Tissue Engineering and Neurotransplantation
Tracking Transplanted Stem Cells
Gary Steinberg can now track the survival and migration of transplanted stem cells with nanoparticles and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Stem cell researchers are investigating exactly how cells are created and organized in the developing nervous system, with the hope that nerve cells ultimately can be grown or transplanted to replace old or dying cells. Researchers are discovering the molecular signs that tell cells how and when to multiply, travel out to their targets and specialize to form the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. They are finding out more about the exact signals that prompt the right cells to settle at the right place at the right time, thereby restoring nerve function. The findings produced by this research will help us understand how the brain naturally maintains and repairs itself, and how clinicians can use the same mechanisms to cure devastating nerve disorders.
Limiting Nerve Damage
Theo Palmer seeks new drugs to control the slight swelling around nerve cells in the brain that can follow radiation therapy that may be responsible for impaired cognition. A goal is to launch a clinical trial in children surviving cancer.
This cross-disciplinary research and translation program partners investigators in many disciplines: engineering and physics, materials sciences, genetics, neuroscience, and clinical research. At stake is the future for patients with spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, radiation-induced brain damage, fetal brain damage, and many devastating degenerative conditions.
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