AT THE fOREfROnT Of nEUROSCiEnCE
ALS (LoU GEhrIG’S DISEASE)
improving Quality of life, Searching for new Treatments While there is no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), studies show that patients whose care is managed in a multidisciplinary clinic live longer and have a better quality of life. The ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic at the University of Chicago Medicine, which is funded by the Greater Chicago Chapter of the ALS Association, offers comprehensive care for people with the fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Raymond P. Roos, MD, director of the clinic, has been caring for people with ALS for more than two decades. Roos currently has several grants for research directed at investigating novel treatments for the disease. The clinic is one of the first two centers in the Chicago area offering the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS), a surgically implanted device that has helped people with spinal cord injuries breathe on their own and has been approved for ALS use. Other services include physical, occupational and speech therapy, nutrition counseling, speech and swallowing guidance, and help with assistive devices, including wheelchairs and braces. An on-site ALS Association representative helps provide support and case management of patients, and coordinates free transportation to the clinic, home visits, ongoing support groups and equipment lent at no charge.
An internationally recognized neuroscientist will lead a new institute at the University of Chicago where scientists address fundamental questions related to neuroscience and behavior.
BrAIn TUMor rESEArCh
fighting a Deadly Cancer Using the Body’s Own Defense System Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine are testing novel vaccines that help the immune system fight the most deadly form of brain cancer.
John Maunsell, PhD, has been named the inaugural director of the Grossman institute for neuroscience, Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior. Maunsell, who comes to Chicago from Harvard Medical School, will oversee the development of a highly collaborative, world-class neuroscience institute. The Grossman institute will leverage the close integration of research, education and patient care at the University of Chicago Medicine. faculty will be drawn from across the biological, physical and social sciences and engineering. Over the course of his distinguished career, Maunsell has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the neuroscience of vision, perception and attention. He has served since 2008 as editor-in-chief of the Journal of neuroscience, the leading publication of the world’s largest neuroscientist organization.
Neuro-oncologists M. Kelly Nicholas, MD, PhD, and Rimas Lukas, MD, and neurosurgeon Maciej S. Lesniak, MD, are conducting several clinical trials using vaccines to treat glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive primary brain cancer. The trials study different vaccine approaches, combined with chemotherapy or used alone, to treat newly diagnosed or recurrent disease. “These studies are designed to either extract substances from a patient’s tumor cells or target mutated proteins already on the tumor’s surface, which the immune system then recognizes as foreign bodies much like viruses and bacteria,” Nicholas said. Results from earlier studies have been promising, with some patients in remission for several years. University of Chicago Medicine neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and neuro-oncologists have a wide array of clinical trials to offer patients. “Finding new approaches to treating brain cancer is part of our comprehensive care that leaves ‘no stone unturned’ in fighting this disease,” Nicholas said.
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