The opportunity
Develop new treatments for neurological disorders and injuries, find ways to repair or replace damaged tissues and organs, and ultimately improve human healthspan and quality of life.
From “The BIG Future: “Regenerative Medicine” and a New Era of Healthcare Science” (January 2023)
We are quickly learning how to grow replacement tissues and organs in a lab, and how to stimulate the body’s own repair mechanisms to deal with disease or accident-driven tissue damage . The acceleration of regenerative medicine is perhaps the most exciting, and most staggering of all trends in the world of healthcare science - leading us to a world that involves significant new opportunities to deal with disease, aging, accidents, and more!
And frogs. We can’t forget frogs! Salamanders do it. So do starfish. And now scientists have shown that frogs can regenerate amputated limbs, once their stumps have been treated with a multidrug “cocktail.” The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, represent a notable advance in the field of regenerative medicine, which aims to replace human tissues and organs to restore normal function.
Overall, the field of regenerative medicine is full of big, bold, audacious goals. Research is underway to determine how to repair damaged heart tissue to deal with cardiovascular disease, which would include developing lab-grown blood vessels and heart valves. In the field of neurological science, research is underway into repairing damaged spinal cord tissue and brain injuries to help deal with stroke and spinal cord injuries. The concept of regenerating insulin-producing cells in the pancreas might help to provide a pathway to cure diabetes. Techniques are being explored on how to use regenerative science to accelerate the healing of wounds. The National Eye Institute? A recent press release suggested that they might see real results providing significant vision solutions within the decade.
From “Daily Inspiration: “Only those who dare to pursue the boldest of visions and the most outrageous of goals ever achieve the greatest of outcomes!”” (January 2023)
The acceleration of regenerative medicine is perhaps the most exciting, and most staggering of all trends in the world of healthcare science - leading us to a world that involves significant new opportunities to deal with disease, aging, accidents and more.”
And then, while catching up on my research yesterday, I came across the National Eye Institute’s Audacious Goals Initiative . This phrase immediately captured my attention and imagination! The Audacious Goals Initiative (AGI) for Regenerative Medicine is an effort by the National Eye Institute (NEI) to push the boundaries of vision science and restore vision through regeneration of the retina.
Overall, the field of regenerative medicine is full of big, bold, audacious goals. Research is underway to determine how to repair damaged heart tissue to deal with cardiovascular disease, which would include developing lab-grown blood vessels and heart valves. In the field of neurological science, research is underway into repairing damaged spinal cord tissue and brain injuries to help deal with stroke and spinal cord injuries. The concept of regenerating insulin-producing cells in the pancreas might help to provide a pathway to cure diabetes. Techniques are being explored as to how to use regenerative science to accelerate the healing of wounds. The National Eye Institute? A recent press release suggested that they might see real results providing significant vision solutions within the decade.
From “The BIG Future: Brain Science and the Acceleration of Neurological Care” (February 2023)
I am defined by the hope that we might see this, and many other neurological and nervous systems conditions vanquished in the years to come as the result of the acceleration of the science of the brain. That’s the focus of this trend - we are busy trying to unlock the mysteries of the brain, the methodologies of the nervous system, and the science of mental care. It’s one of the BIGGEST of my BIG Future series.
Yet neuroscience - or brain science, for lack of a better term - is at an inflection point, where advances in technology and science are fertile ground for innovation to such a degree that we might see significant breakthroughs in how we better understand the disease, develop treatments and manage risk going forward. As I would often point out on stage, when it comes to the aging of society, which is but one element of this aspect of healthcare and health science: “One of the most significant challenges of our time has to do with seniors care - but there is a chance that what we did with heart health in the 20th century, we can repeat with brain health in the 21st century.”
First, we are accelerating the very nature of the science of brain disease: The initial projects funded under the ATN focus on four key areas of need for neurological and psychiatric disorders: developing biomarkers to track disease progression and the effectiveness of future therapies; understanding molecular pathways of protein breakdown that drive disease; parsing genetic and protein profiles linked to CNS disorders; and developing therapeutics for brain diseases based on CRISPR technologies.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
The BIG Future: “Regenerative Medicine” and a New Era of Healthcare Science
Daily Inspiration: “Only those who dare to pursue the boldest of visions and the most outrageous of goals ever achieve the greatest of outcomes!”
The BIG Future: Brain Science and the Acceleration of Neurological Care