Connecting brain science & business

Could this be a possibility, and if yes, would it be something we want?

One of the main challenges in regenerative medicine is the ability to develop therapeutic interventions that can be translated into patient-specific treatments in the future. Hege J Tunstad conducted a series of interviews with Norwegian and foreign neuroscientists and asked for their perspective as to whether spare parts for the brain might become a reality in future patient care. The answer was invariably that the sheer complexity of CNS damage and repair mechanisms does not allow quick-fix solutions. However, novel multifactorial, interdisciplinary approaches, which utilise advances in cell and gene therapy, biomaterials, nanotechnologies, and neuroimaging, constitute promising research avenue and might, one day, lead to therapies tailored to individual patient needs.

Among the people interviewed were two researchers associated with the Nansen Neuroscience Network, including the leading neuroscientist Edvard Moser, professor and director at the Centre for the Biology of Memory, Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, NTNU, as well as Ioanna Sandvig, postdoctoral research fellow in image-guided regenerative neuroscience at MI Lab and Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, NTNU. Ioanna's PhD work explored integration of cellular and molecular imaging with novel biotechnologies/nanotechnologies in studies of transplant-mediated repair in experimental CNS injury models.

Read the full articles and learn more about related research activities at MI Lab, NTNU, Trondheim:

http://www.ntnu.no/gemini/2011-04/30-37.htm

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_trondelag/1.7914392

Illustration: Geir Mogen and Alexander Somma, Gemini Dec 2011 issue

| More...