The Mitchell Lab - Neuroplasticity and Respiratory Neurobiology
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Recent Press Releases:

NEW HOPE FOR VICTIMS OF SPINAL CORD INJURY
March 6, 2008

MADISON – Victims of spinal cord injury who’ve been forced to rely on mechanical assistance to breathe may “breathe easier,” so to speak, if progress continues on development of drugs that encourage their body to compensate and minimize the extent of paralysis. 

For years, Dr. Gordon Mitchell, a professor of comparative biosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, has studied respiratory plasticity, or the body’s ability to adapt breathing so that it remains adequate despite challenges throughout life.  Now, his laboratory’s latest development holds promise for individuals whose breathing control is impaired. [read more]

 

$7.2 MILLION GRANT TO AID SEARCH FOR ALS STEM CELL THERAPY
Sept. 20, 2007

MADISON - With the help of a $7.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers will explore the potential of stem cells and natural growth factors to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The grant, to be awarded over five years, will fund research aimed at finding novel therapies for treating a debilitating and nearly always fatal condition caused by the withering of motor neurons, the brain cells that control the body's muscles.

"This is a great opportunity," says Clive Svendsen, who will direct the project along with UW-Madison neuroscientists Su-Chun Zhang and Gordon S. Mitchell. "There is a lot of synergy between our groups which provide for a lot of overlap that we think will help us get at some of the key issues of ALS." [read more]



RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY KEY PLAYER IN RESPIRATORY MEMORY

MADISON - By studying the "memory" of the respiratory system, a group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has identified a key player - a protein called BDNF that's involved in learning - responsible for the body's ability to keep breathing properly, despite the challenges it may face.

The findings, published Dec. 14 in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience, could provide ideas of new drug targets, which could lead to new treatments for or ways to prevent a number of potentially fatal breathing disorders, including sleep apnea, sudden infant death syndrome and some related to spinal cord injuries, according to the researchers.

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SVM GARNERS CHRISTOPHER REEVE PARALYSIS FOUNDATION GRANT

MADISON - Two researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine have picked up nearly one-half million dollars in research funding from the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF).

David D. Fuller and Francis John Golder are two of only 15 neuroscientists nationally to receive funding from the CRPF for the 2003 grant cycle. They are studying spinal cord injury in the laboratory of Gordon S. Mitchell, professor and chair in the Department of Comparative Biosciences.

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ADULT BREATHING PROBLEMS MAY HAVE CHILDHOOD CAUSE

MADISON - According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 18 million Americans stop breathing for 10 seconds or more during the night. Sensors in the blood, known as carotid body chemoreceptors, react to the lack of oxygen by rousing the body to breathe. But what happens if the sensors stop working?

Professor Gordon Mitchell and Postdoctoral Fellow Ryan Bavis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine believe defective carotid body chemoreceptors may help to unravel the mysteries of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and sleep apnea.

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