Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund Supports Innovative Women Researchers, Part 1

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) is an integral organization to the vibrancy and innovation found in the life sciences ecosystem of Maryland. MSCRF’s mission is to develop new medical strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of human diseases, injuries, and conditions through human stem cells.

Established by the Governor and the Maryland General Assembly through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006, MSCRF is led by Executive Director Dr. Amritha Jaishankar. She heads the Fund for the State, overseeing its portfolio and driving business development activities. With a knack for picking winners, Dr. Jaishankar has closely nurtured, empowered, and supported MSCRF-funded research from design to commercialization since 2016.

MSCRF has invested over $170 million in over 500 projects to accelerate stem cell research, commercialization, and cures. With a budget of 20.5 Million for fiscal year 2023, it currently offers six funding opportunities to scientists and companies in the areas of clinical trials, discovery, commercialization, validation, launch, and post-doctoral fellowships. Impressively, the fund has supported the creation and growth of many stem cell companies since launching the Accelerating Cures initiative in 2017.  BioBuzz has reported on and/or highlighted many of them as important, emerging life sciences companies in the region.  

As one of the few states in the U.S. that made a visionary investment in regenerative medicine, Maryland has been a champion for women in stem cell research through MSCRF. A host of women-led labs have received MSCRF support in pursuit of ground-breaking research in a wide-range of areas, including blood brain barrier modeling, tissue engineering, autism, and rare disease therapeutics.

“We’ve been proactive about identifying the next, cutting-edge technology or company, and my priority is to enable their success and also to make sure the incredible work of our scientists and companies is seen and heard. Thank you, BioBuzz, for shedding a light on some of our incredible women leaders and their groundbreaking research in Maryland,” said Dr. Jaishankar. “I am proud of the community we’ve built and for the collaborations we’ve created locally, nationally, and globally. We’ll continue that momentum we’ve built together.”

As a female stem cell scientist and leader herself, Dr. Jaishankar’s vision and commitment to excellence in scientific innovation and to MSCRF’s scientists and companies have put Maryland’s growing regenerative medicine industry on a global stage.

As part of her commitment, MSCRF spearheaded a “Celebrating Women in Science” initiative during Women’s History Month to empower women in science. BioBuzz highlights some of these brilliant female leaders performing remarkable research with support from MSCRF—see the positive impact they are making below.

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Dr. Kimberly Stroka, University of Maryland College Park

Stroka is an Associate Professor in the Fischell Department of Engineering whose lab is researching the blood brain barrier. Blood brain barrier dysfunction is believed to occur in many neurological diseases and disorders, including stroke, MS, infectious diseases, Alzheimer’s, and tumor metastasis. 

One of the lab’s focuses is to understand tumor cell invasion across the blood brain barrier, which occurs in cancer brain metastasis. Patients with brain metastases have few treatment options and a poorer prognoses, exemplifying the need to study this phenomenon. This is easier said than done, though, as there are limited laboratory models available.

Stroka’s team has developed an engineered model of the blood brain barrier using a microfluidic device with channels that are similiar in size to blood vessels. This model and device is called a “blood brain barrier on-a-chip” and incorporates the appropriate cues and microenvironment that help model how cells actually function in the brain. Using stem-cell-derived endothelial cells, the Stoka lab can better understand how mechanical factors such as the stiffness of surrounding tissue and sheer stress from blood flow can impact how cells can move across this barrier.

With help from the MSCRF, Stroka’s lab has “…systematically incorporated these mechanical parameters into our engineered blood brain model and assessed how they affect the brain’s endothelial cell-to-cell junction integrity and local permeability,” according to Dr. Stroka.

“The MSCRF has provided us with the support to advance our blood brain barrier-on-a-chip device, incorporate mechanical cues and evaluate their impacts…they’ve enabled us to make our model more physiologically relevant so that we can better understand the process of brain metastasis,” added Stroka.

Dr. Jamie Spangler, Johns Hopkins University

Spangler is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her research lab focuses on addressing issues with bone tissue engineering.

Bone is the second most transplanted tissue in the world, and there are about 2M bone grafting procedures annually that cost over $3B. There is a very limited supply of bone and the bone grafting procedure is highly complex with risks of infection.

Tissue engineering is a possible solution to this challenge. This process takes a biomaterial scaffold and loads them up with stem cells. Growth factors are added to the mix to differentiate the stem cells into the desired cell or tissue type of choice, including bone. The problem is that these growth factors not only stimulate the cells on the scaffold, but also other cells across the body, which could in turn cause cancer.

Spangler’s lab is designing orthogonal proteins, or “fake proteins”, that only interact with the scaffold, reducing the threat of cancer. She and her lab team hope to create a highly targeted way to safely create bone growth so that this technique can be used in place of bone grafts.

“We really appreciated the MSCRF support of our work. This is one of my first research grants. I am really fortunate to have this support to explore an idea that is more bold and risky…I really appreciate the connections and collaborations with the MSCRF,” shared Spangler. “It’s been really exciting to interact with experts in the regenerative medicine field.”

Dr. Erin Lavik, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Lavik is a Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Engineering and Information Technology. Lavik’s research lab is exploring the relationship between stem cells and autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is thought to involve a number of different systems, including the connections of neurons in the brain and the stem cells that create these neurons. Using stem cells, scientists now have the foundational tools to better understand the differences in neurons between those with ASD and those without.

Lavik’s lab builds brain models and models of tissue that combine neural stem cells and blood vessels to build a neural stem cell niche. Neural stem cells give birth to new neurons which migrate to the olfactory bulb in the nose to help process smells. In some conditions, though, the differentiation or migration of these cells is altered.

Her lab combines stem cells with polymers in a dish that model the supportive matrix found in the brain; these polymers, which have a gelatin-like consistency, are then “screen printed” to replicate the 3D structures of the brain. The process is akin to screen printing a complex multicolored image on a T-shirt.

With model in hand, the lab can then look into the different components of the matrix and better understand the influence on cell behavior, including the differences in those with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Because these models are low-cost and straight-forward to make, they could also be used as a platform for other neurological disease research and drug development.

“The MSCRF has been instrumental in our work. They have provided the support to allow us to develop the materials and approaches to build these structures with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),” stated Lavik.

Dr. Ivy E. Dick, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dick is an Associate Professor of Physiology who runs a research lab investigating the use of iPSC-derived neurons for rare disease modeling. The lab is specifically looking at Timothy Syndrome, which is a devastating disorder that causes life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias as well as severe neurological symptoms including ASD. Life expectancy of those suffering from Timothy Syndrome is only two years, and there are no good treatment options.

The underlying cause of Timothy Syndrome is a genetic mutation in a protein known as the L-type calcium channel. The lab’s research has been focused on better understanding this protein in the hopes of creating new therapeutics. Using iPSCs, the team makes heart cells that mimic cardiac arrhythmias seen in Timothy Syndrome patients to evaluate different treatment options. The lab has been testing a new gene-based therapy that could benefit these patients.

“The MSCRF provided us with a second discovery award to find a pattern of calcium disruption in the iPSC-derived neurons that’s specific to Autism Spectrum Disorder…The fund has enabled us to bring our mechanistic studies of Timothy Syndrome mutations into the context of a human cell model, allowing us to apply what we’ve learned about the calcium channel itself to develop new treatment strategies,” stated Dick.    

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This is part one of a two-part series highlighting some of the brilliant women leaders performing remarkable research with support from the MSCRF.

If you’d like to learn more about the MSCRF and how it can potentially support your own research, reach out to Dr. Jaishankar and her team at [email protected]. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.