503)Dr Shaf Keshavjee, Master Surgeon, Brilliant Scientist: A Newspaper Survey; Quotes of Aga Khan IV And Others.

"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)

"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)

"A thousand years ago, my forefathers, the Fatimid imam-caliphs of Egypt, founded al-Azhar University and the Academy of Knowledge in Cairo. In the Islamic tradition, they viewed the discovery of knowledge as a way to understand, so as to serve better God's creation, to apply knowledge and reason to build society and shape human aspirations"(Aga Khan IV, Speech, 25th June 2004, Matola, Mozambique.)

"Education has been important to my family for a long time. My forefathers founded al-Azhar University in Cairo some 1000 years ago, at the time of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. Discovery of knowledge was seen by those founders as an embodiment of religious faith, and faith as reinforced by knowledge of workings of the Creator's physical world. The form of universities has changed over those 1000 years, but that reciprocity between faith and knowledge remains a source of strength"(Aga Khan IV, 27th May1994, Cambridge, Massachusets, U.S.A.)

In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God"(Aga Khan IV, July 23rd 2008, Lisbon, Portugal)


The above are 5 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html



Dr Shaf Keshavjee:

Pioneering Ismaili transplant surgeon from Toronto-Dr Shaf Keshavjee
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/02/15/pioneering-ismaili-transplant-surgeon-from-toronto/

A chance to breathe again: Singer back on stage after rare double lung transplant
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2009/10/31/11587931-sun.html

Organs can be repaired outside the body-new techinique pioneered by Dr Shaf Keshavjee
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/organs-can-be-repaired-outside-the-body-new-technique-pioneered-by-dr-shaf-keshavjee/

New technique to repair lungs outside the body may double transplants worldwide
http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/39645.html

EX VIVO LUNG: Transplant surgeons at Toronto General Hospital make medical history
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXqMsraSb84

Gene therapy repairs injured human donor lungs for the first time
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uhn-gtr102309.php

Gene therapy repairs lungs for transplant
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/10/29/gene-therapy-lung-transplant.html

Canadian scientists discover way to heal donor lungs before transplant
http://news.globaltv.com/health/Canadian+scientists+discover+heal+donor+lungs+before+transplant/2155288/story.html

Gene Therapy Repairs Damaged Lungs For Transplants
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1777007/gene_therapy_repairs_damaged_lungs_for_transplants/index.html

Artificial lung kept teen alive until transplant
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090217/artificial_lung_090217/20090218?hub=TopStories



New technique to repair lungs outside the body may double transplants worldwide

Research Profile July 2009

In a room at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), a pair of human lungs is breathing inside a glass dome. As they breathe in and out, fed by a supply of gases and nutrients, the lungs are healing themselves from injury. This revolutionary technology promises to improve the fate of many patients waiting for lung transplants in Canada.

In Canada, nearly 300 patients with lung disease died between 1997 and 2006. These patients died because of a shortage of suitable lungs available for transplant. In fact, as few as one in 10 donated lungs available can be used. The new technology at TGH may allow doctors to more than double the number of lung transplants done worldwide, according to Dr. Shaf Keshavjee of TGH's Division of Thoracic Surgery.

"Lungs are very fragile as organs," says Dr. Keshavjee, who directs the Toronto Lung Transplant Program. "This new system allows you to assess the lungs, to diagnose what's wrong with them, and then repair them."

Dr. Keshavjee's team worked for years studying lung transplant and repair experiments on animal models. In December 2008 they announced a successful first use of the system in transplanting a pair of lungs into a patient. They have since completed twelve other successful transplants with the system, called The Toronto XVIVO System.

The work is being funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program, a partnership of CIHR and Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies. Other collaborative partners include Astellas Canada, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Vitrolife Inc.

The Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System was developed by Dr. Keshavjee's team and Virolife Inc., which specializes in lung preservation. The technique allows lungs to be kept at body temperature, outside the body. Fed with a bloodless solution containing nutrients, proteins and other medications, the organs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide through a ventilator and can repair themselves while the researchers facilitate the recovery and check them. The lungs can be kept inside the device for up to 18 hours, though 12 hours is the current routine limit. A similar blood perfusion system developed in Sweden for short term assessment only works for about an hour before the lung becomes damaged.

"We've already successfully transplanted twelve patients now using the XVIVO System, so those patients received lungs that couldn't have been used before," says Dr. Keshavjee. "They've all done superbly, every single one of them. We're now able to use lungs that we couldn't use before."


Predicting transplant success:
A key part of the work to fix lungs involves a prediction of transplant success. Dr. Keshavjee is studying how to change lungs with certain genes while they are in the Toronto XVIVO System. His team has found new "biomarker" genes that can indicate damage and a bad outcome following a transplant. If such biomarkers are detected, he can increase the activity of helpful molecules that can reduce lung inflammation and lower the chances of the body rejecting the new lungs.

At a glance:
Who: Dr. Shaf Keshavjee is Director of Thoracic Surgery Research at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, Director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program, Professor and Chair of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto.

Issue: Patients with lung disease, who could benefit from a lung transplant, aren't getting them because of the shortage of suitable organs available.

Solution: Thanks to funding from CIHR, Rx&D, Astellas Canada, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Vitrolife Inc., Dr. Keshavjee and his team developed a system that specializes in lung preservation and repair. In a matter of hours, donor lungs, that otherwise would have been considered unusable, can be repaired from injury in a small glass dome, outside of the body.
Impact: The work that Dr. Keshavjee and his team are doing will help double the number of lungs available for transplant, saving the lives of many Canadians. Twelve patients have already reaped the rewards of this great new research, and are healthy.

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/39645.html


Easy Nash

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)