{"id":47676,"date":"2000-10-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2000-10-31T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2000\/10\/31\/increased-awareness-of-program-will-hopefully-leadto-more-tissue-donations\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:54:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:54:24","slug":"increased-awareness-of-program-will-hopefully-leadto-more-tissue-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2000\/10\/31\/increased-awareness-of-program-will-hopefully-leadto-more-tissue-donations\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased awareness of program will hopefully lead\n\nto more tissue donations"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n

UNMC Hires Full-Time Coordinator for Rapid Brain Autopsy<\/p>\n

Program<\/p>\n

In its continuing effort to seek alternative sources for its research<\/p>\n

using fetal cells, the University of Nebraska Medical Center announced<\/p>\n

today that it has hired William H.C. Brown II to serve as coordinator of<\/p>\n

its rapid brain autopsy program.<\/p>\n

The program was developed earlier this year by UNMC as a possible mechanism<\/p>\n

for procuring the three types of brain cells used in UNMCs research into<\/p>\n

neurodestructive diseases such as Alzheimers disease and AIDS-related<\/p>\n

dementia. The research has been a source of controversy in Nebraska because<\/p>\n

it involves the use of fetal cells from elective abortions. For the cells<\/p>\n

obtained from a rapid brain autopsy to be suitable for research, the autopsy<\/p>\n

must be performed within two hours of a persons death.<\/p>\n

The donor program is key to finding alternative sources, said Jane<\/p>\n

Potter, M.D., professor and chief, UNMC section of geriatrics and gerontology.<\/p>\n

Appointing a full-time coordinator heightens UNMCs commitment. Additionally,<\/p>\n

it strengthens our attempts to increase public awareness so people can<\/p>\n

be involved in research that may someday save lives.<\/p>\n

Astrocytes, microglia and neurons make up the three types of cells needed<\/p>\n

for UNMCs research into neurodegenerative diseases. Astrocytes and microglia<\/p>\n

are the support cells for neurons, while neurons are the most critical<\/p>\n

cells for brain function. Neurons work to receive and send out electrical<\/p>\n

signals throughout the body and are instrumental for normal thinking and<\/p>\n

motor function.<\/p>\n

In August, UNMC announced that it had succeeded in obtaining astrocytes<\/p>\n

and microglia in performing its first two rapid autopsies. However, they<\/p>\n

were unable to recover any suitable neurons from the rapid autopsy procedures.<\/p>\n

Only a handful of institutions in the world have ever been able to successfully<\/p>\n

isolate cells from rapid autopsies, said Anuja Ghorpade, Ph.D., senior<\/p>\n

scientist in the UNMC Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders,<\/p>\n

and there isnt any published literature that documents recovery of mature<\/p>\n

neurons from the rapid autopsy procedure.<\/p>\n

Since the two rapid autopsies announced in August, UNMC has only been<\/p>\n

able to perform one other rapid autopsy procedure and that took place in<\/p>\n

late October, Dr. Ghorpade said.<\/p>\n

We have made a major commitment to finding alternative sources, she<\/p>\n

said. At the present time and with the present technology, however, it<\/p>\n

just isnt possible to get all the cells we need from the rapid autopsy<\/p>\n

procedure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A 1999 graduate of Bellevue University, Brown expects to complete his<\/p>\n

masters degree in public administration in January 2001 from the University<\/p>\n

of Oklahoma. Prior to coming to UNMC, Brown worked six years at Ehrling<\/p>\n

Bergquist Hospital in Bellevue, where he held several laboratory and managerial<\/p>\n

positions.<\/p>\n

As tissue donation program coordinator for the rapid autopsy program,<\/p>\n

one of Browns primary responsibilities will be to approach families concerning<\/p>\n

brain tissue donations when a death is imminent. He will do this at Nebraska<\/p>\n

Health Systems University Hospital and Clarkson Hospital. In addition,<\/p>\n

he will speak to organizations and groups throughout the community on how<\/p>\n

they can participate in the rapid autopsy program and will develop material<\/p>\n

detailing the program.<\/p>\n

Obviously, for the rapid autopsy program to succeed, we are dependent<\/p>\n

on patients and families making courageous decisions to donate cells under<\/p>\n

extremely stressful situations, Brown said. The decision to donate cells<\/p>\n

would be very similar to what happens when families elect to donate a loved<\/p>\n

ones organs. Our organ donor program has flourished over the years, so<\/p>\n

were<\/p>\n

hopeful the public will be just as receptive with the rapid autopsy<\/p>\n

program.<\/p>\n

Although pleased with the early success of the rapid autopsy program,<\/p>\n

Dr. Ghorpade said much more work needs to be done.<\/p>\n

We feel strongly that rapid autopsies represent our best chance for<\/p>\n

finding alternative tissue sources, Dr. Ghorpade said. The rapid autopsy<\/p>\n

procedure can be very time- and labor-intensive. When we did the first<\/p>\n

two procedures, it took a total of 15 hours. In addition, these are procedures<\/p>\n

that cant be planned in advance.<\/p>\n

UNMC has already reallocated more than $300,000 in its quest for alternative<\/p>\n

tissue sources. These expenditures include the purchase of a microscope<\/p>\n

that is now being used as well as the hiring of other support personnel<\/p>\n

to help meet the increased workload resulting from the use of alternative<\/p>\n

sources.<\/p>\n

UNMCs fetal cell research seeks to understand how brain cells are damaged<\/p>\n

and to find ways to regenerate these damaged brain cells in neurodestructive<\/p>\n

diseases such as Alzheimers disease and AIDS-dementia. Currently, about<\/p>\n

77,000 Nebraskans have Alzheimers disease, and the number is expected<\/p>\n

to more than double in the next 30 years. Nebraska ranks among the top<\/p>\n

four states in the percentage of people age 85 years and older. Its estimated<\/p>\n

that more than 5 percent of Nebraskas population suffers from some sort<\/p>\n

of neurodestructive disease.<\/p>\n

For more information on how people can become donors to the rapid brain<\/p>\n

autopsy program, call (402) 559-4035.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNMC Hires Full-Time Coordinator for Rapid Brain Autopsy Program In its continuing effort to seek alternative sources for its research using fetal cells, the University of Nebraska Medical Center announced today that it has hired William H.C. Brown II to serve as coordinator of its rapid brain autopsy program. The program was developed earlier this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nIncreased awareness of program will hopefully lead to more tissue donations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UNMC Hires Full-Time Coordinator for Rapid Brain Autopsy Program In its 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