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NDRI Honors Researchers, Pharma and NIH for Advances Using Donated Human Tissue

Posted on: Monday, 4 December 2006, 09:01 CST

The National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) will honor individuals and institutions who have advanced disease research through partnership with NDRI and the use of donated tissues for research studies at "An Evening to Celebrate Research" tonight at the Rittenhouse Hotel. The dinner, sponsored by the NDRI Society, will bring together those interested in the future of biomedical research as it honors researchers and highlights key initiatives.

Honorees include Jose Oberholzer, M.D., Program Director for Cell Transplantation at the University of Illinois, Chicago; Ali Naji, M.D., Ph.D, Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Islet Cell Transplant Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Stephen Groft, Pharm.D., Director of the Office of Rare Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH); Peter Dudley, Ph.D., Director of Retinal Diseases, of The National Eye Institute, NIH; and John McPherson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Cell and Protein Research and Development, Genzyme Corporation.

"It is a pleasure to honor the researchers -- the often unsung heroes -- who are working day in and day out to make strides against the most pressing diseases of our time," said Lee Ducat, Founder and President of NDRI. Ms. Ducat, also the founder of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, served as emcee for the event. "From islet cell transplants for diabetes to rare disease research to breakthroughs in treating blindness, we are moving closer to finding cures that afflict millions of people. With the dedicated and talented researchers such as we are honoring, organ and tissue donors can feel confident that their contributions are making a difference in advancing therapies for today's most pressing diseases."

The NDRI honorees include:

Jose Oberholzer, M.D. -- Excellence in Research Award 2006

As Program Director for Cell Transplantation at the University of Illinois, Chicago; Dr. Oberholzer is being honored for his contribution to the future of islet cell transplantation for diabetics. His research in islet cell biology and immunology and his skills as a hepatobilliary, pancreatic and transplant surgeon have placed him at the forefront in the field of islet cell transplantation.

Dr. Oberholzer has worked with NDRI during the past year to isolate hundreds of thousands of pancreatic islet cells at the University of Illinois Medical Center. The islets are sent to NDRI-affiliated scientists conducting islet cell research, related studies across the country, and other diverse projects. Dr. Oberholzer's work focuses on islet cell encapsulation to prevent rejection. He and his team are working with a number of groups including scientists at the Norwegian Institute of Technology and the University of Parugia in Italy to test new microencapsulating technologies. To date, three patients have been successfully transplanted without immunosuppression and with full graft function at six months.

Ali Naji, M.D., Ph.D. -- Outstanding Science Award 2006

Dr. Naji is J. William White Professor of Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation/Penn Islet Cell Transplant Program. Dr. Naji has been at the forefront of islet cell research since the early 1980s. He has pursued strategies to make islet cell transplantation a viable treatment for Type 1 Diabetes and to alleviate the suffering of millions of diabetics. His work aims at the induction of immunological tolerance in transplanted patients, and has resulted in the first successful technique for imaging islet grafts in vivo following transplantation.

Dr. Naji and his team are evaluating the capability of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to image transplanted islets from outside the body. Current methods are not sensitive enough to detect loss of islet cell function until the latter stages of graft rejection. PET scan technology could provide doctors with a noninvasive means to evaluate graft function and the success of interventions to prolong graft survival early and on a continuing basis.

Stephen Groft, Pharm.D. -- Outstanding Science Award 2006

Dr. Groft is director of the Office of Rare Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, and has worked diligently to stimulate and coordinate research on rare diseases and to broaden access to the human biomaterials needed to support this work. His efforts and his leadership reflect a strong commitment to the needs of some 25 million Americans who are afflicted with rare diseases.

Dr. Groft's association with NDRI began in the late 1990's with a collaboration on a pilot project to develop a centralized patient registry and human tissue resource for scientists interested in the study of rare diseases. In 2003, he and NDRI President Lee Ducat invited scientists from around the world to attend a jointly sponsored international conference on the "Genetics of Rare Disease -- Window to Common Disorders," in Washington, D.C. On the heels of that highly successful forum, with support and guidance from ORD, NDRI launched the rare disease initiative.

Peter Dudley, Ph.D. for the National Eye Institute -- Outstanding Science Award 2006

As Director for Retinal Diseases at the NIH's National Eye Institute (NEI), Dr. Dudley is at the center of medical research and education to preserve and restore healthy vision to Americans of all ages. Almost every major breakthrough in eye disease research has resulted with NEI funding support.

As many as five million Americans are visually impaired, and as many as one million are legally blind. Retinal diseases with a diverse set of pathologies in particular threaten vision. Partnership with NDRI has provided NEI-supported researchers studying glaucoma, retinopathy, macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa with valuable eye specimens and will allow them to broaden access to viable research models of diseases and from age ranges rarely seen among its present donor population. With NDRI's support, the NEI has conducted important studies of cell-based therapeutic approaches to age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

John McPherson, Ph.D. for Genzyme Corporation -- Supporting Future Rare Disease Research

Accepting the award on behalf of Genzyme Corporation is John McPherson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Cell and Protein Research and Development. Based on a successful partnership, Genzyme has pledged to contribute $250,000 over the next five years to leverage support for a new national rare disease tissue resource, The NDRI Rare Disease Biomaterials Resource will increase the supply of donated human tissues and donor DNA and cell lines for investigators studying rare diseases. For the past 10 years, NDRI has supplied human tissue for Genzyme's tissue engineering initiatives around cartilage repair, cardiac cell therapy, and most recently for development of a device to help patients with acute renal failure. Genzyme has also worked with NDRI in the context of both stem cell and islet cell research programs.

About the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI):

The non-profit NDRI was established in 1980 to provide research scientists with the human tissue samples necessary to study human systems and human disease. In the past 20 years, NDRI has served some 5,000 scientists with more than 200,000 human biomaterials, leading to more than 2,500 papers published in scholarly journals on diseases from diabetes to cancer to HIV and rare diseases. Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, NDRI obtains tissues that would ordinarily be discarded and distributes them to the top research institutions in the world.

Institutions working with NDRI include the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, Duke University, Baylor College of Medicine, the Wistar Institute, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Stanford University, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, among others. NDRI also has a strong tradition of working with top pharma and biotech R&D programs nationwide.

For more information about NDRI, please call 1-800-222-6374 or visit www.ndriresource.org.

Source: Business Wire

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