Sharing research results for neurological disorders - 2007-03-17

Multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are vastly different illnesses and disorders. But it turns out they have much in common on a basic biological level.

With that knowledge in hand, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine are now hoping a unique collaboration of scientists will help fast-track treatments and cures for those diseases. The group of scientists works together in a cluster of labs called the Hope Center, and the project is inspiring patients with neurological disorders.

"What is being done, it overwhelmed me," said Carole Wilson, a woman with MS who has visited the labs at the Hope Center.

Wilson, of St. Louis County, was told at 25 that she had multiple sclerosis. That was back in 1989, when she was a newlywed.

"It was shocking because I'm, like, 'I have what?'" Wilson recalled. The diagnosis signaled the end to her active, athletic lifestyle. Now, because the disease has slowed her movement, she can't ice skate or play basketball with her teenage son.

"I miss that," Wilson said.

But since the founding of the Hope Center, Wilson believes that new treatments or even a cure for MS will be found in her lifetime.

"It's about working together," said Dr. Mark Goldberg, director of the Hope Center. "We are working together to look at diseases that affect millions of Americans, and these are common diseases." Along with MS, Alzheimer's and ALS, the center is working on unlocking the secrets of cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, and brain and spinal cord injuries.

"All together these diseases have common things (that) affect the brain … and they work in the same way at the level of the cells," said Goldberg, "and we think that by having scientists work together and interact, we will speed our search for the cures to these diseases."

What makes the Hope Center so unique is that 300 to 400 scientists from 16 different departments at Washington University are collaborating and sharing their research results. They share not only information but equipment that might be financially out of reach to an individual lab. The collaboration began in 2004 and grew from a partnership between Washington University School of Medicine and Hope Happens, a nonprofit organization founded to find cures for several major neurological disorders.

Wilson believes the Hope Center will lead the way in finding better treatments for MS in her lifetime. She even plans to hit the ice with her son.

"That's my goal," Wilson said. "I am going to get on the ice, and I'm going to skate circles around him."

Find out more about the Hope Center and Hope Happens at www.hopehappens.org, or call 314-289-5660.


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