By Scott Pohl, WKAR
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-927104.mp3
EAST LANSING, MI –
The 2010 World Stem Cell Summit gets underway today in Detroit.
Michigan State University is a co-host of the three-day conference. Michigan University Research Corridor partners MSU, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University will provide many of the speakers.
One of them is Dr. Timothy Collier, the Edwin A. Brophy Chair of Nervous System Disorders at MSU's College of Human Medicine facility in Grand Rapids. He's leading a team using adult stem cells in seeking a therapy for Parkinson's Disease patients.
WKAR's Scott Pohl recently spoke with Doctor Collier about his research, and the stem cell summit.
AUDIO:
Scott Pohl: "Dr. Collier, first of all, thank you for taking a few minutes to talk with me today. I thought I might begin by asking you to tell me something about the work that you're doing at the new MSU College of Human Medicine facility in Grand Rapids "
Dr. Timothy Collier: "The group here is actually a group of four principal investigators that were recruited in the area of doing Parkinson's disease research. We are also designated by the National Institutes of Health as (a) Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson's disease research. So, under this center umbrella, a lot of various work is being done. We're studying, essentially, mechanisms of known therapeutics for the disease, including deep-brain stimulation and treatment with normal pharmacological treatments for Parkinson's disease. And, in addition, part of that work is some exploration of stem cells as a therapy, which is probably most relevant in terms of the upcoming congress. Our work deals exclusively with adult stem cells. So, we have made that choice for a couple of reasons, one of them very practical; the study of embryonic stem cells is a very highly technical and specialized endeavor that's best left to those that have been working on it for years and years and years, and again, understandably, it's not an ethically acceptable area of study for some people. We have chosen to work on adult stem cells because, again, their derivation is less controversial, and they appear to have some very fascinating properties therapeutically, too. So we're specifically working in an animal model of Parkinson's disease, and just asking the simple question that, if we either implant these undifferentiated adult stem cells into the brain, or actually infuse them intravenously, as in a transfusion, whether their properties can then promote, repair, and (restore) the system that's damaged in Parkinson's disease."
SP: "Knowing that the Grand Rapids facility is new, and that, you are at least somewhat new to Michigan State University, I'd like to find out if this is a new area of research that you're working on, or, is this work you're bringing from somewhere else. How new is this area of work?"
TC: "Yeah, so, for us, we've actually been involved with it for about six years now. And, so, we began this program at our previous institution, the University of Cincinnati, and then, it became a part of the projects subserved in the Udall Center. We are now one year old in a span of five years (of) funding before we're considered for renewal. So, the work dates back a ways, in order, then, to become established enough in it to make it a viable approach to be part of the center. But, yes, we've been working with the adult stem cells for about six years now."
SP: "Did the move to Grand Rapids, the physical move itself, interrupt your work in any way? Did it delay any of your work?"
TC: "It always does. There's almost no way to get around it. It it that we, essentially, did our best to, kind of wind down experiments on the other end in Cincinnati right near the time when we had to move, which then allowed us to collect, for example, tissue samples and things that, when we arrived here, we could immediately start to work with. But, still, all in all again, you have to sort of reestablish the lab, you have to go through all the various training and authorization that's important for laboratory work at the new location. And, so there is a settling in period that happens; I can tell you, that, again, we arrived in July and, quite quickly, in my mind, today was the first day we did our first experiment. So, we've actually only been down, you know, very few months, which I think is unusual."
SP: "Are you working under any sort of internal, if nothing else, time-frame within which you expect to find some hoped for results?"
TC: "Well, there's always sort of two perspectives on that. Science, really, this kind of work, really does not lend itself to sort of immediate gratification. And so, we would be very happy if again, within this initial five-year funding timeframe for the center that we had sufficient answers to then be able to in (the) next five-year period, whether this is something that could be translated clinically or not."
SP: "Now that, as you've said, you've settled in at Grand Rapids, how are you finding the facility, in terms of having it fit in with the work you'd like to do and having things where you'd want them to be, and so on. Is it working for you?"
TC: "Yes, it's working great Michigan State leases one floor of phase two of the Van Andel Institute in downtown Grand Rapids, and the institute, by any stretch of the imagination, (is) just completely state-of-the-art. I can tell you that, as far as from the standpoint of a research scientist, clearly no expense has been spared to make it as usable in a scientific way as possible. And, so the facility itself is awesome and incredible, and it's very nice to be right downtown; we're across the street from the Secchia Center, which is the home of the expanded portion of the medical school. Everything is very conveniently located. We're on a street that has multiple hospitals where again, our clinical collaborators will eventually be housed as we again, hope that our basic science work will ultimately translate into clinical trials in the area and provide a better way of life for people living with Parkinson's Disease.
SP: "You are one of the many speakers scheduled to be at the stem cell summit. I assume you've had at least a perfunctory look at the rest of the roster of speakers and what sorts of topics are likely to be covered. What might be one or two of the main areas of attention at the World Stem Cell Summit?"
TC: "First, I'll just speak briefly to what my role will be, and I'm actually involved in an aspect to the meeting that I enjoy doing very much. So, there are actually going to be sort of three parallel tracks of presentations at the meeting: One that is strictly hardcore science, one that is more related to the biotechnology business applications, and then one primarily for laypersons, people who have Parkinson's, or other diseases, and their care-givers. I'm speaking in that track. So, my actual role will be to educate a lay audience about what the various kinds of stem cells are, how they differ in their properties, and how research, around the world, has progressed toward applying the cells as a therapy for Parkinson's disease. I can tell you, in the broader sense that virtually every medical or commercial application of stem cells will appear at that meeting in one for or another. Again, the application of stem cell therapy to diseases of the brain and spinal cord lags behind some of the other areas. We're much closer to having to having viable stem cell therapies for things like repairing the heart, and repairing the eye, and for forms of diabetes and cancer. And all those things will probably come into relatively routine practice in the relatively near-future. So the applications to the central nervous system, it may just be because the complexity of the issues involved. But, virtually, all of those kinds of medical applications will appear at the congress."
SP: "Would I be correct in surmising that Parkinson's disease in particular, is one area of stem cell research that gets a great deal of attention? That there are lots of people looking into how they can address issues related to Parkinson's Disease by using stem cells in their research? Am I right about that?"
TC: "Yes, I would imagine, you know, that it's that we're in an area of actually hundreds of scientists that are involved in that particular approach to stem cell therapy. It's a combination of things, I think. One is that it's been my experience that patients with Parkinson's disease are among the most highly educated about their disease of any population I've ever interacted with. And, in that sense, you know, they're very active in terms of interacting with research scientists and physicians and promoting, you know, the search for things that can help them. And so, part of it is driven by the patient and care-giver community. The other part that makes it fascinating for scientists is that it does involve a relatively, and it's all relative, a relatively discrete problem in the brain. And, you know, the less complex the pathology, the more approachable it could be with a therapy. So, that's part of it, too, that, there's a great feeling that Parkinson's disease is something that can be addressed, you know, within our lifetimes with various therapies."
SP: "Well, Dr. Tim Collier, I want to thank you for your time and wish you well with the work you're doing at the MSU College of Human Medicine facility in Grand Rapids. Thank you."
TC: "Thank you."