Abstract
Vivek Murthy, MD, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Murthy is a Harvard Medical School (HMS) instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He succeeds Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Boris Lushniak, who has held the post since July 2013. During his four-year term as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy will serve as the lead spokesperson on all national public health matters and will lead the U.S. Public Health Service Commission. He will report to the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services.
Dr. Murthy was selected as a member of the Presidentially-appointed Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health in January 2011 and was nominated for surgeon general by President Obama in November 2013. Dr. Murthy earned his MD from the Yale University School of Medicine and MBA from Yale University School of Management. He completed residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and has served on the faculty of HMS and at Brigham and Women's since 2006. He is a co-founder, past president, and former chairman of VISIONS Worldwide, a nonprofit focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the U.S. He is also the co-founder and president of Doctors for America and is a co-founder of TrialNetworks.
$24 Million Donation to Support Allergy Research at Stanford
A donation of $24 million from Napster co-founder and inaugural president of Facebook, Sean Parker, has established the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford University. Researchers at the Center will focus on understanding the underlying mechanisms of childhood and adult allergies and developing effective cures. Investigators will conduct studies of a variety of types of allergies, including food allergies, drug allergies and environmental allergens. The Center is led by Stanford faculty member, Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Allergy & Clinical Immunology) and, by courtesy, of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital.
$15 Million Gift Establishes Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease at Mount Sinai
Daniel S. Loeb, CEO and Founder of Third Point LLC, and his wife, Margaret Munzer Loeb, donated $15 million to the Mount Sinai Health System to establish the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease in memory of Mr. Loeb's father, Ronald M. Loeb. The Loeb Center is a network of research programs coordinated with clinical initiatives across the Mount Sinai Health System. Researchers at the Center will aim to improve treatments for Alzheimer's disease through pioneering discoveries in genomics, neurobiology, stem cell engineering and other disciplines.
The Center is led by Alison Goate, PhD, along with Mary Sano, PhD, Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, and Eric Schadt, PhD, three Mount Sinai faculty members who are renowned experts in Alzheimer's research and treatment. Dr. Goate, the Mount Sinai Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Director of the Loeb Center, joined Mount Sinai from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is recognized for identifying key gene mutations linked to the heritable risk for Alzheimer's disease, including a mutation of the PLD3 gene which has been shown to significantly increase the risk of developing late onset Alzheimer's disease.
The Center will bring together a network of researchers and clinicians from across the Mount Sinai Health System and will collaborate extensively with the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC). The ADRC is sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, and is directed by Dr. Sano. Dr. Sano is the Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Professor of Psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Physicians will primarily see patients in the Center for Cognitive Health (part of the May Center for Mount Sinai Doctors), led by Dr. Gandy. Dr. Gandy is the Mount Sinai Professor in Alzheimer's Research, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, and Associate Director of Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Researchers at the Loeb Center will also work closely with scientists at The Friedman Brain Institute, led by Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, and the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, directed by Dr. Schadt. Dr. Nestler is the Nash Family Professor and Chair of Neuroscience, and Dr. Schadt serves as the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor of Genomics at Mount Sinai.
University of Colorado School of Medicine Receives $1.5 Million Bequest
The University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus received a $1.5 million estate gift to fund a new endowment in bone pathology research. The gift was committed by Samuel Fosdick Jones, a leading physician in Denver, upon his retirement in 1930. Dr. Jones served as the head of orthopedics at CU's School of Medicine from 1917 through 1928. Upon his death in 1946, his estate was left in a trust that distributed income to friends and family for a number of years. The balance of this trust recently reverted to CU to benefit surgical bone pathology after the last beneficiary died.
The S. Fosdick Jones Fund will support research in the Department of Orthopedics in perpetuity and will immediately benefit four ongoing studies within the department. As announced by CU, the four studies selected for near-term funding from the endowment are:
Degenerative joint diseases led by Karen King, PhD, in the Orthopedics Molecular Biology laboratory
Bone-fracture repair and pediatric growth plate tissue engineering led by Karin Payne, PhD, in the Regenerative Orthopedics laboratory
Genetics of scoliosis, limb deformity and neuromuscular disorders led by Nancy Hadley-Miller, MD, in the Musculoskeletal Research Center
Bone cancer and musculoskeletal tumor research led by Bennie Lindeque, MMed, PhD
Unmc Receives $1.3 Million Estate Gift
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) received a $1.3 million bequest from the estate of Mary and Roy Pearson. The funds will be used for research in macular degeneration and regenerative medicine and to support two existing endowed funds the Pearsons established at the University of Nebraska Foundation during their lifetimes. Mr. Pearson, who died in 2010, suffered from macular degeneration. The Pearsons’ initial gift to UNMC was given to support the macular degeneration research of Dr. Iqbal Ahmad in the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences in 2007. This recent donation brings the Pearsons’ total support benefiting the University of Nebraska to nearly $2.7 million.
Wustl School of Medicine Receives $25 Million Gift to Endow Genome Institute
Elizabeth and James McDonnell have pledged $25 million to endow The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The Institute will be named The Elizabeth H. and James S. McDonnell III Genome Institute. The gift will support pioneering research aimed at understanding the genetic origins of diseases in order to develop more effective diagnostics and therapies. Research at the Institute focuses on a number of diseases including cancer, diabetes, autism and Alzheimer's disease. The Genome Institute is led by Richard K. Wilson, PhD, who serves as the director, and Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, who is the co-director.
$1 Million Gift Names New Pediatric Autism Clinic at University of Rochester
The William and Mildred Levine Foundation announced a naming gift of $1 million for the William and Mildred Levine Autism Clinic of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). The clinic will be located in a new University of Rochester-owned building that is scheduled for construction this spring. The building will house outpatient imaging on the first two floors and the Levine Clinic on the third. It is slated to open in the spring/summer of 2016.
In addition to addressing the needs of the patient, the new clinic will also focus on family-centered care. Resources and support offered at the clinic will include a patient library and dedicated space where local mentors from community organizations will work individually with parents. Many autism patients struggle when processing sensory information. As such, specialized attention is being given to the design of the space in order to make it a soothing environment. Particular attention is being given to the sounds, textures, light levels and flow of the space to ensure minimal distractions and sensory triggers. The Levine Autism Clinic will complement the existing Kirch Developmental Services Center, the current clinical service of the Division of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at URMC's Golisano Children's Hospital. The Kirch Center is the top referral site for evaluation of children with developmental disabilities in Western New York.
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Announces Bio-therapeutics Impact Awards
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) announced the inaugural recipients of its new grant category aimed at accelerating the development of clinical trials for biologic approaches to treat pediatric cancer. The Bio-therapeutics Impact Grants, each totaling $1.5 million over the course of three years, were awarded to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX), Georgia Health Sciences University Research Institute (Augusta, GA), and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, WA). The new awards represent the largest funding yet given by ALSF, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding cures for pediatric cancer.
The 2014 Bio-therapeutics Impact Awards add to a number of grants that are part of ALSF's Accelerator Program. The Accelerator Program is aimed at advancing the pace of pioneering research and clinical trials in pediatric cancer. This new grant category supports preclinical testing of novel therapies in anticipation of potential FDA applications as an Investigational New Drug (IND).
As announced by ALSF, the inaugural recipients of the Bio-therapeutics Impact Grants are:
Leonid Metelitsa, MD/PhD of Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Metelitsa will work to develop and clinically test a new form of cancer immunotherapy of neuroblastoma utilizing Natural Killer T cells (NKTs).
Marie Bleakley, MD/PhD of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Dr. Bleakley will examine immunotherapies, including vaccines, to help patients with high-risk leukemia.
Theodore Johnson, MD/PhD of Georgia Health Sciences University Research Institute
Dr. Johnson will work on a Phase I Trial of immunotherapy target indoximod in combination with temozolomide based therapy for children with progressive primary brain tumors.
Nih Initiates “Centers without Walls” to Study Sudep
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced funding for nine groups of scientists as part of an initiative to better understand sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The groups will receive a total of $5.9 million in 2014. The SUDEP consortium is the second “Center Without Walls” initiative since the program was established by NINDS in 2010 to address gaps in epilepsy research through collaborative research.
SUDEP refers to deaths with no known causes in individuals with epilepsy, and there are no existing strategies for preventing it. According to the NIH press release (available at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/news_articles/pressrelease_sudep_12082014.htm), SUDEP occurs in 1 out of 1000 people with epilepsy annually, often in the age group from 20 to 40 years old. The SUDEP grants are aimed at expediting the movement of laboratory findings into clinical settings. As announced by the NIH, the awarded projects are:
Center for SUDEP Research: Autonomic and Imaging Biomarkers of SUDEP
Principal Investigator: Samden Lhatoo, MD; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland; NS090407
Dr. Lhatoo's team will examine ways in which changes in brain structure are linked to abnormal physiological responses and altered breathing patterns that occur during seizures. Using various imaging technologies, they will identify risk factors for SUDEP that may eventually be therapeutic targets.
Center for SUDEP Research: The Neuropathology of SUDEP
Principal Investigators: Maria Thom, MD; University College London; Orrin Devinsky, MD; New York University School of Medicine, New York City; NS090415
Combining the world's largest collection of brains from individuals who have died from SUDEP with tissue collected from individuals undergoing epilepsy surgery, Dr. Thom and her colleagues will use a variety of techniques to examine the role of two chemicals, adenosine and serotonin, in unexpected death associated with epilepsy.
Center for SUDEP Research: Morphometric Core
Principal Investigator: Alica M. Goldman, MD, PhD; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; NS090406
Dr. Goldman's group will focus on changes in the size and structure of the brain and brainstem from individuals who have died due to SUDEP.
Center for SUDEP Research: Molecular Diagnostics Core
Principal Investigators: John William Belmont, MD, PhD, and Alica Goldman, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine; NS090362
Dr. Belmont's team will conduct DNA genetic analyses on samples obtained from individuals who have died or are at high risk of developing SUDEP. The tissue will be collected from institutions that are part of the Center for SUDEP Research. The goals of this project are to identify the genes that cause SUDEP and allow researchers to develop tools to predict who is at risk for it.
Center for SUDEP Research: Respiratory and Arousal Mechanisms
Principal Investigator: George B. Richerson, MD, PhD; University of Iowa, Iowa City; NS090414
Research from Dr. Richerson's lab suggests that dysfunction in brainstem pathways involved in controlling breathing may be involved in SUDEP. With the help of individuals with epilepsy as well as mouse models, Dr. Richerson and his colleagues will investigate these pathways and look for biomarkers that may be used to screen individuals most at risk of developing SUDEP.
Center for SUDEP Research: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Mouse Neurocardiac Models
Principal Investigators: Jack M. Parent, MD and Lori Isom, PhD; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; NS090364
Drs. Parent and Isom will examine changes in neuronal function and heart rhythm that may contribute to SUDEP in individuals with Dravet syndrome, a severe form of pediatric epilepsy with higher risk of sudden death. Using stem cells derived from individuals with Dravet syndrome, data obtained from these individuals before, during and after seizures, and mouse models, they will look for biomarkers to identify risk.
Center for SUDEP Research: Cardiac Gene and Circuit Mechanisms
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Noebels, MD, PhD; Baylor College of Medicine; NS090340
Dr. Noebels and his colleagues will investigate how changes in genes can increase the risk of SUDEP by causing abnormalities in heart rate and breathing patterns. They will identify genes that contribute to SUDEP and test candidate drugs that may reduce the risk of unexpected death.
Center for SUDEP Research: Informatics & Data Analysis Core
Principal Investigator: Guo-Qiang Zhang, PhD; Case Western Reserve University; NS090408
The main goal of the Informatics and Data Analysis Core (IDAC) is to make it easier for researchers to share data and resources across all of the institutions in this Center Without Walls. IDAC will also provide support for the SUDEP projects by assisting with data collection, analysis and study design.
Center for SUDEP Research: Administrative Core
Principal Investigators: Samden Lhatoo, MD; Case Western Reserve University; Jeffrey Noebels, MD, PhD; Baylor College of Medicine; NS090405
The Administrative Core will serve as a virtual hub for the SUDEP projects. Drs. Lhatoo and Noebels will oversee, facilitate and prioritize the research that results from the Center for SUDEP Research projects.
Harrington Scholar-Innovator Awards Announced
The Harrington Discovery Institute selects up to 12 physician-scientists to be awarded Harrington Scholar-Innovator awards annually. The award provides funding and drug development support to the awardees and their institutions to accelerate the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
Researchers are selected from institutions across the country through a highly competitive selection process. As announced by the Harrington Institute, the 2015 Scholar-Innovators, their institutions and research focuses are:
Robert Bonomo, MD - Case Western Reserve University
Bacterial Drug Resistance: Novel antibacterial agents to treat drug-resistant infections
John Burnett Jr., MD - Mayo Clinic
Heart Failure: Novel peptide therapy for heart failure
Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD - Duke University
Nervous System Movement Disorders: Repurposing HIV medicines to treat movement disorders of the nervous system
David Clemmons, MD - University of North Carolina
Osteoporosis: Novel class of drugs to treat osteoporosis
Barry Coller, MD - Rockefeller University
Myocardial Infarction: A new pre-hospital therapy to treat a heart attack
Clark Distelhorst, MD - Case Western Reserve University
Blood Cancers: Targeting a new pathway to treat blood cancers
Xianxin Hua, MD, PhD - University of Pennsylvania
Type I Diabetes: A drug that regenerates pancreas cells to treat diabetes
Richard Johnson, MD - University of Colorado
Obesity and Diabetes: A novel drug class to treat obesity and diabetes
Marikki Laiho, MD, PhD – Johns Hopkins University
Cancer: A first-in-kind small molecule that targets an essential mechanism for cancer cell survival
Geoffrey Pitt, MD, PhD - Duke University
Osteoporosis: A new osteoporosis therapy that increases bone mass
Ira Tabas, MD, PhD - Columbia University
Diabetes and Atherosclerosis: Targeting a new pathway common to diabetes and atherosclerosis
The Harrington Discovery Institute is the nonprofit arm of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a national initiative supporting breakthrough research by physician-scientists.
Nih Announces New Grants to Support Single Cell Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced grants totaling $7.9 million in 2014 for research focused on single cells. The grants, supported by the NIH Common Fund's Single Cell Analysis Program (SCAP), were awarded to 25 research teams aimed at understanding the workings of single cells in order to develop novel targeted treatments at the cellular level. Complete details of all funded SCAP grants are available online at http://commonfund.nih.gov/singlecell/fundedresearch. The following single cell analysis project titles, listed with Principle Investigators and affiliations, are supported by SCAP.
Validation and Advanced Development of Technologies for the Study of Biological Properties of Single Cells (R33): RFA-RM-13-020
Quantification and modeling of the emergence of tissue-level mechanics from individual cell heterogeneity. PI: Scott A. Holley, Yale University
Analyzing genomic elements in live animals by CRISPR imaging. PI: Bo Huang, University of California, San Francisco
Validation of acoustic tweezers for single-cell analyses of purine metabolism. PI: Tony Jun Huang, Pennsylvania State University-University Park
Laser-Based Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Single Cells. PI: Jeremy L. Norris, Vanderbilt University
Validation and development of single nucleotide variant RNA FISH in single cells in culture and tissue. PI: Arjun Raj, University of Pennsylvania
Multidimensional analysis of cell lineages. PI: Rui Sousa- Neves; Claudia Mizutani, Case Western Reserve University
Nuclear pre-mRNA analysis of single cells in brain slice. Jai-Yoon Sul, University of Pennsylvania
Detection of cell type specific effects of pathway manipulation in neural cells. PI: Tracy L. Young-Pearse, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Exceptionally Innovative Tools and Technologies for Single Cell Analysis (R21): RFA-RM-13-021
MACS: A genetic labeling tool to depict the complete neuroblast lineage of all neurons in individual Drosophila brains. PI: Dawen Cai; Bing Ye, University of Michigan
Microsecond Raman spectroscopy: Assessing single cell metabolism in a vital organism. PI: Ji-Xin Chang, Purdue University West Layfayette
Identifying the intercellular networks regulating estrogen receptor expression with a high definition single cell printer. PI: Zev Jordan Gartner, University of California, San Francisco
In Situ Optoguided Microsampling Single-cell Mass Spectrometry for Elucidating Cell Heterogeneity. PI: Peter Nemes, George Washington University
Light-Induced Genetic Alterations within Single Cell of a Live Vertebrate Animal. PI: John M. Parant, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Innovative reporters to characterize heterogeneous states among cells. PI: Norbert Perrimon, Harvard Medical School
Real-time tracking of single cells in live animals. PI: Guillem Pratx, Stanford University
High Spatiotemporal Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Single Cell Analysis. PI: Richard N. Zare
Revisions to Add Single Cell Analysis to Active Research Projects (R01): RFA-RM-13-022
Regulation and Function of Polarity and Asymmetric Cell Division in Immunity. PI: John T. Chang, University of California San Diego
Novel clone-specific virulence determinants of A. actinomycetemcomitans. PI: Casey C. Chen, University of Southern California
Mechanisms of megakaryocyte maturation. PI: Diane S. Krause, Yale University
Characterizing tumor suppressive functions of microRNAs in B-cell neoplasia. PI: Dinesh S. Rao, University of California, Los Angeles
Genomic site binding rules and regulatory factor function in developing T cells. PI: Ellen Rothenberg, California Institute of Technology
Multidimensional characterization of RNAs and signals in single intestinal cells. PI: Ramesh A. Shivdasani, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Molecular biology of myeloid differentiation. PI: Daniel G. Tenen, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Personal tumor neoantigens for immunity against chronic lymphocytic leukemia. PI: Catherine Ju-Ying Wu, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Revisions to Add Single Cell Analysis to Active Research Projects (U01): RFA-RM-13-023
Regulatory Genomic Studies in a Cohort of IPS Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes. PI: Kelly A. Frazer; Neil C. Chi; Sylvia M. Evans; Eugene Wei-Ming Yeo; Kun Zhang, University of California San Diego
Studies to evaluate cellular heterogeneity using transcriptional profiling of single cells (U01): RFA-RM-11-013
Role of Single Cell mRNA Variation in Systems Associated Electrically Excitable C. PI: James H. Eberwine; Junhyong Kim, University of Pennsylvania
Evaluation of Cellular Heterogeneity Using Patchclamp and RNA-Seq of Single Cells. PI: James A. Knowles; Robert Hsiu-Ping Chow, University of Southern California
Single-cell sequencing and in situ mapping of RNA transcripts in human brains. PI: Kun Zhang, University of California San Diego
Exceptionally Innovative Tools and Technologies for Single Cell Analysis (R21): RFA-RM-11-014
New methods for monitoring the immune system, in individual cells and in vivo. PI: Markus W. Covert, Stanford University
Single cell analysis of chromatin changes at individual genes. PI: Oleg N. Denisenko, University of Washington
High-Throughput Single-Cell-PCR Technique for Tissue Analysis of Genetic Heteroge. PI: Emil P. Kartalov, University of Southern California
A high-throughput method for simultaneous profiling of mRNA and protein levels in. PI: Marc Wallas Kirschner, Harvard University Medical School
Development of Microfluidic Nano-Liter Platform for Single Cell Dynamic Monitorin. PI: Tali Tania Konry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Fluorescent probes for quantitation of secretory protein levels in single cells. PI: Matthew Levy; Erik L. Snapp, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Highly Multiplexed Single-cell Transcript Analysis Using DNA-barcoded Nanowells. PI: John Christopher Love, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In Situ Single Cell Laser Lysis and Downstream qRT-PCR Profiling. PI: Deirdre R. Meldrum, Arizona State University – Tempe Campus
Real-time visualization of neural stem cell transcriptome. PI: Claudia Mizutani; Weihong Guo; Rui Sousa-Neves, Case Western Reserve University
Nanoscale Laser Ablation Capture Mass Spectrometry for Single Cell Proteomics. PI: Kermit King Murray, Louisiana State University A&M College Baton Rouge
Developing a whole-genome sequencing method for single human cells. PI: Nicholas Navin
Combined Biophysical and Biochemical Study of Single Cells. PI: Corey P. Neu
Mapping pH at the surface of individual cell. PI: Yana K. Reshetnyak; Oleg A. Andreev, University of Rhode Island
Multiplexed, Single Molecule Protein Identification for Single Cell Proteomics. PI: Peter Alan Sims, Columbia University Health Sciences
A Systematic Approach to Engineer Fyn Kinase Biosensor. PI: Yingxiao Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Accelerating the Integration and Translation of Technologies to Characterize Biological Processes at the Single Cell Level (R01): RFA-RM-11-015
An integrated system to monitor complex tissues at single-cell resolution. PI: Zhirong Bao, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research
High-throughput robotic analysis of integrated neuronal phenotypes. PI: Edward S. Boyden; Craig Forest; Hongkui Zeng, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rapid Analysis of Single T Cell Immunity Signatures in Tuberculosis. PI: Yuri Bushkin; Maria Laura Gennaro; Sanjay Tyagi, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School
Multiplex RNA imaging in single cells by superresolution microscopy& barcode FISH. PI: Long Cai; George Somlo, California Institute of Technology
Validation of a single cell multiplexed in-situ biomarker analysis platform for p. Michael Gerdes; Robert J. Coffey; Kashan Shaikh, General Electric Global Research Center
Nanowell-based single-cell technology for characterizing clinical samples ex vivo PI: John Christopher Love, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Activity Based Tagging of Neurons. PI: Mark R. Mayford, Scripps Research Institute
Quantitative single-cell biomarkers of T-cells to optimize tumor immunotherapy. PI: Navin Varadarajan; Laurence J.N. Cooper, University of Houston
Single-cell phenotyping for therapeutic stratification in pancreatic cancer. PI: Denis Wirtz, Johns Hopkins University