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Upstate Neurological Institute SUN Y UP STATE MEDICA L University Interim President Mantosh Dewan, MD, has announced the formation of the Upstate Neurological Institute. The new Institute unites two prominent departments — Neurology and Neurosurgery — to create the largest team dedicated to neurological disorders in Central New York. In addition to patient care within these core departments, the Neurological Institute membership will expand to include collaboration with the 14 other clinical and basic science departments at Upstate Medical University, which have services or research to improve the health of persons with neurological disorders. The setting supports the endeavor with many services that are one of a kind in the region. Upstate University Hospital has an entire hospital floor dedicated to patients with brain injuries. It was the region's first comprehensive stroke center and has a level-4 level epilepsy center. Advanced neurosurgical technologies include intra-operative MRI, minimally invasive robotic and laser surgery tools, and the region's only Gamma Knife. The Institute also is part of a medical university that offers robust neuroscience research aimed at treatments and cures. AN EXPLORATION OF POSSIBILITY The Brain Tumor Research Laboratory at SUNY Upstate Medical University is a unique resource that works hand in hand with the Department of Neurosurgery to enhance patient care and outcomes. "The laboratory is a research unit, a self-contained research facility that is completely integrated with the clinical mission of the Department of Neurosurgery," says Mariano Viapiano, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience and Director of the Brain Tumor Research laboratory. "We support the work of the clinicians by allowing them to perform research activities with clinical specimens. That research allows them to receive better details about the clinical case of the patients and more information about the tumors, enabling a better diagnosis and prognosis." Dr. Viapiano works with a multidisciplinary team of experts in the laboratory, including two senior scientists that are biochemists, two research fellows, one junior trainee and a laboratory manager, Sharon Longo. "Sharon has been lab manager for 24 years," Dr. Viapiano says. "I am fortunate to have her here. She runs day-to-day operations, and we have an outstanding relationship." Together, the specialists in the Brain Tumor Research labora- tory facilitate a bench to bedside pipeline to support clinical experts treating tumors associated with primary brain cancer, including glioma, neuroblastoma, rare tumors, skull-based tumors and brain metastases. For this pipeline, a clinician may collect a tumor specimen, with patient consent, during surgery to send to the lab. Dr. Viapiano's team performs genetic and molecular analysis on the specimen and can even reproduce the tumor. The research team can further investigate by administering experimental therapies. " We generate a wealth of information that we can provide back to the clinicians to improve the patient's diagnosis and prognosis," Dr. Viapiano says. "We can provide that information Frozen samples of brain cancer tumors can be carefully thawed, put in a nourishing medium and placed in a body-temperature incubator to bring them back to life at Upstate's Brain Tumor Research Laboratory. SUNY Upstate Medical University Interim President Mantosh Dewan, MD to pathologists, and they can initiate therapeutic strategies based on that data." The Brain Tumor Research Laboratory also has an established protocol for tissue collection, a llowing the team to collect specimens from every patient who consents to provide tumor tissue for research. "Collecting those specimens has helped us to create a large repository or tumor bank that we can use for research purposes." Additionally, if a physician thinks that a unique tumor case would be of particular importance, the lab may set up a protocol to reproduce the tumor in animal models or in vitro. "We are proud to have the best technology at the national level to provide care and the expertise we provide adds a whole component that allows us to evolve brain cancer care," Dr. Viapiano says. "If you refer your patients to Upstate, you can count on not only the highest standard of care but also the best standard of analytical services in diagnostic prognosis and research." For more information, visit upstate.edu/neuro. n M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A l N E W Y O R K ■ 2 0 2 0 0 9