Mark Zern

On the omnipotent cells that are the foundation for every organ in the body rests the hope for a better future. From youngsters suffering debilitating diseases to adults in need of transplants, stem cells have the potential to change the world of medicine and health care as we know it. Because these tiny units of life have the ability to develop into specialized tissues and organs, or become cells that could overcome the toughest health problems, they represent some of the most exciting research ever done at UC Davis.

For Mark Zern, the loss of a 33-year-old patient with from the hepatitis C he acquired during blood transfusions for hemophilia, is what prompted him to focus his research work on stem cells.

“I think of that man when people ask me why I do what I do,” Zern said. “It is terribly unfortunately that he died so young, leaving behind his two young children.”

As a physician, Zern sees the imbalance that exists between people who need new livers and the organs available for transplant. According to Zern, some 10 million people have liver diseases such as hepatitis C. Of those, about 100,000 need new livers but surgeons across the United State only are able to do about 5,000 liver transplants each year because of the few livers that are available, he said.

“There are not nearly enough livers to go around for the people who need them,” said Zern, a School of Medicine professor and director of UC Davis' transplant research program in Sacramento. As a researcher and scientist, Zern is exploring options that one day could make liver transplants obsolete.

“A good source of liver cells would be beneficial to many, many people,” Zern says. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to divide into other cell types, including liver cells. “If we could get a liver cell line that was immortal – one that could divide and grow indefinitely – then we could give new liver cells to anyone who needs them.”

At UC Davis, Zern is one of about a dozen researchers currently investigating stem cells, an effort that one day could lead to treatments in everything from cancer and cardiovascular diseases to neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. While he and his colleagues say the use of stem cells for treatments or organ replacement is likely years away, leading edge research is in full motion throughout the campus.

That effort was further enhanced recently when the state's Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) – the committee created by California's voter-approved stem cell initiative in 2004 – gave pending approval to a UC Davis research training grant proposal. When funding is available from the new agency, UC Davis is in line to receive $2.6 million, which will be used to fund training for a dozen new stem cell scientists.

Back in Sacramento, in his work to coax stem cells into becoming healthy liver cells, Mark Zern is hopeful that one day the healthy cells may be injected directly into a patient's bloodstream to replace diseased cells in the liver.

Zern is also trying to identify the best medium for stimulating stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Once found, he is a step closer to developing a human liver-like line of stem cells that one day may be effective for cell-based therapies.

“Clearly, my goal in this research is to design therapies that could be easier and more effective than the traditional, whole organ transplants of today,” Zern said.

He is also studying the potential for using these cells to create a liver dialysis system that could act as an artificial liver. Another of Zern's research projects explores the use of stem cells in the development of bio-artificial organs.

Such investigations require enormous funding. Zern's work is possible thanks in part to the generosity of Sacramento philanthropist Pat Anderson. The widow of the late Fred Anderson, founder of Sacramento-based Pacific Coast Building Products Inc., she established the Fred and Pat Anderson Endowed Chair in Transplant Research with a gift to UC Davis of $1.5 million.

Endowed chairs like the Anderson chair are a traditional method for building an academic program and the prestige of an institution. At UC Davis, an endowed chair provides support in perpetuity for a particular area of teaching and research and honors the chair holder by furnishing income for special teaching, research and service activities. Anderson's decision to support Zern's research efforts was a personal one. Her adult son, Jim, waited two years for a liver donation to finally become available.

“I don't want other families to go through what our family went through,” she said. “Research holds the best promise for successfully treating those in need of a transplant.”