Contact: Jennifer Wenger
wengerj@nidcd.nih.gov
301-496-7243
NIH/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

What: NIH-supported scientists will be presenting their latest research findings at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).

When: February 25-29, 2012

Where: The Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, San Diego, California, USA

Additional Information: Research topics to be presented by NIDCD-funded scientists will include:

Bilateral ? Binaural: Can the Ability to Localize Sounds Be Regained After Bilateral Cochlear Implantation?
Ruth Litovsky, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bilateral cochlear implants?one implant for each ear?are becoming more common as a treatment for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Many children with cochlear implants attain spoken language skills that are comparable to their hearing peers, but even with two implants children often appear to perform significantly worse on tasks that involve hearing in complex listening environments (a busy classroom, for example) where they need to distinguish a teacher's or classmate's voice from competing background noise. According to NIDCD-grantee Ruth Litovsky, Ph.D., this is a function of the difference between how cochlear implants and the natural hearing ear process sound. Cochlear implants have not been designed to provide binaural cues?the cues that two normal ears provide to the brain. Binaural cues help listeners localize (know where the sound happens) and segregate (identify the meaning of a sound source) incoming sounds. In normal hearing, each ear sends its own unique information up the auditory pathway to the brainstem, and specialized neurons are able to decode the timing and intensity difference between sounds at the two ears to establish location and meaning. Cochlear implants don't provide the same kind of coordinated information to the brain. Dr. Litovsky's lab is working with three different groups of children and adults with bilateral cochlear implants to learn more about the binaural pathway in the brain. The investigators are working with a desktop research processor that attempts to recapture lost binaural cues by using a microphone in each ear and combining both streams of information, which it then sends back to each cochlea. The researchers are hoping that this technique will offer a way to preserve acoustic cues that are currently degraded because of lack of coordination between the two implants.

The Presidential Symposium, “Listening with the Brain: Cochlear Implants and Central Auditory System Plasticity,” takes place on Saturday, Feb. 25, 8:00 a.m.????:00 p.m. in the Elizabeth Ballroom

Spotlight on Spiral Ganglion Cells? New Research in Regeneration
Alain Dabdoub, Ph.D., University of California School of Medicine, San Diego (organizer); Robin Davis, Ph.D., Rutgers University; Albert Edge, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; Bernd Fritzsch, Ph.D., University of Iowa (among the presenters)

Spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) transmit sound information in the form of electrical signals from the sensory cells in the inner ear, called hair cells, to the cochlear nucleus of the brainstem. Once lost due to noise or aging, SGNs and hair cells in mammals are never recovered. The most common therapies for hearing loss either use hearing aids to increase hair cell stimulation or use cochlear implants as an electronic substitute for damaged hair cells, but both therapies depend on the presence of functional SGNs. However, recent evidence shows that exposure to loud noise over time can lead to hearing loss caused not by damage to hair cells, but by loss of SGNs, and interest is rising in looking at strategies for replacing damaged or missing SGNs in the cochlea. This symposium features presentations from some of the most prominent investigators in the field of SGN regeneration, whose findings could play a significant role in future advances in cochlear implant technology and the medical treatment of hearing loss and deafness. Dr. Bernd Fritzsch will share findings from his laboratory, where they are elucidating the molecular mechanisms that regulate hair cell and SGN formation, particularly the factors that appear to regulate the growth and guidance of SGN fibers. Dr. Robin Davis will describe the diversity of organization, protein expression, and electrophysiological characteristics of neurons in the SGN family?not all SGNs are alike. Dr. Albert Edge will discuss his laboratory's efforts to generate SGNs using mouse embryonic stem cells and to reconnect healthy hair cells to the stem cell-derived neurons. Dr. Dabdoub will also be discussing how he and his colleagues are working to reprogram cochlear non-sensory epithelial cells to become functional SGNs.

The symposium, “The Spiral Ganglion: Neurogenesis and Concepts for Regeneration,” takes place on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2:00 p.m.????:35 p.m. in the Elizabeth Ballroom

Auditory Training of Older Adults Improves Speech Understanding in Noisy Environments
Samira Anderson, Au.D., Northwestern University

As we age we tend to have difficulty hearing in crowds and in other noisy environments, which isn't entirely the result of age-related hearing loss. There are also age-related changes in the neural circuits of the brain in coding the rapidly-changing speech signal, which make it much more difficult to follow speech in background noise. Amplifying sound, which is what hearing aids do, does not restore the precise neural timing needed for speech perception. Samira Anderson, Au.D., a graduate student at Northwestern University, and her colleagues have been working with older adults using a commercially available cognitive-based auditory training program to determine if intensive auditory training can improve temporal processing and increase speech-in-noise performance. Participants are older adults (ages 58 to 65) with normal to mild hearing loss, who were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The experimental group completed eight weeks of cognitive-based auditory training, the control group completed eight weeks of general interest education training, and a third group received no training. Ms. Anderson will be discussing the results of the study, which showed significant improvements in the ability of the auditory trained group to process the time-changing speech signal and to understand speech in noisy environments. The findings offer a method of treatment, above and beyond sound amplification, to improve the hearing abilities of older adults.

The poster “Neural precision with auditory training in older adults,” takes place from Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. to Sunday, Feb. 26, at 12:00 p.m. in the Manchester Ballroom

Novel Photokinetic Transducer Technology Drives New, Experimental Hearing Device
Sunil Puria, Ph.D., EarLens Corporation and Stanford University

In this podium presentation, Dr. Sunil Puria will be presenting findings from a recent small FDA-approved clinical trial. The trial tested a new class of hearing device that applies vibrations directly to the eardrum, rather than amplifying sound in the ear canal, to improve hearing in noise and sound quality. The EarLens Photokinetic transducer prototype uses a small solar cell that turns light pulses into the energy needed to remotely drive the motor and avoids the need for a hardwired connection, found in other surgically implanted systems. A key technical advantage is that the Photonic Hearing Device has a 10 kHz bandwidth, while acoustic hearing aids are limited to about 5 kHz. Subjects in the trial were fitted with the device and exposed to four different hearing conditions using noise and speech maskers to simulate difficult listening environments. Results indicate an improvement in hearing in noisy situations. EarLens Corporation, the developer of the prototype device, is planning to build a more refined clinical prototype for a multicenter clinical trial.

The podium presentation “The EarLens Photonic Hearing Aid,” takes place on Monday, Feb. 27, 11:45 a.m.????:00 p.m. in the Elizabeth Ballroom

Steroid Treatments in the Inner Ear Impact Thousands More Genes than Expected
Dennis Trune, Ph.D., M.B. A., Oregon Health & Science University

Corticosteroids, usually in the form of prednisone, prednisolone, or dexamethasone, have become the treatment standard for sensorineural hearing loss. However, little is known about how steroids work in the inner ear to restore hearing. The prevailing view has been that steroids reduce inflammation, which is believed to be what causes the hearing loss. In previous studies, Dr. Trune's laboratory has shown in mice that although steroids do suppress circulating inflammatory factors, their key function in restoring hearing appears to be in turning on genes involved in maintaining the proper concentration of potassium and sodium ions in the endolymph, a fluid contained in the inner ear. These studies also showed that, in spite of having no anti-inflammatory properties, the mineralocorticoid aldosterone (a naturally occurring steroid hormone) can also activate the genes responsible for ion balance and recover hearing. Taking advantage of an NIDCD supplemental grant, Dr. Trune and his colleagues have used gene chip technology to scan the entire mouse genome to establish the full array of inner ear genes that are switched on or off by traditional steroid treatments versus aldosterone treatment. In light of recent clinical activities?which favor a local injection of steroids to the middle ear to lower the risk for the side effects that accompany systemic steroid use?they treated either systemically or by injection across the eardrum (transtympanic). Dr. Trune will be discussing the findings of the genome scan, which indicate that steroids turn on or off 55 to 82 percent of the approximately 17,500 genes that are expressed in the inner ear. In addition, these numbers increase significantly when steroids are delivered transtympanically. These findings could offer a way to finetune sensorineural hearing loss treatments to target ion balance pathways instead of immunosuppressive pathways.

The podium presentation “Transtympanically Delivered Steroids Impact Thousands of Inner Ear Genes over Conventional Systemic Delivery,” takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 11:45 a.m. in the Elizabeth Ballroom

###

For more information about the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, visit their website at www.aro.org.

NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech and language and provides health information, based upon scientific discovery, to the public. For more information about NIDCD programs, see the website at www.nidcd.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH?Turning Discovery Into Health

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NIH-funded science on hearing research at annual ARO meeting

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a12f57/basic_neurochemist) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report “Basic Neurochemistry. Edition No. 8″ to their offering.

This is a classic advanced neurochemistry and neurobiology textbook that has a renewed focus on clinical applications. The early chapters focus on fundamental membrane chemistry, cellular signaling, and development of the nervous system. Later chapters cover cell injury and inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, sensory transduction, and neural processing/behavior. By understanding mechanisms at the molecular and systems level, scientists can develop new pharmacotherapies to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis as well as neuropsychiatric diseases (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, pain, addictions). This book provides a foundation of all key principles of neurochemistry and neurobiology–within the context of human diseases–for advanced students and graduate students in neuroscience, biomedical sciences, as well as clinical neuroscientists and neurologists.

Includes clinical perspective boxes in each chapter that make connections between molecular processes and disease states, between biochemistry and drug discovery enabling students to better understand neurological diseases Presents cutting-edge advances in neuroscience in context of principles of brain chemistry and biology Companion Web site features animations to illustrate critical biochemical processes

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Part I: Cellular Neurochemistry and Neural Membranes Neuronal Cell Biology Cell Membrane Structures and Functions Membrane Transport Electrical Excitability and Ion Channels Lipids The Cytoskeleton of Neurons and Glia Intracellular Trafficking Axonal Transport Cell Adhesion Molecules Myelin Structure and Biochemistry Energy Metabolism of the Brain

PART II: Intercellular Signaling Synaptic Transmission and Cellular Signaling: An Overview Acetylcholine Catecholamines Serotonin Histamine Glutamate GABA Purinergic Systems Peptides

PART III: Intracellular Signaling G Proteins Cyclic Nucleotides in the Nervous System Phosphoinositides Calcium Serine and Threonine Phosphorylation Tyrosine Phosphorylation Transcription Factors in the Central Nervous System

PART IV: Growth, Development and Differentiation Development Growth Factors Stem Cells in the Nervous System Formation and maintenance of myelin Axonal Growth in the Adult Mammalian Nervous System

PART V: Cell Injury and Inflammation Neuroimmunology Neuroinflammation Hypoxic'Ischemic Brain Injury and Oxidative Stress Lipid Mediators: Eicosanoids, Docosanoids, Platelet-Activating Factor and Inflammation Apoptosis and Necrosis

PART VI: Inherited and Neurodegenerative Diseases Peripheral Neuropathy Diseases Involving Myelin The Epilepsies: Phenotype and Mechanisms Genetics of Neurodegenerative Diseases Disorders of Amino Acid Metabolism Diseases of Carbohydrate, Fatty Acid and Mitochondrial Metabolism, including Lysosomal and Peroxisomal Diseases Disorders of Muscle Excitability Motor Neuron Diseases Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease Neurodegenerative alpha-Synucleinopathies and Tauopathies Trinucleotide repeat diseases Neurotransmitters and Disorders of the Basal Ganglia Molecular Basis of Prion Diseases

PART VII: Sensory Transduction Molecular Biology of Vision Molecular Biology of Olfaction and Taste Molecular Biology of Hearing and Balance Pain

PART VIII: Neural Processing and Behavior Endocrine Effects on the Brain and Their Relationship to Behavior Learning and Memory Sleep The Neurochemistry of Schizophrenia Autism Neurobiology of Severe Mood and Anxiety Disorders Addiction

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a12f57/basic_neurochemist

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Research and Markets: Basic Neurochemistry. Edition No. 8

Committed to funding the most innovative minds in the field of prostate cancer research, the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) expanded its global knowledge exchange in 2012 and will be expanding its research efforts in new countries later this year. A total of 15 competitive research grants have been awarded to-date in 2012, bringing the total of young investigators awarded to 89.

Young Investigator awards are designed to promote long-term careers in the field of prostate cancer by providing three year grants for transformational research focused on prostate cancer treatments to improve patient outcomes. Since 2007, PCF has invested more than $20 million in Young Investigator grants.

“PCF-supported young investigators have changed the scope of prostate cancer research, advancing treatment sciences and improving the lives of patients worldwide,” said Howard Soule, PhD, chief science officer and executive vice president of PCF. “It is with great pride and appreciation that PCF can now announce our young investigator program spans across six countries and 42 research institutes.”

Each Young Investigator recipient is awarded $225,000 over a three-year period. Funding is also matched dollar-for-dollar by each recipient’s research institution, making the total award worth $450,000. A total of 148 applicants applied for 2012 PCF Young Investigator funding and over 74 global professionals reviewed these applications, which addressed 29 specialized scientific areas within prostate cancer research.

Buoyed by PCF support and the research it enables, many funded researchers go on to win additional government and privately funded grants to help advance the field of prostate cancer research.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating research. Founded in 1993, PCF has raised more than $475 million and provided funding to over 1,600 research projects at nearly 200 institutions in 15 countries around the world. PCF advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more efficient investment of governmental research funds supporting transformational cancer research. Our efforts have helped produce a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer. More information about PCF can be found at pcf.org.

The 2012 Robbins Family – PCF Young Investigator Award

Tarek Bismar, MD

University of Calgary

Mentor: Peter Forsyth, MD  

The two most common genomic aberrations in prostate cancer are the ERG gene rearrangements and PTEN deletion. TMPRSS2-ERG represents the most common form of ERG rearrangements. It is an aberration in the genome of prostate cancer cells created when two distinct genes, TMPRSS2 and ERG (found in two different regions of DNA), are shuffled around and erroneously juxtaposed. PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene (a gene that protects against cancer) and is often deleted from the DNA code of prostate cancer cells. Dr. Bismar’s work centers on identifying the molecular differences between prostate cancer cells that harbor these genetic alterations and prostate cancer cells that do not. To understand how TMPRSS2-ERG and PTEN deletion change the behavior of prostate cancer cells, Dr. Bismar compared the molecular profile of tissue samples from patients who were either positive or negative for the two genetic alterations. In his comparative analysis he has identified a list of genes that are either elevated or depleted in prostate cancers in relation to their TMPRSS2-ERG and PTEN status. So far, Dr. Bismar has discovered 5 novel, candidate prostate cancer biomarkers (a molecule that indicates a biological process or pathogenesis) that are discriminate benign tissue, from localized prostate cancer and lethal prostate cancer. Some of these genes may also represent new therapeutic targets for patients with prostate cancer. Dr. Bismar and his team are currently working on validating their findings in larger studies.

The 2012 Sternlicht Family Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award

Dimple Chakravarty, PhD, DVM

Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Mentor: Mark Rubin, MD  

Androgens and Androgen Receptor (AR) fuel prostate cancer. Therefore, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is usually the preferred treatment modality. However, prostate tumors employ multiple alternate mechanisms to bypass the need for androgens or AR, progressing on the path to castration-resistance. Several recent studies in Dr. Mark Rubin’s laboratory and others have shown that prostate tumors express the Estrogen Receptor ? (ER?) at early onset of the disease. However, the role of ER? in prostate cancer still remains unclear. Dr. Dimple Chakravarthy proposes to study this ER?-lncRNA axis in prostate cancer. She will validate the relevance of ER? and ER?-regulated lncRNA as prognostic biomarkers of tumor progression and therapy response. Dr. Chakravarthy will also evaluate the therapeutic potential of knocking down lncRNAs using nanoparticles. She will test the combinatorial therapy with anti-androgens and anti-lncRNA medications to control prostate cancer growth and metastasis.

The 2012 John A. Moran – PCF Young Investigator Award

Junjie Feng, PhD

Wake Forest University

Mentor: Jiangfeng Xu, MD, PhD  

Androgen Receptor (AR) mediates the action of the male hormones, androgens by binding to genomic DNA and regulating gene expression. The precise sites on the genome to which AR binds are called AR Response Elements (AREs) or AR binding sites. Recent reports have shown that approximately 1/3 of all known prostate cancer risk-associated genetic variants reside in these AR binding sites. Genetic variations that predispose a man to prostate cancer are usually found to be concentrated in the specific DNA regions to which AR binds. Other PCF-funded studies have shown that AR signaling is causally related to the formation and/or expression of recurrent oncogenic gene fusions (e.g. TMPRSS2-ERG), suggesting that altered AR signaling caused by inherited genetic changes may have a profound impact on the pathogenesis and progression of prostate cancer. To test this hypothesis, Dr. Junjie Feng proposes to 1) identify genome-wide AR binding sites and prostate cancer-specific fusion genes; 2) prostate cancer risk/aggressiveness-associated genetic variants that are located within AR binding sites, and 3) assess whether these genetic variants cause altered AR signaling and influence the formation and/or expression of fusion genes.

The 2012 Steve Wynn – PCF Young Investigator Award

Stephen Finn, MBBS, PhD

University of Dublin, Trinity College

Mentors: John O’Leary, MD, PhD and Lorelei Mucci, ScD, MPH  

Genetic information flows from genes on DNA as follows: gene (DNA)-> RNA-> protein. RNAs, which are the products of DNA, either give rise to proteins (coding RNAs) or do not produce proteins (non-coding RNAs). However, these non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are functional molecules that perform specialized roles in the cell, such as regulation of gene expression. Recent reports have provided evidence for the role of small ncRNAs in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Dr. Stephen Finn proposes to identify the ncRNA repertoire associated with aggressive prostate cancer (defined by failure to respond to Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT); disease specific mortality etc.). Dr. Finn’s research will identify the role of ncRNAs in aggressive prostate cancer and correlate these to prostate cancer-specific outcome, laying the groundwork for the design of novel ncRNA-targeting therapeutics. These studies will also provide reliable biomarkers of aggressiveness which can help in patient stratification for therapy and more efficient disease monitoring.

The 2012 Lowell Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award

Terence Friedlander, MD

University of California, San Francisco

Mentors: Charles Ryan, MD and Pamela Paris, PhD  

One of the medications used for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the recently FDA-approved Abiraterone (Zytiga) which targets the biosynthesis of androgens in the adrenal glands and more importantly, in the tumor itself. Though patients respond well to Abiraterone and other ADT medications, almost all develop resistance to this therapy and their cancers progress. This stage of treatment resistance is termed castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CRPC is hypothesized to develop due to either 1) the increased production of androgens by the tumor itself, or 2) mutations in the AR that make it independent of the presence/absence of androgens. Dr. Terence Friedlander proposes to investigate the specific genetic changes in prostate cancer cells that occur during the development and progression of castration resistance. During the course of these investigations, Dr. Friedlander will collect metastatic tumor biopsies and circulating tumor cells from patients to evaluate the precise mechanisms underlying Abiraterone resistance. A better understanding of the mechanisms that cause CRPC development will allow clinicians to optimize and sequence the new therapies available for the treatment of CRPC.

The 2012 Mortimer Sackler – PCF Young Investigator Award

Matthew Galsky, MD

Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

Mentors: William Oh, MD and Michael Ohlmeyer, PhD  

The protein FOXO1 regulates cellular growth and survival pathways in normal cells. To effect its function, FOXO1 has to move from its location outside the nucleus (the cellular compartment that harbors the genome (DNA)) to inside the nucleus. Prostate cancer (PCa) cells, however, redirect the cellular localization of FOXO1 and sequester it outside of the nucleus, in its inactive form. Scientific approaches to relocalize FOXO1 to the nucleus represent a novel strategy for the treatment of prostate cancer, especially treatment resistant PCa. A group of chemical compounds called the tricyclic neuroleptics have previously been shown to inhibit the transport of FOXO1 proteins from the nucleus.

  Under this PCF-funded study, Dr. Galsky will explore the anti-cancer effects and mechanism of action of these novel compounds in preclinical prostate cancer models. He will also study circulating tumor cells from castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients to identify suitable pharmacodynamic markers that can efficiently report the localization of FOXO1 in patient tumors. Dr. Galsky’s research will set the stage for early phase clinical trials of these experimental medications for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.  

The 2012 Leon and Debra Black – PCF Young Investigator Award

Kalpana Kannan, PhD

Baylor College of Medicine

Mentors: Laising Yen, PhD and Michael Ittman, MD, PhD   Chimeric RNAs are the fused products of two different genes. Recent studies have shown that chimeric RNAs are present in normal cells and their presence allows the limited number of human genes to encode a substantially larger number of RNAs and proteins, forming an additional layer of cellular complexity. Dr. Kalpana Kannan and her team recently identified 27 novel, highly recurrent chimeric RNAs in prostate cancer. Their results showed that these chimeric RNAs occurred at a higher frequency in cancer compared to normal cells. These preliminary findings show that chimeric RNAs form a potentially unique class of molecular alterations in prostate cancer. She will also evaluate the significance of these chimeric RNAs in prostate cancer diagnosis and prognosis. If validated, these chimeric RNAs will serve as useful biomarkers for the identification of prostate cancer subtypes. New therapeutic targets for advanced prostate cancer may also emerge from this work. Dr. Kannan proposes to study the biological significance and potential clinical applications of these recurrent RNAs in prostate cancer.  

The 2012 Michael Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award

Stacey Kenfield, ScD

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University

Mentors: June Chan, ScD and Meir Stampfer, MD   Under the mentorship of Dr. Chan and Dr. Stampfer, Dr. Kenfield has evaluated whether diet and lifestyle factors after prostate cancer diagnosis are associated with disease progression in men with localized disease. This proposal is a natural extension of this work and will focus specifically on men with advanced and recurrent prostate cancer and whether diet and lifestyle factors can reduce risk of distant metastasis or prostate cancer-specific mortality. The ultimate goal of this work is to translate these results into cancer survivorship tools for the community. First, Dr. Kenfield will develop a prognostic score for prostate cancer mortality and other outcomes that will incorporate clinical, pathological, and lifestyle variables. The analyses will be performed in two large studies with extensive data available on lifestyle factors: the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and CaPSURE (Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor) and the findings could be important in guiding physician counseling of men with prostate cancer. Second, she will examine whether diet and other lifestyle factors may reduce progression in men with advanced or recurrent prostate cancer, which may elucidate strategies for reducing progression of disease. Third, she will build novel web-based cancer survivorship tools and use them in a clinical trial to determine if a web-based intervention program can help men with prostate cancer adopt healthier behaviors associated with reduced prostate cancer mortality. If successful, it could be administered efficiently in a variety of settings and scaled up to reach larger populations of men with prostate cancer.  

The 2012 Steve Wynn – PCF Young Investigator Award

Hung-Ming Lam, PhD

University of Cincinnati

Mentor: Shuk-Mei Ho, PhD   The protein G-protein coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) regulates several signaling pathways governing cell growth, migration, etc. In previous studies, Dr. Hung-Ming Lam has shown that the chemical compound G1 tightly binds GPR30 in highly selective manner and this G1-GPR30 complex inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells. In this study, Dr. Lam proposes to evaluate the efficacy of GPR30 inhibition by G1 for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Previous studies have shown that the expression of GPR30 in cells shows an inverse correlation with the levels of androgens. The recently FDA-approved medication Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) inhibits androgen synthesis. Dr. Lam proposes to evaluate combinatorial therapy with G1 and Abiraterone to treat prostate cancer in a two-pronged fashion: 1) delaying cancer relapse and the emergence of metastatic CRPC and, 2) extending the time to chemotherapy in patients with advanced cancer. Dr. Lam also aims to determine the levels of GPR30 before and after ADT in human specimens with bone and lymph node metastases. Her studies will help define a group of patients most suitable for GPR30-targeted therapy.  

The 2012 John A. Moran – PCF Young Investigator Award

Heather Montie, PhD

Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College

Mentors: Diane Merry, PhD and Karen Knudsen, PhD   Prostate cancer is driven by the male hormones, androgens which mediate their activity through the androgen receptor (AR). Unfortunately most prostate cancerous tumors progressively become resistant to the preferred treatment modality, androgen deprivation therapy. One of the mechanisms proposed to enhance the activity of androgen receptors in castration-resistant prostate cancer, even in the absence of androgens, is the addition of a small chemical group/moiety to the AR protein. This modification of AR is termed ‘acetylation’ and is proposed to convert the protein to a ‘super AR.’ However, there is currently no experimental data to show that AR acetylation directly enhances AR-dependent prostate cancer cell viability. Dr. Heather Montie proposes to evaluate the role of AR acetylation in the enhanced AR functional activity central to CRPC. She will study the precise mechanisms by which this modification of AR enhances its cancer-promoting activity. Dr. Montie will also validate the potential of AR acetylation as a therapeutic target for castrate-resistant prostate cancer.  

The 2012 Lori Milken – PCF Young Investigator Award

David Mulholland, PhD

University of California, Los Angeles

Mentor: Hong Wu, MD, PhD   The use of anti-androgens is standard treatment for prostate cancer patients in the management of PSA recurrence and metastatic disease. However, all men with metastatic prostate cancer become castrate resistant (CRPC) during which time conventional androgen deprivation therapy is no longer effective. This indicates that cancerous cells may become less reliant upon androgen or androgen receptor (AR) mediated signaling and more dependent upon alternative survival pathways either as a consequence of treatment or during the natural disease evolution.  

Recent studies on stem cells in in vitro experimental systems have shown that the deletion of important housekeeping genes can give rise to castration-resistant prostate cancerous tumors. In an extension to these observations, Dr. Mulholland proposes to study whether stem/progenitor cells with tumorigenic capabilities may acquire independence from the androgen/AR signaling axis and whether such cells are a potential source of the initiation of prostate cancer or the progression of aggressive metastatic prostate cancer. The short term goal of this proposal is to ascertain whether cancer initiating cells with impaired AR function can reconstitute disease progression in a manner that is entirely autonomous from AR function. The long term goal is the identification of alternative survival pathways, and therefore relevant targets, for cancers that are non-responsive to anti-androgen therapy.

The 2012 Heritage Medical Research Institute – PCF Young Investigator Award

Paul Nguyen, MD

Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University

Mentors: Anthony D’Amico, MD, PhD and Phillip Kantoff, MD   One of the most pressing dilemmas in the care of patients with prostate cancer is the ability to distinguish indolent from aggressive disease. However, considering the complexity of the disease, it is important to note that no single marker or diagnostic modality will likely account for all of the variability in prostate cancer outcome. In this proposal, Dr. Nguyen proposes to combine multiple markers of disease outcome into a single prognostic model to achieve maximum predictive accuracy. The overall goal of Dr. Nguyen’s efforts is to identify and integrate underlying genetic differences (polymorphisms), serum biomarkers, imaging characteristics and novel clinical factors to enhance the predictive ability of the current tools. He will study prostate cancer patient blood and tissue samples to identify biological and clinical predictors of outcome. Dr. Nguyen’s research will potentially provide a single unified system that integrates multiple types of prognostic information. These results will ultimately allow patients to understand their risk of cancer recurrence with greater certainty, and make better treatment choices.  

The 2012 Foundation 14 – PCF Young Investigator Award

Luke Selth, PhD

University of Adelaide, Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories

Mentor: Wayne Tilley, PhD  

Androgen receptors mediate the action of the male sex hormone and fuel prostate cancer—which is why the primary treatment for prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy. Unfortunately, almost all patients develop resistance to ADT and their cancers resume growth despite hormone therapy. Recent research has revealed that highly active variants of AR rather than the normal AR protein may be the key drivers of CRPC and androgen receptor variants usually lack the ability to bind androgens. Therefore, androgen receptor variants (ARVs) can easily drive prostate cancer, even during ADT. Dr. Luke Selth proposes to study the molecular mechanisms by which AR variants initiate and drive CRPC. He will identify the precise genes activated by AR variants to promote CRPC. Dr. Selth will also determine the co-factors that regulate ARV-driven CRPC. Dr. Selth’s research will be a crucial next step in the development of strategies to counter the role of AR variants in CRPC development.

The 2012 Chris and Felicia Evensen – PCF Young Investigator Award

Karen Sfanos, PhD

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mentors: Angelo DeMarzo, MD, PhD and William Nelson, MD, PhD   The major risk factors for the development of prostate cancer are advanced age, family history, and African-American race; however, there is also a distinct geographic distribution to prostate cancer incidence, and an apparent increase in risk with the adoption of a “Westernized” lifestyle. Therefore, there is a high probability that prostate cancer development involves environmental factors in addition to hereditary factors. Two major environmental factors shown to have a strong linkage with prostate cancer are dietary carcinogens, and chronic infections that cause inflammation, which over time leads to the initiation of prostate cancer. Dr. Sfanos proposes to study the combined effects of dietary carcinogens and tumor-promoting inflammation in preliminary prostate cancer initiation and/or tumor progression.  

The 2012 David A. Koch – PCF Young Investigator Award

Hans David Ulmert, MD, PhD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Mentor: Jason Lewis, PhD   The androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway is a key component in the progression of prostate cancer to its lethal form, castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Several, recently developed, potent inhibitors of AR-signaling have shown encouraging, though highly variable responses in patients. One of the reasons for this inconsistent response is the biological heterogeneity of different cancerous lesions in the same patient. Therefore, documenting the response of individual tumor lesions to therapy is important for prostate cancer clinical management (e.g. understanding the overall patient therapeutic response; decision-making for dose escalation or designing therapy combinations that more completely suppress AR-signaling etc.). Dr. Ulmert aims to evaluate the efficiency of 89Zr-5A10-PET for measuring tumor response to next-generation androgen-deprivation therapeutics such as MDV3100 and Abiraterone. Dr. Ulmert also proposes to conduct first-in-man studies to determine if 89Zr-5A10 can detect CRPC.  

If successful, this radiotracer (89Zr-5A10) will potentially be an important molecular imaging tool to definitively measure AR inhibition in individual tumor lesions in response to AR pathway-directed therapies. Since the complexities of metastatic CRPC still remain unclear, understanding the biology of responsive and resistant lesions could provide a clear rationale for the individualization of patient care, impacting decisions for dose escalation and/or combination therapy to completely suppress AR signaling.

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Nearing Goal of 100 Young Investigators, the Prostate Cancer Foundation Expands Global Research Enterprise

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) February 22, 2012

There is little evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of procedures, equipment and treatments that have been advertised using adult stem cells for aesthetic reconstruction, including plastic surgery and facial rejuvenation, according to physicians writing in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr. Rod J. Rohrich, chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center and editor-in-chief of the journal, published a position statement on “stem cell facelifts” and “stem cell breast augmentation,” also known as “natural breast augmentation.” Dr. Felmont F. Eaves III of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Dr. Phillip C. Haeck of Seattle, Wash.,collaborated on the statement on behalf of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

“There are encouraging data from studies in laboratories to suggest that the use of adult stem cells is a very promising field and may produce beneficial medical therapies to treat a variety of diseases,” the doctors said in the statement. They emphasized that there is a lack of consistency in the way stem cell facelift procedures are performed, and pointed out that many procedures are being advertised by physicians who are not board-certified for this type of treatment, and devices being sold for aesthetic stem cell treatments have not been approved for human use in the U.S.

In the report, the doctors encourage their peers to continue reporting clinic results and experimental research to peer-reviewed plastic surgery journals to both promote good science and to foster safety and best practices for stem cell use in aesthetic procedures. “Much more research needs to be conducted before any definitive statements can be made,” the report said. “[Until then,] stem cell based procedures should be performed in compliance with FDA regulatory guidelines.”

Dr. Rohrich said many of the advertisements claiming stem cells can aid in restoring facial and body youthfulness come from outside the U.S. “Further direct, approved clinical research is needed to validate those claims,” he said, “but the future is potentially bright for the use of adult stem cells in both plastic surgery and facial rejuvenation, as well as in medical procedures, such as restoring nerve and brain damage resulting from trauma or cancer, as well as reversing the severe effects of auto immune disease.”

To read the complete joint ASAPS/ASPS position statement on stem cell use in aesthetic surgery, including stem cell facelifts and natural breast augmentation, visit the ASPS, at their website.

About Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Dr. Rod J. Rohrich holds the Betty and Warren Woodward Chair in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He also holds the UT Southwestern Medical Center Crystal Charity Ball Distinguished Chair in Plastic Surgery. He is a graduate of the Baylor College of Medicine with high honors, with residencies at the University of Michigan Medical Center and fellowships at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard (hand/microsurgery) and Oxford University (pediatric plastic surgery). He has served as president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He repeatedly has been selected by his peers as one of America's best doctors, and twice has received one of his profession's highest honors, the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes his contributions to education in his field. Dr. Rohrich participates in and has led numerous associations and councils for the advancement of plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is a native of North Dakota. He is married to Dr. Diane Gibby, also a plastic surgeon. They live in Texas with their two children.

###

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Surgeons Urge Caution: Stem Cell Treatments Untested in Aesthetic Surgery

NOKOMIS, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Research into Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) is on the rise, fueling industry growth that Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC.OB – News) expects to translate into demand for n3D cell growth technologies.

RBCC is finalizing an equity funding agreement with n3D Biosciences, the maker of a revolutionary new system that allows scientists to grow three-dimensional cell cultures more easily than ever before. The device, called the Bio-Assembler, could have an extraordinary impact on cell research worldwide, and RBCC expects to find a strong market for the device once its funding agreement with n3D is finalized.

Many cancers, including breast, prostate, pancreatic, colon, brain, and lung cancers, contain a subset of stem-like cells understood to play a critical role in the development and progression of the disease. Research suggests that these cells, called Cancer Stem Cells, are able to “seed” new tumor formation and drive metastasis.

Because these cells are believed to be at the root of the development and spread of cancer, they’re quickly becoming the center of cancer diagnostics and biomarkers. CSCs are resistant to a number of chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy, and approximately 20 different strategies are currently being pursued in the hope of selectively targeting CSCs. This creates a huge opening for new companies and technologies dedicated to streamlining cellular research.

RBCC believes that the Bio-Assembler could allow researchers to dramatically shorten the development timeline for new CSC drugs and treatments, potentially proving very lucrative to the company.

For more information on Rainbow BioSciences, please visit www.rainbowbiosciences.com/investors.

Rainbow BioSciences will develop new medical and research technology innovations to compete alongside companies such as Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG), Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Affymax, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY).

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RBCCinfo.

About Rainbow BioSciences

Rainbow BioSciences is a division of Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC). The company continually seeks out new partnerships with biotechnology developers to deliver profitable new medical technologies and innovations. For more information on our growth-oriented business initiatives, please visit our website at [www.rainbowbiosciences.com]. For investment information and performance data on the company, please visit www.RainbowBioSciences.com/investors.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipate” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone's past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.

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Cancer Stem Cell Research Drives Growth in RBCC’s Target Market

Have an inner body experience at The Health Museum during a week of hands-on crafts, activities and dissection demonstrations exploring the science of your body.

It’s all part of the annual Health & Wellness Week, March 12 – 17, sponsored by St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and Park Plaza Hospital.

The week will be highlighted with the Health & Wellness Expo, Thursday, March 15, 1 – 5 p.m. Community partners and corporate sponsors will be at the museum to explore wellness options for 2012 with museum guests.

Thursday’s Expo will continue with UT Brain Night from 6 – 8 p.m. Participate in brain-y activities for the whole family, see a real human brain and ask doctors all your questions about one of the body’s most fascinating organs. UT Brain Night is hosted by the UTHealth Neuroscience Research Center and is free to all museum visitors.

On Saturday, March 17, Kick Butts Day takes place. This event helps empower youth to take action against tobacco use with fun, educational activities and events and giveaways. Attendees enjoy a day of fun while learning about the health effects of tobacco by visiting various interactive stations including a graffiti pledge wall.

Daily programming includes educator-led organ dissections. Learn cool facts about how your eyes and your entire visual system work, explore the amazing world of the heart, and learn what the different areas of the brain do during these live demonstrations. Hands-on activities include making a sun sense wristband and learning about the positive and negative effects of sunlight, creating an edible cell, and exploring how helmets protect the brain by engineering a protective casing for an egg before dropping it from a specific height.

Take a closer look at cells and find out what is really happening every moment that we are alive in the exhibit Cells: The Universe Inside Us. Throughout the exhibit, meet scientists who are asking questions about cells and watch complex cell processes transformed into choreographed dances. Exhibit highlights include virtual experiments using gold particles and stem cells, a giant walk-through cell and several videos and animated pieces that display cells in action. Cells: The Universe Inside Us will be on display at The Health Museum through August 26 and is included in a general admission ticket.

To complement the exhibit, Cell-ebration Stations will be set up inside the museum. Explore our cells, the amazing building blocks that are the basic units of life, with a variety of hands-on activities like the community crossword challenge and a microscope mini-lab.

Admission to Health & Wellness Week events is included with the purchase of a general admission ticket.

Admission to The Health Museum is $6 for children ages 3-12 and seniors 65 and over, $8 for adults ages 13-64. All children ages 2 and under are free. Tickets are available online at www.thehealthmuseum.org. For group discount rates and school field trip information, call 713-521-1515, ext. 121.

The Health Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m. June – August, the museum is open Mondays, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

For more information about Spring Break festivities and the Cells exhibit, visit www.thehealthmuseum.org.

(Posted by Emily Moser, emoser@hcnonline.com)

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Learn more about your body’s organs at The Health Museum’s annual Wellness Week

Enthusiasm and diversity of ideas is what stood out for the judges among the entrants in this year’s Cambridge University Entrepreneurs £1k challenge that saw ideas ranging from videos on bike wheels to a financing and mentoring initiative for underprivileged students in developing countries among the eight winners.

“It was great to see such diversity and the enthusiasm for what they did really shone through,” said judge David Gill, Managing Director of St John’s innovation Centre. “There was a blip in the quality of entries a couple of years back but the quality has come right back. If I was still in investment mode I’d like to meet some of the teams. There is a lot of strong technology to solve real problems such as energy use, global warming and long term health problems. Back in 2008 it was all about social media.”

Fellow judge Peter Harris from Hotel Chocolat was also impressed with the entries. “I was impressed with the variety of areas and the enthusiasm put forward. Good ideas are easier to come by than presenting these ideas and putting them into practice,” he said.

Where entrants needed to be more concerned is in their realism about what could be achieved. “They need to know how much money they will need and how they are going to get to market,” said David Gill. “Rather than holding people back he said the economic downturn was an incentive. “Companies founded in a downturn do better than those in an upturn.” Fellow judge serial serial entrepreneur, business angel and fellow of Emmanuel College Jack Lang said that people didn’t usually start businesses because of a recession but it was often what gave them the final push “It’s easy to get first stage money but second stage is harder. You need to make sure you’re building something people want to buy, you get to market fast and break even with the money invested initially. ”

For those going on to the £5k challenge Peter Harris offered this advice: “Present yourself in the best possible light – if the judges cant’ understand you how will your market? “ They should also, said the judges, attend the training session and seek the advice of someone who has been there before or an experienced entrepreneur.

Guest speaker John Bird, Founder of the Big Issue, spoke about how he was harnessing the technological expertise in Cambridge to help the homeless help themselves and would soon be launching the first Big Issue World in Cambridge, allowing the homeless to become correspondents producing their own local online publication. John Bird presented the winners’ prizes along with sponsors Marine Barbaroux from Redgate Software and Dan Cowell from Horizon Discovery, who urged the entrepreneurs to “Follow your dreams”.

The winners were Green Tutor (platform for online training), Cambridge Interactive Video Solutions (interactive video segmentation technology), Old Bond (the world’s first spinning animate ads on bicycles), Wedu (financing and mentoring initiative for underprivileged students in developing countries), Cambridge Biocompatibility (biocompatible coatings for orthopaedic and prosthetic surgery) , Realiawind (condition monitoring system for wind turbine drivetrains), CamPores (method to produce novel nanoporous material).

The runners up were: Cambridge Stemcell Systems (custom-made human brain neural stem cells), Heliomobil (solar tracking heliostats),TPS Ltd (device for studying pharmaceutical tablet coatings),Shuruat Mobility (delivering better opportunities for the physically disabled in India, Africa and the Middle East) Simple Tax Calculator (tax management system for SMEs), Collide (App offering new ways for friends to meet and interact), HopSkip (connects people when they want to be connected), Vocal IQ (voice interfaces for computer systems)

Best pitch was awarded to student market place Stu Stu and best poster to Self-Cervix, a home use cervical smear test.

The winners received £1000 along with a year’s subscription to patent search platform BolivenPro Patent (worth £750) from Cambridge IP. The runners up received the subscription to BolivenPro Patent.

The Grand Final of the £5k challenge will be on 13 June..

THE WINNERS

GreenTUTOR provides a platform for online training. It focuses on the sustainable built environment. Market research indicates rapid growth of the £9bn global e-learning market of which its target segment –e-learning teaching – showed the highest growth. GreenTUTOR has access to over 350 researchers and professionals in the area of sustainable development through an established network (www.greenbridge.org.uk), which will be its starting point to enter this market. Thanks to easy access to Ivy League Tutors, GreenTUROR says it benefits from low barriers to entry. Its proposed tuition service, flexible, virtual, one-to-one and multilingual, enables global outreach and thus high-growth rates for this venture.

Cambridge Interactive Video Solutions – Video data is increasingly used for research, performance analysis and documenting personal events. More than 48 hours of video content is uploaded on YouTube every minute. Cambridge Interactive Video Solutions uses interactive video segmentation technology developed at the CUED to provide tools for cutting out objects in videos with arbitrary backgrounds, and analysing their properties. Revolutionary machine learning algorithms progressively understand the need of the user from only a few mouse strokes. Cut-outs are used for scientic studies: animal behavioural studies, live cell image sequence analysis, performance analysis of sportsmen: pose, motion patterns, general public video editing applications: object removal, enhancement, annotation.

Old Bond – student zoology. The team is a startup offering the world’s first spinning animated ads on bicycle wheels; a real breakthrough in outdoor advertising. Being environmentally friendly, we will use an innovative system, Video Pro, to transfer video-clips, images and animated logos from a computer onto the bike wheels. With such new technology transforming a bike into a work of art, drivers can run an ad on any path or put it at some popular spot around the city. It would be hard to create better advertising for businesses, concerts, festivals or cultural events than eye-catching ads on running or stationary bikes.

Wedu provides education financing options and mentorship for underprivileged university students with high leadership potential in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), especially girls. It seeks to initiate a positive cycle of building and developing local leadership talent by identifying students committed to working on local issues, helping them to complete university and giving them access to a global network of mentors. When students return to serve their communities they become mentors to other future leaders while repaying the financing received into a revolving fund to serve more students.

Cambridge Biocompatibility – The team is developing new biocompatible coatings for all forms of orthopaedic and prosthetic surgery that will increase the lifetime by at least a factor of five and reduce recovery and aftercare costs by a factor of 10. Total product lifetime savings will be the major pricing driver for this new portfolio of biocompatible coatings. The team is requesting £100,000 venture capital and expects a company valuation of £60 million within five years.

ReliaWind – Reliability is vital in the growth of the wind industry, especially offshore, and to realise EU’s targets for 2020. ReliaWind has developed a novel and patent-pending condition-monitoring system for wind turbine drivetrains, enabling 40 per cent reduced maintenance cost for offshore installations. The product, comprising a number of sensors and the analysis hardware/software, offers straightforward retrofit into new wind turbines as well as existing ones. This is a relatively new market and the team expects to take a 5.5 per cent market share by 2017, equivalent to installation onto 2500 turbines per year, generating revenues of £60m.

CamPores – Ultracapacitors and pharmaceutical filters underlie very different industries but are the most promising applications of this technology – a method to produce a novel nanoporous material. The manufacturing process is cheap, quick and easily scalable and the pore size can be reliably tuned from 5-100nm with a high degree of uniformity across the substrate. In polymeric form, the substrate has already attracted interest from leading filtration companies. As a porous metal-oxide, it will be a key component of hybrid ultracapacitors, a fast growing industry with applications in grid management and hybrid cars. Other applications include fuel cells and enhanced Lithium-ion batteries.

RUNNERS-UP

Cambridge Stem Cell Systems aims to become the major supplier of custom-made human brain neural stem cells and functional neural tissues to academia, biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It will provide solutions to establish patient cell-based systems for brain disease modelling and drug screening by 1) generating a collection of patient-derived neural stem cell lines from common neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases, and produce stem cell lines of rare diseases on demand; 2) producing optimized neural stem cell culture reagents and tools to suit the research; 3) providing consulting services to help design patient cell based drug discovery platforms.

Heliomobil makes affordable solar-tracking heliostats that are designed with the goal of increasing the yield of residential and small-scale commercial solar energy collection systems. Heliomobil's core product supplements marketed solar collection technologies, enabling them to significantly accelerate return-on-investment through increased sunlight availability.

TPS Limited – With the development of more advance tablet coatings, there is an urgent need for stricter control over tablet coating thickness and evenness, which can only be achieved with better analytical equipment. Terahertz-based imaging devices have recently been developed for studying pharmaceutical tablet coatings. These devices enable continuous, on-line monitoring of tablet coating thickness during the coating process, and can be fitted to existing manufacturing equipment without modifications. These benefits make them superior to current methods. The team believes these devices will be able to rapidly penetrate the $2.2bn pharmaceutical analytical equipment market.

Shuruat Mobility is working in the field of product, service and delivery model design and innovation to target large, under-served segments at the bottom of the pyramid. Its first initiative, Shuruat Mobility, is focused on the design, development and marketing of an ecosystem of innovative assistive mobility devices, specialised educational programmes and micro-financing services for the physically disabled across rural India, Africa and the Middle-East, with the objective of delivering income generation opportunities and financial independence to them in a sustainable and scalable manner.

Simple Tax Calculator – For a small business, keeping records of sales and expenses over multiple years is time consuming. SMEs want to focus on their business. The Simple Tax Calculator is an easy to use system that keeps all required information in one place and allows sole traders to keep a running total of their tax liability throughout the year.

Collide – Winner of the Silicon Valley comes to the UK Cambridge Appathon, Collide creates new ways for friends to meet and interact by bringing mobile, local and social together. Collide is a mobile application which tells you when your friends are close and suggests nearby places to hang out and grab a coffee and, as an added sweetener, Collide also provides the user with money-off vouchers for their favourite social spots.

HopSkip – HopSkip connects people when people want to be connected. HopSkip revolutionises how and when people are able to use their mobile phones. It does this by tunnelling connections through the latent mobile phone network on unused and available radio frequency bands. HopSkip utilises software embedded within the mobile phone to search, identify and connect to other roaming mobile phones until a connection with a network provider is achieved. As long as other mobile phones are in the vicinity and are HopSkip enabled, a connection through the latent mobile network to the real network will be established. This technology extends the coverage of existing networks substantially, allowing phone signals to be transmitted down into the London Underground, into concrete buildings and down alleyways. It also considerably extends the boundaries of existing cell-sites. Digital information literally hops and skips through other users mobile phones.

VocalIQ – VocalIQ aims to become the leading provider of voice interfaces for computer systems. By using novel statistical models of dialogue, VocalIQ can dramatically improve the performance of voice-based systems. Possible applications include automated call centres, mobile applications and car-navigation systems.

• Photograph by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions
www.mediaimagingsolutions.com 
@eastangliapics

http://www.cue.org.uk/

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Magnificent seven take CUE honours

Contact: Sally Stewart
Sally.stewart@cshs.org
310-248-6566
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 20, 2012) ? A Cedars-Sinai research scientist has been awarded two national grants totaling more than $2.5 million, including a prestigious Research Project Grant from the National Institutes of Health to study potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Terrence Town, PhD, is studying drugs that potentially could disrupt the formation and accumulation of sticky amyloid plaques that build up in the brain and are widely considered a root cause of Alzheimer's disease, a chronic and fatal condition that impairs memory and cognition. In the disease's final stages, patients require round-the-clock care.

Amyloid is an abnormal protein usually produced in the bone marrow that can be deposited in any tissue or organ. An unhealthy buildup of the protein is believed to lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's.

“Alzheimer's has the potential to bankrupt this country,'' said Town, PhD, the studies' principal investigator and research scientist in the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute and the Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Neurosurgery. “It is the public health crisis of our time and the big question is: what are we going to do about it? Our approach is to target the body's immune system to clean up amyloid plaques and thereby allow brain regeneration.”

The NIH grant totals more than $2 million over five years and is earmarked for the study of macrophages, common cells that circulate in the blood and are capable of clearing damaging substances, such as plaques.

“Our goal is to identify drugs that give the signal to macrophages to enter the brain and eat away at the amyloid plaque buildup,” said Town, the Ben Winters Chair in Regenerative Medicine. “These macrophages have a central mission in life: to eat noxious substances. But because the brain is somewhat shielded from the immune system, peripheral macrophages are given the message not to go into the brain and eat the amyloid plaques. So, if we could identify what's blocking this beneficial response in these cells, the hope is that a drug would enable the macrophages to leave the blood, go into the brain and remove the plaques.”

The second grant, for $550,000, was awarded by the American Federation of Aging Research and will enable Town and his team of researchers to study new ways to reduce brain inflammation.

“Understanding this important area of neuroimmunology will likely lead to new therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's,'' Town said.

The author of more than 90 scientific publications, Town is a well-known neuroimmunologist whose research focuses on understanding and treating neurologic disorders including Alzheimer's, viral encephalitis and stroke.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 5.4 million Americans have the disease, and its incidence is on the rise. Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing memory, thinking and behavioral problems severe enough to affect work, family and social relationships. It eventually affects the basics of daily living, is incurable and, ultimately, is fatal. Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the fifth-leading cause for people 65 and older, association statistics show.

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The Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute brings together basic scientists with specialist clinicians, physician scientists and translational scientists across multiple medical specialties to translate fundamental stem cell studies to therapeutic regenerative medicine. The Institute is housed in new laboratories designed for stem cell and regenerative medicine research. At the heart of the Institute is a specialized core facility for the production of pluriporent stem cells capable of making all tissues in the human body from adult human skin biopsies. Cells produced within the Institute are for use in a variety of Cedars-Sinai medical research programs, currently focusing on understanding the causes of and finding treatments for diseases of the brain, heart, eye, liver, kidney, pancreas and skeletal structures, as well as cancer and metabolic disorders.

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Cedars-Sinai awarded $2.5 million to study potential new drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Sigma-Aldrich today said that it has licensed worldwide rights to Kyoto University's induced pluripotent stem cell patent portfolio.

Under terms of the deal, iPS Academia Japan, which managed the patents and technology arising from Shinya Yamanaka's research at Kyoto University, will receive a license fee from Sigma-Aldrich. Financial and other terms of the license were not disclosed.

“Our license with Kyoto University grants us the freedom to operate under Kyoto University's induced pluripotent stem cell patent portfolio in the increasingly important field of stem-cell based research and development,” David Smoller, chief scientific officer of Sigma-Aldrich, said in a statement. “Using the Kyoto iPS cell technology and our zinc finger protein technologies, we hope to generate stable, defined sets of cells and subsequently derived tissues whose predictive power will allow us to develop a new paradigm in assay development.”

Cellular Dynamics also holds a non-exclusive license to the Kyoto iPS cell patents.

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Sigma-Aldrich Licenses Global Rights to Kyoto iPS Cell Patents

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYXJNUvIT3I

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Cancer Stem Cell Research – Video