A new federal initiative aims to restore brain function lost through stroke, traumatic brain injury or dementia by regenerating damaged brain tissue using stem cell technology.
The programme focuses on the neocortex – the brain’s largest region responsible for movement, sensory processing and decision-making – long thought to be beyond repair once damaged.
Launched by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue (FRONT) programme will explore how adult-derived stem cells could be used to regenerate lost tissue and restore abilities such as speech, motor control and vision.
More than 20 million adults in the US are estimated to be living with chronic neocortical damage caused by stroke, trauma or neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Current treatments cannot reverse this type of injury.
Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said:“Millions of Americans are living with the damage caused by strokes and traumatic brain injuries.
“Current treatments are not enough. ARPA-H hopes to deploy regenerative medicine to transform the treatment of neurological diseases and relieve the suffering.”
The approach is based on neurodevelopmental science and will use dedifferentiated adult stem cells – mature cells that have been reprogrammed into a more flexible state – to create grafts for use in damaged areas of the brain.
Programme manager Jean Hebert said: “No existing technology can regenerate neocortical tissue and fully restore lost function.
“Our goal is to change that.”
ARPA-H acting director Jason Roos described brain injury as “a crisis that drains the US healthcare system by over a trillion dollars annually,” adding: “Millions of American families bear the overwhelming costs.”
If successful, the agency estimates the technology could save the US economy up to US$800bn a year, including regained taxable income from people currently unable to work.
The five-year programme will focus on two main areas: producing viable graft tissue from stem cells and developing the surgical techniques needed to implant and integrate that tissue into patients’ brains.
Researchers will work toward future human trials, guided by set performance targets.
