Aging and Longevity

Finding novel approaches to the many challenges of aging is a key focus of ongoing work at Cedars-Sinai, uniting physicians, scientists and others in a collaborative effort to enhance and extend patients' lives. During the campaign, these experts hastened discoveries in regenerative medicine, tackled debilitating movement disorders, boosted long-term neural health and strengthened outcomes for heart patients— efforts ensuring that, when it comes to helping people achieve and maintain good physical health, age is only a number.

Revolutions in Stem Cell Science

Investigators at Cedars-Sinai made great progress in stem cell science—progress that has the potential to transform the ways in which patients receive preventive care and next-generation treatment of devastating illnesses. One of those experts was Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Kerry and Simone Vickar Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Regenerative Medicine, and professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. With the help of donor investment, he and his colleagues were able to further their research by:

• Injecting stem cells into the brains and spinal cords of patients and seeing the damaged tissue rejuvenate. The Food and Drug Administration just approved a Phase I clinical trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), testing an investigational stem cell/gene therapy combination in an attempt to stall progression of the disease.
• Leading a study* exposing the brain's significant role in ALS progression, a process previously thought to originate in the muscles or spinal cord.
• Discovering that the effects of ALS, which attacks muscle-controlling nerve cells, are made worse, in part, by the aging and failure of support cells called astrocytes.
• Publishing the first scientific papers describing the use of induced pluripotent stem cell technology to model in the petri dish both spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease, severe neurological conditions for which no treatment or cure exists.
• Collaborating with colleagues Alexander Ljubimov, PhD, and Yaron Rabinowitz, MD, on a $3 million grant from the National Eye Institute to develop gene therapy in corneal stem cells to alleviate damage to corneas that can cause vision loss.
• Serving as co-authors on a study* that details a new technique with the potential to treat inherited diseases by removing genetic defects. The technique may pave the way toward a treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, one of the most common inherited diseases of the retina.

*in animal models

Managing Movement Disorders

Distinguished scientists and physicians at Cedars-Sinai played a critical role in shedding light on the origins of ALS. In a study led by Robert Baloh, MD, PhD, director of Neuromuscular Medicine, professor of Neurology and the Ben Winters Chair in Regenerative Medicine, genetics were found to play a bigger role in the disease than previously thought, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all ALS cases. The discovery anticipates a personalized approach that could deliver gene-specific therapies to correct ALS defects.

Research* at Cedars-Sinai was also instrumental in creating the first transgenic mouse models of the most common type of inherited ALS—Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Baloh received a $3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to explore the use of stem cell technology in treating the illness.

Investigations led by Cedars-Sinai scientists made important contributions to the understanding of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Research by Michele Tagliati, MD, director of the Movement Disorders Program, vice chair of the Department of Neurology, professor of Neurology, and the Caron and Steven D. Broidy Chair in Movement Disorders, suggested that a class of drugs normally used to treat symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is also effective in treating cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease, although the effects of the drugs may be limited and may carry side effects. Studies on an innovative new tool resembling a wristwatch (the Personal KinetiGraph) may also improve quality of life for Parkinson's patients.

In addition, work during The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai made inroads on the treatment of dystonia, leading to published results of a study by Tagliati on the benefits of deep brain stimulation therapy for patients with the disorder.

*in animal models

Investigators are rising to challenges. Championing fresh approaches. Extending neurological health.

Beating Brain Diseases

During The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai, Cedars-Sinai faculty advanced novel tumor studies that may transform the landscape of brain cancer research and treatment. Specialists like Keith L. Black, MD, director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, professor of Neurosurgery, and the Ruth and Lawrence Harvey Chair in Neuroscience, achieved the following with his colleagues:

• Developed a vaccine targeting cancer stem cells in brain cancers and led a Phase I clinical trial in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and aggressive brain tumor.
• Invented a tiny drug-delivery system that can identify cancer cell types in the brain through "virtual biopsies" and then attack the molecular structure of the disease.
• Discovered that amyloid protein accumulates in the retinas of Alzheimer's patients up to 20 years before the disease becomes symptomatic. Based on this extraordinary finding, Black and his team pioneered the first-ever eye test for the disease, a noninvasive, inexpensive, 10–15-minute exam.

Breakthroughs in Congenital Heart Health

Cardiologists at the Smidt Heart Institute are leaders in advancing new treatments for babies born with congenital heart defects. Donor funding during The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai helped their research efforts to make even greater progress. Specialists led by Evan Zahn, MD, director of Pediatric Cardiology and director of the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program, successfully modified a time-tested procedure to treat patent ductus arteriosus, the most common heart problem among extremely premature babies. Zahn also utilized 3D printing technology to make less invasive transcatheter valve technology available to more patients.

The Congenital Cardiac Intensive Care Unit team pioneered new and quicker approaches to laboratory testing and blood transfusions required for heart surgery.

Defeating Liver Disease

During The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai, the medical center broadened its expertise in liver injury, fibrosis and cancer. World-class physicians and investigators, like Shelly Lu, MD, director of Digestive and Liver Diseases and the Women's Guild Chair in Gastroenterology, were at the forefront of this work, extensively studying* the role of the MAT2B gene in promoting cancer growth and metastasis. Their work showed that supplementation with SAMe, a dietary supplement derived from essential amino acids, may serve as a means of treating or preventing liver and other cancers.

Lu and her colleagues also worked to discover the basic mechanisms of nonalcoholic fatty liver. They aimed to develop biomarkers that identified patients with the more severe form of the disease and to offer them personalized treatment.

*in animal models

Setting Records in Heart Transplant

The Heart Transplant Program is internationally recognized as having unique expertise in the treatment of highly sensitized patients, patients with amyloid heart disease and those bridged from mechanical circulatory support, including the artificial heart. In 2015, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Transplant Program, under the direction of Jon Kobashigawa, MD, director of Advanced Heart Disease, associate director of Clinical Affairs at the Smidt Heart Institute, director of the Heart Transplant Program and the DSL/Thomas D. Gordon Chair in Heart Transplantation Medicine, performed 131 adult heart transplants, setting a new achievement for the most adult heart transplants performed in a single year.

Strengthening Maternal-Fetal Health

In 2016, the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center completed a study of preterm delivery and vascular dysfunction. Pregnant women who experience spontaneous preterm delivery at less than 34 weeks face a threefold increase of cardiovascular disease risk later in life. Sarah Kilpatrick, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, associate dean for Faculty Development, and the Helping Hand of Los Angeles Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology, served as co-investigator on the study. Kilpatrick also spearheaded other critical work made possible, in part, by gifts to The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai, such as:

• An important national call to focus more attention on maternal care by reviewing severe maternal morbidity cases and demanding national designation of appropriate levels of maternal care for each hospital.
• A lunch-and-learn series on gender medicine to help educate physicians in the emergency department. Topics covered include sex and the brain, neuropsychiatric sex differences, sex differences in the heart and other sex differences.

The Campaign for Cedars-Sinai was instrumental in improving outcomes across medical disciplines, empowering patients to embrace good health at every age. A chief legacy of the campaign will be propelling this work forward for years—and decades—to come.