Press Release Archives

New MS Pill Puts Hope on the Horizon
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Cindy Starr
(513) 558-3505

Like all drugs, it has side effects. Patients who take it will need to be monitored. And it has not even been approved yet by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But Maria Melanson, MD, Clinical Director of the Waddell Center for Multiple Sclerosis, is among those who are clearly excited about the first oral drug for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. An FDA advisory committee recommended approval of the drug, fingolimod, on June 14.

Fingolimod has the potential to improve the lives of many of the Waddell Center’s more than 1,000 patients for two reasons: It will spare patients the discomfort – and in some cases misery – of injections. And, because it is an entirely new drug, it offers hope to patients who do not respond to current medications.

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UC Neuroscience Institute Reaches 10-year Benchmark with National Recognition in 13 Neuroscience Specialties
Friday, October 16, 2009
Cindy Starr
(513) 558-3505

CINCINNATI—The University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute (UCNI) celebrated its 10th anniversary today by announcing its arrival at a national benchmark with accreditations, certifications, or national association memberships in 13 of 14 important neuroscience specialties.

The accreditations and memberships denote excellence in sub-specialty neurological care and research and are highly coveted by academic health centers throughout the United States.

The UC Neuroscience Institute, first envisioned by John M. Tew, M.D., began with an intention to create a national benchmark in neurological care while leading the advance in humanity’s understanding of the brain. It was established in 1998 by neuroscience specialists at UC Health -- University Hospital, the Mayfield Clinic, and the UC College of Medicine. Initial funding for the venture came from the Health Alliance.

During the 10-year span, the Institute has achieved the following distinctions – all of which are publicly available -- from objective, nationally recognized organizations:

  1. Primary Stroke Center; designated by the Joint Commission
  2. Level I Trauma Center; verified by the American College of Surgeons
  3. Level 4 Epilepsy Center; designated by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers
  4. Neurocritical Care Fellowship Training; designated by the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties
  5. Morris K. Udall Center for Parkinson’s Disease Research; designated by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  6. Certified Member of the National MS Consortium
  7. Membership in the Acoustic Neuroma Association
  8. Membership in the Pituitary Tumor Network
  9. Membership in the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association
  10. Member Clinic of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
  11. Charter Member of the National Network of Depression Centers
  12. Member in the Specialized Programs of Translational Research in Acute Stroke (SPOTRIAS)
  13. Member in the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials (NETT)

The UC Neuroscience Institute's Alzheimer's Center, its 14th specialty area, is under development.

By comparison, the Cleveland Clinic and Ohio State University have achieved similar distinctions in 4 of these 14 neuroscience specialties; the Mayo Clinic and University of Pittsburgh have achieved 8; Johns Hopkins University has achieved 10; Massachusetts General has achieved 9; and the Barrow Neurological Institute has achieved 5.

The UC Neuroscience Institute is thanking supporters who have played an important role in the Institute’s accomplishments this evening at the new CARE/Crawley Building on the UC Academic Health Center campus.

“In developing the Neuroscience Institute we wanted to create a sense of trust and confidence in our community that would allow people to know that they did not have to go to another place for neurological care,” says Dr. Tew, the Institute’s Clinical Director and a neurosurgeon with the Mayfield Clinic. “We wanted people to know that, whether you have a problem that is simple or complex, you can come to us from all walks of life and know with confidence that we’ll provide you with best care available anywhere in the world.”

The Institute grew with the recruitment of pre-eminent physicians, researchers, and nursing specialists. Today it includes more than 100 faculty members in multiple neuroscience specialties, including neurosurgery, neurology, otolaryngology – head and neck surgery, radiology, emergency medicine, ophthalmology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychiatry. The Institute treats thousands of patients each year, many of whom travel to Cincinnati from around the United States and the world. In fiscal year 2008, the Institute recorded 3,893 inpatient and 35,307 outpatient visits.

“University Hospital is proud to be the medical home for the UC Neuroscience Institute,” says Lee Ann Liska, University Hospital’s Executive Director and Senior Vice President. “We are the region’s primary site of tertiary care for the sickest patients and most complex cases. Our advanced technologies include intraoperative MRI, continuous, 24-hour EEG monitoring, mobile CT scanning, a Level 4 epilepsy monitoring unit, and Lycox monitoring of brain temperature and oxygenation.”

“Patients come to the UCNI because of our terrific team of highly specialized physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers,” says Joseph P. Broderick, M.D., Research Director at the Institute and Chair of the Department of Neurology. “We have a great passion to provide the best clinical care for those patients. And we share that passion with our referring physicians. But the reason they refer to us is because we have highly specialized physicians. Not just a neurologist, but a neurologist highly trained in epilepsy; not just a neurosurgeon, but a neurosurgeon who does the most difficult spine cases in the world. They also refer to us because we collaborate. We have five weekly subspecialty conferences where the most challenging cases are discussed. And they refer to us because we’re not satisfied with the standard care. Our frustration that we can do better is what fuels our research efforts.”

The Institute comprises seven centers of excellence, which are focused on brain tumors, cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, disorders of the senses (swallowing, voice, hearing, pain, taste and smell), multiple sclerosis, neurotrauma, and Parkinson’s disease. A center for Alzheimer’s disease is in development.

“The future of the College of Medicine will be based more and more on developing centers of excellence in which we can provide ‘added value’ care, research and education for patients in our region and beyond,” says David Stern, M.D., Dean of the College of Medicine. “The UC Neuroscience Institute has been at the forefront in developing highly differentiated programs that meet our patients’ needs and push the field of neuroscience forward. Whether it is our world-renowned stroke program, or the programs in Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, or the more recently launched brain tumor program, each of these initiatives has great potential to contribute to reducing morbidity and mortality for patients with neurological disorders in our region.”

Other major accomplishments celebrated by the UC Neuroscience Institute include:

  • An international role in the development of tPA for the treatment of stroke and a continuing international role in the research and treatment of stroke.
  • Recruitment of leading physicians, researchers, and staff from around the United States.
  • Major gifts that support two of the institute’s seven centers of excellence: the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders and the Virgilee and Oliver Waddell Center for Multiple Sclerosis.
  • The creation of public symposia that educate patients and caregivers who confront Parkinson’s disease, brain tumors, and epilepsy.
  • Community leadership, including a Board of Advisors led by William Burleigh, retired Chairman of the E. W. Scripps Company, and community-supported fundraising events, including the Sunflower Revolution and Celebrating Research Innovations for an Epilepsy Cure, that have raised millions of dollars for individual programs.

 

‘Marvin Mouse’ Major Player in Waddell Center's Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis
Monday, October 12, 2009
Keith Herrel
(513) 558-4559

CINCINNATI—Just like its namesake, the Marvin Mouse has a game plan. And if all goes well, it could lead to victory over a debilitating disease.

The Marvin Mouse is what researchers at the Waddell Center at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute call a "transgenic mouse." It is being used as an animal model in experiments designed to shed light on how killer T cells contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS).

Some of the funding for their research has come from the Marvin Lewis Community Fund—a charitable foundation formed in 2003 by the Cincinnati Bengals head coach and his wife, Peggy—and is used to generate the Marvin Mouse. Having the mouse in place as a reagent helps bolster the research team’s case for grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“It’s important to be able to conduct detailed investigation of human disease mechanisms in animal models,” says Aaron Johnson, PhD, research assistant professor in the neurology department at UC’s College of Medicine and a former honorable mention all-state football player himself. “By gaining insight into what happens in human MS, you have the potential to design therapeutic targets to fight the disease.”

Says Lewis, a member of the UC Neuroscience Institute’s Advisory Board: “I am grateful that our donation is helping UC researchers learn more about multiple sclerosis through the Marvin Mouse. “This builds on the Angelo Papastamos Grant we funded, which was named after my brother-in-law who has MS.”

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system—the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms range from numbness in the limbs to paralysis or loss of vision. Progress, severity and specific symptoms are unpredictable and vary from one person to another.

In MS, the body’s own defense system attacks myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects healthy neurons (nerve fibers) in the central nervous system. When demyelination occurs, the neurons themselves can be damaged, disrupting nerve impulses traveling to and from the spinal cord and producing the variety of symptoms that can occur.

Johnson’s research focuses on killer T cells, which have drawn increasing scrutiny in the past 10 years (previous MS research predominantly focused on helper T cells). Numerous clinical studies have found killer T cells in close proximity to areas of demyelination where neurons and axons (the long fibers that conduct impulses away from the body of the nerve cell) were being severed.

“It doesn’t mean they did it,” Johnson says of the killer T cells, “but it’s kind of like the criminal at the scene of the crime. You need to develop animal models now to try and determine the mechanism by which this can occur.”

Johnson, with research technician Yi Chen, has done several studies to determine how killer T cells can contribute to disability in mouse models. Already, they have found that removal of killer T cells preserves motor ability and that killer T cells are able to disrupt the blood-brain barrier that keeps toxins in the blood from reaching the brain.

“To really get at how a T cell does this, you use the animal models,” says Johnson. “We need to find out what cell type in the central nervous system this T cell is specifically engaging. And in human MS, you will never get the answer to that question because you simply cannot do a mechanistic study in human beings.”

Using the Marvin Mouse, Johnson’s team has been able to develop a strategy by which it can silence the target of the killer T cells: the MHC class I molecule that they recognize on the surface of certain cell types. If the target is silenced, the killer T cells are effectively neutralized.

“In other words,” says Johnson, “the Marvin Mouse completely disrupts the ability for class I molecules to surface and can help define important interactions in neurological disease.”

The goal, Johnson says, is to continue to gain insight into what happens in human MS and gather information that will be helpful in designing therapeutic targets to protect cells in the central nervous system.

Waddell Center Welcomes Gwen Johnson, MSN, NP-C
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Cindy Starr
(513) 558-3505

CINCINNATI–-The Waddell Center at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Neuroscience Institute at University Hospital announces the hiring of Gwen Johnson as Nurse Practitioner.

Ms. Johnson joins the Waddell Center’s multidisciplinary team of experts in multiple sclerosis and other immune-mediated diseases of the central nervous system. The Waddell Center team collaborates during all phases of treatment – from testing and diagnosis, to discussion of treatment options, to execution of the optimal treatment strategy.

Before assuming her current position, Ms. Johnson worked as a nurse practitioner with the UC Department of Neurology's Residency Program (2004-2008) and with University Internal Medicine Associates and Montgomery Internal Medicine (2008-2009).

Ms. Johnson earned a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati and her certification from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ohio State University.

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