download a PDF version - KU Endowment

Smith’s team takes adult skin or blood cells and
genetically reprograms them into stem cells, which
can then become any other kind of cell. The IND
partners with KU’s High
Throughput Screening Laboratory
in discovering drugs that
can coax these stem cells to
become the right type of neurons
for repairing spinal injury;
testing in animals will ensure
they perform appropriately.
The goal is to take a patient’s
own easily obtainable cells,
turn them into stem cells, and then encourage them
to become cells that can be transplanted to repair a
spinal cord injury.
“Basically, we’re
functionally
reconnecting
the brain and
spinal cord with
electronic devices.”
Donor partnership drives research
This project represents an unusual way to fund
research. The donor had expressed interest in supporting
research on two levels: He wanted to keep
his support local rather than send it to research
centers in other cities, and he wanted to partner with
a top-notch scientific institution able to conduct cutting
edge research related to spinal cord injury.
KU’s Institute for Neurological Discoveries, a
new model developed with just this kind of purpose
in mind, was poised to work with him. To prepare
for potential opportunities, the IND formed in 2008
after identifying research strengths at the medical
center and affiliated regional institutions. Six specialties
were identified addressing some 22 conditions,
spinal cord injuries among them. With appropriate
funding, Smith said, the IND could become preeminent
in any of these areas of research.
He said relatively few institutions have adopted
this partnership model. “Donors have specific endpoints
in mind, and we’ve developed specific milestones
that we believe will take us toward those endpoints,”
he said. “We’ve done this with the highest
level of scientific integrity, so it’s really good science,
but we also have catered to the needs of the patient.”
— Randolph Nudo
Nudo said the scientific community at KU is grateful
for the opportunity to develop this program, which
could not have happened without this donor’s help.
“It brought together scientists and
clinicians who normally don’t work
together to work single-mindedly
on a project, and created the focus
for all of us to think about a single
goal,” he said. “It’s bringing a lot
of visibility to the IND and to KU
neuroscience in general.”
Smith said, “Suddenly, you’re
not working on a grant from the
National Institutes of Health. You’re working for
someone — a patient — and you understand the goals,
hopes and desires, the urgency with which they
would like to see some restoration of function.”
He said the current NIH funding situation is
unpromising. Many good projects are not funded,
which doesn’t tend to open up much new exploratory
science.
However, donations like this one create opportunity
for researchers to work on projects NIH might
deem too risky. And success would likely help KU
and the IND obtain future additional funding from
NIH, the Department of Defense and others, bringing
new opportunities.
The IND was set up for just this purpose, Smith
said, with teams preassembled and resources in
place to respond rapidly. “This is the culmination of
exactly what we were trying to accomplish,” he said.
“It serves as a template for people as a way to get
involved: You can make a difference.”
YOU CAN HELP
To support this research or any other
program at the KU Medical Center,
contact Stephanie Grinage, 913-588-5552
or sgrinage@kuendowment.org, or visit
kuendowment.org/KUMC.
12 KU GIVING | SUMMER 2012