Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2018 - 10

ROUNDS / RESEARCH

Rewiring cells to create
an arthritis vaccine

ADMINISTRATOR NEWS
The Bristol-Myers Squibb
Children's Hospital named John
Gantner president and CEO.

New SMART cell method provides hope for improved
treatment of chronic conditions in kids and adults.

Children's Hospital Colorado
named Raphe Schwartz chief
strategy officer.

Children's Hospital, New
Orleans named John R. Nickens
president and CEO.

sing a new gene-editing technology,
researchers at Shriners Hospitals
for Children-St. Louis and Washington
University School of Medicine have rewired living cells to produce a targeted
arthritis-fighting vaccine. These stem
cells modified for autonomous regenerative therapy (SMART cells) could offer
more targeted treatment options for children and adults with inflammatory and
chronic conditions.
Unlike current arthritis medications
that are administered continuously and at
high doses, these SMART cells can sense
arthritis inflammation in a particular joint
and make their own natural antidote to
combat it as needed.
The senior author of a study highlighting
the work, published in Stem Cell Reports,
says children with juvenile arthritis could
benefit significantly as many of the current treatment options cause unwanted
side effects and may not be appropriate for
children. "Our goal is to deliver a therapy
that is self-regulating and targeted specifically to inflammation in a particular joint,
as opposed to current drug therapies that
impact the immune response throughout
the entire body," says Farshid Guilak, Ph.D.,
director of research at Shriners Hospitals

for Children-St. Louis and professor
of orthopaedic surgery at Washington
University School of Medicine.
To date, SMART cells have only been
engineered in a lab using cells from mice.
While human clinical trials are a few
years away, the SMART cell method could
also revolutionize treatments for many
other conditions.
"The hope is that we can grow living
bone, cartilage and whole joints that are
resistant to arthritis and eventually other
inflammatory diseases, too," says Guilak.
"This could help adults and children suffering from juvenile, rheumatoid and other
forms of arthritis, as well as other orthopaedic conditions."
Last year, a Shriners Hospitals' research
team lead by Guilak created a living tissue
hip joint replacement for patients currently receiving synthetic replacement joints
that eventually wear out. This advancement is key for children who need replacement joints, since a living joint could grow
with the child. SMART cell technology is
also being combined with this discovery
to grow a living joint with these same
disease-fighting properties.
Share your hospital's latest research.
Email magazine@childrenshospitals.org.

Children's Hospital of Richmond
at VCU named Elias Neujahr CEO.
Children's Minnesota named
Marc Gorelick president and CEO.
Connecticut Children's Medical
Center named Gil Peri president
and COO.
Dell Children's Medical Center
of Central Texas named
Christopher Born president and
Elizabeth Fredeboelling CNO.
Doernbecher Children's
Hospital at Oregon Health &
Science University named Mary
Beth Martin vice president,
women's and children's services.
El Paso Children's Hospital
named Cindy Stout president
and CEO.
Hennepin County Medical Center
named Emily Blomberg COO.
Phoenix Children's Hospital
named Doug Myers executive vice
president and CFO.
St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
and St. Joseph's Women's
Hospital named Sandra Brooks,
M.D., vice president and chief
medical officer.

HOSPITAL NEWS
Miami Children's Health System
changed its name to Nicklaus
Children's Health.
Women & Children's Hospital of
Buffalo, in New York, changed
its name to John R. Oishei
Children's Hospital.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2018