As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences integrate advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1997 and now ranks fifth in the nation.
UPMC recently began a clinical study on human hand transplantation that seeks for the first time to reduce the use of immunosuppressive drugs and their damaging side effects for patients.
UPMC doctors performed their first hand transplant (and the nation’s sixth) in March on a former Marine from Bethel Park, Pa. In the six months since his surgery, he’s learned to use his new hand to write and to perform other complex tasks. UPMC surgeons also made history in May by performing this country’s first double hand transplant on a 57-year-old former chef from Georgia. Both patients are being treated with the new Pittsburgh Protocol which involves antibody therapy, donor bone marrow cell infusion, and fewer immunosuppressive drugs. Thus far, there are no signs of rejection in the patients’ newly transplanted hands, offering hope for other amputees.
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Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, leads a team of surgeons performing the nation’s first bilateral hand transplant. |
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Researchers at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine are studying the regenerative properties of a material derived from the inner lining of a porcine bladder or intestine.
Called extracellular matrix (ECM), it promotes regeneration of tissue and became known worldwide after a hobbyist used the material to regrow the fingertip he lost while tinkering with a model airplane. Pitt researchers are studying ECM’s ability to regrow limbs; regenerate fully functional esophageal tissue in cancer patients; repair injured cardiac muscle in heart attack victims and replace blood vessels. The material can be applied as a powder, fashioned into various shapes, or sprayed onto injury sites.
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A sample of engineered tissue that might one day be used to repair heart valves is being examined by a researcher in a lab at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. |
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Although there have been tremendous advances in the diagnosis and treatment of many medical conditions, infectious diseases remain a major cause of death and disability for millions around the world.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research are working on new diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for infectious diseases that pose grave risks to global public health and security including influenza, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. The center includes one of the country’s few National Institutes of Health-funded Regional Biocontainment Laboratories, whose purpose is to conduct research on naturally occurring and emerging infectious agents, as well as those that could be used in bioterrorism.
Does an unhappy marriage lead to poor sleep, or does poor sleep contribute to a bad marriage? Researchers at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC are trying to answer that question.
They’ve found that women in happy marriages tend to sleep more soundly than women in unhappy unions. In fact, women with good marriages have about a 10 percent greater chance of getting a decent night’s sleep than their unhappy counterparts. What’s more, women who believe they have happy marriages have less difficulty falling asleep, less likelihood of waking up during the night and less restless sleep. WPIC researchers are now examining the role sleep plays in the functioning of married couples and their risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
PiB May Lead to Earlier Alzheimer’s Diagnosis |
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University of Pittsburgh researchers have invented a radioactive dye that has made it possible to use PET scans to find deposits of amyloid, an Alzheimer’s-related protein, in the brains of live human beings.
Known as Pittsburgh Compound B, or PiB, the technology is currently under license to GE Healthcare, a subsidiary of General Electric, which is pursuing the development of a clinical diagnostic agent based on PiB for assessing brain amyloidosis. PiB may ultimately lead to earlier diagnosis, help doctors distinguish Alzheimer’s from other forms of dementia, and let them monitor the effects of treatment.
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On the far left are the MRI scans of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. The far right show similar MRI images from a healthy elderly person with no memory impairment. Beside the MRI scans are the corresponding PET scans obtained by using a Pittsburgh Compound-B as a marker for amyloid plaques. The red, orange and yellow areas show areas with heavy plaque loads in the AD patient (red indicating the highest levels). These plaques form the basis for the definitive diagnosis of AD at autopsy. |
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Virtual Reality “Grocery Store” Helps People with Balance Disorders |
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Maneuvering through grocery store aisles can be difficult for the millions of Americans who have balance problems.
Ongoing research at the University of Pittsburgh suggests that “walking” through a virtual reality grocery store can benefit people with balance disorders. Like a life-size video game, the tool projects 3-D, moving images of a grocery store onto three screens that surround a real shopping cart on a custom-built treadmill. A person operating the cart controls his or her own speed and direction while walking aisles that display realistic-looking products. This ongoing trial, which has spurred improvement for many users within six weeks, will compare the grocery store treatment to traditional physical therapy for balance disorders.