Research involving animals has contributed to advances at the University of Pittsburgh in areas ranging from movement and vision to cancer treatment and tissue repair. Explore examples of how this work helps scientists understand disease and develop potential treatments.
Movement and Recovery
Restoring Arm and Hand Movement After Stroke
University of Pittsburgh researchers used spinal cord stimulation to restore arm and hand movement and strength in stroke patients. The approach, which continues to show promise in human studies, was first tested in animals.
Vision, Hearing and Balance
Helping the Cornea Heal
A Pitt laboratory used a mouse model to demonstrate that a "living eye drop" made from genetically engineered protective bacteria can help the cornea heal more quickly after injury.
Improving Vision With a Prosthetic System
In international clinical trials, more than 80% of participants with age-related macular degeneration achieved clinically meaningful improvements in vision using a prosthetic vision system. Before the human trials, the system was tested in animal models at other institutions.
Building a Foundation for Personalized Hearing Care
Pitt researchers are using cross-species methods to build the foundation for precision audiology, an approach in which each patient receives an individualized hearing profile.
Understanding Balance Disorders
Insights from studies in animal models are informing scientists' understanding of vestibular disorders, which affect balance.
Tissue Repair and Regeneration
Reprogramming Skin Cells
A Pitt team used mouse models to develop a technology that reprograms skin cells to take on functions of other cells and tissues. A small silicon chip touches the skin and delivers genetic instructions through electrical pulses.
This approach could help heal wounds complicated by diabetes, address diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and potentially manage blood glucose through regenerative medicine.
Supporting Muscle and Tissue Repair
Another Pitt team used biological scaffolds made from an extracellular matrix derived from pig tissue to promote tissue repair and reconstruction. In people, the technique has been shown to regrow muscle tissue lost through battlefield wounds and other serious injuries.
Emergency and Trauma Care
Testing Automated Resuscitation
Physician-scientists tested an autonomous resuscitation system in pigs with severe traumatic injuries. The system kept animals with internal traumatic bleeding alive for more than three hours without human intervention. It also operated successfully during ground and air transport to and from the laboratory.
Researchers believe the system could help save military personnel injured on remote battlefields and civilians injured in mass casualty events or in rural areas far from advanced medical care.
Cancer Treatment
Exploring Low-Dose Radiation Treatments
Studies in mouse models found that low-dose radiopharmaceuticals—delivering up to 100 times less radiation than the standard tumor-killing dose—can kill tumor cells and activate an immune response against the remaining cells.
The finding is guiding the development of personalized low-dose radiotherapy.
Infectious Disease Prevention
Preparing for Potential Avian Flu Outbreaks
A Pitt team is using an animal model to test and validate preventive approaches that could offer rapid protection for people if an avian flu outbreak occurs.
