Category Archives: Molecular Medicine

Distinctions in histology, molecular profiles, and tumor location have set diverging course of care for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal cancers.

Distinctions in histology, molecular profiles, and tumor location have set diverging course of care for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, according to John L. Marshall, MD. To address these varying pathways to care, cross-functional approaches to education and care have become paramount for clinicians.

Marshall was the coleader of the 7th Annual School of Gastrointestinal Oncology (SOGO), hosted by Physicians Education Resource, LLC (PER), a 1-day multidisciplinary educational conference on the emerging therapies and evolving standards of care in the management of patients with GI cancers. The hybrid symposium featured presentations on locoregional treatment of GI cancers, as well as case-based discussions on multidisciplinary, real-world management of GI cancers.

The main takeaway from this meeting is that there is a lot to learn, Marshall, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital and director of The Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers in Washington, DC, said in an interview with OncLive. We learned a lot, we have moved the bar, but we have a long way to go. We know there are common malignancies, we know there are highly fatal malignancies as a group, and we know a lot of [clinicians] are familiar with them. It used to be an easy disease or group of diseases to take care of, [but] there is a lot going on in GI cancers.

Marshall provided an overview of the main highlights from the meeting, including progress made, anticipated trends in research, and optimal treatment benefits for GI cancer.

Marshall: When I first started in GI cancers, there was not much called bile duct cancer. We used to call that unknown primaries in the liver because you were not supposed to get adenocarcinomas in the liver. It has only been in the past 10 plus years that we have recognized that these adenocarcinomas in the liver cleanse [the body] of carcinomas and bile duct cancers.

We have to divide them into 3 categories [and] here I like to use a tree [analogy]: there is the trunk of the tree, and that is the common bile duct; there are the branches, the wood parts up in the tree, and those are intrahepatic bile ducts; and then there is that kind of knot off the side of the tree that is the gallbladder. And as we think about those 3 parts of the treethe 3 parts of the bile systemwe are increasingly recognizing that they are different. Yes, they are all adenocarcinomas [and] they are mostly included in all the clinical trials. But when we look at molecular profiling or precision medicine, we are seeing that they have different characteristics.

So, just like we did in upper GI cancers, where we separated esophageal GI junction and stomach, we are now increasingly separating common bile duct intrahepatic and gallbladder from each other.

I was charged with the job of reviewing what has been going on in bile duct cancers and the answer is: a lot. My title was from obscurity to the star of the show.

That is increasingly true because with precision medicine, we are learning that there are important molecular subtypesFGFR fusions or alterations, IDH1 alterations or mutations, and immunotherapy biomarkersall of which are present in a high-enough percentage that they are worth looking for. And there are therapies that have significant improvements in outcome when they are applied. So just as you would measure molecular tests for almost all your cancers, the same now is true for cholangiocarcinoma and bile duct cancers.

Now, one of the other places it has become the star of the show and it is one more of our GI cancers where immunotherapy has worked, is in the TOPAZ-1 clinical trial [NCT03875235], a randomized study of gemcitabine plus cisplatin vs gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus immunotherapy. What we saw was an improvement in overall survival in that patient population and we are expecting an FDA approval in that space. So immunotherapy [is making] its way to bile duct cancers as well.

[Bile duct cancer] is absolutely not that rare of a cancer if you know what you are looking for. Precision medicine is key, and immunotherapy is an important part of that.

When we look at next steps with cholangiocarcinoma and bowel cancers, first we are applying the precision medicine and so now we have subcategories of this based on not only anatomy, but now also molecular profile. With each of those areas, we are seeing further activity of combinations and different lines of therapy.

We are also increasingly seeing liver-directed therapy approaches [and we are doing] this with our interventional surgical and radiation [colleagues] who are helping us to manage this. We have a lot of patients with liver-dominant problems. That sort of multidimensional approach is required in optimal management.

And then, how do we make the toehold we have with immunotherapy get bigger through combinations and other molecular characterizations to better understand who should get in therapy and who should not? So, [there is] a lot of ongoing work in the biotech cancer space.

Each year we hold a crossfire session, and these are not intended to be slide-heavy, but [to rather to address] some critical questions that we all have about a key topic in GI cancers. This year, we picked immunotherapy; there is so much going on. It is really the Wild West. We were looking at immunotherapy being applied to GI cancers and so we walked through the GI tract [and asked] does PD-L1 expression matter in upper GI cancers? And we decided yes, it does. Immunotherapy has a place through lines of therapy even in the adjuvant setting in certain cancers. PD-L1 expression probably is a good marker for who benefits and who does not.

We [also] looked at hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], [a space that is] dominated by immunotherapy approaches, in the frontline and also other lines of therapy. Durvalumab [Imfinzi] showed positive results even as a single agent in HCC. The data with durvalumab in cholangiocarcinoma and bile duct cancers was there.

In pancreas cancer, [immunotherapy] is still dormant, we have not figured out how to crack that nut. But then if you go on further south to colorectal cancer, particularly rectal cancer, we talked about MSI-H [microsatellite instabilityhigh] in the neoadjuvant setting [and asked] do we use immuno-oncology [IO] therapy in the neoadjuvant setting and in rectal cancer?

There are some highly provocative small phase 2 experience data showing 11 out of 11 [patients] having a complete clinical and radiographic response with just IO therapy and MSI-H rectal cancer. That would be transformative.

One of the main themes of the meeting was that molecular profiling is critical and in order to identify those patients who are candidates for immunotherapy and candidates for precision medicine target therapy. You need adequate tissue, you need to understand what the tests measure, and then you need to apply those in a multidisciplinary fashion to optimize treatment for our patients.

We are increasingly emphasizing organ preservation. And so, we are trying to not only care for our patients but allow them to maintain their quality of life. What we are seeing is what we were hoping, that these precision medicine tools are giving us those opportunities to both improve outcomes and maintain quality of life.

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Marshall Highlights the Importance of Distinct Approaches to GI Cancers - OncLive

Over the past 20 years, there have been several advancements in the treatment of patients with thyroid cancer which have improved survival and quality of life, according to an expert.

However, the same expert said that more work is needed to find a curative approach for this patient population.

Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist specializing in head/neck and thyroid cancers at Cleveland Clinics Taussig Cancer Institute in Ohio, said that the biggest advancement made over the years in treating thyroid cancer has been the development of targeted therapies.

In particular, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), she said, have been shown to better improve survival and quality of life compared with the old standard of care.

I would say over the last decade, rather than 20 years there have been great monumental advancements in (the treatment of thyroid cancer), she said in an interview with CURE.

The earlier TKIs gave us options for patients whereas before we didn't have any, Geiger continued The newer drugs that have been developed and are now in use are a prime example of how personalized medicine can be groundbreaking and life-changing. Because now, instead of just getting an agent that has many different targets, and so many patients could just go on the same drug, it doesn't work very well. But if you have one particular specific type of mutation, or one specific gene fusion protein that'scausing this cancer to grow and spread and we have a targeted agent that targets that molecular aberration directly, you can have fantastic results that last for quite a long time.

Improved Survival and Quality of Life

These advancements, according to Geiger, give patients with thyroid cancer options that they didnt previously have. Prior to 2013, the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved systemic therapy for these patients was chemotherapy that was known to be ineffective and often led to many side effects, Geiger said.

Twenty years ago, a patient would first undergo surgery with radioactive iodine, depending on the subtype, and then the only other available treatment option was cytotoxic chemotherapy. There were no treatment options available at that time that could circulate through the bloodstream to attack cancerous cells in multiple locations with a patients body.

You would just try to attend to the problem areas where the disease popped up, but you could never do anything that treated all of the lesions at the same time with one form of treatment, Geiger said. No doubt, patients were suffering. (And) patients were dying sooner than what they are now.

Today, Geiger noted, patient survival has improved dramatically because the newer drugs can better target the disease and the genomic mutations.

Not only has survival improved over the past two decades, but so has quality of life. The initial TKIs that were previously used in these patients heavily affected their quality of life. Side effects such as fatigue, loss of appetite, changes in taste and the onset of nausea, can all lead to weight loss. The use of these TKIs was also associated with heart abnormalities, poor kidney function, high blood pressure, bleeding complications and wound healing complications.

But now, Geiger explained, the recently developed agents are much better tolerated than the previous ones.

Theres an all-around benefit where patients are living longer with their cancer, and theyre living with a better quality of life (with) many fewer side effects than what they normally would, she said.

Prior to the development of these agents, a patient may have had to undergo a total laryngectomy, which is the surgical removal of the larynx, which is better known as the voice box.

This procedure, Geiger said, can often become a huge quality-of-life issue for patients who now have to depend on and manage their tracheostomy (an opening created at the front of the neck so a tube can be inserted into the windpipe, or trachea, to help with breathing).

Patients who receive a tracheostomy often have to be trained in how to change the tubing, work with speech and language pathologists to make sure they are swallowing properly, or if they may be a candidate to be fitted for a voice prosthetic.

We have been more thoughtful of these patients where normally the standard of care is if youre able to have surgery, you have the surgery and avoid systemic therapy. But in a situation like that, some of these newer drugs have allowed us to question that treatment. And weve had patients who, for whatever reason, have said Yeah, Im not ready for such a big surgery, she said.

The recent developments of more effective TKIs luckily mean that a tracheostomy does not have to be a patients only option. In fact, as Geiger noted, some patients may only need to undergo a comprehensive surgery at first and then receive treatment with the more effective TKIs.

Depending on the molecular profile, weve saved patients, or at least delayed patients, from having a total laryngectomy or being (tracheostomy)-dependent, which again I think is a significant improvement, she said.

Watch and Wait

Even though there have been tremendous advancements that improve survival and quality of life, that doesnt mean that every patient should receive immediate treatment, she explained.

For instance, if a patients lesion is small enough, Geiger said she tells patients that shell see them again in six months.

However, all of this is dependent on the presence of genomic mutations. And, as Geiger added, every patient should receive genetic testing to find out which treatment might be best for them.

Its a combination of looking to see what their molecular profile is to see what options we have available, but then looking back at the patient characteristics, clinically how theyre doing and feeling and what is their overall tumor burden because not everybody warrants treatment at that time, she said. Even though we have better options and more options for treatment, that doesnt mean, at least right now, that Im more eager to use them sooner than I would otherwise.

More Room for Improvement

Although these advancements have been significant for patients with thyroid cancer, they only touch the surface, as they pertain to four or five different genetic mutations out of the dozens that exist in thyroid cancer, Geiger said.

Theres a lot of patients that are not getting these highly selective therapies because they dont exist, she explained.

The hope, Geiger said, is there will be more targeted therapies for all the different mutations over the next 20 years.

Another major concern she said is that cancer is very smart. A provider can give patients these therapies, but the cancer may find a way around it.

For instance, a patients cancer could develop a new mutation or a new driver that allows the cancer to unlock another door to progression that was once blocked by that other drug, Geiger explained.

Identifying those escape mechanisms or escape mutations and then developing another drug to (attack that), I think thats going to be important as the years go on, she said.

Another hot topic right now in the thyroid cancer space is immunotherapy, which is a treatment that has been commonly utilized in other cancers such as lung cancer.

While there are a few studies evaluating the use of immunotherapy in thyroid cancer, they havent shown the treatment to be as effective as has been seen in other cancers, she described. Again, Geiger noted that some patients may not need to receive immunotherapy.

Patients with targetable genomic mutations, she said, may respond to those treatments for years possibly eliminating the need for immunotherapy.

I have some patients who have been on these medicines for over two years and still get the same responses, which is amazing. Two years in the grand scheme of things is a long, long time, she added. We know that not everybody responds to immunotherapy. In thyroid cancer, the majority of patients actually will not benefit from immunotherapy; meaning that you could give it to them but theyre not going to respond to it. Its probably a very small subset of thyroid cancer patients where immunotherapy will work.

Of note, there is no FDA-approved immunotherapy available to patients with thyroid cancer, according to Geiger.

Unnecessary Stress and Anxiety

Technological advances over the past 20 years have significantly improved the capabilities of imaging and ultrasound testing. As a result, providers have been able to detect more thyroid cancers. While a good development for some patients, Geiger noted that this may have caused a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety in patients that may not have had to worry.

If you look to see the types of thyroid cancer were better at detecting, its the very small, very slow-growing ones that probably for a majority of those patients would never have come to clinical fruition, she said. The patients would have died with that small thyroid cancer rather than from it.

A Focus on Multidisciplinary Care

Despite the added concern for some patients that may have been considered low-risk, the treatment advancements over the past 20 years have been significant for those with a diagnosis of thyroid cancer, according to Geiger.

In the next 20 years, she continued, a shift to a multidisciplinary approach may lead to more treatment advancements and even better outcomes. Instead of a focus on the medical oncologists, a patients care team should also comprise Interventional radiologists (professionals who can perform minimally invasive surgeries), radiation oncologists and endocrinologists, so that they may all consult on what is the best treatment approach.

Having a multidisciplinary approach for some of these really advanced and aggressive thyroid cancers is key because theres a lot of moving pieces involved. I think molecular testing for whenever the patient is considered recurrent, or highly aggressive late-stage type of cancer, I think that is key because you need that information well before any other treatment is started, Geiger concluded.

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'Monumental' Treatment Advancements Have Been 'Life-Changing' For Many Patients With Thyroid Cancer - Curetoday.com

Five second rule! her classmates shouted as they rushed to pick up some food they had dropped on the ground. At that moment, 10-year-old Isha Mehrotra knew what she wanted to do for the annual science fair.

After scouring the internet with her father, Mehrotra learned how to culture bacteria from home, first tossing food on the floor of her kitchen and swabbing samples onto agar plates her very first microbiology project. She remembers presenting the data to her peers, watching their faces fall as they realized how much bacteria was on the food even after just five seconds. The experience kindled Mehrotras love of learning about the natural world, and more importantly, sharing that knowledge with others.

Now a senior studying biology, Mehrotra enjoys the investigative quality of science above all else.

The more you study science, the more you realize what you dont know about it, she says.

MIT has also been a place for Mehrotra to learn more about herself. In the spring of her sophomore year, she worked in the lab of Alessio Fasano with Maureen Leonard at Massachusetts General Hospitals Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center, investigating the blood microbiome of pediatric patients with an autoimmune condition called celiac disease which Mehrotra herself was diagnosed with when she was a child.

Her diagnosis sparked an early interest in science and medicine. Today, she works to discover more about celiac, its causes, and effects on the individuals who have it, aiming for a future in which patients can be treated effectively or avoid getting the disease altogether.

Through her research experience, which has included publishing her work as a first author in the journal Current Research in Microbial Sciences, Mehrotra has learned that when presenting her findings, having faith in her work is half the battle, especially when challenging canonical scientific beliefs. At the end of the day, you know, your data is your data. And presenting that with conviction and confidence is something that Ive learned how to balance. I try to do that even when Im acknowledging that there are various aspects of the work that have yet to be understood or validated, she says.

Mehrotra also serves as a member on the Board of Directors at Boston Childrens Hospital Celiac Kids Connection, where she works to build a safe space for children with celiac. She she understands firsthand the physical and emotional toll celiac disease can have, and values the opportunity to learn more about how to support people and navigate these challenges. For instance, she recognized the connection of food insecurity to celiac early on, as celiac is treated with a gluten-free diet. One of her most fulfilling projects, funded through the PKG Center at MIT, has been helping reduce gluten-free food insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic, working with a team at Childrens to research and mitigate these food access issues.

It comes back to looking at things in different ways. How can I have a great impact in one area if I dont consider all the various facets of it? she asks.

In her classes, Mehrotra has also been drawn to complex public health topics with multiple perspectives, developing an anthropology background via her HASS coursework (for which she was named a Burchard Scholar) and an entrepreneurial framework by participating in MIT Sandbox. In January 2020, she took HST.434 (Evolution of an Epidemic), travelling to South Africa to study the evolution of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the area. The experience was eye-opening for Mehrotra; she saw firsthand the variety of factors social, political, biological needed to approach a singular issue.

In June of last year, Mehrotra participated in the MIT Washington Summer Internship Program, where she worked for Gryphon Scientific, studying data to see how pandemics emerge and evolve at the biological level and what can be done at the policy level to prevent them. The experience allowed Mehrotra to see how different players can influence a singular problem.

Social processes that underlie science and medicine are really important to me to continue studying, she says.

On campus, Mehrotra has also been working as a mentor in her dormitory, Maseeh Hall, and peer tutor. During her first year she joined dynaMIT, a STEM outreach program for middle school students in Boston through which she taught biology in ways that made it more fun and accessible. She has also found ways to bring MIT biology students together as co-president of the Biology Undergraduate Sudent Assocation and to provide funding for on-campus initiatives as a board member of the Harvard-MIT Cooperative. Mehrotra also taught chemistry and biology to students in Wales through the Global Teaching Labs program and was a teaching assistant for the biology lab course 7.002 (Fundamentals of Experimental Molecular Biology) and for 7.012 (Introduction to Biology). While she understands that not all students are excited to take a required class such as 7.012, Mehrotra enjoys helping them engage with the content in meaningful ways.

I just dont see a better use of gaining knowledge than spreading it to other people, she says.

Mehrotra is also a member of MITs womens lightweight crew team. As the coxswain, she steers the boat and directs the other rowers both technically and motivationally during practices and races. She says the position has helped her develop her teamwork and leadership skills and allowed her to learn something new that she had never done before MIT. It has been a great exercise in learning to be a leader and learning what I can do to support people even if I'm not experiencing exactly what they are, which is something I will have to do long term in my career as well, she says.

Mehrotra will attend Stanford Medical School in the fall, with the goal of becoming a physician-scientist, dedicated to sharing knowledge, doing science, and interfacing with humanistic issues. Mehrotra wants to work directly with patients and researchers to solve medical issues, discovering new information and working with people who bring diverse perspectives. In the long run, she would like to start her own multidisciplinary research practice, where she envisions being able to see and treat patients some days a week, while also running a lab with different types of researchers, such as technical and social scientists.

For now, she is savoring the last few months of her time at MIT. Im happiest when Im going around doing different things. Its a shame I have to graduate now because theres so much more to be done! she says.

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An early diagnosis sparks a lifelong interest in science and medicine - MIT News

PHILADELPHIA The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today announced its newly elected class of Fellows of the AACR Academy.

The mission of the AACR Academy is to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. Fellows of the AACR Academy serve as a global brain trust of top contributors to cancer science and medicine who help advance the mission of the AACR to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy and advocacy, and funding for cancer research.

All Fellows are nominated and elected through an annual, multi-step peer review process conducted by existing Fellows of the AACR Academy and ratified by the AACR Academy Steering Committee and AACR Executive Committee in conjunction with the AACR Academy Nomination and Election Oversight Committee. This process involves a rigorous assessment of each candidates scientific accomplishments in cancer research and cancer-related sciences. Only individuals whose work has had a significant and enduring impact on cancer research are considered for election and induction into the AACR Academy.

This year, we are thrilled to announce the election of 33 new Fellows of the AACR Academy. These individuals from across the globe have all made quintessential contributions to cancer research, said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. The 2022 class consists of various luminaries who span the gamut of scientific disciplines. Collectively, their work has significantly accelerated the pace of progress against cancer and has served as an inspiration for countless cancer researchers. We are honored to have them join our 256 existing Fellows and look forward to celebrating their individual scientific achievements.

The members of the 2022 class of Fellows of the AACR Academy are:

Anne-Lise Brresen-Dale, PhD, MD (hc)

Professor Emerita, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Breast Cancer Profiling, Genomics, Molecular Genetics

For seminal research contributions involving breast cancer, DNA damage and repair, and the identification of molecular profiles that contribute to cancer risk, tumor staging, and therapy resistance led by conducting extensive gene expression profiling of breast carcinomas.

Otis Webb Brawley, MD

Associate Director, Community Outreach and Engagement, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center; Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Oncology and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Epidemiology of Cancer, Health Disparities, Medical Oncology

For significant contributions to the fields of cancer prevention, early detection, diet and nutrition, cancer health disparities, tobacco cessation, and whole-patient care; and for his contributions to the promotion of appropriate screening efforts for malignancies such as breast, colon, and prostate cancer.

Peter J. Campbell, MBBCh, PhD

Head of Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation, and Senior Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Genomics, Somatic Cell Evolution, Structural Variation

For innovative contributions to defining the genetics and evolution of normal and cancerous cells including leveraging large-scale cancer genome sequencing technologies to develop cutting-edge computational tools capable of analyzing cancer genomic datasets, characterizing tumor mutational burden, and informing how best to improve the clinical management of cancer patients.

Neal G. Copeland, PhD

Professor of Practice, Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Genetics, Insertional Mutagenesis, Mouse Models of Human Cancer

For groundbreaking contributions to cancer genetics and quintessential studies involving the Sleeping Beauty transposable element system to establish various mouse models of cancer, which have been essential to the understanding of cancer initiation and progression, and for the identification of numerous candidate genes involved in carcinogenesis.

Luis Alberto Diaz Jr., MD

Head, Division of Solid Tumor Oncology; Grayer Family Chair, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Therapeutics, Gastrointestinal Malignancies, Molecular Diagnostics

For pioneering efforts to provide the first definitive examples of circulating tumor DNA being successfully used as a cancer biomarker for screening, monitoring, and detection of occult disease, and for the discovery of the therapeutic link between immunotherapy and cancer genetics in patients with mismatch repair deficient tumors.

James R. Downing, MD

President and Chief Executive Officer, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Genetics and Genomics, Pediatric Oncology, Precision Medicine

For instrumental contributions to the creation and implementation of the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, which has resulted in the sequencing of more than 800 genomes of children with cancer and several landmark discoveries in the biology of brain tumors, leukemia, cancer of the peripheral nervous system, and tumors of the eye.

Connie J. Eaves, OC, FRSC, FRS, CorrFRSE

Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Medical Genetics, School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia; Co-founder and Distinguished Scientist, Terry Fox Laboratory, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, Canada

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Mammary Cell Biology, Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis, Stem Cells

For essential contributions to the development of functional methods to quantify and characterize hematopoietic, mammary, and cancer stem cells that are now considered benchmarks in the field, and for co-discovering quiescent malignant stem cells in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Denise A. Galloway, PhD

Scientific Director, Pathogen-Associated Malignancies Integrated Research Center; Professor, Human Biology Division; Professor, Public Health Sciences Division; Paul Stephanus Memorial Endowed Chair, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Anogenital Cancers, Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Virology

For breakthrough studies involving human papillomavirus (HPV) and subsequent research that has contributed to the development of HPV vaccines, and for her seminal contributions to the understanding of pathogen-associated cancers, specifically HPV-induced cervical cancer.

Patricia A. Ganz, MD

Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health; Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine; Director, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Survivorship, Health-related Quality of Life, Patient Reported Outcomes

For pioneering efforts to enhance cancer prevention and improve patient survivorship, quality of life, and the understanding of the late effects of cancer treatment, which have been essential to the evolution of clinical cancer care, particularly in the areas of psychosocial distress, cancer-related cognitive impairment, and post-treatment fatigue.

K. Christopher Garcia, PhD

Younger Family Professor; Professor of Structural Biology, Stanford University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford, California

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Immunology, Protein Engineering, Structural Biology

For world-renowned contributions to the fields of immunology and structural biology, defining the biophysical properties of receptor-ligand binding, and the visualization of protein complexes crucial to the understanding of the immune system and drug design, including the first structural view of a T-cell receptor bound to a peptide-MHC complex and for defining the crystal structures of several important immunoregulatory proteins, including interleukins and interferons.

Jennifer R. Grandis, MDAmerican Cancer Society Professor; Distinguished Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Precision Medicine, Signal Transduction, Translational Research

For illuminating research on genomic alterations and key signaling pathways in head and neck cancer with the goal of enabling precision medicine studies.

James R. Heath, PhD

President and Professor, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington; Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California

Scientific Areas of Interest: Biotechnology, Chemical Synthesis, Systems Biology

For pivotal contributions to the fields of biotechnology and cancer immunotherapy, bridging chemical synthesis and physics with biology to develop nanoscale technologies including single cell barcoding, the isolation of T cells recognizing neoantigens to generate novel T-cell therapies, and microfluidic chips for diagnostic purposes that provide an opportunity to stratify patients and analyze a patients antitumor response to drug treatment.

Nancy A. Jenkins, PhD

Professor of Practice, Department of Genetics, Division of Basic Science Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Genetics; Insertional Mutagenesis, Mouse Models of Human Cancer

For pioneering contributions to cancer genetics and unrivaled efforts dedicated to establishing the Sleeping Beauty transposable element system to model human cancer in mice, a breakthrough that has since allowed for the identification of innumerable candidate genes responsible for tumors.

Thomas J. Kelly, MD, PhD

Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Cancer Research; Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Professor, Weill Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University, New York, New York

Scientific Areas of Expertise: DNA Damage and Repair, DNA Replication, Cell Cycle Control

For seminal discoveries that delineated the key principles governing the process of genetic replication and for developing the first cell-free DNA replication system capable of duplicating the complete genomes of viruses including SV40, effectively revolutionizing the cancer research field by creating a tool that allows for the identification and functional characterization of proteins and enzymes required for DNA replication.

Crystal L. Mackall, MD

Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor; Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cellular Immunotherapy, Pediatric Immuno-oncology, T cell Homeostasis

For pioneering contributions to the fields of pediatric oncology, immunology, and immunotherapeutics including the discovery of the role of IL-7 in T cell homeostasis, significant efforts to advance the use of CAR-T cell therapies, and for consistent and groundbreaking translational research dedicated to establishing novel treatments for pediatric cancer patients.

Alex Matter, MD

Chief Executive Officer, Experimental Therapeutics Centre, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Drug Discovery and Development, Molecularly Targeted Therapeutics, Precision Medicine

For unparalleled contributions to establishing personalized, anticancer therapeutics including his co-development of imatinib, the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor effective for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and beneficial when administered to patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors or small cell lung cancer, research which has since provided the foundation for the development of numerous molecular targeted therapeutics.

Ira Mellman, PhD

Vice President of Cancer Immunology, Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, California; Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cancer Immunology, Dendritic Cell Biology, T Cell Biology

For essential contributions to cancer immunology including the elucidation as to how dendritic cells trigger immune reactions, illuminating the mechanisms of checkpoint inhibition, and defining the cellular underpinning of membrane trafficking by discovering endosomes, findings that have collectively informed the development of cancer immunotherapies and have had a profound impact on our understanding of cancer immunity.

Gordon B. Mills, MD, PhD

Wayne and Julie Drinkward Endowed Chair in Precision Oncology, Director of Precision Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Functional Proteomics, Systems Biology, Targeting Adaptive Responses in Cancer

For visionary efforts to advance precision medicine through genomics and systems biology, including seminal discoveries of the role of PI3K signaling in breast cancer and how alterations in this pathway contribute to tumor progression and therapeutic response, and for trailblazing the use of systems biology toward a personalized approach to breast cancer treatment.

Nikola P. Pavletich, PhD

Chair of Structural Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, New York

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Cell Cycle Regulation, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology

For pioneering the structural analysis of cancer-related proteins and pathways that has led to fundamental discoveries in the areas of cell cycle regulation and DNA-damage response, including his groundbreaking work on the crystal structure of the critically important P53 tumor suppressor protein bound to both DNA and the MDM2 oncoprotein.

Cecil B. Pickett, PhD

Former President, Research and Development, Biogen Idec Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts

Scientific Areas of Interest: Drug Discovery and Development, Gene Expression

For instrumental research studies involving glutathione-S-transferases (GST) and for work related to cancer drug development, leading some of the earliest studies responsible for the cloning and characterization of GST genes, contributing to the understanding of the regulation of GST expression, and culminating with the discovery of antioxidant response elements.

Jennifer A. Pietenpol, PhD

Director, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Benjamin F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology; Professor of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Scientific Areas of Interest: Breast Cancer Research, Translational Molecular Genetics, Tumor Suppressors

For seminal contributions to the understanding of p53 protein family function (p53, p63, and p73) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) including the development of techniques to analyze p53 family-chromatin binding, deciphering the p63 and p73 cistrome, discovering that p73 is required for multiciliogenesis and ovarian folliculogenesis, and integrating molecular genetics and bioinformatics to develop and implement novel analytical methods to molecularly subtype difficult-to-treat TNBC.

Terence H. Rabbitts, FRS, FMedSci

Professor of Molecular Immunology, Institute of Cancer Research, London, England, United Kingdom

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Chromosomal Translocations, Protein Engineering, Protein Macromolecule Delivery Mechanisms

For fundamental work involving the characterization of human antibody and T-cell receptor gene diversity and rearrangement, establishing cDNA cloning technology widely used in molecular biology, discovery of chromosomal translocation genes in cancer, and creating the first gene fusion knock-in mice, work that has led to the development of methods using intracellular antibodies for small molecule drug discovery applied to hard-to-drug targets including mutant RAS and LMO2.

Neal Rosen, MD, PhD

Enid A. Haupt Chair in Medical Oncology, Member, Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Scientific Areas of Expertise: Mechanism-based Combination Therapies, Mitogenic Signaling Pathways, Oncogene-induced Signaling Networks

For pioneering work dedicated to elucidating cell signaling mechanisms responsible for human cancers, identifying oncoprotein-dependent feedback inhibition of signaling networks as an important factor in tumor evolution and in the clinical response to targeted inhibitors, characterizing the functional classes of BRAF mutants, and developing numerous inhibitors of malignant transformation by targeting the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK and PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathways.

Varda Rotter, PhD

Professor, Department of Molecular Cell Biology; Director, FAMRI Center of Excellence, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

Scientific Areas of Expertise: p53 Biology and Function, Molecular Biology, Tumor Suppressors

For unrivaled research efforts dedicated to understanding p53 biology including how this crucial protein, when mutated, contributes to the activation of specific target genes and oncogenic signaling pathways associated with tumor initiation, progression, and drug resistance; and for recent research focused on developing novel mutant p53-dependent small peptide therapies capable of modifying the confirmation of mutant p53 proteins into wild-type protein confirmations able to induce apoptosis.

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AACR announces Fellows of the AACR Academy Class of 2022 - EurekAlert

image:EQRx and Insilico partner to Advance AI-driven Discovery & Development of Multiple Targets view more

Credit: Insilico

New York, New York, March 24, 2022-- Insilico Medicine ("Insilico"), a clinical stage end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, today announced it has entered into a strategic collaboration with EQRx, a company committed to developing and delivering innovative medicines to patients at radically lower prices.

The collaboration will combine Insilicos Pharma.AI platform to advance de novo small molecule design and generation with EQRxs clinical development and commercialization expertise. EQRx and Insilico will engage in a co-development partnership whereby each party will be eligible for a profit share proportional to its respective level of investment.

Pursuant to the collaboration agreement, the parties will identify and select up to three therapeutics targets leveraging Insilicos AI-driven platform, Pharma. AI. Insilico will lead the drug discovery from small molecule hit identification through lead optimization and preclinical candidate nomination to Investigational New Drug (IND) application. EQRx will assume responsibility for driving clinical development, regulatory activities and commercialization. Insilico has the option to invest in the product candidate(s) at various clinical development stages in return for increased commercialization profits.

Both EQRx and Insilico Medicine strive to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines and make effective therapeutics more accessible and affordable. This partnership will combine our end-to-end AI-powered drug discovery capabilities with EQRxs innovative partnership model and expertise in clinical development and patient access to accelerate the discovery and development of innovative therapies said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine.

We are pleased to partner with Insilico Medicine, a leader in AI-based drug discovery, said Carlos Garcia-Echeverria, PhD, chief of Rx Creation at EQRx. This collaboration will further expand our early-stage R&D efforts to fuel potential pipeline growth as we continue to apply the best of todays innovation in biomedical sciences and digital solutions to discover high-quality, innovative and more affordable medicines.

About Insilico Medicine

Insilico Medicine, a clinical stage end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, is connecting biology, chemistry, and clinical trials analysis using next-generation AI systems. The company has developed AI platforms that utilize deep generative models, reinforcement learning, transformers, and other modern machine learning techniques to discover novel targets and to design novel molecular structures with desired properties. Insilico Medicine is delivering breakthrough solutions to discover and develop innovative drugs for cancer, fibrosis, immunity, central nervous system (CNS) diseases and aging-related diseases.

For more information, visit http://www.insilico.com.

For media inquiry, please contact media@insilicomedicine.com.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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EQRx and Insilico partner to advance ai-driven discovery and development of multiple targets - EurekAlert

Getting the people right is as important for a start-up as having a sound idea and womens digital health company, identifyHer, has lined up a founding team with extensive experience in data analysis, disease prevention, sensor development, AI and womens health to develop a wearable tracker that can help manage life-disrupting menopausal symptoms.

Right now, 7.3 million women are going through menopause in Ireland and the UK and 3.7 million of them are suffering symptoms that negatively affect their lives, says identifyHer co-founder Heidi Davis. Treating the menopause relies on the symptom profile but there are currently no objective ways to quantify or track symptom frequency or severity.

identifyHer is using AI-enabled technology to personalise the management of menopausal symptoms and reduce the risk of disease in the future.

What is largely unknown is that the severity and frequency of vasomotor symptoms alone can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Davis adds that self-reporting is not accurate at capturing how often a woman experiences a particular symptom, such as a hot flush, or how bad it is. Our tracker can provide the information women and clinicians need to personalise the management of their symptoms, she says.

We want women suffering with symptoms to be able to navigate the menopause with improved quality of life.

The idea for the tracker came out of a general interest in disease prevention before the founders decided to focus on unmet needs in womens health, starting with menopause. Prior to setting up identifyHer, Davis, whose background is in molecular medicine, was working in the field of peptide discovery using AI.

The identifyHer tracker, which can be used from perimenopause onwards, sits under the breast and is activated by an app. The wearer goes about their business as normal and they will get daily, weekly, and monthly reports on their menopausal symptoms and lifestyle data.

The woman will wear the sensor for three months to track her symptoms and the data collected during that time will be used to initiate treatment or to evaluate whether the treatment she is already on is working.

This data essentially provides a profile of each woman that can then be used to track menopausal progression and activate an individual symptom management plan, Davis says.

The trackers will be supplied by the womans GP or menopause clinic and the revenue model will be SaaS. However, the pricing structure is still a work in progress as the device is not due for launch until the third quarter of 2023.

identifyHer was formally established in October 2022 and now employs four people. To date, about 55,000 has been invested in the business which has been primarily self-funded while Davis is also quick to acknowledge the help given to the fledgling business by Analog Devices.

Their support has enabled us to get a prototype for initial data collection up and running at very low cost based on future sales potential, she says.

Davis has recently completed the New Frontiers programme at TU Blanchardstown and is now pushing ahead with a major fundraising drive. The company has been approved for Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Funding and it is currently raising a pre-seed round of 700,000.

Ultimately, the company will be looking to raise about 4.5 million to fully commercialise the device which has global potential.

The tracker is still in development and at present the prototype is being used to gather a critical mass of proof-of-concept data. The company will launch initially in Ireland and the UK followed by the EU and the US.

Women go through menopause everywhere in the world and these women have been massively underserved by the historical bias in science and health that has seen them under-represented in clinical trials and underdiagnosed, particularly around menopause and its symptoms, Davis says.

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identifyHer aims to help women manage menopausal symptoms - The Irish Times

by Dr. Paras Singh

How is the Indian government fairing on the TB front? Tuberculosis is a critical health issue in our country. The WHO stated that India has the maximum number of TB cases in the world. A quarter of the global TB cases reside in India. As per the global TB report 2020 2,640,000 TB incidents were recorded within India, making us have the highest numbers of both TB and MDR TB.

In 2020, the Indian government stated that they aim to eliminate the disease by 2025 with the help of its National TB Elimination Program. This programs interventions are majorly around investments in healthcare and a tie-up of the government and the private medical infrastructure.

However only 10% of the people are having DRTB and all these prior efforts have yielded inadequate declines, and will not accelerate the progress towards ending TB. New, innovative diagnostic tools and smarter interventions can accelerate progress towards TB elimination. The lack of proper, affordable and accessible diagnostic tools has led people to settle for delayed or sub-optimal treatments while missing to cover a large number of patients.

Diagnostic molecular technology approved by WHO can play an effective moving towards TB elimination that has been integrated into the four strategic pillars of GOI mandate Detect Treat Prevent Build (DTPB).

Moreover, TB co-morbidities like Diabetes, HIV and tobacco-related problems have also been prioritised, and as close to 1 lakh patients with TB/HIV were put on a daily DOT routine around 5 lakh people were treated with preventive TB therapy. These interventions and strategies helped in lowering down TB fatalities by 82%.

DBT or Direct Benefit Transfer is a major reformation by the government, necessitating benefits targeted provisions of benefits to the patients through efficient technology usage. NIKSHAY, an online web-based and case-based application have been useful to give targeted deliveries to the citizens. The app makes the TB patients digitized database available and accessible nationally.

This app is further equipped to store bank details and other necessary information for DBT execution. The database is supported with PFMS also known as, Public Finance Management System for smoother benefits transfer into the beneficiaries accounts.

Many novel and innovative tools have been introduced by the collaborative effort of the government and the medical infrastructure. Wider usage of ICT tools and application health financing methodologies assures a rapid and accurate response while treating TB as an epidemic.

Another aspect that needs to be highlighted is the tie-up of the public and the private medical sector. RNTCP has ensured that the private laboratories provide an affordable service delivery under the revised NGO-PP schemes. This approach has brought together all the diagnostic tools LPA, CBNAAT, liquid culture DST under the single initiative called Promoting Affordable and Quality TB Tests. Also, the ICT-supported tools have helped in getting universal access to TB care. Getting notification from the private sector to the public sector. Response of public healthcare sector to all the people suffering from TB notified via private sector will come under the responsibility of public healthcare system. Patients support services like, adherence, comorbidity detection, drug susceptibility testing, infection prevention and social welfare support would be extended to the private healthcare facilities as well.

Periodic monitoring and upscaling high sensitivity diagnostic tests and algorithms. Improving the private service providers engagement will increase the affordability and accessibility of the diagnostic tools. Monitoring and supervision are non-negotiable in ensuring the achievement of the vision of TB Free India by 2025.

Dr. Paras Singh, Head & Specialist, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi

(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETHealthworld does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person / organisation directly or indirectly.)

Excerpt from:
How India is poised to eradicate TB with effective, accessible and affordable Diagnostic tools - ETHealthWorld

Published in Molecular Psychiatry, a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota Medical School, University of Texas Health San Antonio, and the Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) in Greece found that the disruption of a circadian clock gene may be involved in the development of autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, refers to a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a wide range of behavioral conditions including challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ASD affects one in 44 children in the U.S.

About 50-80% of children with ASD have sleep problems, compared to less than 30% in the general population. The causes of sleep problems in ASD are not entirely clear, but a malfunctioning body clock could be the culprit.

It has long been recognized that the function of the body clock is frequently disrupted in autism patients and these patients often exhibit various sleep problems, said Ruifeng Cao, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the U of M Medical School, Duluth Campus and co-author of the study. But, it is not known whether clock gene disruption can directly cause autism.

The study found that the disruption of an essential clock gene in preclinical models can lead to autistic-like phenotypes. Specifically, the global or cerebellar deletion of the Bmal1 gene can cause severe impairments in sociability, social communication and excessive repetitive behaviors.

The models also illustrated damages to their cerebellum or cerebellar ataxia. The research team further studied the pathological changes in the cerebellum and found a number of cellular and molecular changes that indicate neurodevelopmental deficits.

Clock gene disruption could be a mechanism underlying several forms of autism and potentially other neurodevelopmental conditions, and this finding paves the way for further exciting research, said Christos Gkogkas, PhD, a lab principal investigator in neurobiology at BRI of FORTH.

The research team plans to continue to study other clock genes that are found mutated in ASD. More importantly, they recommend development of novel therapeutic strategies based on their findings.

The study is supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and the Winston and Maxine Wallin Neuroscience Discovery Fund.

###

The research team consists of Drs. Harry Orr, Alfonso Araque, Paulo Kofuji, and Jonathan Gewirtz (now at Arizona State University) from the U of M Medical School; Dr. Victor Jin from UT Health San Antonio; and Dr. Christos Gkogkas from BRI-FORTH in Greece.

About the University of Minnesota Medical SchoolThe University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu.

The Biomedical Research Institute of FORTHThe Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) of FORTH at Ioannina consists of 18 research teams that comprise 140 members. The groups of BRI work in basic molecular and cellular biology areas of biomedical research with high interest in public health and biomedicine, such as vascular biology, stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, cancer biology, neurobiology, and biomedical technology.

The Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) is one of the largest research centers in Greece, comprising nine Research Institutes. FORTH conducts specialized scientific research in strategic high-added value sectors, focusing on interdisciplinary research and development (R&D) activities in areas of major scientific, societal and economic interest.

Molecular Psychiatry

Observational study

Animals

Autistic-like behavior and cerebellar dysfunction in Bmal1 mutant mice ameliorated by mTORC1 inhibition

17-Mar-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Research Brief: Clock gene mutation found to contribute to the development of autism - EurekAlert

How much does a molecule weigh? Well, that depends.Molecules, like people, come in various shapes and sizes.

That difference in size can mean a lot for researchers in the ever-evolvingpharmaceutical industry. Molecular weight is a key component tomanufacturing it can actually be used to determine how effective a pharmaceutical drug is.

"Probably the single most important piece of information that you can get (from a mass) isits molecular weight How big is it? How heavy is it? Mass spectrometry is a very accurate way of measuring the masses of molecules," distinguished IU professor Martin Jarrold said.

Jarrold andfellow IU chemistry professorDavid Clemmer are the founders ofMegadalton Solutions, a start-up company whosetechnology has made a big splash in the measurement field.

Look inside: Monroe County's most expensive home sold in 2021 features lake view, lots of space

These two Indiana University chemistry professors developed a new, refined method to test the effectiveness of experimental pharmaceuticals. Some of these drugs, coined thenext-generation medicine, are projected to revolutionize the medical field.

"(The technology)just came along at the right time,"Jarrold told the Herald-Times.

Megadalton Solutions recently entered an exclusive licensing agreement withWaters Corporation, ananalytical laboratory instrument and software company. Waters was recently recognized as one of America's largest companies of 2021 by Fortune Magazine.

The technology, an IU-refinedtake on charge detection mass spectrometry (CDMS), will be usedto test the potency of newpharmaceutical drugs in the rapidly evolving field of gene-based therapies. This new wave of medicine can potentially prevent orprovide long-term treatment of certain genetic disorders.

Mass spectrometry converts the molecule into an ion, which can then be weighed on an instrument.

You might not recognize amass spectrometeroffhand, but you've definitely used one before if you've boarded a flight in the last 20 years. An airport'sdetector sensors are compact mass spectrometry instruments.These sensors are used as homeland security checks to identifyillegal drugs orexplosive compounds.

However, since the first mass spectrometer was invented in1912, the instrument has had limitations.

For objects with a light molecular weight, such as antibodies,scientists havea tried and true method of measurement known as conventional mass spectrometry. But for determining the weightof large, heavy molecules, it has historically been less like reading a number off a scale and more like that age-old weight guessing game typically seen at a county fair.These specific drugs, such as those being developed for gene therapy, can weigh over a million mass units.

"Whereas conventional mass spectrometry played a role in the development of the small-molecule drugs, it ran into this sort of fundamental problem with being able to measure the masses of the heavier, larger molecules that are being developed as drugs now," Jarrold said.

More IU news: Indiana University trustees violated open door law with Michael McRobbie payment approval

For heavier molecules, scientists must use charge detection mass spectrometry. Jarrold and his team of collaboratorshave builta machine thatcan analyzelarge, complex molecules with an unprecedented level of accuracy and speed.

According to Jarrold, the idea for the technology was borne out of a desire for kinship.

When he first arrived at IU, Jarrold felt like an outsider. While his colleagues were discussing their work withviruses, his background was rootedin massspectrometry.

"I thought, 'Gosh, you know, wouldn't it be cool if we could start weighing viruses and I'd have all these collaborators that I could work with and feel as thoughI was a member, instead of somebody on the outside,'" Jarrold recalled.

This led him to a scientific discovery, aided by several colleagues and students throughout the years.

According to Jarrold, he has spent close to a decade on the technology, tinkering in the IU chemistry building. The machine has been viable for five years now and Jarrold and others at IU continue to refineit for commercial use.

IUs Innovation and Commercialization Office madeefforts to patent a lot of the technology that helped secure thecorporatepartnership. Dan McNerny, a technologycommercialization manager in the office, has worked with Jarrold for several years on the business side.

"I did not need to be sold on it," McNerny said.

Before his current position,McNerny was a researcher who hadlooked into manufacturing therapeutics, where something like Jarrold's technology would have made a big difference.

"Ultimately why my project failed is because we could never actually determine what was in the mixtures that we were creating. We would tryto find how heavy it was and the result was you'd get a blob back,"McNerny said.

The technology can have various applications in the medical industry, such as analyzing vaccines or lipoproteins incardiovascular diseases.

"There's awhole slew of these large objects, which have not previously been accessible to accurate mass measurements, that cannow be analyzed," Jarrold said. "The sort of drug that CDMS really is having an impact in the area is gene therapy, which is really sort of revolutionizing medicine at the moment."

Waters Corporationhas indicated that Megadalton Solutions' technology will be further developed foruse in gene therapies.

Gene therapyis a new medical approach that can treator even preventcertain diseases by correcting the underlying genetic problem, either throughreplacing a faulty gene or addinga new one.Gene therapy has the potential of being a new form of treatmentfor a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and AIDS.

"Many of these genetic diseases, which are like death sentences for people that have them, can now be fixed," Jarrold said.

Currently, gene therapy can only treatmonogenic disorders, whicharecaused by variation in a single gene. Some examples of monogenic disorders include sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis andHuntington's disease.

"In the future, you can anticipate that the multiple gene ones can also be fixed as time goes on," Jarrold said.

Jarrold estimates that there areover 200 new gene- and cell-based therapy drugscurrently in the development research pipeline.

During development, pharmaceutical manufacturersmust verify there are no errors in the final product. Empty capsules could reduce the drug's potency. In a worst case scenario, it could even lead toharmful mutated genes. That's why technology such as Jarrold's CDMS is crucial in these preliminary stages.

Jarrold said he plans to continue working with Waterson the technology to improveits accuracy and performance. Once fully developed, the machines could appear in laboratories around the world.

"This could really lead to new and unexpected discoveries because nobody's measured the masses of these very large things with very high resolution," Jarrold said. "That area itself is like a complete unknown as to what we might find there. There could be some very interesting science there."

Contact Rachel Smithat rksmith@heraldt.com or @RachelSmithNews on Twitter.

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Indiana University-developed tech could lead to a revolution in medicine. Here's how. - The Herald-Times

Amid a growing COVID-19 surge occurring overseas, there are renewed concerns among health officials in the United States that the spread of the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.2, combined with waning vaccine immunity and the decision to end masking recommendations, could cause the country to face yet another viral resurgence.

"What we're seeing in Europe, and particularly in the U.K., is something we really need to pay attention to because they are starting to see a reversal and a resurgence of cases," Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, told "GMA3" on Friday. "So even though our cases are continuing to come down, I would not be surprised if in the next couple of weeks ... that we might well see an increase in cases."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 23.1% of new cases in the U.S. are BA.2. Studies estimate that BA.2 is between 30% and 80% more infectious than the original strain, and federal data shows its presence in the U.S. is nearly doubling every week.

There are already initial indicators that the nation may be on the brink of an uptick as the nation begins to see a plateau in infection and hospitalization rates, which were previously declining.

A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at the Keystone First Wellness Center in Chester, Pa., Dec. 15, 2021.

Earlier this week, wastewater data shared by the CDC revealed that between Feb. 24 and March 10, 37% of wastewater sites monitored by the CDC have seen an increase of 100% or more of the presence of the COVID-19 virus in their wastewater. Approximately 30% of these sites have seen an increase of 1,000% or more

Nationwide, new data shows that COVID-19-related hospitalizations appear to also be plateauing following weeks of steady decline. Over the last two months, hospitalization levels had been dramatically falling, but over the last week those daily declines have become steadily smaller.

Virus-related hospitalizations now stand at about 23,000 patients, according to federal data.

"You just got over a wave of the most transmissible #SARSCoV2 variant the world has seen, with the highest level of hospitalizations in the pandemic," Dr. Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said in a tweet on Thursday. "Now you are facing a variant [with] 30% more transmissibility, [without] mitigation measures, low [vaccination] coverage, and gutting funding."

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday that she too anticipates there could be an increase in new virus cases in the U.S. as BA.2 spreads, warning that it is "certainly ... possible" that mask recommendations will have to be reimplemented.

"We want to make sure that people have an opportunity to relax their mitigation strategies when things are good, as they are right now," Walensky said during a panel discussion with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

A woman reads directions before giving her daughter a COVID-19 antigen rapid test at home in Washington, Jan. 9, 2022.

"But then, they should put that mask in a drawer, because if we have more cases that occur in the winter time, if we have more cases that occur because of a new variant, we want to make sure that people have the opportunity to take those masks off, so that we can re-implement them and protect people, should we need them again," she added.

Officials are closely monitoring the viral resurgence occurring overseas, Walensky said, and looking for clues as to what it might foreshadow for the crisis in the U.S.

However, overseas, similar to the previous omicron surge, there are hopeful signs that should there be a resurgence, intensive care units and morgues will not be as overwhelmed as in past surges. In the U.K., ICU capacity has yet to see a notable increase, which experts say could ultimately prevent a significant spike in virus-related deaths.

"Their intensive care bed usage is not going up, which means they're not seeing a blip up of severe disease," Fauci told ABC News' Brad Mielke on the podcast "Start Here," in an interview that aired Friday, adding that officials in the U.K. have not reported an increase in severity due to the BA.2 subvariant.

The best way to evade a significant surge will be to get vaccinated and boosted, Fauci said.

Earlier this week, the CDC released data showing that vaccines are still dramatically reducing the risk of hospitalization or dying from COVID-19.

A registered nurse steps out of an isolation room at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., Jan. 3, 2022.

In January, unvaccinated adults were nine times more likely to die of COVID-19, compared to vaccinated individuals, and six times more likely to require hospitalization. Unvaccinated adults were about 21 times more likely to die of COVID-19 in January, and 12 times more likely to require hospitalization, compared to fully vaccinated and boosted adults.

Although breakthrough COVID-19 infections surged during the omicron wave in February, unvaccinated adults were still 2.8 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated individuals, and 3.2 times more likely to test positive compared to fully vaccinated and boosted adults.

Experts say Americans must be flexible and willing to take on the future challenges that may present themselves as we move into the next phase of the pandemic.

"We're not done with this pandemic as much as we all wish. We are not," newly named White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said during an appearance on "Good Morning America" Friday. "Whatever the pandemic throws at us, we have got to be ready for it."

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Fears of COVID-19 resurgence in the US grow as officials warn of potential upticks - ABC News