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ahfmrA L B E R T A H E R I T A G E F O U N D A T I O N F O R M E D I C A L R E S E A R C H
F A L L 2 0 0 5
research news
Toward a diabetes cure
contents
AHFMR MissionAHFMR supports a community ofresearchers who generate knowledge whose application improves the health and quality of life of Albertans and peoplethroughout the world. AHFMR’s long-termcommitment is to fund health researchbased on international standards of excellence and carried out by new andestablished investigators and researchersin training.
TrusteesRichard HaskayneHarley Hotchkiss (Chair)Cled LewisJo-Anne LubinRobert SeidelEldon SmithGail SurkanHarvey Weingarten
President and CEOKevin Keough, PhD
Contact Us:Your comments, views and suggestionsare welcome. Please forward them to:
The Editor, AHFMR Research NewsAlberta Heritage Foundation for Medical ResearchSuite 1500,10104 - 103 AvenueEdmonton, Alberta T5J 4A7
Phone: (780) 423-5727Fax: (780) 429-3509E-Mail: [email protected]: www.ahfmr.ab.ca
research newsA L B E R T A H E R I T A G E F O U N D A T I O N F O R M E D I C A L R E S E A R C H
F A L L 2 0 0 5
Regular featuresResearch Views ............................................................1
Researchers in the making ..........................................20
Reader resources ........................................................21
Back page featuring 2005 AHFMR Media Fellows...........22
Production NotesExecutive editor: Kathleen ThurberManaging editor: Janet HarveyWriters: Alison Azer, Connie Bryson, Janet Harvey,Barbara Kermode-Scott, Erin O’ConnellDesign: Lime Design Inc.Cover Illustration and feature story illustrations: Amanda WoodwardInside illustrations: Cindy RevellPhotography: Trudie Lee, Brian Harder, Calgary;Laughing Dog Photography, Edmonton; Getty Images
The AHFMR Newsletter is published four times annuallyand is distributed free of charge to a controlled circula-tion list within Canada. If you wish to receive it, pleasecontact us by phone, e-mail, fax or by letter. It is alsoon the web at www.ahfmr.ab.ca.
AHFMR Research News is printed by Speedfast Color Press Inc. on 70lb Luna Matte text.
© Contents copyright of AHFMR.ISSN 1700-6236 (print) ISSN 1703-5694 (online)
Canadian Publications Agreement #40064910
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4 Movement’s sixth senseProprioception is like a sixth sense for movement, accordingto Heritage Scholar Dr. Kelvin Jones.
Controlling cancerHeritage Scholar Dr. Shirin Bonni studies how a certain familyof chemicals helps control cancer development.
Diabetes research: working toward a cureAlberta has been recognized internationally for the diabetesresearch right here in our own backyard.
Applying science outside the labDr. Sarah Lord wanted to do something non-traditional withher Ph.D. AHFMR’s Technology Commercialization Internshiphelped her find the way.
On the Cover
Amanda Woodward is an Edmonton-based artist and a grad-uate of the MacEwan design and illustration program. Sheheads her own design studio, Woodward Design, with herpartner and husband, Dana. Some of her illustration clientsinclude Scholastic, the Edmonton Journal, SEE Magazine,Northern Light Theatre, Westworld Alberta, and WIN House.
s
Research Views
Dr. Ahn leans back in hischair, smiling as he thinksback to how he got into
the business of studying greentea. “Well, I was born and raisedin Seoul, Korea, but I moved toJapan to do my Ph.D. in pharma-cology at the University ofTokyo,” he says. “It’s very inter-esting because there are severalprovinces in Japan where the rates of cardiovasculardisease are very low. This correlates wellwith high green-teaconsumption—not justone cup of green tea,but several cups everyday, whereas in other
provinces the opposite is true. So I asked myself, what is itabout green tea that has theseeffects, and what does it do tothe cardiovascular system?”
One of the discoveries made by Dr. Ahn was that specific substances in the green tea calledcatechins (pronounced cat-a-kins)prevent arteries from blockingagain following an angioplasty.
“When an artery becomesblocked, or stenosed, a
balloon angioplasty isnormally done toremove the block.Unfortunately, theblockage may recur for
reasons that are not
entirely understood,” Dr. Ahnexplains. “Treatment with greentea catechins prevents thisrestenosis from occurring.” Animportant discovery, consideringthat there are no current drugtreatments for restenosis.
Dr. Ahn has come to theUniversity of Alberta to workwith Dr. Sandra Davidge becausehe is interested in finding the“why” behind how green tea catechins prevent restenosis. “Dr.Davidge is truly one of the mostoutstanding vascular biologists inCanada, and I am very excited tohave the opportunity to work inher laboratory,” he says. Dr. Ahnis using his time in Canada tostudy the effects of catechins onthe endothelium, specializedcells that make up the lining ofthe blood vessel wall. He has reason to believe that catechins can decreasethe expression ofspecific proteinson endothelialcells that con-tribute to plaqueformation andeventually blockage.The implication is thatcatechins may prevent athero-sclerosis (hardening of the arteries) as well as restenosis—a good explanation for whygreen-tea lovers have reducedrisk for cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Ahn is also taking sometime to soak up his new surroundings. “The researchenvironment at the University ofAlberta is so open. People herework together and share spaceand equipment. Often in
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AHFMR Visiting Scholar Dr. Hee Yul Ahn’s passion for studying thecardioprotective benefits of green tea has taken him to prestigiousuniversity laboratories all over the world. Now Dr. Ahn, a professor ofpharmacology at Chungbuk National University in South Korea, haslanded at the University of Alberta to continue his scientific pursuits.He is in Alberta as part of an international collaboration withHeritage researcher and Canada Research Chair Dr. Sandra Davidge.
A B O V E : D R . H E E Y U L A H N
voicesfrom the community
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“Whatis it about
green tea thathas theseeffects?
Catechinsprevent
arteries fromblocking
again
voicesfrom the community
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“Responding to the Reader” is an AHFMRResearch News feature intended to provide up-to-date information onresearch-related questions, with the help of experts in the Alberta researchcommunity. AHFMR cannot provide
medical advice, however; please see your family physician about your specific
health concerns.
Managing blood sugar levels and watchingweight aren’t the only
things people with diabetes haveto worry about. Nerve damage(neuropathy) is one of the mostserious long-term complicationsof the disease, affecting abouthalf of those with type 1 andtype 2 diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy begins in the feetand can extend to the legs andhands, followed in some cases bymuscle weakness and paralysis.The condition can be devastat-ing; patients may not be able towalk, and some can no longerwork, but because neuropathy
has no visible symptoms, familyand friends often do not under-stand. Many patients describeneuropathic pain as a deep,burning, “electrical” type of pain,like painful pins and needles. Yetmany people with neuropathyexperience no symptoms at alland learn of the condition onlywhen they discover injuries orsores on their feet, injuries thatthey simply did not feel due tonerve damage and numbness. Ifunnoticed, these sores can evenbecome gangrenous and lead toamputation of the limb. Diabeticneuropathy can progress withtime, and those with severe diabetes are at greater risk.
As to whether damaged nerveswill grow back, the answer isyes—but unfortunately not verywell if nerve damage is ongoingor if the nerves must grow a longdistance to where they had beenoriginally. The latter may well bethe case in diabetic neuropathy,
research, there is this mentalitythat you should not help otherresearchers, because you arecompeting against them. At the U of A there is a real sense of community, and it’swonderful.” Dr Ahn will leaveEdmonton in February of2006 to return to SouthKorea, but his family willremain in Canada. His eldestdaughter will begin her
studies at the University of Alberta this fall.
AHFMR VisitingScholar Dr. Hee YulAhn is a professor
of pharmacology in the Department of
Medicine at ChungbukNational University in SouthKorea.
Dr. Sandra Davidge is an AHFMRSenior Scholar and associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alberta. Shealso holds the Canada ResearchChair in Women’s CardiovascularHealth.
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Diabetic
neuropathy can
be devastating
“Theresearch
environment is so open”
> Heritage researcher Dr. Doug Zochodneis the director of the NeuromuscularClinic at the University of Calgary,where he sees patients who suffer from diabetic neuropathy. One question Dr. Zochodne hears frequently from hispatients is: “Will my nerves grow back?”
where researchers believethere is a “dying back” of thenerve endings so that they donot supply the feet and thevery ends of the toes properly.“We don’t have specific ways to reverse diabeticnerve damage—in other words, to make the nervesgrow back—and there are no drugs that can stop it inits tracks,” he explains, “but nerve regeneration hasa lot of potential as a treatment.” Peripheral nerves(those that connect muscles to the brain and spinalcord) grow back at the rate of about two or threemillimeters per month in humans, depending tosome extent on where they are trying to grow. Dr. Zochodne and many of his colleagues continueto test the effects of various growth-factor moleculesto stimulate this nerve growth.
Dr. Zochodne also wants to determine why nerveendings retreat and die in neuropathy. In diabetes,small blood vessels become narrow and stiff, thusreducing the blood supply to the nerves. The lack of insulin, or resistance to it, which characterizesdiabetes may also contribute to the problem, sinceinsulin is a potent growth factor for nerves.
Dr. Doug Zochodne is an AHFMR Scientistand a professor in the Department ofClinical Neurosciences at the University ofCalgary. He also receives funding from theCanadian Institutes of Health Research
(CIHR); the Canadian Diabetes Association: the NeuropathyResearch Fund: and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)in the United States.
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A B O V E : D R . D O U G Z O C H O D N E
Send us your reader questions!
If we respond to yourquestion in ResearchNews we’ll send you an AHFMR t-shirt.
Insulin is a
potent growth
factor for nerves
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Movement’ss i x t h s e n s e
H a v e y o u e v e r t r i e d t o b a l a n c e o n o n e f o o t
w i t h y o u r e y e s c l o s e d ? N o p r o b l e m y o u t h i n k ?
We l l , j u s t t r y i t .
As it happens, closing youreyes makes it very diffi-cult to balance on one
foot, because it removes somevery important sensory infor-mation. Balancing is an activitythat requires the propriocep-tors—sensors in the muscles,tendons, and skin. These sen-sors detect touch, force, andchanges in a muscle’s length inorder to sense movement orsense the position of yourlimbs. Your ability to maintainthe position of your body relieson the normally subconsciousability to combine sensoryinformation from the proprio-ceptive, visual, and vestibular(the system in the middle earwhich senses movements of thehead) systems.
“Proprioception is like a sixth sense for the production of movement,” explains Heritage ScholarDr. Kelvin Jones. He investigates the role this sixthsense plays when people must relearn basic movements and motor behaviours after brain injury.
In his investigation, Dr. Jones uses a virtual realitysystem where the visual and force
feedback resulting from movementcan be separately altered, so a
task such as moving the handto the right might result in acompletely opposite movementonscreen. “The motor com-
mand that the brain puts out nolonger gives the subjects the
output visually that they’re sensingfrom their movements,” says Dr. Jones of theseexperiments. “The brain has to figure out how toreprogram the movements of the arm in order to getthe desired outcome. The big problem is that theproprioceptive system and the visual system aregiving conflicting information.”
To study the adaptation that occurswhen people do tasks of this sort, Dr. Jones records the neural activitycoming from the proprioceptor sensors in the muscles. He expected tofind that the brain makes the sensors firea lot faster when learning this type of
challenging task thatdelinks the visual and pro-prioceptive systems. In fact,he discovered the opposite:that those people who canquickly “turn off” their pro-prioception learn the taskmore quickly. Meanwhile,those rare people who havelost their proprioceptivefibres due to disease haveno problem whatsoeverwith the tasks because thereis no conflict between theirvisual and their propriocep-tive sensory systems.
In another branch of hisresearch, Dr. Jones workson a computer-based tool to help diagnose ALS (amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis,also known as Lou Gehrig’s
disease)—a neurodegenerative diseasein which motor nerve cells gradual-ly die. Some of Dr. Jones’ interestin restoring movement stemsfrom his days as a grad student,when the case of ALS patientSue Rodriguez was in the mediaand before the courts. Faced withthe gradual wasting away of hermuscles and the certainty of her eventualdeath, Rodriguez sought the legal right to assistedsuicide. She lost the right-to-die battle in the courts,but ultimately took her own life anyway with thehelp of a doctor. “It was a real bioethics awakeningin me in terms of what it would mean to a personwho was losing the ability to move,” says Dr. Jones.“Sue’s case had a real impact on me.”
Dr. Kelvin Jones is an AHFMR Scholar and an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at
the University of Alberta. He also receives funding fromthe Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and
the Whitaker Foundation.
Selected publications
Stein RB, Gossen ER, Jones KE. Neuronal variability: noiseor part of the signal? Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2005 May;6(5):389-397.
Major LA, Jones KE. Simulations of motor unit number esti-mation techniques. Journal of Neural Engineering 2005 April;
2(2):17-34.
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A B O V E : D R . K E LV I N J O N E S
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Dr.
Jones records
the neural activity
coming from the
proprioceptor
sensors
“Proprioception
is like a sixth sense
for the production
of movement”
When cells become resistant to TGF-β’s rolein blocking cell division, the body’s internalbalance is disrupted and cancer may result.
Simply put, cancer arises from either an increase in the factors that promote cell growth (proto-oncogenes) or a decrease in the factors that inhibitcell growth (tumour suppressors).
Born in Kurdistan and educatedin Canada, Dr. Bonni moved toCalgary in January 2003 to jointhe Department of Biochemistryand Molecular Biology at theUniversity of Calgary. She remembers arriving during a most hospitable chinook. “I think it was plus nine degrees the day wearrived. My husband and I werevery excited to be here and tookthe mild weather as a positivesign.” Dr. Bonni speaks glowinglyabout her experiences in Alberta’sscientific community, from theprofessionalism and collegiality ofher peers to the dedication of her
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trainees—and of course, the support she’s receivedfrom granting agencies.
An AHFMR Scholar, Dr. Bonni is pleased with thelaboratory and research team she has assembledsince coming to the University of Calgary. “I feel sofortunate to be conducting such exciting work with
Dr. Shirin Bonni is a cancer and basic-science researcher,and passionate about her work. She believes that a family of chemicals called transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) plays a critical role in controlling cancer development. TGF-β interferes with the growth
of certain types of cells, including those in the skin,blood, mammary glands, and digestive tract.
TGF-β INTERFERES WITH THE GROWTH OF CERTAIN TYPES OF CELLS
CONTROLLINGCANCER
so many talented people,” shesays. “The environment is inno-vative and supportive—there isso much that we can do whenwe work collaboratively.”
Dr. Bonni’s current researchzooms in on the minute details ofintracellular mechanisms, in anattempt to understand how proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressors optimally function and why they becomeimpaired. She employs the techniques of cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry toachieve her research goals.
While she was growing up, science came easily toDr. Bonni and her parents strongly encouraged theirchildren to pursue education. When the family cameto Canada in the late 1970s, Shirin Bonni wasted notime in integrating herself into the mainstreamschool system. “I knew some English when I arrived,so I enrolled in an ESL [English as a second language]program over the summer, and by the fall I enteredthe local high school.” Her academic journey included
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L E F T : D R . S H I R I N B O N N I
DR. BONNI ZOOMS IN ON THE DETAILS OF INTRACELLULARMECHANISMS
LINGCANCERundergraduate work at the University of Toronto,masters and Ph.D. degrees at Queen’s University,and post-doctoral training at the Samuel LunenfeldResearch Institute in Toronto.
These days, Dr. Bonni maintains a rigorous schedule of lab work, teaching,
and administration. While shefinds it all fulfilling, she admits to
being most passionate aboutcells, their internal mecha-nisms and their relationship
with TGF-β. “I am hopefulthat our work will contribute to
the overall body of investigation into cancer and its causes,” she says.
“That would make it all worthwhile.”
Heritage Scholar Dr. Shirin Bonni is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and MolecularBiology at the University of Calgary. In addition to supportfrom AHFMR, she receives funding from the CanadianInstitutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Alberta CancerBoard, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Selected publications
Sarker KP, Wilson SM, Bonni S. SnoN is a cell type-specific mediator oftransforming growth factor-β responses. Journal of Biological Chemistry2005 Apr 1;280(13):13037-13046.
Konishi Y, Stegmüller J, Matsuda T, Bonni S, Bonni A. Cdh1-APC controls axonal growth and patterning in the mammalian brain. Science 2004 Feb 13;303(5660):1026-1030.
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Diabetes researchDiabetes researchworking toward a cureworking toward a cure
n March 3, 2005, Elaine’s life changed dramatically. An islet transplantreplaced the insulin-producing cellsthat diabetes had destroyed. While she
still had to take insulin, it was less thanhalf her regular dose, and her blood sugar wasunder control. Now, since a second transplant inJuly, Elaine does not require insulin injections at all.
“It’s like I was in a cocoon and now I’m free—physically and mentally. I’m alert. I feel so muchbetter. Life is starting all over for me.”
A resident of Claresholm, northwest ofLethbridge, Elaine says there’s something specialabout benefiting from a medical breakthrough thatwas pioneered here in Alberta. “I’ve always read upon diabetes, hoping there would be something forme or my daughter, who also has diabetes. My husband and I marvel that the breakthrough wasmade in our own province.”
Elaine is referring to the Edmonton Protocol, a procedure for transplanting healthy islets intopatients with type 1 diabetes to regain control of blood sugar. The protocol introduced a uniquesteroid-free combination of anti-rejection drugstogether with a sufficient mass of islets to allow ameasure of insulin independence. Islets are the cellsin the pancreas that produce insulin—a hormonethat helps the body use sugar for energy. (In type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease, the
immune system destroys islets. Type 2 diabetes,which accounts for 90% of all diabetes cases, is notan autoimmune disease and is largely preventable.)
Islets for transplantation are removed from thepancreas of a deceased donor and injected into therecipient’s liver, where they begin to release insulin.Recipients must take immunosuppressive drugs forthe rest of their lives to stop their immune systemsfrom rejecting the transplanted islets.
The breakthrough was based on years of researchinto islet transplantation at the University ofAlberta. It all began with the formation in 1983 of the Islet Transplantation Group: Dr. Ray Rajotte, Dr. Garth Warnock, and Dr. Norm Kneteman. About15 years later, Dr. James Shapiro joined the group,and went on to lead the Clinical Islet TransplantProgram, the team that first performed theEdmonton Protocol in 1999. Now funded as aHeritage Scholar, Dr. Shapiro and Heritage SeniorScholar Dr. Jonathan Lakey have guided the clinicalteam to its current success.
Cellular therapyT H E I M PAC T of the Edmonton Protocol is evidentin the fact that there are now 40 centres in 34 countries doing islet transplantation; globally, morethan 550 people have received islet transplants. The Edmonton Protocol is the most successful andwidely replicated method of islet transplantation in
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J US T E I G H T M O N T H S A G O, Elaine
Elyzen was losing her 52-year struggle with
severe, uncontrollable diabetes. Although she
had meticulously followed doctors’ advice, the
complications of diabetes were catching up with
her. Frequent blackouts, caused by very low blood
sugar, made her afraid to go anywhere unless
accompanied by someone who knew exactly how
to care for her. “I felt guilty because close friends and family always had to be
responsible for me. So I stayed in my house and rarely went out.”
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the world. In Alberta, islet transplantation is nowconsidered part of “standard care” for certainpatients with type 1 diabetes—patients like ElaineElyzen.
In November 2001, Dr. Shapiro and his colleagueswere awarded a five-year, $22.3-million grant fromthe Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)to launch the JDRF Center for Clinical IsletTransplantation at the University of Alberta. Theirwork is focused on making the Edmonton Protocolsafer, more efficient, and more accessible. Thisincludes developing new drug combinations to sup-press the immune system without compromising itseffectiveness, and developing better methods of har-vesting, storing, and preserving islets prior to trans-plantation. Dr. Jonathan Lakey, head of the ClinicalIslet Laboratory, leads the latter research effort.
“Despite the promise of islet transplantation, weface a limiting factor—the number of pancreas dona-tions,” explains Dr. Lakey. “Even with the most up-to-date methods for islet isolation and retrieval, itusually takes two pancreases to provide sufficientnumbers of islets for one transplant recipient. It isvital that we learn how to maximize every pancreasdonation. Isolation procedures have improved
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immensely, but there is more to be done. We needto increase the yield of islets by keeping donor pan-creases in better condition and protecting the isletsduring the isolation process.”
Dr. Lakey’s team is exploring new means of isletculture; for example, culturing islets in very lowgravity. By improving oxygen delivery to islets andmaintaining energy stores within them, their goal isto see transplanted islets survive longer and func-tion better in patients. Another aspect of this workis developing better, more precise tests of islet function, tests that go beyond simply measuringinsulin production. The team is investigating severalmarkers of overall islet health, including membraneintegrity, apoptosis (programmed cell death), cell-division activity, and oxygen consumption.
Dr. Lakey is applying the knowledge gained fromworking with islets to other types of tissue, such ascartilage, heart valves, and stem cells. (He is directorof Capital Health’s Comprehensive Tissue Centre, thelargest tissue bank in Canada.) “We’re developing thewhole area of cellular therapy—transplanting cellsand tissues instead of whole organs. The approachhas a number of advantages, and it makes sense tocapitalize on the expertise we have with islets.”
Sources of isletsE V E N W I T H I M P R OV E D I S L E T S U RV I VA L ,there are still far too few donors to supply thedemand. That is why Heritage Senior Scholar Dr.Greg Korbutt’s research at the University of Alberta
“We’re developing the wholearea of cellular therapy”
D R . J A M E S S H A P I R O D R . J O N A T H A N L A K E Y
is aimed at developing a larger supply of insulin-producing islets.
One approach is transplanting islets from newborn pigs. Dr. Korbutt’s team has been able toreverse diabetes in mice and, more recently, in larger animals with this procedure. “Because this is a preclinical model, it will still be a couple of yearsbefore this method can be transferred to humans,”he notes, “but the results so far are promising.”
Dr. Korbutt acknowledges that cross-species trans-plantation (known as xenotransplantation) is contro-versial. The dangers include risk of rejection andrisk of infection. Risk of rejection can be diminishedby using specially bred pigs that have been geneti-cally altered to remove genes that cause rejection.Risk of infection can be addressed with precautionssuch as raising the pigs in sterile conditions.However, even with a super-clean pig, there is stillrisk of infection from porcine endogenous retro-viruses (PERV)—tiny remnants of viruses scatteredthroughout the animal’s DNA. Dr. Korbutt has com-pleted a study showing that PERV is not transmittedfrom pig islets into mice. “We need to learn moreabout this, and that is part of the reason behind preclinical studies. We want to make sure this willbe safe for humans.”
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Another potential source of islets is stem cells, andDr. Korbutt is also pursuing this line of research. Oneproject involves studying stem cells in the adult pancreas. These cells are capable of becoming islets,and the challenge is to push them to develop in thatdirection. So far the team has had only limited suc-cess. “There’s a complex signalling process thatpushes stem cells a certain way, and that’s whatwe’re trying to mimic,” explains Dr. Korbutt. “It’s notjust a matter of turning a signal on; there are othersignals that need to be turned off. Many more studies are needed before we can figure this out.”
ToleranceO T H E R D I A B E T E S R E S E A R C H E R S are focusingon the immune system. At the University of Alberta,Heritage Scholar Dr. Colin Anderson is studying tolerance—the mechanism by which the immunesystem learns to live with certain molecules while at the same time attacking others. Understandingtolerance could be the foundation for helping islettransplant recipients avoid the lifelong use ofimmunosuppressive drugs. These drugs have long-term side effects which limit the use of transplantation, especially in children.
Is it possible to devise a way for the recipient’simmune system to tolerate donor islets? “Ourimmune system already knows how to develop tolerance; we have to figure how it does it,” says
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Cross-species transplantationis controversial
D R . C O L I N A N D E R S O N
D R . G R E G K O R B U T T
Dr. Anderson. Tolerance develops in the thymus, aspecialized gland in the upper chest. T cells (whiteblood cells that are critical to the immune response)originate from stem cells in the bone marrow andmigrate to the thymus, where they learn how to recognize “self” and “non-self”.
Dr. Anderson has made key contributions to understanding T-cell development in the thymus,teasing out factors that control tolerance. Using theresults of his basic research, he is designing interven-tions to develop tolerance. One of them could involvegetting donor T cells into the recipient’s thymus,which would train the immune system to tolerate thedonor’s cells. While this is promising in theory, thereare huge practical issues to overcome. Such a schemewould require a stem-cell transplant into the bonemarrow, which would mean eliminating the recipi-ent’s immune response prior to transplant. (This issimilar to what is done currently in the case of bone-marrow transplants to treat leukemia.) Dr.Anderson’s lab is experimenting with a combinationof specially produced antibodies, radiation, and drugsto help donor cells establish in the bone marrow.
At the same time, his team is also developing a new way of encouraging tolerance using “B1B”immune-system cells. Since these cells don’t needstem cells to replicate, the stem-cell transplant toshut off the immune response could be avoided.However, it’s not yet known whether B1B cells willbe effective enough to stimulate tolerance. “Weneed to try innovative ideas like this because of the problems with immunosuppression,” says Dr. Anderson. “The immune system is very complexand doesn’t give up its secrets easily.”
GenesAT T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L G A RY, HeritageScientist Dr. Pere Santamaria is also wrestling withthis complexity. “We know there are more than 20 genes involved in type 1 diabetes. While we knowapproximately where they are located, we don’tknow exactly what they are and how they control
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both disease susceptibility and disease resistance. In addition, all cells of the immune system areinvolved in diabetes, and their response is verycoordinated. My approach has been to simplify thiscomplexity in order to study diabetes more easily.”
Dr. Santamaria’s lab has engineered a particularkind of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. (NODmice develop a form of diabetes very similar tohuman type 1 diabetes.) The immune system of Dr. Santamaria’s NOD mouse has been engineeredso that all T cells kill islets. By making genetic variations of this mouse, he can investigate theeffects of specific genes. “We want to know moreabout certain variants of genes, and how they affordresistance or susceptibility. We want to know exactlyhow the T cells kill the islets, and how the protec-tive variants of genes stop this from happening.”
Dr. Santamaria points out that diabetes is not amatter of a single defective gene, as is the case in adisease like cystic fibrosis. The genes that favourdiabetes or protect from diabetes are not abnormalgenes; rather, they are normal variants that givesome selective advantage. “Autoimmunity should be viewed as an unlucky combination of genes thatwould be good in isolation but are bad in combina-tion,” he explains. “The differences between thesevariants are extremely small, but can cause tremendous differences in susceptibility to disease.”
“The immune system knowshow to develop tolerance.”
“There are more than 20 genes involved in type 1 diabetes”
D R . P E R E S A N T A M A R I A
Considerable progress has been made in under-standing the variants of certain genes linked to diabetes. Dr. Santamaria’s team has already identified certain protein interactions that causediabetes, and shown that his NOD mice are com-pletely protected from the disease when this interac-tion is blocked. “Promising results like this highlightthe need for a better understanding of the pathwaysthat the protective variants of genes use to stop theimmune system from destroying cells,” he says. “By learning from nature, I’m confident that we candesign something intelligently to prevent diabetes.”
Disease resistanceS E V E R A L O F T H E G E N E S that Dr. Santamariastudies are located in a particular region of humanchromosome 6 called the major histocompatibilitycomplex (MHC). These genes are key to our abilityto resist disease. Like teachers in front of a class,MHC genes make a substance that helps displaypieces of foreign invaders—such as bits of virus orbacteria—for their students, the immune cells, torecognize. A colleague of Dr. Santamaria’s at theUniversity of Alberta, Heritage Scientist Dr. JohnElliott, is studying genetic variations in the MHC.
Dr. Elliott calls the MHC the “Mount Everest ofgenes” because it is one of the most variable andgene-rich regions of the human genome; it is theplace where most of the genetic differences between
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individuals are found. These differences result invarying abilities to resist disease.
For the past five years, Dr. Elliott has participatedin an international effort to detail the DNA sequenceof the MHC region for two different examplegenomes associated with diabetes or multiple sclerosis. The MHC Haplotype Project is run by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UnitedKingdom. For the project, Dr. Elliott’s lab grew celllines, prepared DNA, and generated gene libraries.“This project is important because it is analyzing thegenome of different individuals in the finest detail.These variations are the difference between beinghealthy and having an autoimmune disease.”
Part of this work involved developing expertise in a number of new DNA cloning technologies, aparticular interest of Dr. Elliott’s. “We’re trying topush the technical edge with this work. It’s some-thing I really enjoy. We need a blueprint of thewhole MHC to sort out the puzzle of diabetes. That’sa huge undertaking—the MHC consists of 4.5 millionbase pairs. The technology to do this is coming, butit’s not there yet. I believe that this understandingwill lead to new therapies, perhaps vaccines, thatwill treat diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.”
Dr. Elliott’s interest in molecular technologies hasalso led him to explore the use of gene therapy to improve the islets’ chances of survival after transplant. Recent promising results suggest thatislets from a single donor pancreas may someday be used to treat two patients with diabetes.
Vision and perseveranceT H E B E L I E F that there is a better way to treat type1 diabetes is what drives researchers like Dr. Elliottforward, and when it comes to diabetes research in Alberta, there’s no greater believer than theUniversity of Alberta’s Dr. Ray Rajotte. He saw thepotential for islet transplantation years ago, and
MHC is the “MountEverest of genes”
tPage 14
D R . J O H N E L L I O T T
recognized that this multi-faceted research problemwould require a team approach. He set about build-ing the islet transplantation team in 1983, when hefirst received funding from AHFMR. That team car-ried out Canada’s first islet transplant in 1989. Theexcellence of the multidisciplinary research teamand the success of the Edmonton Protocol is testa-ment to Dr. Rajotte’s vision and perseverance. Nowhis influence has gone beyond islet transplantation,as he is the prime mover behind the creation of theAlberta Diabetes Institute. When construction is fin-ished in 2006, all basic diabetes researchers at theUniversity of Alberta will work under one roof.
“We need a new facility that can house diverseresearch groups in surgery, exercise physiology,nutrition, epidemiology, immunology, and more,”says Dr. Rajotte, who is scientific director of theAlberta Diabetes Institute, as well as director of theIslet Transplantation Group and the Surgical-Medical Research Institute. “The Alberta DiabetesInstitute will be a world-class centre that will tackleall aspects of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In a way,this is the culmination of my career.
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“What I’m most proud of is the young colleagueswho came into my lab and learned about research.They’ve developed into first-class academicresearchers who are now leaders in the field. Ilooked at this big puzzle of diabetes and knew therewas no way I was going to solve it on my own. Ifyou surround yourself with bright, energetic people,you’re going to move science forward. And that’sexactly what we’ve done.”
Dr. James Shapiro is an AHFMR Scholar, director of theClinical Islet Transplant Program, and assistant professorin the Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta.He holds the CIHR-Wyeth-Ayerst Clinical ResearchProfessorial Chair in Transplantation and also receivesfunding from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundationand the National Institutes of Health in the United States.
Dr. Jonathan Lakey is an AHFMR Senior Scholar and anassociate professor in the Department of Surgery at theUniversity of Alberta. He is director of the Islet IsolationLaboratory and director of the Comprehensive TissueCentre for the Capital Health Authority. He also receivesfunding from the University of Alberta, Capital Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the DiabetesResearch Institute Canada, as well as several private donorsto the Clinical Islet Transplant Program.
Dr. Gregory Korbutt is an AHFMR Senior Scholar and anassociate professor with the Surgical-Medical ResearchInstitute in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at theUniversity of Alberta. He receives funding from CIHR(Canadian Institutes of Health Research), the JuvenileDiabetes Research Foundation, and the Stem Cell Network.
Dr. Colin Anderson is an AHFMR Scholar and an assistantprofessor in the departments of Surgery and MedicalMicrobiology & Immunology, University of Alberta’s Facultyof Medicine and Dentistry. He also receives funding fromCIHR, the National Institutes of Health in the US, theEdmonton Civic Employees Charitable Assistance Fund, and the Alberta Diabetes Institute.
Dr. Pere Santamaria is an AHFMR Scientist and a full professor and chair of Microbiology and Infectious Diseasesin the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is chair and director of the Julia McFarlane DiabetesResearch Centre. He also receives funding from CIHR, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the CanadianDiabetes Association, NSERC, and the National Institutes of Health in the United States.
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Dr. Rajotte saw the potentialfor islet transplantationyears ago
D R . R A Y R A J O T T E
New understanding of type 2 diabetes
Heritage Senior Scholar Dr. Peter Lightlikes to pursue new ideas. So when his
work on cardiovascular metabolism broughthim into diabetes research, he didn’t shyaway from the challenge. He embraced it.“It’s the new discoveries that keep me going.You take risks, but the payoff can be big.”
In this case, the payoff is a better understanding of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. This form of diabetes used to be
called adult-onset diabetes, but nowadays children and teens make upone-third of new type 2 cases. Unlike type 1 diabetes, where theimmune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing islets, intype 2 diabetes the body does not produce enough insulin, or does notuse the insulin properly. The causes of this are not fully understood.
Dr. Light’s team discovered that people who have a high-fat diet or are overweight may be at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes if they carry a genetic trait called a polymorphism. Thispolymorphism affects a specific potassium channel, known as theKATP channel, in the pancreas. (This is the link to Dr. Light’s cardio-vascular research: his lab specializes in studying the KATP channelsin the heart.) When activated, this channel reduces insulin secretionwhich results in increased blood sugar. This effect is amplified in thepolymorphic potassium channel. As it turns out, saturated and transfats—the so-called ‘bad’ fats—activate this ion channel much morethan polyunsaturated fats (the ‘good’ fats).
The next step for Dr. Light is to investigate the effect of fats onKATP channels in islets. This work is currently underway.
“Potentially we have a link between diet and genetics,” explains Dr. Light. “It seems plausible that people with this potassium-channelpolymorphism are more susceptible to type 2 diabetes if they have ahigh-fat diet or are overweight. In the long term, this could be devel-oped into a screening tool to identify people at risk and then advisethem about their diet. There are also anti-diabetes drugs that targetthis particular ion channel, so they could be prescribed selectively topeople with this polymorphism.”
Dr. Peter Light is a Heritage Senior Scholar and assistant professor in theDepartment of Pharmacology, part of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry atthe University of Alberta. He also receives funding from CIHR, the CanadianDiabetes Association, the Alberta Diabetes Foundation, and the Heart and StrokeFoundation of Canada.
Selected publications
Riedel MJ, Light PE. Saturated and cis/trans unsaturated acyl CoA esters differentially regulatewild-type and polymorphic β-cell ATP-sensitive K+ channels. Diabetes 2005 Jul;54(7):2070-2079.
Riedel MJ, Steckley DC, Light PE. Current status of the E23K Kir6.2 polymorphism: implicationsfor type-2 diabetes. Human Genetics 2005 Feb;116(3):133-145.
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Dr. John Elliott is an AHFMRScientist and a full professor in theDepartment of Medical Microbiologyand Immunology in the Faculty ofMedicine and Dentistry at theUniversity of Alberta. He chairs theM.D./Ph.D. Committee. Dr. Elliottreceives additional funding fromCIHR and the Juvenile DiabetesResearch Foundation.
Dr. Raymond Rajotte is a full pro-fessor at the University of Alberta,director of the Surgical-MedicalResearch Institute, director of theIslet Transplantation Group, andscientific director of the AlbertaDiabetes Institute in the Faculty ofMedicine and Dentistry at theUniversity of Alberta. He receivesfunding from CIHR and theAlberta Diabetes Foundation.
Selected publications
Street CN, Lakey JRT, Shapiro AMJ, ImesS, Rajotte RV, Ryan EA, Lyon JG, Kin T,Avila J, Tsujimura T, Korbutt GS. Isletgraft assessment in the EdmontonProtocol: implications for predicting long-term clinical outcome. Diabetes 2004Dec;53(12):3107-3114.
Emamaullee JA, Rajotte RV, Liston P,Korneluk RG, Lakey JRT, Shapiro AMJ,Elliott JF. XIAP overexpression in humanislets prevents early posttransplant apop-tosis and reduces the islet mass needed totreat diabetes. Diabetes 2005Sep;54(9):2541-2548.
Anderson CC, Chan WFN. Mechanismsand models of peripheral CD4 T cell self-tolerance. Frontiers in Bioscience 2004Sep 1;9:2947-2963.
W O R K I N G T O WA R D A C U R E
D R . P E T E R L I G H T
D I A B E T E S R E S E A R C H
More than two million Canadianshave diabetes. By the end of thedecade, that number is expected torise to three million. “The number of patients makes diabetes a huge public health issue. It is a tremen-dous health burden, as well as aneconomic burden,” says HeritageHealth Scholar Dr. Jeff Johnson. He chairs the Alliance for CanadianHealth Outcomes Research inDiabetes (ACHORD), a multidiscipli-nary research group based in Alberta.
“A CHORD’s aim is to provideresearch which will lead toimproved management of diabetes in
Canada, from both clinical and health-policy perspectives,” explains Dr. Johnson. “Our focus istranslational research, which is often described astaking results from basic research and applyingthem clinically—from ‘bench to bedside’. Our workgoes one step further—from bench to bedside toboardroom. We want to influence health policy as it applies to diabetes by contributing research evidence that is relevant to policy-makers.”
Most of ACHORD’s research projects do not focuson diabetes itself, but on the comorbidities (other,simultaneously existing medical conditions) facedby patients. A good example is the DiabetesOutreach Van Enhancement study, which tested a diabetes outreach service for rural physicians.Specialists from Edmonton travelled to two healthregions in northern Alberta six times over a six-month period. They presented information to localdoctors that focused on improving the managementof blood pressure and cholesterol in patients withdiabetes. “Although diabetes is considered a sugardisease, it is really a cardiovascular disease, espe-cially type 2 diabetes,” notes Dr. Johnson. “About70% of people with diabetes die of heart attacksand strokes. This is what makes the management of
blood pressure and choles-terol so very important.”
Outcomes such asblood-pressure control and
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patient well-being were meas-ured and tracked. While theyimproved considerably in theshort term, they began to falloff within a year of stoppingthe intervention program. On the positive side, AlbertaHealth and Wellness has askedACHORD to translate this pilotproject into a care-deliveryprogram for the entireprovince.
Another study was sparked byconcerns over the high cost of
the supplies used in self-monitoringblood sugar. Although many consider self-monitoringimportant, there is very little research evidence that it has much of an effect on blood-sugar control.ACHORD designed a randomized-control trial to testwhether providing free diabetes-testing strips to peo-ple with type 2 diabetes would improve blood-sugarcontrol. This is a key issue across Canada and aroundthe world, as not everyone with diabetes has insurancecoverage for these supplies, and governments are frequently called on to provide funding for them. The ACHORD study found that providing free strips topeople with type 2 diabetes who are not on insulindid not make a difference in their blood-sugar control.
“Studies like this can help governments decidewhere to invest healthcare dollars to obtain the best return on that investment,” notes Dr. Johnson.“Increasing the funding for self-monitoring supplieswill likely reduce the funding available in someother area. Our results suggest that this is not agood balance.”
Initially trained as a pharmacist, Dr. Johnson was also a diabetes educator. “Since pursuing anacademic career, I’ve missed the one-on-one interaction with patients—the feeling that you’remaking a difference. The beauty of my currentresearch is that it involves designing and testinginterventions to help populations of people with diabetes. It is research that can truly improve theway we care for people who face this disease.” rn
From bench to bedside to boardroom
D R . J E F F J O H N S O N
“We want to influencehealth policy as itapplies to diabetes” tPage 17
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Every day Edmonton endocrinolo-gist Dr. Edmond Ryan sees peoplewho struggle with diabetes. Formost of his patients, he reviewstest results, adjusts medication,and treats complications. For avery small number of his type 1diabetes patients, however, Dr.Ryan can offer something muchmore dramatic—a procedure thatwill restore islet function sopatients can produce their owninsulin. The procedure is islettransplantation.
“I slet transplantation is for individuals whohave severe diabetes that medical therapycannot control,” explains Dr. Ryan, medical
director of the University of Alberta’s Clinical IsletTransplant Program. “One of my patients told me thatthe result she hopes for from islet transplantation is tobe able to go to bed and not worry about waking up tosee a paramedic hovering over her [because a hypo-glycemic episode had rendered her unconscious]. Thisis the kind of person we can help with islet transplan-tation. It is not for everyone, but it provides a clearbenefit to a subset of people with type 1 diabetes.”
Dr. Ryan heads a team of clinical specialists wholook after islet transplant patients. The team includesnurse coordinators who review lab tests and, withthe help of an endocrinologist, adjust medicationsand watch for complications. Dr. Ryan works withtwo diabetologists, Dr. Breay Paty and Dr. PeterSenior, in the assessment and follow-up of patients.
As of September 1, 2005, 83 patients had receivedislet transplants at the University of Alberta Hospital,where the procedure was developed. In a paper
published in the scientific journalDiabetes in July 2005, theEdmonton team outlined the five-year outcomes for its transplantpatients. About 80% were stillmaking insulin, but only 10% hadmaintained insulin independence.The median duration of insulinindependence was 15 months.Those who had to resume insulintherapy required about half thepre-transplant daily dose ofinsulin, and their blood sugar was in much better control.“So it’s working, but not as well as
we’d like,” says Dr. Ryan. “The results highlight thehuge need for research to understand why people haveto go back on insulin. Have some islets died, or arethey just not working properly? Are there problemswith immune-system suppression? Are there ways toimprove the acceptance of the transplanted cells?
“I have phenomenal respect for people who livewith diabetes. It’s like having a two-year-old child—you think you have him figured out, you turn away,and WHAM, he hits you from behind. Islet trans-plantation has given people hope that there will be a better way to manage diabetes. I believe the break-through achieved in Edmonton, showing that islettransplantation works is an important first steptoward the ultimate goal of curing diabetes.”
Dr. Edmond Ryan is a full professor in the Department ofMedicine at the University of Alberta. He receives fundingfrom the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Selected publication
Ryan EA, Paty BW, Senior PA, Bigam D, Alfadhli E, Kneteman NM,Lakey JRT, Shapiro AMJ. Five-year follow-up after clinical islet trans-plantation. Diabetes 2005 Jul;54(7):2060-2069.
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17Islet transplantation > the Edmonton experience
Dr. Jeffrey Johnson is a Heritage Health Scholar, chair of the Alliance for Canadian Health Outcomes Research in Diabetes, and a fellow with the Institute of HealthEconomics. He is an associate professor in the Departmentof Public Health Sciences, part of the Faculty of Medicineand Dentistry at the University of Alberta. He holds aCanada Research Chair in Diabetes Health Outcomes andalso receives funding from the CIHR (Canadian Institutes of
Health Research), the Canadian DiabetesAssociation, the Heart and Stroke Foundationof Canada, the Kidney Foundation, and theInstitute of Health Economics.
Selected publication
Johnson JA, Eurich DT, Toth EL, Lewanczuk RZ, Lee TK, Majumdar SR.Generalizability and persistence of a multifaceted intervention forimproving quality of care for rural patients with type 2 diabetes.Diabetes Care 2005 Apr;28(4):783-788.
D R . E D M O N D R Y A N
W hen Dr. Sarah Lord completed her Ph.D. in experimental surgery at the Universityof Alberta in January 2005 and began
exploring avenues outside the lab, few peopleunderstood her desire to leave the academic envi-ronment. It wasn’t a matter of not enjoyingthe academic world: “I liked working in thelab, but I felt far removed from the peoplewe were trying to help—people who struggleevery day with diabetes.” It’s a struggle sheknows well. Her younger sister has type 1diabetes. For her Ph.D., Dr. Lord hadresearched islet cell transplantation, super-vised by Dr. Ray Rajotte and Dr. Greg Korbutt,both prominent diabetes researchers and membersof the team who pioneered the Edmonton Protocol.
The business world seemed to hold the mostpotential. She contemplated doing an MBA, butwasn’t keen on more schooling. A colleague suggestedthat she talk to Dr. Diana Shaw, business develop-ment manager for Ceapro Inc., an Edmonton-based
biotechnology company. That’s whenthings started to click.
After meeting with Dr. Shaw,Dr. Lord was convinced that thiswould be a good route for her as well. As it turned out, Ceaprohad been approved for funding
through the AHFMR TechnologyCommercialization (TC) Internship
program, provisional on finding asuitable intern. Dr. Lord applied and was accepted.She began her internship in March 2005.
“Sarah is a highly skilled specialist in the field ofdiabetes, and Ceapro is delighted to be able to bene-fit from her expertise through the TC program,” saysDr. Shaw. “We’re pleased to participate in the busi-ness training of Alberta scientists and support the
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growth of human resources available to biotechnologycompanies. I believe that together AHFMR and itscorporate partners can elevate the position ofAlberta as a leader in medical research to includethe development and commercialization of new,world-leading technologies. AHFMR’s TC program is a critical part of this vision.”
At Ceapro, Dr. Lord’s focus is moving a new diabetestest-meal technology through the pre-commercializa-
tion stage. This technology, called CeaProve,is more accurate than the current test (aliquid glucose drink) at picking up pre-
A P P L Y I N G S C I E N C E
“I always knew I was going to do something non-traditional with my Ph.D.
I just wasn’t sure exactly what that would be.”
outside the lab
“AHFMR’s TC
program is a
critical part
of this vision”
diabetes, a condition thatoften leads to type 2 diabetesif left untreated. Uncontrolledblood sugar from type 2 dia-betes significantly increasesthe risk of having a heartattack or stroke, as well as the
risk of developing kidney failure, blindness, or nervedamage that can lead to amputations.It is estimated that approximate-ly 2.2 million Canadians havediabetes.
Dr. Lord is involved invirtually all aspects ofbringing CeaProve tomarket, including theregulatory process, part-nerships, discussions,field studies, and devel-opment of marketing mate-rials. “That’s the advantageof working for a small companylike Ceapro,” she says. “We worktogether closely; I feel like part of the team. The on-the-job learning is great—it’s hands-on and practical. This is the ideal situation.
“And while I’m learning business and marketingskills, I can contribute my own skill set to the com-pany. My research and family background give me adifferent perspective on diabetes. I can ask some ofthe tough questions that may help get the productto market.”
Dr. Lord says the experience she is gaining in technology transfer, commercialization, and smallbusiness should make her extremely marketable inthe future. In the long term, her “big dream” is tostart her own business to benefit people with diabetes.
“The internship has worked out so well for me,I’m eager to get the word out about this careerpath,” adds Dr. Lord. “It’s a real option for Ph.D.s. Iknow so many students who don’t want an academ-
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TC internship: The details
AHFMR’s Technology Commercialization(TC) Internship program has already
had an important impact on building thebiotechnology and health industries inAlberta. Since 1996, 28 knowledgeable andtalented young scientists and entrepreneurshave been trained in the program. The majority of them are working in technologytransfer or technology commercializationpositions. There are currently 10 interns inthe program. Internships are for one year,
renewable for an additional year.TC internship applicants must hold, or
be in the final year of study for, a degreein business, management, or science.They must also be sponsored by anAlberta organization engaged in enhancing
the commercialization of medical or health-related technology.
The companies take on the responsibilityof training the interns in aspects of commer-cialization relative to their core businesses.Receptor companies choose their interns,selecting candidates who possess skills,knowledge, and attributes that will contributeeffectively to the company’s bottom line. This customized approach ensures that thepartnership formed between the sponsoringcompany and the intern will add value to theinternship and enrich the experience for bothparties. rn
e the lab
ic career, and don’t necessarily want to do researchin a biotech company. Working in technology commercialization is a whole new way to apply your skills.” rn
CeaProve is
more accurate
than the current
pre-diabetes
test
L E F T : D R . S A R A H L O R D
A B O V E : D R . S A R A H L O R D A N D D R . D I A N A S H A W
researchersin the making
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“Ilove it here,” says Ramji.“I’m really glad I made thechoice to come to Calgary.
It seems like all my dreams havecome true.”
Noor Ramji’s dreams certainlyseem on track. Several years agoshe won a neuroscience award toattend the University of Calgary.She also received a Heritagetrainee award. She began hermaster’s thesis in 2003 and inSeptember 2005 started medicalschool. She is now studying forher medical degree while alsoworking to complete her master’sdegree in the research laboratoryof Heritage Scientist and consult-ant neurologist Dr. Douglas
Zochodne (seestory on page 2).
Ramji studiesmotor function indiabetes. Peoplewith chronic diabetes may ultimately suffer
damage to the peripheral nervesin their extremities, she explains.The damage develops slowly butworsens progressively, until itfinally causes irreversible sensory
N O O R R A M J I
Motor function in diabetesNoor Ramji, like her identical twin sister Nasreen, is living her dream. Both want tobe doctors. Born in Calgary and raised in Toronto, the two young women graduateda few years ago from Queen’s University in Ontario with bachelor degrees in life sciences. Now both are medical students. Noor is a first-year medical student atthe University of Calgary; her dream is to become a clinician-scientist with a specialinterest in neurology and neuroscience. Her sister, in medical school in Ontario,hopes to become a family physician.
Motor nervecells seem to
be spared in early diabetes
Responding to the reader
Calgary NeuropathySupport Grouphttp://www.calgarypners.org
Movement’s sixth sense
Clinical and TheoreticalNeuroscienceLaboratoryhttp://www.ualberta.ca/~kejones/
Controlling cancer
Dr. Shirin Bonni’s web pagehttp://www.fp.ucalgary.ca/bmb/bonni/bonni.html
Diabetes research: working toward a cure
Canadian DiabetesAssociationhttp://www.diabetes.ca
University of AlbertaClinical Islet TransplantProgramhttp://www.islet.ca
Juvenile DiabetesResearch Foundationhttp://www.jdrf.org
Alliance for CanadianHealth OutcomesResearch in Diabeteshttp://www.achord.ca
A science career outside the lab
Ceapro Inc.http://www.ceapro.com
reader resourcesA
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loss. But studies suggest that people with diabetesmaintain motor function longer than sensory function. Ramji has found that, in comparison withsensory nerve cells, the form, structure, and numberof motor nerve cells seem to be spared in early diabetes. She hopes that improved knowledge of themotor system in diabetes will reveal ways to preventirreversible damage to the sensory nervous system.
“It seems like the motorneurons have a defence mech-anism that may be protectingthem in long-term diabetes,”she says. “If we can take whatever the motor neuronsare doing to protect them-selves and apply it to the
sensory side, we may be able to prevent the sensorydeficits. We may even be able to extrapolate this toLou Gehrig’s disease [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]and other models where motor neurons are targetedbut other neurons are spared.”
Ramji is currently trying to decide if she will pursue a place in the University of Calgary’s jointM.D./Ph.D. program after completing her master’sdegree. “I do have a passion for research,” she says.“All of my role models have been clinician-scientistslike Dr. Zochodne. He’s a wonderful role model. He shows that you can actually do research andmedicine at the same time, and do it well. That’sinspiring. There are a not a lot of physicians outthere who do that. That’s why I came to Alberta.This is where you can do both medicine andresearch. Alberta researchers and students are lucky.It’s fabulous here for research.”
AHFMR Student Noor Ramji is an M.Sc. student and medical student at the University of Calgary. She alsoreceives funding from NSERC (Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Council of Canada).
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“All of myrole modelshave been clinician-
scientists”
Every summer, AHFMR selectsone student from the Universityof Alberta and one from theUniversity of Calgary for aunique opportunity with anAlberta media outlet. The AHFMRMedia Fellowship program allowsparticipants to spend 12 weeksreporting on science stories—asreporters, researchers, or produc-tion assistants. Not a bad sum-mer job! Below, the 2005 MediaFellows describe their experi-ences at CBC radio this pastsummer.
Tara Narwani, Ph.D. student,University of Alberta
Every day there was a new challengeto be met at CBC. Learning the lan-guage of the workplace; cold-callingpeople for interviews; writing storieson deadline; and voicing my ownstory for the news—an absolute thrill!I realized that my scientific traininghas given me something valuable tooffer outside of a laboratory setting.
A couple of stories I worked onwere particularly challenging and
rewarding. One wasabout research
into the increas-ing incidenceof pre-termbirths inAlberta. The
second dealt with a ther-modynamic approach tocryofreezing tissue fortransplant.
For every story, thechallenge is to con-vince listeners that it’simportant to their livesand to capture their imagi-nation. So often I’ve heard thecomplaint that scientists can’t com-municate the importance of theirwork to the public. This program has certainly taught me how a goodscience story is told. I feel I’m betterequipped to talk about my ownresearch now that I’m about toplunge back into it.
Branko Lazarevic, B.Sc. student,University of Calgary
The AHFMR Media Fellowshipturned out to be an amazing experi-ence. This program is one of the fewopportunities for science students tocommunicate cutting-edge researchand address issues that have atremendous impact on society.
On my third day on the job, I wasasked to cover a press conference atthe University of Calgary announc-ing a $3-million donation to multi-ple sclerosis researchers. The clip Iput together ran on the 5:30 newsthat same day. It was a real thrill
listening to that firstreport. I was also ableto generate a discus-sion about the massive cost of newcancer treatments.
The director of thetreatment approval
committee with theAlberta Cancer Board came
to the studio to discuss the issue,generating a talkback line. I metresearchers who are passionate notonly about their research but alsoabout the welfare of their patients.Like Dr. Paolo Federico, a clinicalneuroscientist at the FoothillsHospital, whose MRI research provides more precise and effectivesurgical solutions for patients whosuffer from seizures. rn
Physicians: pleaseplace in your patientwaiting rooms.
Canadian Publications Agreement #40064910
2005 AHFMR Media Fellows
L E F T : T A R A N A R W A N I A N D A B O V E : B R A N K O L A Z A R E V I C
Dear Reader,
If you are not already on our mailing listfor our quarterly AHFMR Research News,
and would like to receive it, please phone,fax, e-mail or write us and ask to be addedto our subscribers list. It’s free!
Phone: (780) 423-5727 and ask for AHFMR Communications
Fax: (780) 429-3509
E-mail: [email protected]
Write: Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research1500, 10104 – 103 AvenueEdmonton, Alberta T5J 4A7
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