KALAMAZOO, MI—March 6, 2017—Research experts from the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) and Western Michigan University – Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed), along with the Honorable Fred Upton, U.S. House of Representatives, convened last month for a special event at the WMed campus.
The event, “Unlocking the Human Brain for 21st Century Cures: New Partnership Models to Tackle Brain Disorders, from PTSD to Opioid Addiction,” featured a panel discussion between Congressman Upton and experts on brain disease related to sports, military, and drug addiction. Topics included the urgent, unmet need for new treatments to improve the lives of individuals suffering from brain disorders, the economic toll of these disorders, and the importance of new approaches to find better solutions in the 21st Century.
Inspired by challenges facing his constituents, Congressman Upton championed the landmark legislation 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law in December. With a vision to accelerate translation of scientific research into treatments to improve peoples’ lives, including veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI, the Congressman pushed for inclusion of mental health and opioid provisions in the bill.
“Every single American has been touched in some fashion by disease – with 21st Century Cures we are delivering hope to patients and families across the country. This landmark legislation included $1.5 billion for the BRAIN Initiative to improve our understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s, and speed diagnoses and treatment of brain injuries,” said Congressman Upton. “This special event was a practical conversation with important stakeholders on how we can use Cures to drive research forward. Whether it be mental health, brain disorders, PTSD, or opioid addiction, we must look to the future and work together to tackle these problems. I want to thank the Lieber Institute and the folks at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine for their leadership on these critical issues.”
In addition to legislative backing, new public-private partnerships are helping to shape the future of scientific research. In 2016, LIBD began collaborating with WMed to acquire postmortem brain donations in the Kalamazoo area, and have already collected over 100 samples. These samples add to LIBD’s existing human brain repository, which is the largest, most carefully curated collection for the study of developmental brain disorders in the world, with over 2,200 brains to-date. Together, researchers are utilizing this tremendous asset to answer the big questions in neuropsychiatry today and ultimately uncover novel targets for drug discovery and development.
“We were honored to participate in this special event at WMed,” said LIBD Director and CEO Daniel R. Weinberger, M.D. “Through our collaboration with WMed, our biological resources continue to grow at an extraordinary rate and remain critical to our mission to find new treatments for brain disorders. We believe that by continuing to create new partnership models like this, with support from Washington, scientific research will accelerate towards important new discoveries.”
“This is truly a synergistic effort that takes advantage of many unique talents at the Lieber Institute and WMed Pathology, resulting in a powerful, state-of-the-art molecular-genetic construct that specifically identifies novel treatments for brain diseases,” said Rudolph Castellani, M.D., Director of Neuropathology at WMed. We are delighted to be an integral part of the effort.”
In addition to Congressman Upton, panelists included: Dr. Joyce DeJong, Professor and Founding Chair, WMed Pathology Department/Medical Examiner; Jeremy Bottoms, Psy.D, Neuropsychologist, VA Medical Center, Battle Creek; Theodore P. Wright, Ph.D., Psychologist/ PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program, VA Medical Center, Battle Creek; Thomas M. Hyde, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Lieber Institute for Brain Development/Maltz Research Laboratories; and Rudy J. Castellani, Jr., M.D. Director, WMed Center for Neuropathology.
The event was hosted by WMed at the W.E. Upjohn Campus Auditorium. Members of the press were invited to attend a post-event press conference with panelists.
About the Lieber Institute for Brain Development
The mission of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and the Maltz Research Laboratories is to translate the understanding of basic genetic and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and related developmental brain disorders into clinical advances that change the lives of affected individuals. LIBD is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a Maryland tax-exempt medical research institute affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For more information please visit: www.libd.org.
About Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a collaboration of Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo’s two teaching hospitals, Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. Planning for the new medical school began in 2008 and WMed was granted provisional accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and candidate status by the Higher Learning Commission in 2016. The school, which welcomed its inaugural class in August 2014, is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation supported by private gifts, clinical revenue, research activity, tuition from students, and endowment income. The home of the new medical school includes the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine Clinics, a modern 60,000 square foot clinical building on the Oakland Drive Campus, and a 350,000 square foot educational building in downtown Kalamazoo that was donated by MPI Research. Located on the new W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus, the educational building underwent a $68 million renovation and expansion project and opened in June 2014. An additional $10 million renovation of two floors for laboratory research was competed in early 2016.