FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Zoobiquity is a term that was coined when I was writing a book with Kathryn Bowers about the intersection of human and animal medicine. There’s a tremendous amount of commonality, which you might think is obvious. But, over centuries of modern human times, we’ve forgotten about how essentially animal we are.
- Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, professor of medicine, UCLA Division of Cardiology, co-author of the New York Times bestselling book, Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health
Nearly 200 people — including veterinarians, physicians, researchers, graduate students and aspiring veterinarians and doctors — attended Zoobiquity Colorado, a national meeting on regenerative medicine advances that was sponsored by the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University and the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Colorado.
Zoobiquity Colorado kicked off with a CSU showcase on Oct. 5, with seminars from some of the university’s leading researchers; tours of the C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute, the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and the Orthopaedic Research Center; and the opportunity to try out virtual reality and human anatomy programs developed in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.
CSU highlights orthopaedics, stem cell therapies
Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, University Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Orthopaedic Research Center, talked about pivotal events in his career that led to revolutionary developments in the use of arthroscopic surgery in race horses.
As a young veterinary surgery resident at Purdue University in 1976, McIlwraith attended an arthroscopic surgery class in human medicine. This was his first experience in translational research and medicine from a human patient to horse patients. And, yes, he was the only veterinarian in the class.
Initially there were more than a few skeptics arguing against the use of this procedure in horses. But McIlwraith helped silence those critics after he operated on Spend a Buck, an American thoroughbred, in late 1984. Five months after the procedure, Spend a Buck won the Kentucky Derby by more than five lengths, and led from start to finish.
“That’s what convinced most of the equine racing world about the benefits of arthroscopy,” said McIlwraith.
Now, the procedure is widely accepted for horses and has revolutionized care for equine patients in much the same way it did for humans.
Dr. Laurie Goodrich, a professor of orthopaedics in the Department of Clinical Sciences, explored the question: Why do we need regenerative medicine?
She discussed cartilage injuries in horses and the need for new therapies that would provide faster joint healing in equine patients. Stem cell therapy has shown promise in horses to treat osteoarthritis, and to help with cartilage repair and fracture healing as well as tendinopathy, a disease that causes tenderness and pain in tendons.
“We still need comparisons between the different types of stem cells that exist,” Goodrich said. “We need larger and more clinical trials. We hope to treat our patients better, faster and more effectively.”
Joining forces to save limbs
On Saturday, Oct. 6, keynote speakers included Professor Frank Barry from the University of Ireland Galway, whose research with goats inspired the use of stem cell therapies at CSU and Johnny Huard, director of the Center for Regenerative Sports Medicine at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, who talked about stems cells and aging.
Wei Lang and Dr. Lynne Boxer, a veterinarian, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, also addressed government regulation.
Read about a panel discussion on regenerative medicine at Zoobiquity Colorado from the University of Colorado.
Pairs of scientists and clinicians from human and veterinary medicine presented on topics including limb salvage, orthopaedic surgery, infection management, cancer, stem cell therapy, inflammation, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of inherited disorders that affect connective tissues.
Dr. Jason Stoneback, director of Orthopedic Trauma and Fracture Surgery at University of Colorado Hospital on the Anschutz campus, and Dr. Nicole Ehrhart, professor of surgical oncology at CSU, described the medical challenges that exist when trying to save a human or animal’s limb following cancer or an accident.
In humans, bones from the pelvis are used to repair a damaged limb, but there is typically a smaller amount of bone available than what is needed, said Stoneback, and infection is always a challenge.
Ehrhart described how pets develop limb-threatening conditions similar to humans. Given that sarcomas – cancers that grow in connective tissue – are much more common in pets than in humans, treating companion animals provides a way to learn more about the conditions. Unmet challenges in limb salvage surgery include overcoming high infection and implant failure rates, she said.
“We have the same problems [as human doctors] and some solutions on the horizon,” Ehrhart said. “By joining forces, there’s a lot more hope for the future.”