Neuroscience Institute is Nerve Center of Collaborative Research
INDIANAPOLIS - Today's scientists grapple with finding ways to prevent
and cure neurological disorders such as Alzheimer disease and multiple
sclerosis, and how to correct crippling spinal injuries. Such discoveries
are among the many goals of the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute
at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
The institute, located in the Research II facility, which will be dedicated
Sept. 30, was made possible through a $16 million bequest to the School
from Dr. Paul and Carole Stark in November 2000. The institute includes
researchers from various disciplines and focuses on applying advances
in molecular, genetic and imaging technologies to fundamental questions
about brain function, dysfunction and development.
Leading these efforts is Gerry Oxford, Ph.D., the first executive director
of the Stark Institute and professor of pharmacology and toxicology. Dr.
Oxford, whose appointment was made possible through the Stark gift, was
a distinguished professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology
and director of the neurobiology curriculum at the University of North
Carolina before his IU appointment.
"Our initial areas of focus will be in pain mechanisms, development
of and recovery from injury in the spinal cord and examining the molecular
events underlying substance abuse and addiction," says Dr. Oxford.
"Work in these areas hopefully will contribute to the development
of new therapeutic approaches."
Traditionally, neuroscience research has involved either electrical,
anatomical or pharmacological methods to understand the pathways by which
nerve impulses communicate human thought, will and action, and to understand
chemical signaling between single nerve cells and complex networks.
"To understand function and dysfunction of the nervous system requires
monitoring and simulating the activity of many groups of nerve cells at
once," says Dr. Oxford, adding that non-invasive imaging tools such
PET and functional MRI give researchers the ability to more fully investigate
the central nervous system.
"As a result, modern neuroscience research now draws experts from
the fields of molecular biology, genetics, physics, engineering and mathematics,"
Dr. Oxford notes.
The collaborative approach is the cornerstone on which the Stark Neuroscience
Research Institute is built and recruiting top-flight investigators and
faculty is an immediate goal. Dr. Oxford says researchers will be organized
into focus groups with clinicians and resident researchers in specific
areas of neuroscience, including pain, spinal injury, addiction, development
and behavioral disorders.
Outreach programs and a regular series of scientific seminars are planned,
as well as interactions with other academic and neuroscience institutions.
"The logical extension of these efforts will be reflected in establishing
centers of excellence in specific areas of neuroscience and to attract
outside funding," Dr. Oxford says, noting that partnerships with
the corporate sector and other institutions will lead to the development
of new pharmaceuticals and therapeutic interventions.
Dr. Oxford also says another top priority is to develop enhanced biomedical
training at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. Part
of the Stark gift established the Stark Neurosciences Scholarship Fund,
which will assist students interested in pursuing careers in neuroscience.
In 1993, the Stark family endowed the Paul Stark Professor of Pharmacology
and Toxicology, a position held by Michael Vasko, Ph.D., who also chairs
the School's Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Stark was
also was a clinical associate professor of pharmacology at the IU School
of Medicine.
He led a team that conducted clinical trials on central nervous system
compounds and played an essential role in the development of Prozac with
Eli Lilly and Co. In 1984, Dr. Stark, who also earned a degree from the
IU School of Law in Indianapolis, founded the International Clinical Research
Corporation, which designs global trials for new drugs.
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Media Contact: Joe Stuteville
317-274-7722
jstutevi@iupui.edu
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