Wayne State University will serve at the host site for the iSURGITEC 2009 Conference, an international event highlighting the latest advances in surgical technology, research and practice.

The conference brings together departments of surgery from across the United States and abroad to compare progress and highlight opportunities for future collaboration. In particular, iSURGITEC 2009 will feature new technologies being developed at Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center, Oakwood Hospital, Beaumont, Henry Ford Health System, the Children's Hospital of Michigan, Karmanos Cancer Institute, the University of Chicago, the City of Hope in California, and Madrid, Spain.

“The iSURGITEC 2009 conference establishes the Advanced Surgical Technologies and Innovations Initiative program squarely as a leader in surgical technology innovation,” said Donald Weaver, M.D., chairman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. “The future of surgery will be increasingly minimally invasive, image guided and technology driven. The ASTII program is at the forefront of the development of new systems of surgery that are less invasive and less painful, affording quicker patient recovery. Microrobotics, new energy delivery systems designed to destroy tumors and better, real-time, in-surgery diagnosis of cancer – which are all at the heart of ASTII's present activities -- have strong potential for commercialization, small business development and the retraining of engineers in this area.”

The Advanced Surgical Technologies and Innovations Initiative is an alliance of the departments of surgery at the School of Medicine, the Detroit Medical Center (including Children’s Hospital of Michigan and the Karmanos Cancer Institute) and the WSU College of Engineering’s Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems Program. ASTII’s mission is to bring advanced surgical technologies, including those developed by medical centers affiliated with Wayne State University, such as the Oakwood and Henry Ford hospital systems, to the global marketplace.

ASTII was developed by Dr. Weaver, who also serves as chief of surgery for the Detroit Medical Center, and Gregory Auner, Ph.D., professor of Electrical and Computer Biomedical Engineering for WSU and director of the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems Program for the university. Together they recognized the unparalleled academic and clinical benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing engineering and medical school students and faculty side-by-side in the same laboratories. Through enhanced communication and problem-solving, ASTII’s interdisciplinary scientists are shortening the time required to develop new technologies.

The conference, explained Dr. Auner, began last year when four groups of surgeons met in Madrid, Spain, to discuss the application of technology to surgical problems. They agreed to meet annually to explore opportunities for the application of technology in surgery.

Scheduled for Oct. 28 through Oct. 30, the meetings and demonstrations will take place at WSU and at the Motor City Casino and Hotel.

During the first two days of the conference, investigators will present their work and engage in discussion and collaboration. On the third day, a summary report to inform attendees about the developments at WSU and other institutions in the region will be presented. The conference is designed to be interactive so attendees can learn how advanced technologies in surgical practice can affect their institutions and patients.

“The technological focus from WSU will be from our Advanced Surgical Technology Innovation Initiatives program, which is a joint program between the WSU Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems program in the College of Engineering and the WSU Department of Surgery,” Dr. Auner said.

Keynote speakers include Gerald Moses, Ph.D., the former director of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command; Dr. Julio Mayol, M.D., Ph.D., of Madrid; Dr. Auner; Dr. Weaver; and Michael Klein, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., professor of Surgery for the School of Medicine and chief of Pediatric Surgery for Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

“We are at the threshold of a new era in surgery,” said conference co-organizer Madhu Prasad, M.D., associate professor of Surgery for the School of Medicine and co-chief of Surgical Oncology. “The iSURGITEC 2009 meeting brings together a group of visionary surgeons and scientists from around the world who are committed to lead the charge of technological innovation and define the future of surgery.”

Registration is free, but required by Oct. 16. Please visit www.astii.net or www.astii.org for online registration and the detailed agenda and conference locations. The conference is sponsored by Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Michigan and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. For questions, please e-mail iSURGITEC@gmail.com. 

The Wayne State University School of Medicine continues its role as a leader in obstetric and gynecological research with the renewal of national funding for the only Women’s Reproductive HealthCareer Development Center in Michigan.

Wayne State University secured its third successive round of funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for the center Sept. 22. The five-year, $2.3 million grant runs through 2014.

Theodore B. Jones, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., interim chair of the WSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the center is one of only 20 nationwide.

“This grant means that Wayne State will continue to be the pacesetter in creating women’s reproductive health scholars for new and effective treatments of the future,” said Dr. Jones, who also is director of the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine. “Down the road, patients will be able to take satisfaction in knowing that they are being treated by someone who has invested a significant amount of time in learning how to create the best practices in women’s reproductive health care and how to treat the problems that plague our patients on a daily basis.”

The grant will allow faculty to spend as much as 70 percent of their time conducting research in women’s reproductive health issues. That investment in research is crucial, Dr. Jones said, because physicians have to split time between research and seeing patients. This current round of funding ensures research time without sacrificing time spent caring for women.

As many as three clinician-scientists will take part in the program at any one time, Dr. Jones said, and as many as six will be trained and conduct research during the life of this grant.

“The quality of the health care we provide depends on us being able to understand better the medical problems of our patients,” Dr. Jones said. “There is a deep need to be involved in research, and to be able to fund the time it takes to conduct research.”

The grant is competitive, said Valerie Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., interim dean of the School of Medicine, with a multitude of medical schools and health centers applying for funding.

“The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development recognizes the critical research we conduct in the area of maternal and fetal health,” she said. “We have many talented people working on groundbreaking research that leads to healthier births, and it’s crucial that we continue that effort. Getting newborns and mothers off to a healthy start not only helps families, it also addresses issues that could lead to greater demands on a strained health care system.”

In conjunction with the grant, WSU has identified two educational partners – Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., and the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine - that may send physician-researchers to be trained and share research in Detroit.

Renu A. Kowluru, Ph.D., professor Ophthalmology, Anatomy/Cell Biology and Endocrinology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Kresge Eye Institute, has secured additional federal funding for her work in combating diabetic retinopathy.

The $750,000, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health was made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama. This most recent funding will further Dr. Kowluru’s R01 study, “Role of Ras in Retinal Cell Death in Diabetes.”

Retinopathy is the most common cause of acquired blindness in diabetic patients. The condition is a result of damage to the small blood vessels in the retina, the layer of cells in the back of the eye that is responsible for sending signals to the brain.

All people with diabetes are at risk of developing retinopathy, and the risk increases the longer a person has diabetes. Between 40 percent and 45 percent of Americans with diabetes suffer from retinopathy, according to the National Eye Institute. The condition’s onset can begin with no or few symptoms.

Dr. Kowluru’s research focuses on determining the role of matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9), a member of the family of metalloproteinases that regulates major biological functions, including apoptosis and matrix degradation, in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. She believes that activation of signaling cascade of H-Ras (a small molecular weight G-protein) in diabetes activates MMP-9, accelerating capillary cell loss in the retina, and ultimately leading to the development of diabetic retinopathy. She will investigate the mechanism through which H-Ras activates MMP-9 in the retina in diabetes, and how MMP-9-dependent cellular signaling pathways contribute to the loss of capillary cells.

She explained that she expects to find that the activation of H-Ras in the retina in diabetes regulates MMP-9, and activated MMP-9 accelerates cell loss in the capillaries of the retina by damaging the mitochondria and speeding cell death.

“We believe that by understanding the role of MMP-9 in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, the compounds that neutralize MMP-9 can be identified to inhibit its development,” Dr. Kowluru said. “This should have immense clinical implications because MMP inhibitors are already being used in clinical trials for other diseases, and our results are expected to lay ground for a possibility to use them to inhibit retinopathy, the sight-threatening disease that diabetic patients fear the most.”

Ambika Mathur, Ph.D., professor of the Department of Pediatrics and assistant dean of the Combined Degree Programs and Postdoctoral Affairs for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been appointed associate dean of the WSU Graduate School.

"Dr. Mathur brings to the position a wealth of experience working with joint and interdisciplinary graduate programs as well as postdoctoral trainees,” said Mark Wardell, associate provost and dean of the WSU Graduate School. “Her accomplishments related to the joint M.D./Ph.D. program alone provide an excellent list of objectives she will pursue as the associate dean of the Graduate School. For example, the number of individuals in that joint program who have won highly competitive fellowship awards is truly impressive. I am certain Dr. Mathur will have a very positive impact on graduate education across the university in the coming years.”

Dr. Mathur said that she will split her time between her School of Medicine duties and her new position with the Graduate School.

“I am extremely honored to have been appointed to this position by Dean Wardell and Provost (Nancy) Barrett,” Dr. Mathur said. “This presents an excellent opportunity for me to contribute to graduate education at WSU, not just at the School of Medicine level, but to the university as a whole.

“I hope to develop strong resources for students to compete for national fellowships and to continue to improve WSU's reputation as a teaching and research training institution nationally and internationally,” she added. “I am looking forward to working with Dean Wardell and the Graduate School staff to develop and implement policies that will move us ahead.”

Dr. Mathur said she met several times with Dean Wardell and found that they shared a common vision for graduate and postdoctoral education at the university. In addition, School of Medicine administrators and Bonita Stanton, M.D., chairwoman of the Department of Pediatrics, urged her to accept the position.

“Dr. Mathur has done wonders to further our combined degree programs and our postdoctoral affairs program,” said Valerie Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., interim dean of the School of Medicine. “We are extremely fortunate to keep her with us, even if part time, and the university is gaining a devoted and energetic individual who will ensure the WSU graduate program continues to thrive.”

Dr. Mathur received her doctorate degree in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa. Following a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Richard Lynch at the University of Iowa and Dr. Brian Van Ness at the University of Minnesota, she was appointed assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and five years later was promoted to tenured associate professor. She joined WayneStateUniversity in 2003 and was appointed the first permanent director of the M.D./Ph.D. program in 2003 and first director of the newly created Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in 2008.

The Wayne State University School of Medicine announced today an expansion of a research grant of nearly $2.7 million, bringing the total award to more than $6.1 million. The project, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health, is the first combined imaging and genetics research study on obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The project, “Brain Chemistry and Genetics in Pediatric OCD,” led by Wayne State University, with collaborative partners at the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto/The Hospital for Sick Children, focuses on OCD, a severe, prevalent and chronically disabling disease. OCD affects approximately 1 percent to 3 percent of the population nationwide. About 50 percent of all OCD cases begin in childhood and adolescence.

“Initial findings at Wayne State University have shown that glutamate plays a key role in OCD,” said David Rosenberg, M.D., the Miriam L. Hamburger Endowed Chair of Child Psychiatry and professor of Psychiatry at the WSU School of Medicine and the principal investigator of the project. “Glutamate is the brain’s light switch, which helps turn serotonin and other chemicals off and on. Our research has shown that glutamate abnormalities in OCD have significant treatment implications. This new study will further our research by combining imaging and genetics, something never assessed in OCD patients.”

Teaming with Rosenberg is Gregory Hanna, M.D, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Pediatric Anxiety and Tic Disorder Program at the University of Michigan. Hanna will lead recruiting efforts for patients and their clinical characterization. In addition, Paul Arnold, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children, will lead the genetic studies. Wayne State University will lead the imaging studies at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

By performing critical imaging and genetic tests of glutamate genes in 200 OCD and 200 healthy control patients, this group of scientists aims to examine glutamate changes in brain regions implicated in OCD, and to combine this information with a detailed exploration of variants within genes influencing glutamate transmission.

“Brain processes visualized using magnetic resonance imaging are thought to be closer to the action of genes compared with complex behavioral phenomena like obsessive compulsive disorder,” Dr. Arnold said. “Therefore, we hope that combining the two powerful techniques of neuroimaging and genetics will help speed up the discovery of risk genes.”

Results will have significant scientific implications as well as key translational importance in bringing research from the bench to the bedside with clinical ramifications. By combining unique clinical assessment, magnetic resonance imaging and genetics expertise, the researchers will investigate biological, genetic and behavioral variables that may one day lead to a better understanding of pediatric OCD, and in turn, the development of new diagnostic and treatment approaches.

“This imaging genetics project builds upon a series of genetic linkage and association studies conducted during the past 15 years,” Dr. Hanna said. “These studies indicate genetic variants affecting the glutamate system have a primary role in the development of OCD.”

Three Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers will explore complementary and alternative medicine therapies to reduce anxiety in children undergoing magnetic resonance imaging studies.

Ambika Mathur, Ph.D., professor of the Department of Pediatrics; Deepak Kamat, M.D., Ph.D., professor and vice chairman of Education in the Department of Pediatrics; and Prashant Mahajan, M.D., associate professor of the Department of Pediatrics, will use an $894,493 grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund their two-year study, “Comparison of the Effectiveness of CAM Therapies in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Sedation.” The grant comes via the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act economic stimulus bill.

The goal of the study, Dr. Mathur said, is to compare the effectiveness of three complementary and alternative medicine therapies in reducing the level of stress and anxiety in pediatric patients ages 1 through 12 who are undergoing sedation for imaging studies. If the therapies work, they could reduce the need for higher doses of intravenous sedation medicines or multiple sedation medications in young children.

“We hope to find that non-invasive complementary and alternative therapies reduce the need for intravenous sedative medications in children undergoing multiple MRIs for conditions such as brain tumors because these sedative medications have several adverse effects on the children,” said Dr. Mathur, who also serves as assistant dean of the Combined Degree Programs and Postdoctoral Affairs. “For MRIs, children in this age group are sedated to reduce anxiety and to keep them still, because if they move even a bit the MRI does not work.”

The drugs used to sedate children in this age group, she said, present a higher side effect risk, and have been associated with a number of adverse reactions, including airway obstruction, cardiovascular problems such as brachycardia and syncope, respiratory distress, allergic reactions and mental confusion.

The three methods that will be tested in the study include passive music therapy, active music therapy with a certified music therapist and distraction procedures conducted by a child life specialist. Passive music therapy involves listening to music of one’s choice via headphones while an intravenous line is placed. In active music therapy, a certified therapist engages the child in making or playing music or singing. The goals of the music therapy are to promote relaxation and reduce stress and anxiety before and during intravenous line placement. The therapist and child may use any number of instruments and song selections based on the patient’s musical preference. The therapist will vary tempo, volume and melody to meet the patient’s level of agitation and bring them to a more relaxed state.

Distraction therapy involves the use of items or techniques appropriately matched to the child’s age and development. A child life specialist might use bubbles, a View Master, I-Spy book, squeeze ball, a handheld game, board games or counting and deep breathing during IV placement.

Dr. Mathur said the research team anticipates that the distraction therapy will be the most effective of the methods to be tested in reducing anxiety.

The study will involve 400 children undergoing multiple MRI studies at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. The researchers will assess the outcomes of the alternative therapies by measuring the amount of sedative medications administered compared to controls as well as the effect on immunological markers such as inflammatory and pre-inflammatory cytokines and on the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

“In addition, we will determine if the reduction in the sedative medication use will result in reduced recovery time and reduced length of stay in the hospital, thereby resulting in net cost savings to the families and to the health care providers,” Dr. Mathur said.