medicine | iowa

a structured approach
to science

interdisciplinary research teams dedicated to finding cures

Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and blinding eye diseases—we hear and read a lot about these illnesses because they affect so many people. When you consider that in Iowa heart disease is the number one killer, cancer is number two, and 68,000 of the state’s residents have Alzheimer’s disease, it’s clear that there is a lot of work to do.

Within the past few months, University of Iowa administrators have been making plans to build the UI Carver College of Medicine Iowa Institute for Biomedical Discovery (IIBD), a new building with space specifically dedicated to high-risk, high-reward research. The $120 million, 120,000 square-foot structure will be built on the medical campus next to the Medical Education and Research Facility and the Carver Biomedical Research Building. Inside the building, an interdisciplinary group of researchers from across the University will work together to find cures for illnesses that affect Iowans, as well as others around the world.

Michael Apicella, MD, professor and head of microbiology and interim senior associate dean for scientific affairs, was appointed by Michael Hogan, UI provost, to lead a 14-member task force to examine the research programs of the University’s basic and life science faculty and develop a plan to house select programs in the new building with the hope of stimulating novel projects and strengthening their work.

“The task force is comprised of faculty members who are involved in life sciences research and education,” said Apicella. “An important part of our charge is examining how the faculty members currently collaborate across department and college boundaries. We’ll discuss how we can improve what we do to advance life sciences and biomedicine, and increase faculty productivity by placing those who work together in closer physical proximity.

“Interdisciplinary research is the wave of the future and promotes a healthy working environment in general. The National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies are encouraging this type of structure and are directing funds to those programs. They believe easing collaborations among researchers will help increase the development of potential cures and therapies for patients, while at the same time stimulating the economy,” said Apicella.

The IIBD has the potential to create 500 new, high paying science and technology jobs and could result in $40 million in economic development by attracting and retaining bioscience companies, as well as by generating patent revenue from new discoveries.

To make this project come to fruition, the University needs support. Iowa has lagged behind other states that have chosen to invest in biomedical research, and approval of Governor Culver’s fiscal year (FY) 2008 budget was an important step toward the success of the Institute and Iowa becoming a leader again in research productivity. In the Midwest alone, the Wisconsin legislature has committed $750 million to medical research, Indiana $500 million, and Illinois Governor Blagojevich has signed an executive order to create the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute.

“We have fallen behind other states and risk losing nationally recognized biomedical researchers,” said Apicella. “We need to move forward. Establishing a regenerative medicine center and the IIBD will help us to compete with other states and attract top-level researchers to the University. Perhaps most importantly, putting these researchers together and giving them the opportunity to expand their programs and develop new ideas could help those living with disease.”

Recently, Iowa’s legislators passed an important yet controversial piece legislation that will aid the University’s scientists in their pursuit of treatments and therapies through regenerative medicine. In a January news conference held at the Medical Education and Research Facility atrium, Iowa Governor Chet Culver asked the state’s legislators to support a bill that would lift the ban on therapeutic somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)—a way of creating stem cells for research. Mark Braun, director of state relations in the UI Office of Governmental Relations, helped to educate Iowa’s legislators, many of them new to office, about the value of the bill being passed. Nick Zavazava, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine, Roger Williamson, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Amy Sparks, PhD, a research scientist in obstetrics and gynecology, also participated extensively in the education process.

“Drs. Sparks, Williamson and Zavazava traveled to the Statehouse and played an integral role in explaining the significance of conducting research using SCNT and its potential to aid in finding cures,” said Braun. “It was extremely helpful to have those who actually work in the area talk directly with legislators about what they do and answer questions about such an important issue.”

Culver signed the bill into law in February, a truly exciting moment for Iowa’s scientists. In April, the FY 2008 budget was approved appropriating $30 million for the IIBD, which includes the regenerative medicine center as proposed by the Goveror.

Sparks wasn’t surprised that the bill passed, but knew that it would be a battle because of the controversy attached to the topic. Her work focuses on investigating ways to improve embryo culture techniques in order to make embryonic stem cell isolation more efficient.

“Getting the bill passed was important because embryonic stem cells derived from SCNT may prove to be the most efficient means of using embryonic stem cells for clinical care. Adult stem cells are not as plastic or flexible. A stem cell from the liver cannot be directed to become a brain stem cell,” said Sparks. “Embryonic stem cells potentially have greater therapeutic possibilities because they may be directed to become a greater variety of cell types, replicate faster, and have greater longevity.

“SCNT could open many doors to potential cures. For example, by using SCNT, scientists can isolate embryonic stem cells and match them with a skin cell carrying genetic material from a patient with diabetes. Following successful cell differentiation and transfer of the new cells, the patient could potentially be cured of diabetes,” said Sparks.

With a shared goal of helping patients, the College also is creating the UI’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. Gary Hunninghake, MD, the Sterba Professor of Internal Medicine and senior associate dean for clinical and translational sciences, is directing the efforts. The Institute will focus on increasing the number and quality of clinical trials available to patients. The work of the two Institutes will go hand in hand, with the IIBD leading the way with basic and life science investigations.

With scientists working together, discoveries from investigations in the life sciences can be fully realized with contributions from basic science researchers. In support of this, funding agencies have begun distributing their resources across the sciences. They acknowledge that discoveries that could provide the greatest benefits to patients are often occurring across department and college boundaries.

“We’re trying to make a real effort to improve our working environment so research programs can operate more efficiently and realize the benefits of operating in closer proximity,” said Apicella. “Other universities have organized their researchers to encourage collaboration of basic and life science programs and it has been a challenge for them. We’re examining what we’re currently doing, how we can make that better, and continue to excel. Working across fields is appealing to many researchers and it is our hope to be able to expand the expertise of our faculty, support innovative research, and attract outstanding faculty because of the way our programs are structured. The IIBD will provide us with a way to make that happen.”