Silk Chiffon Scarf 12" x 58" - $45.00

K. Sue O’Shea, Ph.D., Crosby-Kahn Collegiate Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology, Professor of Psychiatry, O’Shea Laboratory, University of Michigan Medical School

It has been said that “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” 
--Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, MD, Psychiatrist, 1926-2004.

Bipolar disorder (BP) is a complex psychiatric condition that is characterized by severe fluctuations in mood, for which the underlying causes remain unknown. Because there are no viable cellular models to study BP, we have taken advantage of the recent discovery that mature cells of the body, particularly skin cells, can be altered to behave as stem cells that can form any cell type. To study BP, we have taken skin cells from patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and also from non-diagnosed control individuals. Skin cells are then coaxed to become stem cells and then neurons, to shed light on the bipolar nervous system.