by Dennis Foster Mickley

It’s 5:45 a.m., and Dr. Jack Kessler opens the door to his neurology lab at Northwestern University, as he has every weekday since 2001.

He sits down at his computer to review any questions from his researchers and answer a host of emails. His computer background is a smiling photograph of his 24-year-old daughter Allison and a framed portrait of his family hangs above the computer.

By 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. when he just can’t leave the research – he heads home to his family and later reads and plans the next day’s work on regenerating damaged spines.

Kessler, director of the Neuroscience Institute of Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, is one of the leading stem cell researchers in the country.

“This becomes an obsession,” Kessler said with blazing enthusiasm. “This becomes the driving force of life. It’s a very personal issue now.”

As with many consuming passions, this strength was born of tragedy. In 2001, Allison, crushed her spinal cord after a ski jump resulted in a hard landing on her back. The injury caused paralysis from the waist down. From that moment on, Kessler shifted all his research – previously 24 years focused on diabetes – towards a new, singular purpose: researching stem cells with the intention of rebuilding lives after spinal injuries.

“The thing about his work is that it’s never done,” Allison said. “There’s never one giant break through, but that doesn’t affect his focus.”

Kessler spends a great deal of his time doing what he calls “politicking” – acting as an advocate and fundraiser for stem cell research, building awareness, and making what is often a dry and divisive political battle over stem cells. He has testified at congressional hearings, lectured at universities, and tried to “show the real, human side of the hard science.”

The trouble is that stem cell research requires a comprehensive, large-scale effort and politics gets in the way of that. Kessler said it requires “a kind of collaboration that’s impossible right now – nobody’s good enough to do it alone. We’re just focusing on a piece – an important piece, but a piece.”

Allison is also pursuing a medical career and will graduate from Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in 2012. Despite the heavy demands that medical school places upon its students, she said her father – who has “read everything, and can quote everybody” – might still be her most exacting instructor.

“If there’s something I don’t understand, I’ll call him. He’s a great teacher, but he won’t just give you the answer. He’s always asking, so what do you already know? What have you read?” she said. “He always wants you to put the work in to truly understand.”

Chian-Yu Peng, a research assistant professor who works with Kessler on analyzing the relevance and possibly use of proteins that can repair bones to mitigate spinal trauma, Jack set a similar example of personal and professional conduct at the lab, said Peng.

“His clinical background provides a real world relevance on the questions that we are investigating,” Peng said. “And on a daily basis, he is very open and direct person that really encourages the free exchange of ideas.”

But despite his commitment to his work, his tireless advocacy for stem cell research and the endless hours in the lab – his heart remains with his family.

“He has four kids and two grandkids, and his favorite thing is having his family at the house,” Allison said. “If you’re under his roof, he knows you’re okay.”

Find out more more about Jack and Allison Kessler in the 2007 documentary, Terra Incognita, produced by Kartemquin Films in Chicago..

Mention stem cell research and most people will have a strong reaction. Some oppose it. Many do not understand it. Others see it as an amazing source of revolutionary medical advancement. Many research scientists and teachers at Northwestern fall into the third group. They have seen the potential of stem cells in treating diseases and conditions such as Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and cancer.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can both renew or replicate themselves and differentiate into other specialized cells. In other words, stem cells can divide indefinitely to provide as much tissue as needed for therapy, and they can be coaxed to develop into virtually any type of body cell.

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Challenges

Among the many challenges confronting science teachers is the perception that science is detached from the out-of-school lives and interests of students. The challenge is to excite students and hold their attention to learning increasingly complex material that may seem irrelevant to them. Scientific topics of current high interest—those that are in the news for their potential to cure serious diseases and repair debilitating injury, for example—offer opportunities to enlist and hold more students’ interest in biology. Such topics must be presented in ways that support learning the discipline and meet course requirements and state standards. Stem cell research is an exciting topic that can offer a pathway to understanding cell biology, development, reproduction and related subjects and is tied directly to life concerns of students, their families and society at large.

Evolution, reproductive biology, genetic manipulation—arguably, there are more intrinsic ethical challenges in modern biology than in any other science. Because modern biology focuses on understanding the nature of life, this subject area necessarily asks students to explore topics where science may conflict with their religious or ethical beliefs. Science teachers and public educators (e.g., museum educators) are challenged to deal with such controversial topics in ways that inform and stimulate students’ thinking. Stem cell research is among the most controversial of these topics. Whether they intend to teach their students and the public about stem cells, teachers and educators are likely to be confronted with growing demands to address the topic.

Initiative

This symposium built upon a national initiative that was being organized by the Biotechnology Institute in collaboration with the Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. The TAC is a group of distinguished master teachers who help the National Academy’s improve its work in education by offering the “wisdom of practice” in designing studies and preparing reports and other resources that have some influence on teachers and teaching.

Unlike most workshops or symposia where teachers participate primarily as recipients of information from others, the events of this initiative were designed to actively engage teachers in planning prior to the symposium and in discussions during the event that help research scientists, college and university faculty (especially those science faculty who prepare future teachers) and other participants at the symposium better understand the needs of teachers and their students. This active involvement by teachers both empowers teachers and results in the development of more effective resources to assist them in helping students learn about controversial yet highly engaging topics such as stem cells.

The Chicago Symposium was a one-day regional forum designed to: 1) Examine the major issues related to teaching controversial science, and stem cell biology in particular, and begin a discussion among all participants to identify resources and methods for developing and implementing curriculum in schools and public education forums, e.g., museums; 2) Learn about the current state of stem cell research and its potential applications; and 3) Gain an understanding about the ethical and societal considerations related to stem cell research and an understanding of where controversy emanates.

Presentations and panel discussions led by experts in their fields and by teachers who have been involved with teaching these subjects provided the opportunity to engage teachers, educators, policy makers, scientists, social scientists, life sciences industry leaders and members of the public in thoughtful discussion through an educated, collaborative and interdisciplinary approach.

For the teachers and educators, the outcomes of the forum included a general understanding of the science and the societal issues of stem cells and specific information about how best to engage their students and the public through programming and curriculum. For the scientists and social scientists, the forums offered insights into the challenges that teachers and educators face in developing broad interest in their science classes and the issues they might face in teaching this controversial topic.

For the sponsoring partners, the forum was an opportunity to showcase our regional strength on the elements that contribute to strong science education and to serve as a diverse set of resources for teachers and educators.

The Chicagoland Stem Cell Science Education Symposium was produced through collegial cooperation of sponsoring partners, who included:

• Baxter Healthcare
• Biotechnology Institute
• Chicago Biomedical Consortium
• Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C²ST)
• iBIO Institute
• IL DCEO
• Northwestern University
• Center for Bioethics, Science, and Society
• Center for Biotechnology, Kellogg School of Management
• Center for Genetic Medicine (CGM)
• Office for Research Development (ORD)
• Office of STEM Education Partnerships (OSEP), School of Education and Social Policy
• University of Chicago
• University of Illinois at Chicago

The Biotechnology Institute, the Chicago Council on Science and Technology and Northwestern University’s Office for Research Development led the event’s organization. The event took place at the Allen Center of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.