Category: Health & Medicine

Aids, cancer targeted by biology researchers

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 1, 2008

In his third-floor laboratory in Dedman Life Sciences Building, biologist Robert Harrod and his team are zeroing in on a new way to inhibit the virus that causes AIDS. They already have shown that their approach, which involves the rare genetic disorder Werner syndrome, works when the disorder’s enzyme defect is introduced into cells.

Now they are trying to find practical ways to use this pathway to inhibit the AIDS virus. The beauty of this approach is that the AIDS virus will not be able to mutate in a way that can defeat this treatment, says Harrod, associate professor in the Biological Sciences Department of Dedman College.

Harrod%2CRobert%20lab2.jpg

Down the hall from Harrod’s lab, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Jim Waddle is preparing to file for a patent on a tiny “worm” that is expected to be highly useful in drug-testing, producing results far more quickly than tests run on larger lab creatures.

Meanwhile, their colleagues, Associate Professor Pia Vogel and her husband, John Wise, a lecturer in the Biological Sciences Department, are conducting work that may have implications for cancer treatment.

In university laboratories throughout the world, enormous strides have been made in biology research in recent years, including the mapping of the human genome. With young faculty members like Harrod, Waddle and Vogel working on cutting-edge conundrums, and a recent $3.6 million gift to Biological Sciences, SMU’s department is poised to play a high-profile role in biology advances in coming years, says William Orr, chair and professor of biological sciences.

The gift from philanthropist and SMU Board of Trustees member Caren Prothro and the Perkins-Prothro Foundation includes $2 million for an endowed chair, $1 million for an endowed research fund, $500,000 for a graduate fellowship fund and $100,000 for an undergraduate scholarship fund.

The endowment will enable the University to attract a biologist with a national reputation in research to join a faculty that is strong in cellular and molecular biology and biochemistry and is doing research that could have practical applications in medicine, Orr says.

For example, Vogel and Wise are looking for a way to improve the long-term efficacy of chemotherapy treatments. Wise uses a nautical metaphor to explain their work: “Picture a cancer cell as a ship on a sea and the chemotherapy being dumped into the ship, there’s a mechanism like a sump pump that will dump that chemical back overboard,” he says.

That cellular “sump pump” is important to normal cell health because it keeps toxins out.

“Of course, with cancer cells that are targeted for destruction by chemotherapeutics, you’d like to be able to turn off that mechanism,” Wise adds.

John Wise

Vogel explains that many cancer cells respond to treatment by pumping out more and more of the toxins as time goes on, so that a cancer treatment that works well initially might not work as well in later stages.

“Switching chemotherapy drugs doesn’t help because the cancer cells just pump out everything, resulting in multi-drug resistance,” she says.

Using Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy, a biophysical technique that obtains structural information about the cellular pump, Vogel’s research group is trying to find a way to shut off the ATP energy usage by this cellular sump pump.

“If you can knock out the pump, you can sink the cancer ship,” she says.

Harrod, who studies retroviruses that infect humans and who is focusing on transcriptional gene regulation, is working on a mechanism that might sidestep a more specific type of multidrug resistance — of the virus that causes AIDS to the conventional HAART (highly active antiretroviral treatment) drug regimen.

Pia Vogel

His approach is related to a rare genetic disorder called Werner syndrome, which causes premature aging in those who have the disease. Researchers have noted that individuals who are carriers for Werner syndrome do not develop AIDS. Harrod hypothesized that the enzyme involved in Werner syndrome is necessary for transcription of the retrovirus.

Using cells that had the Werner syndrome defect inserted into them, his lab was able to confirm this link, and last year he and co-researchers published the findings in “The Journal of Biological Chemistry.” Now his group is looking for molecules that might be used to block this transcription-necessary enzyme. Included among the researchers cited in the journal article were several biological sciences students. Both graduate and undergraduate students assisted Harrod in his lab work on retroviral transcription.

Ask Assistant Professor Jim Waddle about the contributions made by students, and he’ll talk about the weird “worm” discovered by one of his graduate students. Waddle, whose Ph.D. work was in molecular genetics, has been studying the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for food absorption in the human gut.

Fingerlike projections called microvilli, which are necessary for the absorption of nutrients, line the human gut; nematodes have microvilli on every gut cell.

As part of their research, Waddle’s lab doused the nematodes in mutation-causing chemicals and examined them via a fluorescent protein.

Ph.D. candidate Christina Paulson looked at 20,000 nematodes in this manner and came up with one that had a nematode version of diverticulosis, with outpouchings all along the gut.

Disappointingly, the mutated worm turned out to be normal in terms of lifespan, reproduction and absorption of nutrients. But, Waddle says, “we threw our heads together and thought about conditions the nematode might encounter in the wild” versus the laboratory setting. He wondered if the worm might have trouble eliminating toxins. It did.

Jim Waddle

Normal nematodes eliminate toxins too quickly for the worms to be useful in drug testing, but toxins stay in the weird worms long enough to have an effect on them. And that means the millimeter-long creature likely will be highly useful in drug-testing situations, because a nematode’s life cycle is so much shorter than that of the larger animals, such as mice, that generally are used to test drugs.

The student who identified the worm is one of 18 graduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences. Nine are working on Master’s degrees, nine on Ph.Ds. With 126 undergraduates, the department enrolls the largest segment of undergraduate majors in the natural sciences at SMU. Undergraduate students who intend to go into biological research can apply for the BRITE (Biomedical Researchers in Training Experience) program, a collaboration between SMU and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center that leads to acceptance into a UT Southwestern Ph.D. program.

Orr believes the department is poised for a leap forward in size and stature. Administrative support to boost research has come from Provost Paul Ludden, whose background is in biochemistry. Current research projects are supported by $4.3 million from agencies that include the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Christina Paulson

Orr’s dream for the department is to double the current tenured and tenure-track faculty to 18 members. Of the nine, seven conduct ongoing research projects, five of which are funded by federal agencies. The department will add an assistant professor in spring 2009. Later that year, a national search will be conducted to fill the new Distinguished Chair of Biological Sciences.

Although the department is small, a synergy has developed from building a faculty that is focused on cellular and molecular biochemistry, Orr says.

Researchers can work together on projects, brainstorming ideas for new areas of investigation. More grants can be applied for, which means more grants awarded.

“We have a strong group that is focused on certain areas. By adding new faculty we will be able to boost the overall stature of the department,” Orr says. “If we increase the academic stature and the amount of research, we can provide more opportunities for graduate students and for undergraduates. It all works together.” — Cathy Frisinger

William Orr

Tags Christina Paulson, Jim Waddle, John Wise, Pia Vogel, Robert Harrod, SMU Department of Biological Sciences

Health & Medicine

Medical Tourism: Risky business to seek cheaper health care

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date January 27, 2008

More and more Americans are choosing to receive medical treatment — even complicated surgeries — in foreign countries to save big money. The practice is called “medical tourism,” but do the risks to consumers outweigh the savings?

That’s an important question, says Nathan Cortez, SMU Dedman School of Law assistant professor, who is focusing his research in health law on this emerging medical market.

“Patients take a calculated risk by seeking medical care overseas in regulatory systems that may not offer the rights or protections they expect,” Cortez says.

Interviewed for National Public Radio last November, he warned that although patients are free to travel overseas and reap whatever savings they can find, the international shop-around could affect how U.S. hospitals pay for care for the uninsured.

“We see this all the time with other industries,” Cortez told NPR. “Health care has been notoriously a local industry, and now it’s … succumbing to globalization like other industries have.”

Cortez has published the first comprehensive look at how domestic policy-making can offer American medical tourists some level of consumer protection. “Patients Without Borders: The Emerging Global Market for Patients and the Evolution of Modern Health Care” is included in the winter 2008 issue of the “Indiana Law Journal.”

Attempts to restrict patient travel may not be effective, Cortez warns. But he offers some practical approaches to help protect American patients: Regulating the activities of brokers and others who arrange for U.S. patients to travel overseas could provide access to information about the quality of care outside the United States.

Lawmakers could require employers or insurers that encourage patients to have surgery overseas to pay for pre-screening and post-operative care in the United States.

Lawmakers could require employers to share a minimum portion of the cost savings with patients willing to have surgery overseas, which would partially compensate them for any additional risk they may bear.

Although lowering the cost of medical care is a universal concern, Cortez says there is no evidence of American employers requiring employees to seek cross-border treatment. But neither are cost-conscious companies who are quietly adding foreign hospitals to their provider networks seeking publicity for those additions.

“California is the only state where you can buy insurance plans that require treatment outside the United States,” Cortez says. “It’s a niche market for the immigrant population there — you agree to go to Mexico.”

Cortez was a featured speaker at a March symposium on cross-border health care hosted by the Wisconsin International Law Journal, and is conducting research for that publication on the underlying trends that encourage medical tourism.

“I argue that the practices and standards in the medical industry are becoming more similar across borders, which makes medical tourism possible,” Cortez says.

Cortez teaches courses in administrative law, health law, FDA law and the legislative process. Before joining SMU in fall 2007, he practiced with the Washington, D.C., firm of Arnold & Porter representing medical technology clients, with a special emphasis on health care fraud and abuse, FDA enforcement and health privacy. He earned a J.D. from Stanford.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools. For more information see www.smu.edu.

SMU Dedman School of Law was founded in 1925 and enjoys a national and international reputation of distinction, with graduates who have distinguished themselves as global leaders in law, business and government, and as prominent members of the judiciary.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Tags Dedman School of Law, Nathan Cortez

Culture, Society & Family Health & Medicine Student researchers

Happy families can help child fight obesity

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date July 8, 2007

An estimated 18 percent of adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Robert Hampson, associate professor of psychology in Dedman College, wants to know what role families can play in reducing that rate.

In collaboration with The Cooper Institute and the Family Studies Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and with funding from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Hampson has been comparing two group interventions for obese girls and their families.

After 16 weeks, neither group saw significant changes in body-mass index, but both reduced daily caloric intake.

“We learned that education does help and that mothers in particular were glad to be involved in their daughters’ treatment,” says Hampson, who is also director of graduate studies. “Perhaps in the long run, the change in eating behavior will prove more important than short-term body-mass index loss.”

The study showed, as hypothesized, that family competence, by such measures as healthy emotional interaction and teamwork, had some impact on body-mass index. There were, however, unexpected differences across racial groups: White girls in the highest-functioning families lost the most weight, while African-Americans gained, regardless.

“Going forward, we’ll look at tailoring the intervention to the racial group, and some families will need more individualized help,” Hampson says.

Tags Dedman College, Heather Kitzman, Robert Hampson, SMU Department of Psychology

Culture, Society & Family Health & Medicine Mind & Brain Student researchers

Family Research Center helps children of family violence

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date February 10, 2007

Each year more than 1 million children in the United States are brought to shelters to escape family violence. Each of their families reports, on average, more than 60 acts of aggression at home during the past year, ranging from pushes and shoves to hits and kicks. More than half of the families report an incident involving a knife or gun.

“Research that studies children who witness violence in the home is fundamental to helping them,” says Paige Flink, executive director of The Family Place in Dallas. The Family Research Center, a new program of SMU’s Psychology Department in Dedman College, works with shelters such as The Family Place to address the mental health problems of children facing domestic violence.

Family violence affects children’s physical health as well, says Candyce Tart, a second-year Ph.D. student in SMU’s clinical psychology program. Tart’s years of experience in pediatric nursing, mostly in inner-city school environments, sparked an interest in the psychology of her patients’ families.

“Many of these children’s illnesses were made worse by stress at home,” she says. “All sorts of psychological factors in their lives seemed to impact their lives more than physical health.”

Tart studies conduct-disordered children from dysfunctional or abusive families through the Family Research Center as part of her dissertation on biological and physiological underpinnings of behavioral problems.

“I’d like to know why some children come out of these violent households with more behavior or emotional problems, and others more resilient,” she says.

SMU’s faculty, especially its revitalized clinical psychology program under Psychology Department Chair Ernest Jouriles, had a lot to do with Tart’s decision to attend the University, she says.

“Ernest Jouriles is developing a fantastic research program with the facilities and support for doing research,” says Tart. “We have so much equipment available, as well as access into shelters and other community and clinical locations. And it’s a very collaborative environment. Not all schools have that.”

Tags Candyce D. Tart, Dedman College, Ernest Jouriles, SMU Department of Psychology

Health & Medicine Learning & Education Mind & Brain Researcher news

Who and why? Déjà vu gets a second look

Post author By Margaret Allen
Post date June 1, 2005

It is a discussion that seems familiar. But new findings show that people who travel frequently are more likely to experience déjà vu. Political liberals report more déjà vu experiences than conservatives do. And déjà vu becomes less common as people grow older.

Most of us have experienced déjà vu, which means “already seen” in French, yet few scientists have studied it. Understanding its causes, however, promises to explain other mysteries of the brain, says Alan Brown, professor in the SMU Department of Psychology in Dedman College and a leading researcher on memory.

“The community of research psychologists is largely silent on the topic, but findings from such research could expand our understanding of routine memory functions,” Brown says.

Many explanations for the déjà vu experience have been connected to the supernatural, he says. In a new book, “The Déjà Vu Experience: Essays in Cognitive Psychology” (2004, Psychology Press), Brown surveys scientific research as well as popular notions of déjà vu from the early 19th century.

From the scientific studies, Brown has identified common facts about déjà vu. A majority of people experience déjà vu, some two-thirds of the population. The frequency of déjà vu decreases with age and is most common among people ages 15 to 25. People with higher incomes and more education have more déjà vu experiences. Déjà Vu appears to be associated with stress and fatigue. Those who travel have more déjà vu experiences. For some, déjà vu experiences appear to repeat prior dreams.

Although there are no definitive answers for what causes déjà vu, Brown offers four scientifically plausible possibilities: two cognitive processes become momentarily out of phase; a brief dysfunction in the brain, such as a seizure, or disruption in the speed of normal neuronal transmission; a memory that we forgot connects with part of the present experience; and an initial perception under distracted conditions is quickly followed by a second perception of the same thing under full attention.

Déjà vu research presents a unique challenge for Brown.

“There is a thrill of examining something that seems to be on the fringes, then pulling it into the scientific realm,” he says.

Brown, who joined the Psychology Department in 1974, is the author of four books, including “Maximizing Memory Power: Using Recall in Business” (1986, John Wiley & Sons).

Tags Alan S. Brown, Dedman College, SMU Department of Psychology

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