The Jack Miller Center's 2nd bi-annual scientific symposium, Frontiers of Peripheral Nerve Research, will take place April 28, 2006 on the University of Chicago campus. This year's program will focus on major issues in disorders of the peripheral nerve and neuropathic pain, in particular its pathophysiology and underlying mechanisms. The symposium, which is geared for scientists and clinical investigators, features six of the world’s leading neuroscientists:

* Rhona Mirsky Ph.D. (University College, London)
* Elior Peles Ph.D. (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
* Jeffrey Milbrandt M.D., Ph.D. (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis)
* William Snider M.D. (University of North Carolina School of Medicine)
* Stephen Waxman M.D., Ph.D. (Yale Medical School)
* Clifford Woolf M.D., P.hD. (Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital)

We are excited about this year's program and believe that it will have a significant impact on the field of peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain. We expect that the symposium will generate ideas for future studies, research collaborations among participants, and new approaches for reconstituting nerve function and alleviating nerve pain. The 2006 Symposium is supported by educational grants from Pfizer, Takeda, the Brain Research Foundation, Athena Diagnostics, Lilly, and Ron and Debbie McMicking.

Our 2004 inaugural symposium, Nerve Development and Function: Implications for Disease, drew more than 175 neuroscientists, neurologists, endocrinologists, clinical researchers, and post-doctoral fellows from 15 universities and research centers in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, New York, California and Michigan.

Look for a report and photographs in the next newsletter.

Symposium 2006: Frontiers of Peripheral Nerve Research

Researchers from three countries have located a genetic mutation that causes a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. The new form of CMT, known as DI-CMT C, was identified in 50 people in three families who live in St. Louis, Wisconsin, Belgium, and Bulgaria.

Dr. Florian Thomas, professor of neurology at St. Louis University School of Medicine and a member of the research team, remarked in a statement released by St. Louis University, that finding a new gene for a rare inherited disease can help scientists understand other comparable genetic disorders. In addition, finding a gene can lead to the development of commercial tests to diagnose the new form of CMT.

CMT, an inherited form of peripheral neuropathy, affects one in 2,500 people. It is characterized by a slowly progressive degeneration of the muscles in the foot, lower leg, hand, and forearm, and a mild loss of sensation in the limbs, fingers, and toes.

The study was published in an advance online issue of Nature Genetics

A 2004 study by French researchers, published in Nature Medicine, showed that high doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) could improve or stabilize motor function in mice with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease type 1A. In addition, vitamin C seemed to help promote the formation of myelin (the protective covering of the nerve) and restore the lifespan of the treated mice to that of normal mice.

CMT, the most common inherited neurological disorder, has many forms. CMT1A is the most frequent and is the result of abnormalities in the myelin sheath. People with CMT1A develop weakness and muscle atrophy first in the lower legs, followed later by weakness and loss of sensation in the hands and forearms.

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have announced plans for a clinical study to determine the safety and effectiveness of vitamin C treatment for young patients with CMT1A.

Vitamin C treatment for CMT1A

Dr. Brian Popko, director of the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, was highlighted in a January 20, 2006 Wall St. Journal article about a new collaborative approach to scientific research. Dr. Popko is one of five neuroscientists receiving funding from the Myelin Repair Foundation to study myelin (the protective covering of the nerve), myelin repair, and myelin's role in multiple sclerosis and certain forms of peripheral nerve disease.

The Myelin Repair Foundation, a nonprofit foundation based in California, has developed an innovative research model aimed at encouraging scientists to work together, sharing information and data, to speed the process of moving biomedical discoveries into effective treatments for a range of demyelinating disorders.

Dr. Raymond P. Roos, the Marjorie and Robert E. Straus Professor in Neurological Science at the University of Chicago, as well as co-director of the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, has once again been named one of Chicago's best neurologists by Chicago Magazine in its January 2006 "Top Doctors" issue.

Dr. Roos has had a long-standing interest in neuromuscular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases, including neuropathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), multiple sclerosis, and prion disease. In addition to seeing peripheral neuropathy patients in the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy Clinic, he co-directs a Muscular Dystrophy Association ALS/Motor Neuron Disease clinic.

The annual Chicago Magazine list, compiled by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., is based on recommendations from thousands of Chicago area health professionals who were asked where they would send family members to receive the best care in 58 different medical specialties.

Dr. Raymond P. Roos

Did you know that the Recent Journal Articles of Interest page on our website is updated on a regular basis? Researchers in the Jack Miller Center periodically recommend articles in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, that would be of particular interest to other scientists and clinicians in the field. If you want to follow developments in peripheral nerve research, you’ll find links to the latest scientific abstracts and journal articles on this page.

Recent additions include:

• Disrupted function and axonal distribution of mutant tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase in dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy
Nature Genetics (January 22, 2006)
• The claw paw mutation reveals a role for Lgi4 in peripheral nerve development
Nature Neuroscience (January 9, 2006)
• BDNF from microglia causes the shift in neuronal anion gradient underlying neuropathic pain
Nature (December 15, 2005)

Your tax-deductible donation to the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy can make a difference. Scientific research is expensive and very few laboratories - public or private - focus on peripheral neuropathy. Corporate and government funding for this disorder is limited.

By making a gift to the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, you can support our efforts to identify the causes and potential cures for peripheral neuropathy, through research, and professional and public education. To send a donation by mail or fax, click on the link below to print the donor form, and send your check, payable to the Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, or credit card information to:




Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 2030
Chicago, IL 60637
Fax: 773.702.5577

For additional information, please contact:

The Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC 2030
Chicago, IL 60637
773.702.5800 phone
773.702.5577 fax
millercenter@uchicago.edu

Click here for donor form