The University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which connects scientists who work on tissue engineering, cell therapies, artificial organs and biodevices, has been awarded a Shared University Research (SUR) Award from IBM ( IBM). The IBM SUR Award will provide IBM computer hardware, software and services to Pitt for its cutting-edge "in silico" biological research, which uses computer simulations to explore biological pathways and test therapeutic interventions.
Researchers at Pitt's McGowan Institute intend to use the IBM technology to open up new dimensions in biological modeling. The results of such research could significantly reduce the cost of new drug development and shorten the treatment evaluation process - getting treatments to the market faster and cheaper.
For example, the Pitt research team has simulated liver tissue to study how a chronic hepatitis infection can lead to liver cancer, lung tissues to study viral infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and skin to study how patients with spinal cord injuries develop pressure ulcers.
This type of advanced modeling can help researchers better understand basic biological processes and allows them to screen drugs and determine their impact on the body to uncover the best interventions for a broad range of diseases.
Like Movie Fantasy Creatures
The principles of in silico modeling are similar to those used to generate the fantasy creatures of other worlds in movies, such as "Lord of the Rings" and the "Star Trek" series. At the University of Pittsburgh, researchers are building astonishingly realistic models of organs and diseases, and seeing molecular-level effects of drugs on them.
So instead of creating an imaginary character to fill out a battle scene, Pitt scientists are applying computational techniques to simulate, for example, inflamed liver cells morphing into cancer. That allows them to see not only how tumors develop, but how drugs or other interventions could affect disease progression.
Dr. Yoram Vodovotz, professor of surgery at Pitt's School of Medicine, director of the Center for Inflammation and Regenerative Modeling (CIRM) at the McGowan Institute, and principal investigator for the IBM SUR grant, is studying the role of immune system-regulated inflammatory pathways in a variety of conditions. Inflammation is involved in many, and perhaps most, diseases affecting both industrialized and developing societies.
"Dr. Vodovotz and the McGowan Institute are using IBM technology and computer simulations in support of groundbreaking regenerative medicine," said Bernie Meyerson, vice president of innovation and global university programs, IBM. "This award is yet another example of IBM and the University working to help build a smarter planet. The McGowan Institute's efforts are truly transformational, world-changing research."
Work carried out by the CIRM has had basic, translational, and commercial success, said Dr. Vodovotz. In silico modeling can so closely mimic reality that it can produce images that look much the same as the tissues that pathologists see under the microscope.
"But to make the next set of quantum leaps, we require a computational foundation and related resources, which we call the Platform for Innovative Translational Modeling-Assisted Projects, or PITMAP," Dr. Vodovotz said.