Houston's Own Kelsey Research Foundation is Leading the Way in Human Microbiome Studies
For decades, and even in the present day, science fiction films and TV shows have tried to depict utopian visions of the future. A common theme in these stories is a medical world where once-awful diseases are now cured by swallowing a simple pill.
Well, in Houston, that future is now.
Kelsey Research Foundation, founded in 1956, has emerged as a medical research leader dedicated to harnessing the microbiome to improve health and treat and prevent disease through cutting edge research.
The foundation has recently made a breakthrough in the field of gut restoration, specifically the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection, or C. diff, a hospital-acquired bacterial infection of the gastrointestinal tract that plagues about 500,000 people a year with pain and watery stools. The answer, as it turns out, might be a tiny pill developed by Kelsey scientists. And perhaps even more exciting is the fact that the research that led to the pill’s discovery might be the key to unlocking cures for dozens of other diseases.
“We want to see how far this goes,” said Kelsey president and CEO Herbert DuPont, MD. “The number of diseases associated with an abnormal intestinal microbiome is immense. We’re talking about obesity to Parkinson’s to Type 2 diabetes and conditions between.”
Dr. DuPont, who holds the Mary W. Kelsey Distinguished Chair in Medical Sciences at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, is a foremost authority on the study of disease, particularly those that affect the gut. He graduated from medical school in 1965 with dreams of being a cardiologist, but at the time, most doctors were being drafted into the military. He felt the best way to be of service was to complete his tour of duty with the Centers for Disease Control as an epidemic intelligence service officer. The CDC assigned him to the University of Maryland, where he was to study causes of intestinal disease, specifically to find a vaccine for diarrhea, which was plaguing Americans both in the jungles of Vietnam and here at home.
“Early on, right out of my training, I was thrown into the gastrointestinal tract,” DuPont said. “And I’ve never left.”
For decades, the only way to treat C. diff was through harmful antibiotics and invasive colonoscopies. These helped eliminate the organisms that ate away at the intestines but left the spores, which would then grow to replace the pesky organisms, creating a vicious cycle. DuPont and his team developed this new pill, comprised of fecal transplants that settle in the gut and essentially crowd the C. diff spores out of the microbiome. The first capsule was produced in 2015, and the cure rate in research subjects with recurrent C. diff currently is 90 percent.
Spurred by an increasing prevalence of recognized digestive disorders and a rise in popular interest in probiotics, DuPont and Kelsey Research Foundation feel this is the ideal time for this new microbiomecentric approach to treating a host of other ailments, including chronic neurological diseases like Parkinson’s disease, metabolic disorders like fatty liver, and, of course, other intestinal tract issues like irritable bowel syndrome, which alone affects 15 percent of the U.S. population.
“There are hundreds of thousands of miserable people desperate for treatment, realizing antibiotics will not cure them,” said DuPont. “Many embrace this technology without hesitation.”
Of course, Kelsey Research Foundation would not be able to do this crucial work without the support of the community. “In order to conduct these trials, we have to raise the funds,” said DuPont. Government grants help, but much of the money must come from philanthropy.
On October 17, members of the Kelsey family hosted the Live Oak Legacy Dinner at River Oaks Country Club, which raised over $450,000 for the KRF-UTHealth Microbiome Center. The dinner featured guest speaker Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-author with Dr. Oz of four #1 New York Times best sellers: YOU: The Owner’s Manual series.
“We don’t know where this technology will lead us,” said DuPont. “We want to be at the forefront of that particular movement.”
“We want to be the pioneers.”
Visit www.KelseyResearch.com to learn more about the Kelsey Research Foundation’s groundbreaking studies and ways you can get involved.