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Field Neurosciences Institute continues to set the pace for medical research in the Great Lakes Bay Region

Field Neurosciences Institute
FNI’s Executive Director, Gary Dunbar, PhD., gives Saginaw Township Chief of Police, Don Pussehl, a guided tour of the research lab.

 

The Field Neurosciences Institute (FNI) held its open house on Wednesday, August 25, to raise awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, and the need for special equipment and further research.

According to FNI’s Executive Director, Gary Dunbar, PhD., the research laboratory at Towne Centre Road in Saginaw Township, is focusing on ways to transform adult stem cells into more therapeutically viable cells by inserting certain genes into them that will allow them to become any type of cell.

For example, researchers have recently found a more efficient way of transforming bone marrow cells into neurospheres, a collection of stem cells that are able to become various types of brain cells. It is hoped that when these neurospheres are transplanted into an injured brain, they will help restore lost function.

On Friday, September 24, FNI is presenting its fall fundraiser, Field of Hope, Close to Home, to be presented at the Temple Theatre in Saginaw. It is FNI’s hope to acquire a 3-D fluorescent, time-lapse incubator microscope, allowing the observation of the entire life-span development of all kinds of cells.

Researchers will be able to observe, over long periods of time, how the cells change in size and shape when exposed to toxic environments that simulate trauma or disease to cells in the brain. With this sophisticated microscope setup, the ability to screen potential treatments for brain damage and injury will be accelerated, bringing us closer to finding effective treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, as well as stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Last September’s successful Field of Hope event resulted in the acquisition of a Flow Cytometer, allowing FNI researchers to select the best types of adult stem cells to be transplanted. According to Dr. Dunbar, evidence has already been provided that when properly selected, adult stem cells can survive longer after transplantation than most researchers thought possible.

Field of Hope, presented by Field Neurosciences Institute, will feature dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by a performance at 8:00 p.m., providing a glimpse of the vast Michigan talent that can be found Close to Home. Among the performers will be Dr. MeeAe Nam, Assistant Professor of Voice at Eastern Michigan University, Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, directed by Dr. Nam, Dave Bennett on the clarinet, and much more. Dr. Gary Dunbar, Ph.D., will show his command of voice and guitar when he and his son Gary also take the stage.

Tickets will be on sale Friday, August 27 at 8 a.m. Show only tickets can be purchased at the Temple Theatre (989) 754-SHOW. For further information, call 989-497-3117, or visit the Temple Theatre’s website at www.templetheatre.com or FNI’s website at www.fni.org.


 

 

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