Feinstein Institutes Awarded $6.7M From NIH to Create First Human Vagus Nerve Anatomical Map
Summary
MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Like early pioneers tasked with creating the first geographic maps of the American frontier, scientists at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, supported by a $6.7 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will create a detailed map of the anatomy of the human vagus nerve one of the largest and most critical nerves controlling organ functions like heart rate, breathing, digestion, metabolism and immunological responses.The landmark funding is part of the NIH Common Funds Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program. The project, called Reconstructing Vagal Anatomy (REVA), will create and ultimately share with the scientific community a map of the anatomical connectivity of vagus nerve fibers from the brainstem, where the vagus nerve starts, all the way down to organs in the neck, chest and abdomen at detail and scope never done before.The three-year research study is led by the Feinstein Institutes Stavros Zanos, MD, PhD; collaborating scientists include Theodoros Zanos, PhD and Larry Miller, MD, from the Feinstein Institutes, Zeinab Nassrallah, PhD from Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and Mary Barbe, PhD from Temple University.The vagus nerve, with its thousands of sensory and motor fibers, continuously conveys large amounts of information between the brain and peripheral organs and, by doing so, it helps control and coordinate many basic physiological functions, said Dr. Stavros Zanos, associate professor in the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine at the Feinstein Institutes. All of that data will then be correlated and analyzed through artificial intelligence and computer vision algorithms to produce a multi-modal map of the vagus nerve and its fibers in unprecedented detail. The desired and undesired effects of VNS on body functions are determined by how bioelectronic devices stimulate nerve fibers. Knowledge of the detailed arrangement of vagal fibers will contribute to developing more effective and safe VNS devices to fight inflammation, restore homeostatic functions and help treat diseases.The vagus nerve is a principal super highway transmitting information in both directions between the brain and body; it can turn on and off our immune system, said Dr. Tracey, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research.