Team of researchers to study human tissue/organ regenerationBiologists receive grant from Indiana’s 21st Century FundBy Diane Brown | |
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A team of seven biologists, including four IUPUI faculty members and two from the Medical Sciences Program at Indiana University Bloomington, has been awarded an $879,338 grant to establish a research center for the study of ways to regenerate human tissu
es and organs.
The two-year grant from the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund of Indiana will found the IU Center for Excellence in Regenerative Biology and Medicine on the Indianapolis campus. Funding will begin in January. The ultimate goal of the research is to provide a foundation for the development of therapies that will restore quality of life and economic productivity to persons disabled by injury or degenerative disease. Research team members are Ellen Chernoff, IUPUI biology professor and director of the center; Michael King of the Terre Haute Center for Medical Education, IU School of Medicine; Anthony Mescher and Anton Neff of the Medical Sciences Program, IU Bloomingt on; Simon Rhodes, biology professor at IUPUI; Rosamund Smith, Eli Lilly research scientist and adjunct biology professor at IUPUI; and principal investigator David Stocum, biology professor and dean of the Purdue School of Science at IUPUI. All seven biologists will serve as founding faculty members for the research center. They are currently working together on a novel approach to understanding the differences in gene activity and regulation that distinguish tissue regeneration from scar ti ssue formation. “We are focusing on spinal cord regeneration and the regeneration of limb tissues such as skin, nerves, bones and muscles,” Stocum said. “Let us say that someone has received a paralyzing injury to the spinal cord. What we hope our research will do is identify the molecular factors necessary to regrow nerves in the spinal cord and thus cure the paralysis.” Although it is not possible to predict when such a therapy will be available, initial research findings suggest that identifying the genes involved in stimulating and inhibiting regeneration is feasible and “look promising,” Stocum said. Team members began their research in 1999 with a two-year grant from Eli Lilly. For an expanded story on the new research center, go to: http://www.iupui.edu/news/regenerative.htm | |
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Publication date: September 29, 2000
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