genetic factors using a new animal model he developed that is the first to closely resemble human Crohn's disease. MOTION ANALYSIS LABORATORY A motion analysis laboratory with customized technology to make three-dimensional measurements of walking is the setting for new studies on impaired movement caused by injuries and disease. Since 1988, NIH funds have supported the lab's research on children who have cerebral palsy and central nervous system injuries. Other studies include female athletes with muscle injuries and loading dock workers' low back pain. The computerized data enables researchers to understand individual patients' disabilities and to develop more precise treatments for them. The lab is part of a multi-center database that, for the first time, is providing broad-based information about children with disabilities. |