RIRC Growth and Development
1996 The Reeve-Irvine Research Center (RIRC) is launched! Mrs. Joan-Irvine Smith provides $1 million to start a spinal cord injury (SCI) research center and invites Christopher Reeve to participate; Mr. Reeve gladly accepts the challenge.
1999 The University of California, Irvine (UCI) recruits Dr. Oswald Steward as Director. He begins to create a research facility dedicated to collaboration, cooperation and communication within the California, national and international SCI research communities.
1999 Dr. Steward invites 14 UCI faculty members to become Center Associates to expand the amount, type and quality of SCI research. Each collaborates with RIRC, but maintains their own laboratories and funding.
1999 Scientific Steering Committee of top California SCI researchers is established.
2000 Dr. Hans Keirstead, a myelin expert, joins the RIRC team through the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology.
2000 Assemblyman John Dutra sponsors AB 750 (the Roman Reed Bill) and Governor Gray Davis signs it into law. RIRC is selected to administer $1-2 million per year to support California SCI research.
2002 RIRC recruits Dr. Aileen Anderson to Center faculty position through the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Anderson comes from an Alzheimer's background and brings a fresh perspective to SCI.
2004 Dr. Kim Anderson becomes an Assistant Professor with the RIRC through the department of Neurosurgery. Her research focuses on bringing issues important to people with SCI into the laboratory.
2004 Dr. Oswald Steward is appointed to California's Independent Citizens Oversight Committee for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (prop 71) by Gov Schwarzenegger.
2005 Dr. Hans Keirstead is awarded UCI's Distinguished Assistant Professor Award. Recipients of this prestigious award are nominated by their UCI colleagues for research that has had a major impact on the field and is bringing distinction to UCI.
SCI Research
2000 Dr. Keirstead explores the clinical potential of changing the injury environment by temporarily removing myelin (the insulation around an axon that allows messages to be sent, but which also stops axons from regrowing) from around the injury site, and filling the injury site with Schwann cells (that from a bridge through the damaged area), thereby encouraging neuronal regeneration.
2001 Dr. Hans Keirstead and UCI's MS expert Dr. Tom Lane form a research collaboration and develop a technique to minimize secondary damage by stopping a one small part of the immune response. Results in rodents indicate recovery of walking. For humans this treatment would be given within hours of injury via injections into the existing IV.
2001 In collaboration with Dr. Ramon-Cueto , Univ. of Madrid, and Dr. Mary Bunge, Miami project, the Center begins replication of experiment that shows recovery of function after Olfactory Ensheathing Glia (OEG) implantation. OEGs are support cells that help olfactory (smell) neurons regenerate on a regular basis, these are one of the only central nervous system neurons to regenerate in normal adults.
2001 NIH gives Dr. Keirstead pure human OEGs, which he uses to build on the earlier OEG replication study.
2002 Dr. Steward explores genetics of mouse wound healing response. Following SCI, mice do not form a hole in their spinal cord, like all other mammals, a phenomena that Steward believes may be related to a single gene. The goal of these studies is translating mouse wound healing abilities to other mammals, including humans.
2002 Dr. David Reinkensmeyer, an aerospace engineer and Center Associate, works to develop robotic step trainers for humans and rodents. The robots measure and control walking on a treadmill, which even people with complete SCI can do with training.
2002 Dr. Aileen Anderson explores the role of the compliment cascade, a critical component of the immune system, following SCI with the goal of preventing secondary damage
2003 RIRC awarded 2.6 million contract from NIH to undertake replication studies and to develop outcome measures for SCI research, key areas of research for translating animal studies in to human treatments.
2003 Dr. Keirstead creates Ability Biomedical to carry out preclinical studies on immune system modulator developed with Dr. Lane.
2003 Dr. Kim Anderson carries out survey asking people with SCI what function they would most like to have returned. Answer surprises SCI researchers as bladder and sexual function top walking.
2004 Dr. Aileen Anderson expands research to include recovery of bladder function, and Dr. Keirstead develops method for analyzing bladder function in rodents using ultrasound technology.
2004 Dr. Kim Anderson develops cervical model for studying hand function in rodents.
2004 Ability Biomedical is sold to Medarex who announced a clinical trail using the treatment would begin in 2005.
2004 Dr. Steward studies the role of Nogo in regeneration, examining axonal regrowth in transgenic models.
2005 Dr. Kim Anderson and RIRC plan experiments in collaboration with UCI's General Clinical Research Center to study the impact of exercise on various complications associated with chronic SCI.
Stem Cell Research
2001 Dr. Keirstead signs an agreement with Geron Corp, and obtains competitive matching funds from BioSTAR. Dr. Keirstead is the first to use federally approved lines of human embryonic stem cells for SCI.
2002 In groundbreaking work, Dr. Keirstead develops way to turn pure human embryonic stem cells into high purity populations of adult oligodendrocytes, the myelin makers of the central nervous system and an important component for neural repair.
2002 Dr. Aileen Anderson signs agreement with Stem Cell, Inc. and begins work with human neural stem cells.
2003 Drs. Keirstead and Steward begin a stem cell transplantation study using rats with chronic (long-term) spinal injuries.
2004 Dr. Keirstead named interim co-director of the University of California, Irvine's Stem Cell Program
2005 Dr. Keirstead publishes Differentiation of oligodendrocytes in high-purity from human embryonic stem cells in the journal Glia and Remyelination and locomotor recovery follows transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitors into acute but not chronic spinal cord injuries in The Journal of Neuroscience.
2005 Dr. Anderson publishes Human neural stem cells differentiate and promote behavioral improvements in spinal cord injured mice in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Meetings / Public Outreach
2000 RIRC sponsors the California Spinal Cord Injury / Neural Regeneration Consortium meeting. The meeting brings top California SCI scientists together to share ideas and discuss the direction of SCI/regeneration research. This becomes an annual meeting.
2000 UCI Brain Awareness week event, hosted by RIRC, invites public to tour Center and attend talks by Center faculty and associates.
2000 First edition of RIRC newsletter, Spinal Connections, is published. Spinal Connections is a bi-yearly publication that provides information on Center happenings and developments in the field of SCI.
2001 RIRC establishes Clinical Trials Database, which provides information about promising clinical trials and research developments.
2001 The second annual California Spinal Cord Injury / Neural Regeneration Consortium meeting brings the CA SCI research community together to discuss how best to spend the state Roman Reed SCI research funds. Out of this meeting come 2 primary funding initiatives: grants for novel SCI projects that might not otherwise be funded, and the establishment of a core laboratory that will expand the number and type of people working on SCI.
2002 The annual California Spinal Cord Injury/Neural Regeneration Consortium meeting is renamed the Roman Reed SCI Research Meeting and features scientists who received Roman Reed Research Awards. The meeting includes a session designed to bring people with SCI and researchers together to openly discuss issues that directly impact the lives of those suffering from SCI. Researchers use this information to carry out studies that focus on the immediate needs of people with SCI.
2002 RIRC and the Cody Unser First Step Foundation hold a conference for Transverse Myelitis (TM) research and clinical issues, over 100 Southern California residents attended. TM is a devastating virus that within hours creates an injury very similar to traumatic SCI.
2002 RIRC hosts Stand Together UCI providing information on recent research advances to a public audience over 80 strong. Stand Together is a grass roots movement that seeks to "put a face on SCI."
2003 The annual Roman Reed SCI Research Meeting builds on the public "Meet the Scientists" session by asking people with SCI to help researchers creating "targets for therapy", that is, problems that researchers can specifically target to dramatically improve quality of life.
2003 RIRC hosts events for Winners on Wheels, a non-profit social/educational program for children in wheel chairs, and children from the local community. The goal of these events is to introduce children to science, SCI, and what goes on in the laboratory.
2004 RIRC and Dr. Kim Anderson host Critical Issues Regarding Chronic Spinal Cord Injury and How to Prevent Serious Complications, an event to bring awareness of SCI complications to family practice doctors
2004 Reeve-Irvine Research Center remembers Christopher Reeve.
2004 RIRC celebrates its 5th birthday with an open house
2005 The annual Roman Reed SCI Research Meeting Meet the Scientists Forum attracts over 150 participant.
Education
2000 RIRC offers the Spinal Cord Injury Research Techniques course. The first of its kind, the course provides students and faculty from around the world intensive, hands-on training in the techniques, theory and logic of SCI research. The course is now an annual event and continues to gain international acclaim each year.
2002 RIRC hosts National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, introducing high school students to SCI research. This is now an annual event.
2003 RIRC hosts Kid's Day, which introduced local children and their parents to the labs with hands on activities.
2004 Dr. Hofstadter, Director of Education and Scientific Liaison, initiates public out reach program.
2005 Dr. Kim Anderson establishes the first Orange County Think First chapter, a head and spinal trauma prevention program that targets children and teens.
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