April 9, 2009?

Accomplished stem cell researcher is Packard's first grantee with the MacDonald Centre

Neuroscientist Catherina Becker is the sort of researcher to inspire optimism in ALS patients and their families, for the possibility of what's to come.

A scientist with The Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Research at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, she's expert on zebrafish, the small, fast-growing and transparent animals that are lately the darling of scientists who try to model neurodegenerative diseases.

She's written texts on spinal cord regeneration and is equally savvy about the capabilities of stem cells. That combination puts her in a peak place to study the repair of spinal cords, whether from accident injury or ALS.

So why are we writing about Becker in a Packard Center e-article?

For one thing, Becker is one of Packard's newest grantees, poised to describe her work at the Packard Center's 9th Annual Symposium in April.

Zebrafish, she recently found, can create new motor neurons from stem cells that normally lie dormant in an adult spinal cord. She has hopes that what she's now uncovering in zebrafish will lead to therapy for ALS patients.

But also, as one of some 20 ALS researchers at the MacDonald Centre in Scotland, Becker and her colleagues extend Packard's scientific reach internationally in a new collaborative way. Now the American and Scottish organizations are formally research partners.

Packard Director Jeff Rothstein has had his eye on the MacDonald Centre since it opened in 2007. The two MacDonalds who underwrote the Scottish organization - Donald MacDonald and son Euan - had consulted with Rothstein after Euan was diagnosed with ALS.

Thus, a new cross-Atlantic tie was formed. And the fact that the MacDonald family helped raise funds for the Packard Center strengthened the bond.

Just as Packard's home base is in a haven of stem cell science at Johns Hopkins, the MacDonald Centre holds close ties with the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Neuroregeneration and MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, a facility dedicated to developing useful stem cell lines and exploring their therapeutic possibilities.

Ian Wilmut, for example, who headed the cloning of Dolly the sheep, is Director of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine. He now investigates ways to tailor stem cells to heighten chances that the cause of diseases such as ALS will stand out.

Besides Becker's work, her MacDonald - and now Packard - stem cell colleagues investigate what turns on dormant stem cells. They explore how stem cells produce specialized motor neurons, which is also a key to repair.

To get an idea of the breadth of MacDonald Centre research, click onto: www.euanmacdonaldcentre.com/researchers.html