Accelerating New Parts for People with $1M Grant

Methuselah Foundation contributed $1 million to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to fund its development of engineered replacement brain structures.

Jean M. Hébert, professor of neurosciences and genetics at Einstein, leads a team searching for ways to correct age-related neurological damage by removing the damage and replacing it at the small tissue level without losing memories or self-identity. Aging is a leading risk factor for most common neurodegenerative diseases, including strokes, brain tumors, aneurysms, cognitive impairments and dementias. 

“Neurological disease takes an enormous toll on older individuals and their families,” said David Gobel, the Foundation’s CEO. “Dr. Hébert’s team is trying to achieve for the brain what medicine has long done with other parts of the body: Replace damaged tissue.  

The human body has 40 major cell types incorporated into organ systems. In order to create new parts for people, the Methuselah Foundation helped start the first commercial 3D printing company which led to accurate liver and kidney models. Progress is moving forward on bowel, skin, heart and other tissues. 

“We are grateful for Methuselah Foundation’s support,” said Hébert. “The financial backing will certainly accelerate our progress, but the Foundation’s recognition of our work is equally important.  The Foundation has spent more than 20 years at the forefront of aging research and finding cures for age-related disease.” 

The Hébert group is developing a protocol to reverse age-related brain damage by clearing damaged or degenerating tissue, then depositing precursor brain cells in the cleared area. The neural cells differentiate and form connections with appropriate targets in the brain, restoring brain function.

Animal free medical trials will drive further progress. The most difficult complex tissue in the known universe is the human brain. Einstein College of Medicine’s Jean Hébert’s team are taking on this challenge which can lead to repair of brain lesions such as in stroke victims. While total brain replacement is rightly science fiction, it is completely plausible to repair and replace damaged sections of the brain which could appear via this research by 2030.