Dr. Philip F. Halloran

Developing tests to detect and measure organ transplant rejection

University of Alberta teams awarded $18 million to study organ transplant rejection mechanisms and small molecule metabolites as markers for disease

Approximately 200,000 people in the USA and Canada are alive today because of organ transplants. But despite recent progress in organ transplantation, the immune response to foreign tissue remains an obstacle to success. Powerful drugs are needed to prevent rejection. Moreover, better methods of detecting and measuring rejection are needed.

A University of Alberta research project called Diagnostic Applications of Microarrays in Organ Transplantation, recently funded by a federal funding agency, has been created to develop tests that can determine when rejection is present and when it is not, so that patients can be managed more effectively, with fewer side effects.

Philip Halloran, Director of the Alberta Transplant Institute, believes that the new technology of microarrays—or gene chips—may be the solution. "Microarrays allow the expression of many thousands of genes to be measured on one tiny chip. Made like computer chips, these tools could provide a powerful new window on diseases."

Dr. Halloran’s team will develop microarrays as tests to detect and measure rejection mechanisms, and will validate these tests in the field using a large-scale international clinical study.

"The new gene chip technology has as much potential for understanding diseases as the telescope had when Galileo first looked at the night sky," says Dr. Halloran.

The transplantation researchers work here at the U of A and within the regional health authority based in Edmonton. The Alberta Transplant Institute will conduct clinical and biological studies in transplant patients, in parallel with experimental studies, which will create new ways of looking at transplant patients to improve outcomes through more precise diagnosis. The researchers also expect their work will also aid in drug development by defining and measuring treatment mechanisms, some of which will be applicable to other organ diseases.

This project aligns with the objectives of Genome Canada to capture the power of new technologies to improve diagnosis and treatment of human health problems. The potential benefits to Canadians resulting from this initiative include improved health for organ transplant recipients, opportunities for investment and patents, and extension of this powerful technology to other health problems involving organ diseases, with a goal of preventing organ failure and reducing the burden of chronic disease.

Half of the funding will be provided by Genome Canada and half by other partners. Genome Prairie, which is managing and financing genomics infrastructure and research projects in the Prairie Provinces, will be receiving more than $18 million, shared between the two projects at the University of Alberta.

The second project is led by David Wishart’s team and will focus on the identification and quantification of known and unknown metabolites in human tissues and fluids. The expectation is that these small molecules will serve as sensitive and accurate markers for human diseases and treatment responses. Dr. Wishart suggests that "when the human metabolome is completed in 2006, it will be an important milestone for Canadian science—a milestone that may eventually rival the human genome in its importance."

"These new investments will contribute significantly to further developing the already strong research and training environment in genomics across the Prairies", said Randy Johnston, President and CEO of Genome Prairie.

Genome Canada is the primary funding and information resource relating to genomics and proteomics in Canada. Dedicated to developing and implementing a national strategy in genomics and proteomics research for the benefit of all Canadians, it has so far received $375 million from the Government of Canada.

For further information, please contact Dr. Philip F. Halloran using the Email contact form or by phone at 780 407-8880