|
Big
problems, big science, better health
The numbers are sobering. A third of the world's 40 million people with
HIV/AIDS are also infected with TB. Of those, 90% die within months of
contracting TB if they are not treated properly. Finding effective treatments
is growing more difficult as various strains of TB are becoming more widespread
and more virulent, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and India.
Researchers at Emory and in India are determined
to find a solution. Emory's Global Health Institute, the Emory Vaccine
Center, and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
(ICGEB) have created the Center for Global Vaccines, based at the ICGEB
in New Delhi.
"Our initial studies will focus on
the basic aspects of HIV/TB co-infection," says Rafi Ahmed, director
of the Emory Vaccine Center. "In fact, the World Health Organization
has just classified HIV/TB as a unique disease."
India now has the largest number of HIV-infected
people in the world, and 5.7 million of them have HIV/TB. Although a vaccine
exists to prevent TB, it can be used only in limited circumstances. Thus,
Emory and the ICGEB will focus on developing a therapeutic vaccine that
can be used more widely—one that can be given to people already
infected with HIV/TB. "We want to tackle very big problems, and this
is a very big problem," says Ahmed. "This is very big science."
"Big" also describes the new Global
Health Institute, a multidisciplinary umbrella for Emory faculty, students,
and alumni who want to solve the world's critical health problems. Led
by Jeffrey Koplan, vice president for academic health affairs and former
CDC director, the institute builds on Emory's history of global partnerships
in medicine, public health, and other disciplines.
The institute represents a major commitment
by the university. Its $110 million budget includes $55 million from the
university and $55 million from sources in and outside of Emory.
Among the institute's new programs is the
Republic of South Africa Drug Discovery Training Program to provide young
African scientists with experience in translating research into health
care solutions. Emory chemist Dennis Liotta, co-inventor of several successful
anti-HIV/AIDS drugs, leads the program. Reynaldo Martorell, public health
professor, directs the Partners in Global Health Program, an expanded
collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico.
Other global health projects will focus
on public health research and training in developing nations, health care
workforce shortages, international bioethics, and the health impact of
global migration.
A separate program affiliated with the institute is the International
Association of National Public Health Institutes, an alliance of CDC-like
agencies dedicated to optimizing global health by improving public health
infrastructure around the world. Koplan serves as association president.
Learn more about the Global Health Institute.
The
stress of battle
Despite
ongoing media coverage, it's still hard to fathom the mental toll
of the Iraq war on U.S. veterans. In a study funded by the Department
of Veterans Affairs, Emory researchers are testing a new method for treating
post-traumatic stress disorder that may help soldiers deal with troubling
memories before depression, memory loss, drug abuse, and other health
problems occur.
The treatment, mindful based stress reduction
(MBSR), is an eight-week program that teaches participants how to "intentionally
pay attention to present-moment experiences" such as physical sensations
or perceptions without evaluating those experiences. During each session,
participants are introduced to techniques such as yoga and meditation.
MBSR uses "teachers" and "students" instead of
"patients" and "therapists."
"We know that medications sometimes
have unpleasant side effects or don't work at all," says lead
investigator J. Douglas Bremner, director of mental health research at
the Atlanta VA Medical Center. "MBSR is an intervention that not
only teaches a soldier how to cope with painful memories from battle,
but can also be beneficial as a coping skill for life in general."
40
life-changing minutes
The
40 minutes the doctor spent with Amy changed her life. It appeared to
be a simple case: She needed the stitches in her arm removed. But only
when Sheryl Heron questioned her about why she put her hand through a
window did the truth come out. Amy was a victim of intimate partner violence.
Heron gave her information on resources
to help her should she decide to leave her abuser—often the time
when abuse is especially violent—and then Amy was on her way. Only
a year later did Heron know the extent of her influence. Amy emailed her
that she had left the relationship, moved to Florida, and re-enrolled
in college.
Gone are the days of patch ‘em up,
move ‘em out. Emergency room doctors and residents now know if they
look beyond the injury or complaint and find domestic violence, addressing
the root cause will help prevent future visits and thus ease the caseload
in the ER. "If you take the time on the front end to manage what
is bringing them in on the back end, they don't come back,"
says Heron. "In the end, you have to consider we are talking about
human beings and their lives."
However, most medical schools don't
have dedicated curricula on domestic violence, be it children, intimate
partner, or elderly. As the new assistant dean for medical education and
student affairs at Grady Hospital, Heron decided a family violence workshop
was in order for M3 students. The daylong workshop last fall featured
a number of experts in and outside of Emory, including a staff member
of the Grady Rape Crisis Center; former juvenile court judge Robin Nash,
now director of the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic in Emory's
School of Law; and a survivor of sexual abuse. All provided insight on
their experiences.
"Medicine teaches us to fix things,"
says Heron. "Laceration? Suture it. Infection? Give an antibiotic.
Domestic violence doesn't have a magic pill, a magic solution. I
try to teach physicians it takes six or seven times for a woman to tell
about violence. We need to consider how we impact people's lives."
Progesterone
and traumatic brain injury
Progesterone
may be key to reducing death and disability in patients with traumatic
brain injury (TBI). It also appears to be safe. Emory researchers based
these findings on the first clinical study of its type in the world.
Prior to this study, progesterone treatment
for TBI was studied in laboratory animals for as long as 15 years. The
researchers conducting the clinical trial based their work on the foundation
laid by Emory neurobiologist Donald Stein, who discovered the neuroprotective
effects of progesterone in the laboratory.
Patients enrolled in the double-blind study
at Grady Hospital had to reach the hospital within 11 hours of injury.
Patients in the study had a blunt traumatic injury, typically caused by
a car accident, motorcycle crash, or fall. Enrolled patients had an initial
Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score ranging from 4 to 12. A score of 4 to 8
signals severe TBI, usually accompanied by coma, while a score of 8 to
12 signals moderate TBI. Four out of every five patients enrolled received
intravenous progesterone, and one of every five patients received a placebo.
Thirty days after injury, researchers used objective rating scales to
assess each patient's neurologic function and level of disability.
"We found encouraging evidence that
progesterone is safe in the setting of TBI, with no evidence of side effects
or serious harmful events," says David Wright, the emergency medicine
physician who led the study. "In addition, we found a 50% reduction
in the rate of death in the progesterone-treated group. Furthermore, we
found a significant improvement in the functional outcome and level of
disability among patients with moderate brain injury."
Wright's team found no major differences
in the rate of adverse effects among patients who received progesterone
compared with those who received placebo. About 30% of patients given
placebo died within 30 days of injury, compared with only 13% of those
given progesterone. Most patients who died had severe TBI. Because more
severe TBI patients in the progesterone group survived, it was not surprising
that they had a higher average level of disability at 30 days than survivors
in the placebo group.
Progesterone is a promising treatment for
TBI because it is inexpensive, widely available, and has a long track
record of safe use in humans to treat other diseases. Wright's team is
planning a large, multicenter Phase III trial to test the effectiveness
of progesterone in 1,000 patients with TBI. In the future, they plan to
study the effects of progesterone treatment in animal models of blast-related
injury, a major cause of death among combat personnel. They also hope
to study the use of progesterone to treat children with brain injuries.
View a video
about the progesterone study
New
synergy in cancer
Brian
Leyland-Jones is the new associate vice president and director of the
Winship Cancer Institute. Leyland-Jones, who specializes in breast cancer,
is known internationally for developing individualized therapies and novel
clinical trials. He comes to Emory from McGill University in Montreal,
where he served as the Minda de Gunzberg Chair in oncology, professor
of medicine, and director of McGill's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
At McGill, he led the development of a clinical
trials operation that integrated research with five clinical trial cooperative
groups and more than 40 pharmaceutical companies. His research interests
include pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacogenetics in clinical
trials; translation of preclinical models into the clinic; biomarker endpoints
in Phase I/II clinical trials; and screening and mechanistic studies of
novel targeted and chemotherapeutic anti-cancer agents.
Tracking
brain tumor treatment
A
newly identified novel biomarker potentially could help physicians better
determine when a brain tumor spreads or recurs after treatment, reports
Winship Cancer Institute researcher Erwin Van Meir.
The biomarker, a protein known as "soluble
attractin," is normally absent in the central nervous system (CNS)
and undetectable in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) unless malignant astrocytomas—the
most common form of intracranial tumors—are present in the CNS.
The CSF can be sampled for analysis of proteins secreted by CNS tumors.
This newfound ability to identify biomarkers
for malignant astrocytomas means that physicians will have a minimally
invasive method to track the success of treatments. These biomarkers,
singly or in combination, will provide a fingerprint of the disease and
in the future better define the disease, predict what type of treatment
to use, and allow doctors to monitor how well the tumor responds to treatment.
"Using proteomic analysis of the CNS
of patients with brain tumors, we have identified for the first time that
attractin levels are elevated in patients with high-grade astrocytoma,"
says Van Meir, who led the study in collaboration with the Dana Farber
Cancer Institute. "Because few noninvasive methods are available
for monitoring CNS malignancies, there is an urgent need to find reliable
indicators."
Noteworthy
Michael Johns, who
has led the Woodruff Health Sciences Center for 11 years, will become
chancellor of Emory this fall. In addition to advising the president and
the board of trustees, Johns will represent the university on health care
policy and building partnerships, such as Emory's research collaboration
with Georgia Tech.
For the first time, two Emory health administrators hold
top leadership positions with the Association of American Medical Colleges
(AAMC). Michael Johns, CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, is
immediate past chair of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems.
Thomas Lawley, dean of the School of Medicine, chairs the AAMC's Council
of Deans.
Physicians with Emory Healthcare provided $70.7 million
in charity care in 2005–2006, a 7% increase over the previous year.
At publicly funded Grady Hospital, Emory provided $24.7 million in uncompensated
care, up $2.7 million from the previous year. About 85% of the physicians
at Grady are Emory medical faculty.
Built from
scratch
Emory
University Hospital opened a neuro critical care unit that centralizes
most critical medical services for patients suffering from severe neurologic
trauma—including severe brain injury, strokes, and aneurysms. Just
as important,
the unit's design incorporates the importance of family in the patient's
healing.
One of the largest in the United States
and one of only a few of its type in the Southeast, the unit is staffed
by
neurointensivists, critical care nurses, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists.
All played a role in creating the unit, along with social workers, former
patients, and family members.
"Plans for the neuro ICU incorporate
core principles of evidence-based, patient-centered design—a holistic
approach that focuses on the patient's physical environment as a
tool for healing," says Owen Samuels (shown left), director of neuroscience
critical care. The unit's design takes into account factors such
as the effects of natural light, noise reduction, and increasing staff
efficiencies.
Also key is sufficient space to perform
intricate procedures at the bedside and thus reduce transporting fragile
patients across the hospital. A high-resolution CT machine is housed in
the unit, allowing patients to be scanned upon admission and during their
stay. "This unit," says Emory Healthcare president and CEO
John Fox, "has raised the proverbial ‘bar' and set the
standard, locally and nationally, for critical care."
Learn
more the neuro icu.
High
marks from NIH
The
School of Medicine now ranks 18th among all U.S. medical schools in total
research grants awarded by NIH for 2006. The school has climbed steadily
in research funding, having ranked 31st in 1996.
A
new formula for matching kidneys
Many
patients on the national waiting list for kidney transplants have only
a small chance of receiving a new organ, no matter how long they wait.
Because of previous transplants, pregnancies, or blood transfusions, these
patients have developed antibodies that make it difficult to match them
with donor organs.
Emory researchers have developed the Emory Algorithm,
a decision process that may give new hope to these highly sensitized patients.
The algorithm may even change the way kidneys from deceased donors are
allocated in the United States.
Sensitized patients have developed antibodies
against human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), which play an important role
in the body's immune response to foreign tissue. While these patients
represent one-third of the national waiting list for kidney transplant
patients (and 50% in Georgia), they receive about 15% of deceased-donor
kidney transplants each year.
The United Network for Organ Sharing coordinates
the nation's transplant system through a point system primarily
based on wait time, sensitization, and HLA matching. When a "perfect
match" occurs, the kidney is offered to the person at the top of
the national list. If there are no perfect matches, the kidney becomes
available to transplant centers in the region from which it came.
The Emory Algorithm follows these guidelines
but also allows a transplant center to predict which sensitized patients
on the list will be compatible with any given donor. A five-year study,
published in the American Journal of Transplantation, found the
algorithm raised the kidney transplant rate from 15% to 25% by accurately
predicting which sensitized patients would be compatible with the donor
kidney. In the study, the survival rate for sensitized patients was almost
identical to that of unsensitized recipients—66% versus 70%.
Immunologists Robert Bray and Howard Gebel,
along with transplant surgeons Christian Larsen and Thomas Pearson, developed
the algorithm. They used a relatively new technology of single-antigen
bead assays. This method analyzes HLA antibodies more specifically by
identifying a single antibody at a time versus general groups of antibodies.
The algorithm allows immunologists to inform transplant surgeons with
a high degree of confidence whether a kidney from a deceased donor is
a compatible match with a recipient.
|
|
|