Snapshots

Researchers at the University of Minnesota reversed memory loss in mice with significant brain degeneration. The breakthrough has significant implications for the estimated 4 million individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. The mice, genetically manipulated using transgenes to develop dementia, experienced similar memory loss to those with Alzheimer’s. By introducing an antibiotic, researchers turned off dementia-causing transgenes, resulting in recovered memory. “Most Alzheimer’s disease treatments focus on slowing the symptoms or preventing the disease from progressing, but our research suggests that in the future we may be able to reverse the effects of memory loss, even in patients who have lost brain or neural tissue,” said Karen Ashe, neurologist and lead author of the study.

A new and improved test to detect the number-one infectious disease affecting the swine industry was developed by scientists at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome complicates births and can result in death. The new TaqMan RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test, developed by Kay Faaberg, Jun Han, Sarah Herrin, Yin Jiang, and Carrie Wees, is expected to reduce cost and turn-around time due to the test’s sensitivity and ability to detect multiple strains of the syndrome.

A new method to detect cancer-causing genes faster and identify them more accurately was developed by a Cancer Center research team led by David Largaespada, director of the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program, and a group at the National Cancer Institute. Sleeping Beauty transposons, inactive genes in humans and animals, were inserted in genetically modified mice to help researchers find genes linked to cancer. “Although our discovery was made in laboratory mice,” said Nancy Jenkins, head of NCI’s Molecular Genetics of Development, “we believe that the technology used will reveal new insights into human cancer…. Hopefully, this discovery will speed up the development of new drugs and improve already in-use drugs that target specific genes for treatment.”

Internationally recognized scholar and researcher Leonard Schuman, M.D., of the School of Public Health, died May 31 at the age of 92. Among his many accomplishments, Schuman served on the original polio vaccine trial leading to the first population vaccination program in the 1950s and served on the first Surgeon General’s Committee on Smoking and Health. “Dr. Schuman’s contributions to the areas of cancer prevention and infectious disease have made monumental impacts on human life throughout the world,” said John Finnegan, Jr., interim dean of the School of Public Health.

The Academic Health Center named the first three recipients of AHC Translational Research Grants, a new grant program designed to translate knowledge from basic research to clinical testing. Of the 31 applicants, principal investigators microbiologists Paul Bohjanen and Patrick Schlievert, and pharmacologist Sundaram Ramakrishnan each received awards of $200,000. Bohjanen’s project focuses on the effectiveness of certain therapies concerning the fight against AIDs in Africa. Ramakrishnan’s work focuses on gene therapy in cancers of the breast and ovaries. Schlievert’s project addresses new treatments for herpes.

Mary Jo Kreitzer, director of the Center for Spirituality and Healing, will be inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. The academy, an organization of 1,500 distinguished leaders in nursing, serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice. Kreitzer’s varied responsibilities at the University of Minnesota also include her roles as professor of nursing and co-principal investigator of a five-year, $2.1 million NIH clinical trial of mindfulness meditation with solid organ transplant patients. The Center for Spirituality and Healing, under Kreitzer’s direction, has become a national leader. “Renewed interest in holistic healing practices is profoundly affecting health sciences education and what is expected of nurses,” Kreitzer says. “Increasingly, nurses skilled in holistic practices are being requested from both patients and healthcare employers.”

Bernard Harlow has been selected to head the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. Harlow, who was also named a Mayo Professor of Public Health, earned a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota in 1977. He most recently served as professor, administrator, and researcher at Harvard’s schools of public health and medicine and worked as a clinical epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Kamil Ugurbil was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this fall. Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an international learned society composed of the world’s leading scientists, scholars, artists, business people, and public leaders. Ugurbil, director of the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, also holds a McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair of Radiology at the University of Minnesota and is a professor in the departments of radiology, neurosciences, and medicine. In 1982, he came to the University and launched an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy research effort, which led to the development of the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, the most advanced center of its kind in the United States.

A five-year, $13.8 million grant to improve training of clinical researchers was launched Oct. 1. Among the 55 institutions that applied for the grants, only five received them; the University of Minnesota’s application received the highest score, according to principal investigator Russell Luepker, who also served as the co-chair for the AHC’s clinical research task force. The grant will support more than 20 up-and-coming clinical researchers by buying some time away from seeing patients so they can devote it to research; by supporting their mentors; and, by building an infrastructure to support their projects. Luepker says this grant accords with the goal of the AHC and the National Institutes of Health to advance clinical research so as to improve health for people in Minnesota and beyond.