A Trans-Agency Blood-Brain Interface Workshop designed to encourage discussion and foster future collaborations was held June 7-8 at the NIH Neuroscience Center.
Experts from multiple fields identified key challenges and made recommendations for moving forward in the treatment of a broad range of central nervous system disorders, including traumatic brain injury, stroke, primary and metastatic brain cancers, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Nearly 100 people attended the event, and more than 150 watched the live video cast, which is now available on demand.
Two focused ultrasound expert presentations included data from studies funded by the Foundation: Todd Mainprize (BBB opening clinical trial) and Justin Hanes (nanoparticle and gene delivery across the BBB).
- Dr. Todd Mainprize, a neurosurgeon from Sunnybrook, presented first-in-human results demonstrating BBB opening with drug delivery using focused ultrasound in a tumor, demonstrating a 2-3 fold increase in drug delivery in the treated portion of the tumor. Additional histology results will be available soon, and more patients will be treated in the coming months.
- Dr. Justin Hanes, an expert from Johns Hopkins in polymeric nanoparticles designed to penetrate brain tissue and a collaborator of UVA’s Dr. Richard Price, presented compelling data demonstrating increased nanoparticle and gene delivery in both healthy and diseased rodent brains using focused ultrasound, with an emphasis on cancer and neurodegeneration applications.