May 2007
Research Presented at the Pancreas Club Annual Meeting
Research has long been an important part of surgical training at Jefferson. Current available laboratory space for research encompasses 4,900 square feet that includes a large animal operating room and tissue-culture facilities.
Projects in basic science and clinical research have included establishing ECMO capabilities at Jefferson to support critically ill neonates, developing hepatic resection and transplantation techniques, evaluating pancreatic islet-cell xenografting, exploring hyperthermia in cancer treatment and examining endothelial-cell, prosthetic-graft interactions.
The diverse interests of Jefferson's faculty allow for a multitude of cross-specialty protocols. Recent clinical research includes studies of multimodality therapy in pancreatic and colorectal carcinoma, preoperative chemotherapy in locally advanced breast carcinoma and the incidence and prevention of deep-vein thrombosis.
Current laboratory research projects include:
- Endothelial-cell and leukocyte migration under conditions of sheer stress
- Skeletal muscle biochemistry and function as it relates to myocardial assistance for failing hearts
- Abnormalities of lipid metabolism during gram-negative septic shock
- Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)
- Pathobiology of arterial wall cells associated with various peripheral vascular disease states
- Endogenous mechanisms for regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in the pancreatic islets
- Protection of the islets by osteopontin for islet transplantation
- Regulation of osteopontin by cytokines in insulin producing cells
- The role of the pancreatic renin angiotensin system (RAS) in type 1 diabetes
- Osteopontin role in type 1 diabetes
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