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"This is extraordinary," said Fogel, Dean Emeritus of the University of Miami School of Medicine. "No one thought we should do this."
That's because, until relatively recently, no one thought people who suffered spinal cord injury would ever get up from their
wheelchairs. But UM's Lois Pope LIFE Center, to be dedicated this morning in an all-star celebration, is a gleaming
testament to the research successes of the past few years, and the hope for the future.
"Is it tomorrow? No," Fogel said. "It's five years, it's 10 years, it's 15 years."
"It's going to happen," says Lois Pope, with the determination that inspired her tireless efforts ever since. "Marc Buoniconti is going to walk again. He will. He will."
On this, the 15th anniversary of his paralyzing injury in a college football game, Buoniconti shares that optimism.
"When I was injured in 1985, the statement that we would cure paralysis was thought of as ridiculous, as false hope,"
said Buoniconti, whose family worked with neurosurgeon Barth Green in establishing the Miami Project. "It was merely seen as something that would be impossible."
HOT FIELD
But current research is promising on several fronts, said Dr. W. Dalton Dietrich, scientific director of the Miami Project. Spinal cord research is "the best field in the world right now," he said. "It couldn't be hotter."
More than 100 experts from various fields will be housed in the new building, the largest group in the world dedicated to learning about the spinal cord. A large clinic on the first floor will study rehabilitation therapy to build up the health, strength and mobility of those with spinal cord injuries.
Scientists are working to regenerate nerve cells, pinpoint genes responsible for nerve function, and stop or slow the damage done in the first few hours after an injury.
The body produces inhibitory factors that prevent nerves from regenerating. Scientists at many centers are identifying proteins that will block those inhibitors.
UM researchers are also working to get nerve cells to grow by transplanting various kinds of helper cells and creating a more fertile environment. Those cells combined with other agents are prompting "very robust regrowth" in the lab, Dietrich said.
Dr. Mary Bunge, professor of cell biology and anatomy and a Miami Project researcher, has used peripheral nerve cells known as Schwann cells to help nerve fibers regrow across the damaged area of the spinal cord.
ALZHEIMER'S, TOO
This cell transplantation should prove useful in treating stroke, brain trauma, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, Bunge said.
Researchers are also trying to stimulate stem cells, the very early cells that still have the potential to become any type of tissue or organ, to turn into neurons to repopulate injured areas of the spinal cord or brain.
Stem cells are removed from the human embryos left over from in vitro fertilization that would otherwise be discarded. The federal government recently decided to fund research using stem cells from those embryos. The cells can also be taken from other sources, such as bone marrow, but that's more difficult.
The cell death that occurs after a spinal cord injury seems similar to the programmed cell death, known as apoptosis, that eliminates excess neurons produced as the central nervous system is developing. At that point cell death is a good thing, but researchers are trying to develop anti-apoptotic strategies to protect neurons immediately after injury, Dietrich said.
Hypothermia, or cooling, seems to attack many of the injury processes that lead to destruction of nerve cells and therefore helps restore function. Drugs are showing similar effects, helping cells survive injury. "There are a variety of new agents out there that we're very excited about," Dietrich said.
A walk through the LIFE Center finds scientists already at work in their new labs. Dr. Daniel Liebl, a recent arrival from Dallas, has isolated a gene that somehow controls the direction neurons flow through the body. In the absence of the gene, Liebl said, neurons grow in the wrong direction.
Researchers are comparing the genes in injured tissue with those in healthy tissue to figure out how genes respond to injury.
QUALITY OF LIFE
In addition to searching for a cure, the Miami Project works to improve life for those with injuries. "We're not going to cure spinal cord injury tomorrow," Dietrich said, "so how can we improve the quality of life for these patients?" About 50 percent of people with spinal cord injury suffer from untreatable pain, and researchers are exploring the transplantation
of different cells to target the pain. Efforts to treat male infertility have met with some success as well.
Dr. Patrick Jacobs, an exercise physiologist who conducts rehabilitation research for the Miami Project, said one of his goals is getting the injured in good shape for cell transplantation or other interventions that come up.
His clinic has a number of machines to help build up muscle mass and increase mobility. He and his colleagues are studying the effects of exercise and nutrition in reducing the high risk of obesity and diabetes in people with spinal cord injury.
Jacobs is moving from a basement to a large ground-level clinic with lots of sunlight. That change is symbolic of the Miami Project's huge growth from its original home, which Buoniconti described as a closet, the result of 15 years of research and fundraising.
"To be there firsthand and see ignorance crumble before your very eyes is just amazing," said Buoniconti, son of former Miami Dolphins star Nick. 'We've changed the way the world thinks about paralysis."
THE CATALYST
Lois Pope was inspired to join the effort after an evening spent with actor Christopher Reeve at a fundraiser for her foundation called LIFE, Leaders in Furthering Education. "I danced with him that evening," Pope said. "Three months later, he was paralyzed."
Reeve's courage and faith in the aftermath of his horseback riding accident cemented Pope's dedication to spinal cord research and her gift from the inheritance left by her late husband Generoso Pope, founder of the National Enquirer. Her donation was matched by the state.
"The reason you become passionate about something like this is because of people you know who have suffered," Pope said. He watched her mother die "a pretty horrible death" after a stroke, and so established 20 fellowships in the neurosciences at UM.
"In my heart, I will be dedicating this center to her," Pope said.
Pope also gave the center a sculpture by John Raimondi, called Dance of the Cranes, from her backyard. It's more than just a piece to decorate the building's entrance.
"Too many of these people have given up hope," Pope said. "It remains for them a distant dream. I'm dedicated to making those dreams come true.
"The reason I gave them Dance of the Cranes is because it represents my firm conviction that because of the Life Center one day soon those who cannot walk will not only walk, they will dance." |
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