Interesting Article: "Encouraging era for treating Down syndrome"

Encouraging era for treating Down syndrome

Ashley Sanchez, Regular Contributor

Clinical trials for Down syndrome? A Down syndrome research lab right here in Austin? Attend college my oldest daughter?

My head is spinning. After 19 years of intimate familiarity with Down syndrome (our first child, Cristina, was born with it in 1992), I thought I was up to speed on the genetic condition that causes cognitive impairment. I'm delighted to learn that I was wrong.

Dr. Jon Pierce-Shimomura is an assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas who is conducting research on Down syndrome as well as utilizing the skills of adults with Down syndrome to conduct research. Pierce-Shimomura's passion is contagious, and it's personal. His 10-year-old son Ocean has Down syndrome.

When I visited Pierce-Shimomura's lab recently, he enthusiastically showed me C. elegans and explained why he believes that the tiny worms hold such promise in finding treatments for Down syndrome, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

The worms, approximately 1 millimeter in length, have roughly the same 25,000 genes that we humans have. Because they are translucent, it is easy to peer inside of them with a microscope, and they have a brief life cycle — up to about two weeks, "if you pamper them," he said. Thus, C. elegans are middle-aged when they are 5 days old, making it efficient for researchers to study numerous treatment approaches for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in a short period of time.

Pierce-Shimomura, along with Dr. Adela Ben-Yakar in the school of engineering, received a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study Alzheimer's on worm models of Down syndrome. Pierce-Shimomura explained that it's hard to predict what people in the general population will develop Alzheimer's, but we know that almost everyone with Down syndrome will. Thus, "It's people with Down syndrome who are most likely to lead to the first drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease."

Pierce-Shimomura is one of several researchers who in recent years has begun to study treatments for Down syndrome. In fact, pharmaceutical giant Roche has just initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of a drug to improve cognition in people with Down syndrome.

The Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation was founded seven years ago to help spur on such research. NIH funding for Down syndrome research has lagged that of other conditions. For example, according the foundation, although 400,000 Americans have Down syndrome, the NIH devoted only $55 per capita on research, compared with $2,867 per capita on research for Cystic Fibrosis, which affects 30,000 Americans.

Those of us who love someone with Down syndrome share part of the blame for the inadequate funding. While other advocacy groups aggressively sought research funding, we've focused our efforts elsewhere: advocating for better education, jobs and integration within our communities for our sons and daughters. We've been relatively successful. Even without treatment, our children have succeeded in school, found a wider variety of job opportunities and achieved varying levels of independence. Now a few innovative colleges are finding creative ways to serve our students.

"I am personally trying to open the doors for people with intellectual disabilities at the college level," Pierce-Shimomura. "They've done so well at K-12, there's no reason why they can't shine at college."

Twice a year, he offers a six-week science course for approximately 10 students with Down syndrome and five UT students. During the most recent session, the students were conducting research with C. elegans to study Parkinson's disease. Pierce-Shimomura has applied for a grant to be able to hire a couple of the students to help with research in his lab part time.

We're entering an incredible era, one in which students with Down syndrome might be able to hold jobs in a research lab, attend class on college campuses and get treatment to improve cognition. For those opportunities to come to fruition, however, we need vastly improved funding for research, and we need a widespread effort by colleges and universities to explore innovative ways to welcome these students.
It's exciting to know that right here in Austin, Jon Pierce-Shimomura is helping usher in this era.

Sanchez lives in Cedar Park.