Two St. Louis organizations have teamed to create the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, a unique collaboration dedicated to basic-science research on a broad spectrum of nervous-system conditions.
By pooling the two institutions’ intellectual and financial resources, the School of Medicine and ALS Hope — The Chris Hobler/James Maritz Foundation will generate funds and conduct basic research to advance the understanding and treatment of neurological disorders.
“Washington University is deeply appreciative of community partnerships like this,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “Forward-thinking endeavors such as the Hope Center are key to fostering scientific advancement.
“We are proud of our tradition of academic leadership and are honored to join forces with one of this community’s finest charitable organizations.”
The center should accelerate research in multiple areas of neurology, including investigations on neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Neurodegenerative diseases is one area of research in BioMed 21.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to work with ALS Hope and the Hobler family,” said Larry J. Shapiro, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the medical school. “We have always recognized the importance of collaboration to the advancement of medical science, and this initiative embodies that concept by enhancing such relationships both within the University and between our faculty and the St. Louis community.”
ALS Hope has committed $1 million for the initial phase of the project and will also launch a multimillion-dollar fund-raising campaign. Expenditures for new equipment will be as much as $3 million.
The center will be housed in the Department of Neurology under the scientific directorship of Mark P. Goldberg, M.D., professor of neurology and of anatomy and neurobiology. Center members will include faculty in neurology and from several other medical school departments.
In addition to facilitating research within the University, the center will host an annual national summit, gathering top neurological researchers in the country to review progress, present new findings and outline new avenues.
In another aspect, the center will promote collaborations beyond the University. Research grants made by the center may go beyond its own members to researchers at other institutions around the world.
“I believe encouraging researchers to share ideas and discoveries with others working on similar disorders will lead to the answers we’re looking for,” said ALS Hope founder Chris Hobler. “Because of its long tradition in collaborative research and its reputation for scientific excellence, Washington University is the perfect place for this type of endeavor.”
The strength of the Hope Center lies in its approach to investigating neurological disease, according to David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor, the Charlotte and Paul Hagemann Professor of Neurology and head of the Department of Neurology. Its focus on nurturing collaboration recognizes and capitalizes on the existence of mechanisms and concepts shared by many neurological disorders.
Though every condition has unique characteristics and challenges, knowledge gained from studying different disorders will provide unexpected insights, Holtzman said.
For example, though marked by different symptoms, many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by a progressive accumulation of certain proteins that leads to deterioration of nerve cells.
“If we can understand some of the common mechanisms between diseases, we are likely to develop new insights and novel treatments for neurological conditions in general,” Holtzman said.
“By coordinating and centralizing our resources, we hope to organize the school’s basic-science efforts in the neurobiology of disease from the ground up.”
One way the team plans to accomplish this is by establishing four core areas: cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuroimaging, disease models and education/outreach. These cores will include designated, centralized laboratory space such as a gene therapy research hub, which will expedite research by merging related resources, technologies and expertise.
The University’s neurology department ranks second nationally in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, but it can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain funding for large-scale, integrative projects.
According to Holtzman, the availability of locally raised funds through collaboration with ALS Hope will allow researchers to undertake initiatives otherwise hindered by traditional fund-raising processes.
“It can take a long time to get an innovative idea from concept to reality under the current funding system,” he said.
“I’m very excited that this project will allow us to tap into our local resources, and I am very optimistic that this will get new treatments from the bench to the bedside as quickly as possible.”