Innovating Openly: Researchers and Patients Turn to Crowdsourcing to Collaborate on Clinical Trials, Drug Discovery, and More

Several years ago, Stanford University researchers stumbled across something unexpected. In the course of examining the autopsied brain tissue of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a team in Lawrence Steinman?s laboratory noticed significantly elevated levels of angiotensin enzymes and receptors, better known for their role in hypertension. This led them to believe that perhaps an angiotensin inhibitor, such as lisinopril, a common, inexpensive, and relatively safe high blood pressure medication, might effectively reduce the damaging flareups of MS. In fact, when they administered the drug to mice crippled by MS-like inflammatory nerve damage, it reversed their paralysis.