Snapshots

The University of Minnesota’s Academic Health Center named Julie Jacko director of the new Institute for Health Informatics, an interdisciplinary initiative that aims to improve the quality and efficiency of health care and clinical research through research and education. A professor in the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health, Jacko has gained international attention for her research involving human-computer interaction, health informatics, technology used in health care delivery, and universal access to electronic information technologies. “Dr. Jacko adds extraordinary senior depth to informatics research and preparation of informaticians within the School of Nursing,” said Dean Connie Delaney.

In November, the University of Minnesota announced a newly funded endowed surgical chair for clinical transplantation. The chair, named for John S. Najarian, allows the Department of Surgery to support the research and clinical pursuits of a fulltime faculty member in transplantation. Najarian’s colleagues, friends, and patients committed more than $1.5 million through the Minnesota Medical Foundation, and the University provided $500,000 in matching funds to establish the chair. Among his many accomplishments, Najarian is renowned for his 1982 liver transplant on 11-month-old Jamie Fiske, which garnered worldwide recognition for the University. Najarian revolutionized general surgery and transplantation by encouraging the use of living donors and offering transplants to high-risk recipients. Today, through the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, surgeons have performed more than 7,000 kidney transplants, more than 2,000 pancreas transplants, and hundreds of heart, liver, lung, bowel, islet, and combined transplants.

The University of Minnesota and Winona State University have joined forces with a clinical laboratory sciences (CLS) partnership in fall 2008. In an effort to meet the growing needs of the health care workforce across the state, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Allied Health Programs (CAHP) is in the midst of developing a learner-center educational system that can be accessed statewide. This partnership will have a profound impact on health care in Minnesota, enabling the education of more students. “The partnership launches a new, collaborative approach that creates greater access and delivers programming in clinical lab science areas in a more efficient manner,” said Stephen Lehmkuhle, chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Rochester. For now, this partnership focuses on the University of Minnesota and Winona State University but, in the future, CLS program leaders hope to expand to other sites across the state.

This spring, the University will seek support from state lawmakers for a bold investment in biomedical research space. Through the Minnesota Biomedical Research Program, the University is committed to recruiting nearly 200 new faculty members over the next 10 years. In order to recruit and retain talented faculty, the university must provide enough space that will allow them to advance their research. The state supports this effort by investing in a total of 750,000 square feet of vital research space. Without this investment, Minnesota’s position as a leader in the biomedical industry could falter as faculty move with their scientific advances to competitors who offer better facilities.

This fall, the Academic Health Center honored four University researchers with its highest recognition—induction into the Academy of Excellence in Health Research. Bruce Blazar’s research in bone marrow transplantation has led to the development of several pharmacological and protein therapies designed to reduce serious side effects. Karen Ashe has identified a mechanism that impairs memory in Alzheimer’s patients, helping pave the way for drug development targeting the protein complex that impairs memory and cognition. Eric Newman’s findings in the field of glial cell biology have had broad implications for brain function, helping identify the important role of these cells in many brain processes. Mary Story’s research on combating youth eating disorders is working toward improving the national childhood obesity epidemic. All recipients are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to the University and dedication to finding life-saving therapies.

Pictured from left to right: Blazar, Ashe, Story, and Newman. Next fall the Academy of Excellence moves into education with its newly announced award in the scholarship of teaching and learning. This recognition will honor four faculty members who have made outstanding contributions demonstrating their commitment, dedication, and passion for teaching.

The University’s clinical research enterprise has expanded its global reach through its relationship with the Indian Council of Medical Research, or ICMR. During a scientific symposium in New Delhi this fall, University and Indian researchers gave presentations that explored potential areas of collaboration. Focal points included cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular health, and infectious disease and immunology. The end result: a call for joint proposals moving forward, providing opportunities for collaboration with ICMR and the U of M. “We need to find areas where we at the University can bring our strengths to bear on behalf of India,” said Senior Vice President Frank Cerra. “Our growing enterprise in clinical and translational sciences is clearly one of those areas, along with our significant efforts in public and environmental health.”

Researcher Doris Taylor received national and international recognition in January after her lab created a beating heart in the laboratory. Using a process that first stripped the cells from dead animal hearts, the research team then reseeded the remaining heart scaffold with a mixture of live cells. Eight days after the reseeding process, the hearts were pumping. “Going forward, our goal is to use a patient’s stem cells to build a new heart,” Taylor said. This research offers hope that in the future the technique could be used to solve the donor organ shortage, not only for hearts, but other organs as well. Taylor holds the Medtronic Bakken Chair in Cardiac Repair and is director of the University’s Center for Cardiovascular Repair.