Meet the Scientist: Christian Haudenschild, M.D.

Written by Becky Orfinger, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

February 19, 2002 — Christian Haudenschild, M.D., directs the Experimental Pathology Department at the American Red Cross Jerome H. Holland Laboratory for the Biomedical Sciences. His main area of research is angiogenesis, or the growth of new blood vessels. Angiogenesis occurs naturally — in the wound-healing process, (in females) during the monthly reproductive cycle (to rebuild the uterus lining) and during pregnancy (to build the placenta) — and as part of many diseases, such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

Haudenschild used to be a researcher at Boston University , where he and his colleagues published an influential paper describing the effectiveness of a technique called "balloon angioplasty" in an animal model. Today, balloon angioplasty is a common treatment for atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which often leads to heart attacks and strokes for heart disease, but the technique was in its infancy when their paper was published.

At the Holland Lab, Haudenschild, 62, continues to study the role of blood vessels in heart disease and examine ways to make balloon angioplasty even more successful. Haudenschild and other members of the Experimental Pathology department recently collaborated with Ron Kornowski, M.D., of the Washington Hospital Center to determine the effectiveness of using lasers to promote the growth of new blood vessels in diseased hearts. Haudenschild and his Holland Lab colleagues hope to begin a new research project soon using the same mechanism for repair of diseased hearts, but using cells instead of lasers to induce new blood vessel growth.

The main tool Haudenschild uses to do his research is the microscope. He has a long reputation of using very modern microscopes, such as the electron microscope, to produce images not only recognized for their scientific content, but for their beauty as well. (Click here for an explanation of the different microscopes used in science). By changing the magnification or focus in his microscope, he can make even a picture of a clogged artery look beautiful. Some of his work is showcased in the "Under the Microscope" section of this Web site.

Q: What is your background? Did you always want to be a scientist?

A: Actually, I am a medical doctor by training. I attended a technical university in Switzerland, and then the University of Basel, in Basel, Switzerland, for medical school. I spent one year practicing medicine after I got my medical degree in 1968 and then went immediately into research. I knew I wanted to eventually concentrate on research, but back then, you could get a better basic science education in medical school.

I began my research at Hoffmann-LaRoche [a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Switzerland] and stayed there for four and a half years. At Hoffmann-LaRoche, I learned electron microscopy and researched the effects of injury to the blood vessel wall and interactions between blood vessels and different types of blood cells, such as platelets. In 1972, I was invited to come to Harvard University by Ramzi Cotran, M.D., to work with Judah Folkman, M.D., who believed that tumors caused the growth of blood vessels around them to support and sustain them. Folkman who had isolated a factor from tumors that caused blood vessel endothelial cells to grow, needed someone who could demonstrate that the cultured cells on which he was testing this factor were truly endothelial. Because I had spent several years studying these cells, he thought I would be able to help him. It was a great honor to be invited to come to come to Harvard.

Our research went very well, and we (Haudenschild, Cotran, and colleagues Michael Gimbrone, M.D., and Judah Folkman, M.D.) published a very important study in Journal of Ultrastructure Research in 1975. That study opened a lot of doors for us because it proved that the cells that Folkman and others had grown in the lab were truly endothelial, or blood vessel cells. This opened the field for endothelial cell research in general. This collaboration was one of the highlights of my career. [Ed. Note: Endothelial cells are flat cells that line blood vessel walls. Before Haudenschild and his colleagues published their study, scientists knew that endothelial cells existed but did not understand their critical role in the growth of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis.]

Q: Did you stay in Boston for much longer after the article was published?

A: In the midst of my research, I realized that I was using my knowledge about science, but not my medical knowledge. I decided to become certified as a pathologist so that I could have a medical specialization that would best fit with my research interests. So, I took the required tests and completed a 3-year residency in pathology at the Mallory Institute of Pathology in Boston, which is now a part of Boston Medical Center. I continued to do research on blood vessels and endothelial cells while I completed my training.

When I passed the pathology boards in 1977, I became a professor at Boston University (BU) and continued my work at Boston Medical Center. I taught many classes at the medical school — in general pathology, the specifics of heart disease, and several other subjects.

I continued researching angiogenesis during my time at BU and often collaborated with other scientists working on the same thing. In 1980, Folkman and I published a study in Nature demonstrating that endothelial cells formed "tubes" when cultured with cancer cells in the laboratory. This was the first in-vitro (laboratory) demonstration of angiogenesis. We used different kinds of microscopes (light and electron) to show that these tubes closely resembled the way capillaries appeared in a live animal. Capillaries are the smallest vessels in the body — all bigger vessels (such as veins and arteries) start as capillaries.

A: I remained a professor and pathologist at BU until 1992, when Tom Maciag, Ph.D., asked me to join him at the Holland Lab. [Ed. Note: Maciag, who is now the director of the Center for Molecular Medicine at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, was at that time the world's foremost expert on a key molecule, or growth factor, that is necessary for the growth of new blood vessels.] He was researching the genetic and molecular properties of that factor in in cell cultures and needed to begin working with live animals, which is where I came in as a pathologist. We wanted to use molecular and genetic approaches to understand and eventually control the growth of blood vessels in the complex, living organism.

We were trying to make new vessels grow in damaged heart vessels — those that cause heart attacks and stroke. If we could prevent these vessels from getting blocked, we could help patients with heart disease.

I have also been a full professor at George Washington University (GWU) ever since I came to the Holland Lab. I work with Ph.D. students in GWU's Institute for Biomedical Sciences, and help with difficult autopsies at the GWU hospital from time to time.

Q: Is your research still focused on blood vessels and heart disease?

A: Yes, and my research has evolved as technology has improved over the years. Although balloon angioplasty is routinely performed and has helped millions of patients, it isn't perfect. About half of all patients who are treated with balloon angioplasty develop restenosis, or re-closing of the treated vessel. One of my major lines of research right now is trying to figure out ways to prevent restenosis.

Q: Is your research mostly done on your own, or do you often collaborate with colleagues?

A: A scientist cannot be successful if he or she doesn't work with others and share knowledge. Everything I do is a collaborative effort, either with other Holland Lab scientists or colleagues from other institutions.

Q: What is the best part of your job? The worst?

A: I have been very lucky in my career because I have actually seen something I worked on in the lab turn into a clinical treatment for a disease (angioplasty). That is rare for a scientist. By nature, the majority of things a scientist tries in the lab won't work. Research has the distinct risk of not having rewards — at least not immediate ones, as is the case in medicine. So the frustration of having to be patient and keep struggling to prove something is definitely a downside to my job.

But I really love the fact that my job allows me to be a permanent student — now, nature is my teacher. Every day is new and different from the one before, which keeps me excited and enthusiastic about what I am studying. In addition, scientific research is rewarding in that it allows me to travel frequently and be in constant contact with the most interesting and inspirational people all over the world.