Research strengths
Mission:The study of the nervous system, including development of new ways
to diagnose and treat neurological diseases, is the largest single
field of research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Diseases
like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, muscular
dystrophy, and stroke are under intense scrutiny. Research and clinical
care come together in the clinical trials effort, where the Medical
Center has created the world's largest network to conduct studies
of new treatments for neurological conditions.
Summary:
Research ranges from the most basic studies of neural function to
findings that will affect patients' lives almost immediately.
Studies of the basic structure and function of the nervous system - single
neuron neurophysiology, roles of various cytokines in autoimmunity,
synaptic plasticity - are common. So are studies in dementia,
stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, muscular
dystrophy, Huntington's, Tourette's, epilepsy, and a host
of other conditions. Research on neural stem cells is booming. The
work ultimately finds a common focus in the improvement of human health,
providing a foundation for expert clinical care that is often sought
out by patients worldwide. Thousands of patients from the Rochester
community and beyond have taken part in clinical studies organized
by researchers here, oftentimes in partnership with pharmaceutical
firms. Among our brain scientists are members of the National Academy
of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Neuroscientists at Rochester
publish a steady stream in prestigious journals like Nature, Science,
and Nature Medicine, and several editors of top neuroscience journals
call the University home.
Technology Transfer and Business Development Successes:
- The University has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with
a large pharmaceutical firm that covers the use of drugs that treat
hot flashes by targeting a specific group of cells in the hypothalamus.
The findings have their genesis in a visit to a neurologist by a
patient who was having severe headaches. When the doctor treated
the patient with gabapentin, her headaches didn't go away,
but her hot flashes did. The physician followed the lead, went to
the laboratory and eventually identified the mechanism through which
the drug was preventing hot flashes. Since then the use of gabapentin
to treat hot flashes has been confirmed in several large studies.
- Cerebral Assessment Systems LLC is a Rochester-based start-up that
is built around the University's neuroscience research and,
like the hot-flash research above, is based in part on the sharp
diagnostic skills of a clinician. Neurologist Charles Duffy realized
that some of the problems his Alzheimer's patients were describing
were much like symptoms that would result if a particular part of
the brain were damaged. Duffy explored the issue in his research
and was able to document a previously unknown condition that he termed "motion
blindness": Alzheimer's patients get lost not because
of a memory problem, but because of a deeply rooted brain problem.
The new company is built around the possibility that a person's
failing ability to detect motion accurately could give doctors a
way to detect Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages. The
company's software is also designed to provide an objective
way for researchers and pharmaceutical firms to gauge the effectiveness
of new drugs used in clinical trials.
- Socratech Laboratories is a biotech company formed by Berislav
Zlokovic to commercialize his research findings. Scientists at the
company are exploring the connections between the brain's vascular
system and Alzheimer's disease. They're tracking the
genes that direct the formation and growth of new blood vessels in
the brain, in a bid to possibly boost blood flow in patients with
the disease, and they're studying the genes responsible for
a phenomenon doctors call "cerebrovascular senescence," when
blood flow plummets.
Leadership:
Howard
Federoff, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Center
for Aging and Developmental Biology
Professor of Neurology , Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology
Robert
Griggs, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Neurology
Gary
Paige, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department
of Neurobiology & Anatomy
Webster
Pilcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department
of Neurological Surgery
Elissa
Newport, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department
of Brain and Cognitive Science
Total Funding: $235 million in active funding for
neuroscience research.
NIH Funding: $160 million in active funding for neuroscience
research.
National Ranking:
- The Neurology ranks
#5 in the nation, among 71 such departments, in NIH funding for research.
The Department of Neurosurgery ranks #10.
- The University of Rochester annually ranks among the top 10 universities
nationwide in royalty income, thanks in part to its neuroscience
research.
- In the 2005 edition of the U.S. News "Best Hospitals" issue,
the University ranked #42 nationwide in the "neurology and
neurosurgery" category.
- The University has been recognized by the National Institute on
Aging as the lead site for the nationwide Alzheimer's Disease
Cooperative Study, enrolling more patients than any other site in
the country.
Examples of Currently Funded Neuroscience Projects
Basic Research Resource Highlights:
- Center for Navigation and Communication Science: The
centerfocuses on multi-sensory interactions and
sensory-motor integration underlying communication and navigation,
and plasticity, learning, and recovery of function.
- Center for Visual Science: The center includes
several dozen faculty members doing research on nearly every aspect
of vision, from the basic structure of the eye that gathers light
to how our brains put together the information to give us the experience
of vision. The center comprises one of the greatest concentrations
of neuroscientists studying vision in the world.
- Frank P. Smith Laboratories for Neurosurgical Research:
The root causes and potential treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's,
epilepsy, stroke, and spinal cord injury are under investigation
in these laboratories.
- Gorrell Molecular Biology Laboratory: This laboratoryin
the Neuromuscular Disease Center conducts research into the pathogenesis,
pathophysiology, and molecular genetics of many neuromuscular diseases
including myasthenia gravis, myotonic dystrophy, FSH dystrophy, oculopharyngeal
dystrophy, and ALS.
- Mitochondrial Research Interest Group: Research
involving mitochondria in both a basic and clinical level has boomed
recently, and scientists have responded by forming an interest group
focused on such research. The role that failing mitochondria play
in the development of Parkinson's disease is one of several
studies in the neurosciences.
- Resource for the Study of Neural Models of Behavior: This
NIH-funded resource is aimed at studying the brain's behaviors
at sub-second timescales, which is done using high performance computers
to simulate real-world environments in a way that allows them to
be manipulated as a function of behavior.
- Rochester Center for Brain Imaging: The center
has a 3T magnet for research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Researchers use the center to gather functional MRI data from the
normal adult brain as participants perform a variety of tasks.
- The Spatial Orientation and Sensori-motor Integration Facility: This
laboratory for human subjects features real and virtual multi-sensory
stimulation capabilities, coupled with human motion control devices,
such as a rotating sled.
Clinical Research Resources:
- Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study: The
University is a crucial part of the nationwide group that has organized
dozens of clinical studies of new treatments for Alzheimer's
disease. More than 1,200 patients have participated in studies through
the University's Geriatric Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic,
where physicians treat several thousand patients a year from throughout
New York State and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
- Batten Disease Diagnostic and Clinical Research Center:
The center is a one-stop medical resource for children and families
affected by the disease. The center's resources include genetic
testing for the disease; visits with doctors who have seen dozens
of children with the disorder; information on what families can expect
as the disease progresses; and development of research tools to help
scientists seek better treatments or a cure. A clinical trial is
planned - the center is crucial for gathering the number of
participants needed to make such a study statistically significant.
- Clinical Trials Coordination Center: The centeris
the hub of the world's largest network for clinical trials
of new treatments for neurological conditions. The network supports
the Parkinson Study Group, the Huntington Study Group, the Epilepsy
Study Group and several other study groups. Altogether the center's
program includes more than 350 scientists and physicians from around
the world.
- International Center for Hearing and Speech Research: The
center is an NIH-funded group of scientists that is recognized as
a leader in research in age-related hearing loss. The center includes
neuroscientists from the University and scientists from the nearby
National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
- Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center: The
University is home to one of three centers established by NIH and
the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. The group is focusing on the two types
of muscular dystrophy most common in adults, myotonic and facioscapulohumeral
muscular dystrophies. The work takes places through the Neuromuscular
Disease Center, where more than 600 patients are involved in research
studies for muscular dystrophy and hundreds more receive treatment.
- Muscular Dystrophy Registry: Neurologists have
established a registry of patients who have been diagnosed with the
two most common types of adult muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy
(MD) or facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD). The system is available
to doctors around the nation, opening the doors for more researchers
to learn about the diseases and contribute their knowledge toward
better treatment.
- Parkinson's Disease Data and Organizing Center:
This administrative entity, based at the University, was created
by the National Institutes of Health to help coordinate information
from the growing number of Parkinson's studies being conducted
by doctors and scientists around the nation. The center pools and
manages the data from 15 existing Parkinson's disease centers
funded by NIH.
- Parkinson's Disease Gene Therapy Study Group:
University neuroscientists lead this nationwide consortium of scientists
working together to develop a gene therapy clinical trial for Parkinson's
disease.
- Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network: The
University is home to one of seven centers that form this NIH network.
The group is focusing on neurological diseases caused by abnormal
cell channels or gates that regulate the levels of crucial chemicals
such as sodium, calcium, and potassium in our cells. The center is
focusing on periodic paralysis, episodic ataxia, and nondystrophic
myotonias.
Faculty and Scientific Research
