UI Prof Has Grown Attached To Nerves Nih Grant To Let Laskowski Continue 14 Years Of Work

University of Idaho Professor and researcher Michael Laskowski has spent 14 years studying nerves, and thanks to a grant from the National Institute of Health, he’ll continue poking at people’s nerves for at least another four.

Laskowski’s work focuses on how broken nerves regenerate, specifically how the nerves know what direction to grow to reattach themselves. The NIH has granted Laskowski $650,000 to continue his research in the hope it may one day help victims of spinal cord, brain or other nerve injuries recover more quickly.

The nervous system is one of the most complex parts of the human anatomy, and scientists are continually looking for information explaining how nerves work, grow and heal.

In studying spinal cords and the nerve-muscle system through the years, Laskowski discovered a family of molecules acting as a guide, showing the healing nerve what direction to go to reattach itself. Other researchers, working on optic nerve and brain research, found the same family of molecules in those areas.

Laskowski says their combined research could help doctors eventually create a “molecule cocktail” for victims of nerve injuries to speed the healing process along.

“And the same family (of molecules) seems to be present in worms, rats, monkeys and humans,” Laskowski said.

Laskowski, who received his neurophysiology doctorate in 1970 from the University of Oklahoma, is also the UI director for WWAMI - a collaborative medical school program involving students from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Leading 16 students through their first year of medical school leaves him about 35 percent of his time for research.

The NIH grant will help pay for two graduate students and two lab technicians working with Laskowski on the nerve research. It will also allow Laskowski to take a sabbatical, beginning in January, to explore the genetics of nerve regeneration.

“The goal is to identify the molecules and see whether we can identify the genes that control these molecules,” Laskowski said. “Once we’ve identified the genetics, we can start working on some kind of molecule cocktail for doctors to give victims of some nerve traumas.”

The research 14 years ago began by simply cutting nerves and watching how they grew back. By just observing the regeneration process, Laskowski found the nerves grew along a selective path, leading to his nearly two decades of playing with people’s nerves. Discovering nerves can grow selectively, in a specific direction, was a break-through for Laskowski, and he hopes the cooperative efforts of his program and others like it will lead to some direct medical benefits.

“The long-term goal, and it probably won’t happen in my career, is to synthesize molecules like the ones we found,” Laskowski said.

“Then we can use them in spinal cords or optic nerves or other areas where they might work.”