Research at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) embraces the University’s mission of “improving the well-being of the communities we serve” through scientific discovery and meaningful partnerships. As most scientists discover early in their careers, their endeavors cannot be accomplished alone. Partnerships and collaboration are primary ingredients of success in biomedical research. When researchers come together across institutions to share their ideas, resources and expertise, the results often exceed all expectations. KCU researchers are exploring innovative discoveries that may one day treat debilitating disease, expand the understanding of health and illness, and improve the health of our community.
A significant area of study at KCU focuses on understanding and developing innovative treatments for neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. To that end, and in the spirit of collaboration, in 2015, KCU joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) to develop the Kansas City Musculoskeletal Diseases Consortium (KCMD), a partnership dedicated to bringing together scientists and resources focused on these critical areas of research. Since that time, the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) has also joined KCMD.
This unique consortium is the first initiative of its kind in Kansas City and provides opportunities to combine the individual strengths and resources of the four health sciences schools to advance translational research. Sometimes referred to as “bench to bedside,” translational research harnesses knowledge from the study of basic sciences to produce new drugs, devices and treatment options for patients. The goal of this partnership is to build medical research teams that will focus on specific diseases of muscle and bone, thereby accelerating the process of turning discoveries into clinical treatments, while also improving research education opportunities for health sciences students.
For example, KCU’s Dr. Jingsong Zhou is conducting studies in which she is helping us better understand the etiology of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, so named after the legendary New York Yankees baseball player who contracted this disease. Zhou is advancing our knowledge as to how ALS arises and the cellular contributions to its development. She has focused on the role of mitochondria in the development of the disease. She also is examining novel treatments which someday may impact the treatment and well-being of these patients.
Zhou’s work is being conducted in collaboration with several scientists who are a part of KCMD. Zhou shares: “KCMD brings scientists together from four universities who conduct research in neuromuscular diseases, and also provides grant support for joint projects among the universities. I am currently in the discussion phase with Dr. Barohn’s group at KUMC for developing a potential grant application in ALS research.”
Zhou’s colleague, Dr. Abdulbaki Agbas, is also looking into the development of biomarkers for the detection of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease. In this latter research, he is working with investigators at KUMC where many of these patients are seen and treated. Agbas indicates, “I am also collaborating with researchers at KUMC to test the oxaloacetic acid treatment on the ALS–model G93A mouse. The preliminary data are so compelling that we have submitted another proposal involving clinical trials. It is the KCMD pilot project that has made these collaborative studies possible.”
Another example of leading-edge research conducted at KCU in collaboration with scientists from UMKC can be found in the work of Dr. Robert White, dean of the KCU College of Biosciences. He has been working for years on a novel treatment idea for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a progressive muscle disease that leads to immobility, patients’ use of wheelchairs by age 12 and premature death. Currently, there is no cure for DMD despite decades of research.
White discovered a “cousin” protein to the type of protein found missing in patients with DMD, and together with scientists at KCMD institutions (UMKC and KUMC), was able to perform gene therapy in mice, with positive results. White and his team of scientists from KCMD member institutions were able to show that mice with DMD were rescued from their severe heart disease and lived a normal lifespan compared to non-DMD mice. “The collaborative efforts with scientists at KCMD research institutions were imperative to our success,” noted White. “Studies conducted in collaboration with UMKC histology labs, along with investigations with the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center and Transgenic Mouse Facility at KUMC, would not have been possible at KCU,” he added. “Our ability to reach successful outcomes in this research would not have happened without these partnerships.”
Dr. Asma Zaidi, a KCU investigator who focuses on neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and in aging populations, has dedicated her life to understanding this complex illness. Her study is tackling the questions associated with understanding the foundation of these clinical diseases, specifically calcium channels and the proteins associated with them. Her efforts are also complemented by collaborative partnerships with scientists at KCMD member institution KUMC.
Consistent with an effort to understand neuromuscular disorders, another KCU scientist, Dr. Eugene Konorev, is studying the role of biological pathways in the development of microvascular defects in heart disease. Many American patients and their families are all too familiar with the devastating effects of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. By the age of 40, the lifetime risk of heart failure in both men and women is one in five. Despite important advances in medicine, current treatments do not prevent or reverse the progression of the disease. KCU and Konorev have been awarded an NIH grant totaling more than $460,000 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how to stimulate new myocardial blood vessel growth that will alleviate the progression of heart disease.
The development of future scientists and physician scientists is a major goal of our institution. Critical to the neuromuscular research being done at the medical and graduate school is the involvement of students in the research mission. All KCU scientists have medical students conducting research in their laboratories, and many have graduate students conducting research for their thesis in labs that involve collaboration with other investigators at KCMD partner institutions. Several KCU students have received national and regional awards for their efforts.
At KCU, we continue to seek innovations in the treatment and understanding of disease to improve the lives of patients and their families. Indeed, leveraging research partnerships and seizing opportunities for collaboration will promote scientific discoveries that will further expand our research enterprise and support our mission to improve the well-being of the communities we serve.
Biography
Edward O’Connor, PhD, is Executive Vice President for Academic and Research Affairs; Robert A. White, PhD, is Dean, College of Biosciences; and William Duncan, PhD, is a Consultant; all are with the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.
Contact: EOConnor@kcumb.edu
