UCSF neuroscientists are taking a multipronged approach to Parkinson's disease, positioning themselves at the forefront of research into therapies that may improve symptomatic treatments and eventually may provide a cure. Neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists and basic scientists are working together to conduct clinical trials of medical therapies, surgical treatments and gene transfer therapy, as well as to conduct basic research on the use of stem cells.
An explosive growth of information in neuroscience is giving way to a new understanding of the mechanisms of neurogenesis and neurological disease, including the possible role of stem cells in brain tumors. Mitch Berger, M.D., chair of Neurological Surgery at UCSF Medical Center, comments on research at UCSF.
Multiple sclerosis is increasingly being diagnosed in children and teens. Although physicians have long known that kids can come down with the disease, new technology and emerging awareness of the problem have led them to spot the kind of cases that previously had gone undetected until years later.
The UCSF Medical Center has recently opened a Regional Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center to address the needs of patients and their families. The pediatric MS center at UCSF is one of only six such clinics in the United States, all of which have opened recently under the sponsorship of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
UCSF neurosurgeon Chris Ames, M.D., has developed new technologies and techniques for attacking spinal tumors. The techniques offer strikingly different approaches for removing spine tumors, and may promise to be more effective at removing the cancer and reducing the morbidity of surgery. Many of the tumors Ames operates on have been deemed inoperable by other surgeons.
Recent technical advancements in MRI, however, have led to improved visualization of normal and abnormal peripheral nerves, UCSF researchers report. MRI neurography allows physicians to address the issues of low signal intensity and low conspicuity of the nerves by selectively suppressing signals from non-neural structures.
See information on upcoming continuing medical education courses.
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