Science and discovery spurs clinical trial CWRU researchers lay
groundwork for joint effort with local hospitals Arnold Caplan,
a biology professor at Case Western Reserve University, had long
studied mesenchymal stem cells, adult stem cells culled from
bone marrow, as building blocks for engineered tissues and
organs. Robert Miller, a professor of neurosciences and vice
dean for research at the Case Western Reserve University School
of Medicine, had spent his career studying neural development,
with a focus on treatments for multiple sclerosis. They met at a
Research Showcase in 2003 and decided they should work together.
“We knew MSCs differentiate into bone and tendon and other
connective tissues, but we were just beginning to understand
they also provide healing instructions at the site of injury,”
Caplan, said. Miller was looking for therapies for diseases that
attack myelin, the protective coating that wraps nerves’ long
axons. In MS, the immune system attacks the myelin and the
exposed nerves’ intricat