Abstract
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center announced that the production of sterile materials was suspended at its Pharmaceutical Development Section (PDS) due to compliance and manufacturing discrepancies. Responding to a complaint, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the PDS between May 19 and May 29. The inspection revealed a series of deficiencies to be addressed by the NIH Clinical Center. The FDA reports are available online at http://www.cc.nih.gov/phar/pdfs/483.pdf.
A press release issued by the NIH indicated that two vials of albumin produced at the pharmacy, used for the administration of the drug interleukin in experimental studies, were found to have fungal contamination. Vials made from the same batch were administered to six patients, although it is unknown whether those vials were contaminated. The patients have been notified and are being monitored for any signs of infection. At the time of the NIH statement, none of the patients had developed signs of infection or illness. The NIH press release is available online at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2015/nih-04.htm.
Albany Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research Announced
Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, DH, and Xiaoliang Sunney Xie, PhD, were awarded the 2015 Albany Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. The $500,000 annual award, given since 2001, recognizes individuals whose contributions have altered the course of medical research. It is one of the largest prizes in medicine and science in the United States.
Dr. Deisseroth is the Chen Professor, Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and is a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. He is recognized for pioneering optogenetics as a method to study the circuitry of the brain and for developing the groundbreaking technology, CLARITY.
Dr. Deisseroth earned his MD at Stanford University Medical School, where he also completed a psychiatric residency and postdoctoral fellowship. He earned his PhD in neuroscience at Stanford.
Dr. Deisseroth serves as a member of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) BRAIN Initiative Working Group. He has received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the Dickson Prize in Science, the Richard Lounsbery Prize from the National Academy of Sciences, the European BRAIN Prize, the Nakasone Prize from the Human Frontier Science Program, the Keio Medical Science Prize, the Zuelch Prize from the Max-Planck Society, and the Lurie Prize from the Foundation for the NIH. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Xie, a leader in the field of single-molecule biology, is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University and Director of BIOPIC at Peking University. His groundbreaking work using fluorescence has made it possible to examine single-molecule activity in real time, revolutionizing the investigation of gene regulation. Dr. Xie pioneered coherent Raman scattering microscopy and, along with his team, recently developed the Multiple Annealing and Looping-Based Amplification Cycles (MALBAC) technique. The technique has been applied to examine large regions of genomic sequences of a single cell and has been adapted to identify healthy embryos for use in in vitro fertilization.
A native of Beijing, China, Dr. Xie earned his BS in chemistry from Peking University. He earned his PhD in chemistry at the University of California San Diego, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous honors and awards for his work, including the Peter Debye Award and the Harrison Howe Award of American Chemical Society, Biophysical Society Founders Award, E.O. Lawrence Award in Chemistry, Leibinger Innovation Prize, the NIH Director's Pioneer Award, and the Sackler Prize for Physical Sciences.
Albany Medical Center Receives $1 Million Gift from Stewart's Shops and the Dake Family
Albany Medical Center received a gift of $1 million from Stewart's Shops and the Dake Family to support its “Grow Our Own” nursing program, a work-study program that supports eligible employees who are pursuing a registered nursing degree. The program provides full tuition and paid time off for participating full-time employees of the hospital to study and take classes. As part of the agreement, participants agree to work at Albany Med for up to four years after graduation. The donation will also be used for development of a new Patient Pavilion. The pavilion will house 20 new operating rooms and 46 single- and five double-occupancy rooms in the neonatal intensive care unit.
2015 Gruber Neuroscience Prize Announced
Carla Shatz, PhD, of Stanford University and Michael Greenberg, PhD, of Harvard Medical School are the joint recipients of the 2015 Neuroscience Prize of The Gruber Foundation at Yale. They are recognized “for Their Pioneering Work on the Molecular Mechanisms that Control Brain Development and Plasticity”. The award, which carries a prize of $500,000, will be presented to Drs. Shatz and Greenberg on October 18 at the 45th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, IL.
In addition to the following award announcements, laureate profiles are also available online at http://gruber.yale.edu/prize/2015-gruber-neuroscience-prize.
Michael Greenberg, PhD, age 61, Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, has spent the last 30 years unlocking the mysteries of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the effects of experience on the brain thus elucidating how nature and nurture are intertwined during brain development. In 1984, he made the landmark discovery that growth factors send signals from the cell surface to the nucleus thereby instructing cells to transcribe the c-fos gene. Since then Greenberg and other researchers have shown that this process is induced in neurons in response to neural activity, and have identified hundreds of genes in addition to c-fos that are activated in the brain in response to sensory stimuli. Greenberg has described in elegant detail the neural pathways of this transcription process, including how the “L-type” voltage-gated Ca2+ calcium channel leads to gene expression crucial for synapse development and for learning and memory. Working with cultured mouse neurons, Greenberg recently demonstrated that “enhancer regions” of DNA across the genome are not only activated by sensory stimuli, but also create strands of enhancer RNA (eRNA) that play a role in the neuron's response to an external stimulus. More recently, Greenberg has reported that the lack of one crucial regulator of sensory-dependent gene expression, MeCP2, results in disruption of the expression of long genes in the brain, a finding with profound implications for the developmental disorder, Rett syndrome, and other neurological disorders.
Carla Shatz, PhD, 68, the David Starr Jordan Director of Bio-X and the Sapp Family Provostial Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at Stanford University, has been a pioneer in discovering and understanding what happens during critical periods of brain development, both before and after birth. She was the first to demonstrate that the visual system in the mammalian brain is not hardwired, but shaped even in utero by spontaneous “waves” of neural activity that prune and strengthen neural connections. She also made the groundbreaking discovery that MHC (major histocompatibility) Class I genes play a major role in this synaptic remodeling. At the time, MHCI proteins were known only for their role in the immune system, but she found that they are also present in nerve cells. Other major discoveries by Shatz include the finding that MHCI molecules interact with another immune system molecule shared with neurons, the PirB receptor. By removing PirB receptors from the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease, Shatz demonstrated that the animals did not develop the disease. These and other findings have opened entirely new avenues of research into the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and other devastating brain diseases.
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the UW Receives $6 Million Gift
The Ellison Foundation has given $6 million to the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Washington (UW) to investigate the genetics of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers will investigate the genetics of Alzheimer's to develop precision medicine therapies that may be customized to treat individuals with the disease. The Ellison Foundation gift is part of a project that totals $20 million. UW Medicine announced that funding from the Ellison Foundation will be used for the following purposes:
Use exome sequencing to identify Alzheimer's risk. Exome sequencing is a focused type of gene sequencing. Testing will help determine a patient's risk of acquiring the disease.
Test more drugs, faster. Researchers will use patient-derived stem cells to test potential Alzheimer's-defeating drugs at the Quellos High-throughput Screening Core, a facility that allows fast and efficient testing.
Recruit a leader. UW Medicine will recruit a senior scientist to lead the clinical trials team, the group that will eventually test drugs in human volunteers.
Find Alzheimer's earlier. The gift also will help test the efficacy of an imaging tool called fMRI in detecting physiological changes in the brain — ones that may warn of impending Alzheimer's — before dementia develops.
The complete announcement is available online at http://hsnewsbeat.uw.edu/brief/ellison-foundation-invests-6-million-alzheimers-disease-research-uw.
Musc Receives $25 Million Gift for Children—s Hospital
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) received a $25 million gift to help build the new MUSC Children's Hospital and Women's Pavilion in downtown Charleston. The gift, from Charleston businessman Shawn Jenkins, marks the largest philanthropic contribution in the Medical University's history. Mr. Jenkins is the CEO and co-founder of Benefitfocus, a Charleston-based software company.
Construction of the new hospital, to be named the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital, is expected to begin in 2016 and the facility is slated to open in 2019. The new hospital will replace the current MUSC Children's Hospital, which opened in 1987. The University is still working to raise at least $50 million in donations for the project. Mr. Jenkins's gift put the donation total just above $40 million.
$1 Million Gift Establishes Chair for Surgical Oncology at Uams
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received a gift of $1 million from James C. and Mary Kay East to establish the Kent C. Westbrook, MD Chair in Surgical Oncology. Kent C. Westbrook, MD, distinguished professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, is the inaugural recipient of the chair. Dr. Westbrook served as director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute from 1984–1999.
During his tenure at UAMS, Dr. Westbrook has also served as interim chair of the Department of Surgery, interim vice chancellor for development, and chair of the Department of Dermatology. He received the 2015 UAMS College of Medicine Dean's Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Arkansas Medical Society's Asklepion Award for his service to patients and medicine.
Hhmi Investigators Announced
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced the selection of 26 new HHMI investigators. Investigators, who represent 19 institutions from across the United States, are expected to begin their appointments in September this year. HHMI will provide each investigator with his or her full salary, benefits, and a research budget over the initial five-year appointment. Additional costs, such as facilities and equipment, are also covered. The initiative represents an investment in basic biomedical research of $153 million over the next five years. Investigators were selected for their individual scientific excellence from a group of 894 eligible applicants and represent a variety of disciplines.
The new 2015 HHMI Investigators and their institutions are:
Sue Biggins, PhD Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Squire J. Booker, PhD Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Olga Boudker, PhD Cornell University
Yifan Cheng, PhD University of California, San Francisco
Job Dekker, PhD University of Massachusetts Medical School
Xinzhong Dong, PhD Johns Hopkins University
Loren M. Frank, PhD University of California, San Francisco
Levi A. Garraway, MD, PhD Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Britt A. Glaunsinger, PhD University of California, Berkeley
Reuben S. Harris, PhD University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Michael T. Laub, PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hening Lin, PhD Cornell University
John D. MacMicking, PhD Yale University
Andreas Martin, PhD University of California, Berkeley
Joshua T. Mendell, MD, PhD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Joseph D. Mougous, PhD University of Washington
Kim Orth, PhD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Jared Rutter, PhD University of Utah
Pardis C. Sabeti, DPhil, MD Harvard University
Jay Shendure, MD, PhD University of Washington
Krishna V. Shenoy, PhD Stanford University
J. Paul Taylor, MD, PhD St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Doris Y. Tsao California Institute of Technology
Tobias C. Walther, PhD Harvard University
Joanna K. Wysocka, PhD Stanford University
Jennifer A. Zallen, PhD Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
2015 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Announced
Three recipients will share the 2015 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. Ruth S. Nussenzweig and Victor Nussenzweig, both faculty at the NYU Langone Medical Center, and Tu Youyou of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing were jointly awarded, “for their pioneering discoveries in chemistry and parasitology, and their personal commitment to translating these discoveries into effective chemotherapeutic and vaccine-based approaches to controlling malaria”. The prize carries an unrestricted award of $500,000. The co-recipients will be honored at a special symposium at Harvard Medical School on October 1.
The Alpert Prize was established by the late philanthropist, Warren Alpert, in 1987. The award recognizes scientists “whose research has led to the prevention, cure or treatment of human diseases or disorders and constitutes a seminal scientific finding that holds great promise of ultimately changing our understanding of, or ability to treat, disease”. Since the prize was established, more than $3 million has been awarded to 51 individuals, of whom seven have also received a Nobel Prize.
Dr. Tu's work yielded development of the drug Artemisinin, which is the primary drug used worldwide to treat people infected with the malaria parasite. The work of Drs. Ruth and Victor Nussenzweig has resulted in a vaccine for malaria that has passed all clinical trials and is now under regulatory review. The complete award announcement, including recipient bios, is available online at http://www.warrenalpert.org/prize-recipients.
Five New Members Named to NIAMS Advisory Council
Five new members have been named as advisory council members for the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Council members are selected from the lay and scientific communities. Members have expertise in the mission areas of NIAMS and serve to make recommendations on research proposals and advise the Institute on matters of policy. As announced by the NIH, the following five council members were appointed (http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2015/niams-27.htm):
Joan E. Bechtold, PhD
Dr. Bechtold is the Gustilo Professor of Orthopaedic Research and Graduate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery and Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Dr. Bechtold's research focuses on bone healing in the context of challenges such as infection, trauma, smoking, and joint replacement. She is particularly interested in developing new bone/implant interfaces to improve outcomes for patients who have revision joint replacement surgeries. She has been an NIH grantee since 1995, and has served on various NIH study sections. Dr. Bechtold is actively involved in professional organizations such as the Orthopaedic Research Society, where she currently holds the position of immediate past president.
V. Michael Holers, MD
Dr. Holers is the Scoville Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, where he also is head of the Division of Rheumatology. His research interests include B lymphocyte activation and development; the role of substances known as complement in inflammation and autoimmunity; early-stage autoimmune-related changes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA); and the causes and development of RA and related conditions. Dr. Holers is a member of various scientific and professional organizations, including the Arthritis Foundation and the Lupus Research Institute.
Sundeep Khosla, MD
Dr. Khosla is the Dr. Francis Chucker and Nathan Landow Research Professor, a Mayo Foundation Distinguished Investigator, and the dean for clinical and translational science at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. As principal investigator on a number of NIH grants, Dr. Khosla's research projects include investigating the mechanisms of bone loss in women and in men, sex hormone action on bone, and the biology of osteoprogenitor cells (those involved in the growth or repair of bone) and stem cells. He is a former president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, and currently serves as the chair of the Governance Committee of the National Bone Health Alliance.
Amy S. Paller, MD
Dr. Paller is the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. She is also the director of skin-related clinical research at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. As a pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Paller specializes in clinical research related to genetic and immune-mediated inflammatory conditions in children, and currently is studying eczema, psoriasis, localized scleroderma, and epidermolysis bullosa. She is a former president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
Richard F. Seiden, JD
Mr. Seiden is a partner with Foley and Lardner, LLP, in Los Angeles, and has been a member of the California Bar since 1973. His experience includes serving as outside general counsel to major nonprofit hospital systems, and assisting clients in the development of integrated healthcare delivery systems in a managed care environment. Mr. Seiden joins the council as a public representative. He is a former chair of the board of trustees of the National Psoriasis Foundation.
Nih Announces New Class of Medical Research Scholars
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the selection of 55 students to participate in the Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP). This is the fourth class of the MRSP and the largest to date, with students representing 37 U.S.-accredited universities. The yearlong residential program introduces medical, dental and veterinary students to cutting-edge research. Students conduct basic, clinical or translational research in their area of interest as part of a mentored research training experience in NIH laboratories and clinics, including within the NIH Clinical Center.
MRSP scholars also participate in courses, journal club seminars, a structured lecture series and clinical teaching rounds. They present their research to the NIH community and at domestic professional conferences. Each scholar is assigned a tutor/advisor, who provides guidance in defining a career development plan and in selecting a dedicated NIH research mentor. MRSP mentors are fulltime NIH investigators with established basic, clinical or translational research programs. The MRSP is co-sponsored by the NIH and other partners, including the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, American Association for Dental Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Colgate-Palmolive Company and other private donors, via contributions to the Foundation for the NIH.
As announced by the NIH, the 55 selected participants for the 2015–2016 MRSP are:
Comfort O. Elumogo - Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Saman Sizdahkhani - Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University
Taylor J. Aiken - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Chinedu I. Anyaeji - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Lauren G. Banaszak - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Ruth J. Davis - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Adeeb Derakhshan - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Scott A. Galey - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Matthew D. Greer - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Elizabeth A. Hinds - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Damilola Phillips - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University
Karissa Arthur - Commonwealth Medical College
Monica K. Neuman - Creighton University School of Medicine
Renee M. Thomas - David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Michael J. Hochman - Duke University School of Medicine
Ehren K. Dancy - Emory University School of Medicine
Christian M. Mustroph - Emory University School of Medicine
Christopher T. Sauter - Emory University School of Medicine
Jason A. Alvarez - Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Nicole A. Colwell - Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Luca F. Valle - Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Brittany U. Olive - George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Maggie M. Wei - Georgetown University School of Medicine
Lauren A. Barber - Harvard Medical School
David J. Kirby - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Jana P. Lovell - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Tina Munjal - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Steven J. Penybaker - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Stephen Xue - Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans
Matthew J. Watson - Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Joseph B. Lerman - Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University
Diana P. Melo - New York University School of Medicine
Eugenia H. Miranti - Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine
Rachel J. Hunt - Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Janani Singaravelu - Ohio State University College of Medicine
Roger B. Murayi - Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Victor R. Carlson - Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Andrew M. Sohn - Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Michael A. Simmons - University of Arizona College of Medicine
James S. Nix - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
David Kuo - University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Brandon K. Tan - University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Houda Boucekkine - University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Tarek Metwally - University of Michigan School of Dentistry
Eric D. Merrill - University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine
Lingsheng Li - University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
Michael Kongnyuy - University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
Elizabeth J. Carstens - University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas
Amanda Truong - University of Utah School of Medicine
Ishan Asokan - Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Akhil Muthigi - Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Barrington A. Quarrie - Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Roop K. Dutta - Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Alanna K. Tisdale - Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Tsion M. Aberra - Yale University School of Medicine