Demystifying Medicine lecture

The blind shall see; the lame shall walk; organs will grow anew. Such has been the promise…and hype…of stem-cell-based regenerative medicine. Yet some of these promises have been coming to fruition, particularly in the realm of retinal diseases and bone development.

We will discuss recent advances in regenerative medicine with a focus on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). A dazzling series of breakthroughs, many originating from NIH labs, is having profound implications for biology and continues to prompt imaginative studies for clinical application.

The speakers are Kapil Bharti, Ph.D., head of the NEI Section on Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research, and Pamela Robey, Ph.D., NIDCR, senior investigator in the NIDCR sections on Skeletal Biology and on Craniofacial, Developmental, Cell, and Matrix Biology.

We all begin as a single fertilized egg cell, a primordial embryonic stem cell capable of differentiating into specific organ stem cells that form every tissue and organ in our bodies. Different tissues have highly varied rates of cellular turnover and replacement from organ-specific stem cells to maintain functional homeostasis. For example, skin and intestinal mucosal cells rapidly turn over within 1-2 days, whereas hepatocytes divide once a year and neurons were initially thought not to turnover ever.

Into this dynamic state of cell biology, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka made an amazing discovery, demonstrating that fibroblasts could be reprogrammed by four transcription factors to become an induced pluripotent stem cell capable of being processed into organ-specific stem cells. The discovery earned Yamanaka a 2012 Nobel Prize. Each of the various types of stem cells has been shown to replace normal tissues in animal studies. As such, scientists around the world and around NIH are investigating this potential to cure diseases and extend healthy lifespans.

The Demystifying Medicine Lecture Series is designed to help bridge the gap between advances in biology and their applications to major human diseases. The lectures include presentations of patients, pathology, diagnosis, and therapy in the context of major diseases and current research. All clinicians, trainees including fellows, medical students, Ph.D. students, and other healthcare and research professionals are welcome to attend.

For more information go to https://demystifyingmedicine.od.nih.gov