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Tag: Healthcare

  • Cancer drug repurposed to treat inflammatory diseases

    Cancer drug repurposed to treat inflammatory diseases

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    Newswise — A cancer drug currently in the final stages of clinical trials could offer hope for the treatment of a wide range of inflammatory diseases, including gout, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation, say scientists at the University of Cambridge.

    In a study published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers have identified a molecule that plays a key role in triggering inflammation in response to materials in the body seen as potentially harmful.

    We are born with a defence system known as innate immunity, which acts as the first line of defence against harmful materials in the body. Some of these materials will come from outside, such as bacterial or viral infections, while others can be produced within the body.

    Innate immunity triggers an inflammatory response, which aims to attack and destroy the perceived threat. But sometimes, this response can become overactive and can itself cause harm to the body.

    One such example of this is gout, which occurs when urate crystals build up in joints, causing excessive inflammation, leading to intense pain. Another example is heart attack, where dead cell build up in the damaged heart – the body sees itself as being under attack and an overly-aggressive immune system fights back, causing collateral damage to the heart.

    Several of these conditions are characterised by overactivation of a component of the innate immune response known as an inflammasome – specifically, the inflammasome NLRP3. Scientists at the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart and Lung Research Institute at Cambridge have found a molecule that helps NLRP3 respond.

    This molecule is known as PLK1. It is involved in a number of processes within the body, including helping organise tiny components of our cells known as microtubules cytoskeletons. These behave like train tracks inside of the cell, allowing important materials to be transported from one part of the cell to another.

    Dr Xuan Li from the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, the study’s senior author, said: “If we can get in the way of the microtubules as they try to organise themselves, then we can in effect slow down the inflammatory response, preventing it from causing collateral damage to the body. We believe this could be important in preventing a number of common diseases that can cause pain and disability and in some cases can lead to life-threatening complications.”

    But PLK1 also plays another important role in the body – and this may hold the key to developing new treatments for inflammatory diseases.

    For some time now, scientists have known that PLK1 is involved in cell division, or mitosis, a process which, when it goes awry, can lead to runaway cell division and the development of tumours. This has led pharmaceutical companies to test drugs that inhibit its activity as potential treatments for cancer. At least one of these drugs is in phase three clinical trials – the final stages of testing how effective a drug is before it can be granted approval.

    When the Cambridge scientists treated mice that had developed inflammatory diseases with a PLK1 inhibitor, they showed that it prevented the runaway inflammatory response – and at a much lower dose than would be required for cancer treatment. In other words, inhibiting the molecule ‘calmed down’ NLRP3 in non-dividing cells, preventing the overly aggressive inflammatory response seen in these conditions.

    The researchers are currently planning to test its use against inflammatory diseases in clinical trials.

    “These drugs have already been through safety trials for cancer – and at higher doses than we think we would need – so we’re optimistic that we can minimise delays in meeting clinical and regulatory milestones,” added Dr Li.

    “If we find that the drug is effective for these conditions, we could potentially see new treatments for gout and inflammatory heart diseases – as well as a number of other inflammatory conditions – in the not-too-distant future.”

    The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation. Professor James Leiper, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation said: “This innovative research has uncovered a potential new treatment approach for inflammatory heart diseases such as heart failure and cardiomyopathy. It’s promising that drugs targeting PLK1 – that work by dampening down the inflammatory response – have already been proven safe and effective in cancer trials, potentially helping accelerate the drug discovery process.

    “We hope that this research will open the door for new ways to treat people with heart diseases caused by overactive and aggressive immune responses, and look forward to more research to uncover how this drug could be could be repurposed.”

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    University of Cambridge

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  • Twin study finds epigenetic signature for obesity

    Twin study finds epigenetic signature for obesity

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    Newswise — PULLMAN, Wash. – A susceptibility to gain weight may be written into molecular processes of human cells, a Washington State University study indicates.

    The proof-of-concept study with a set of 22 twins found an epigenetic signature in buccal or cheek cells appearing only for the twins who were obese compared to their thinner siblings. With more research, the findings could lead to a simple cheek swab test for an obesity biomarker and enable earlier prevention methods for a condition that effects 50% of U.S. adults, the researchers said.

    “Obesity appears to be more complex than simple consumption of food. Our work indicates there’s a susceptibility for this disease and molecular markers that are changing for it,” said Michael Skinner, a WSU professor of biology and corresponding author of the study published in the journal Epigenetics.

    The study focused on twins to help eliminate the role of genetics and instead focus on epigenetics, molecular processes which are separate from DNA but influence how genes are expressed. The fact that the epigenetic signature was found in cheek cells rather than fat cells also suggests that the obesity signature is likely found throughout the human system.

    The signature’s systemic nature also suggests that something may have occurred early in one twin’s life that triggered obesity susceptibility, Skinner added. It’s also possible that it was inherited by one twin and not the other.

    For this study, Skinner worked with lead author Glen Duncan, director of the Washington State Twin Registry based at WSU, to identify 22 twin pairs, both identical and fraternal, who were discordant for obesity: one sibling had a body mass index of 30 or higher, the standard for obesity defined by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, while the other sibling was in the normal range of 25 and below.

    The research team analyzed cells from cheek swabs provided by the twins. In the cells from the twin siblings who were obese, they found similar epigenetic changes to DNA methylation regions, areas where molecular groups made of methane attach to DNA, regulating gene expression or turning genes on or off.

    The study would need to be replicated with larger groups of people to develop a biomarker test for obesity, the authors said.

    The goal would be able to identify people earlier in life before they become obese so health care providers might help create interventions such as lifestyle changes, medication or both, said Duncan. 

    “Ultimately we would like to have some kind of preventative measure instead of our usual approach which is treatment,” he said. “It’s a simple fact that it’s better to prevent a disease, then try to treat it after you have it.”

    This research was funded by the John Templeton Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

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    Washington State University

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  • Drug-target prediction breakthrough: AI model sees hidden patterns

    Drug-target prediction breakthrough: AI model sees hidden patterns

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    Newswise — Accurately predicting the Drug-Protein Interaction (DPI) is crucial in virtual drug screening. However, current methodologies tend to allocate equal weighting to amino acids and atoms in encoding protein and drug sequences, thereby neglecting the varying contributions from distinct motifs. To tackle this issue, a group of researchers headed by Juan Liu have recently published their pioneering research on the matter in Frontiers of Computer Science, jointly published by Higher Education Press and Springer Nature.

    Their research introduced a revolutionary method, FragDPI, for the prediction of drug-protein binding affinity. This approach represents the initial endeavor to incorporate fragment coding and merge the sequence information of both drugs and proteins, hence preserving the primary features related to DPI interactions. Furthermore, this method employs transfer learning from significant DPI datasets to provide prospective DPI components.

    Experimental results demonstrate that the FragDPI model yields commendable outcomes compared to the baselines, including deep neural networks. Intriguingly, the model accurately identified the specific interaction parts of the DTI pairs, thereby aiding in discovering new potential DTI pairs. FragDPI presents a novel approach for mining interacting fragments from DPI mechanism, thereby providing a fresh perspective towards drug discovery.

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    Higher Education Press

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  • Optimize office environments for work efficiency and worker health

    Optimize office environments for work efficiency and worker health

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    Newswise — The quality of the office environment significantly affects work efficiency and worker health. Therefore, creating and maintaining an optimal built environment in the office can be a key step in maximizing a company’s economic growth. Previous research has examined how indoor environmental quality (IEQ), including elements like temperature, air quality, lighting, and noise, impacts work efficiency and worker health. However, these studies do not tend to focus simultaneously on work efficiency and worker health, nor do they quantify the economic benefits of optimizing office environments.

    In a new study published on 1 September 2023, in Volume 243 of the journal Building and Environment, researchers from Japan investigated how office environmental elements impact work efficiency and worker health, while also analyzing the economic benefits of optimizing these elements. They surveyed 1644 workers in 29 office buildings in Tokyo, collecting data on the built environment through worker questionnaires and physical IEQ measurements. They then compared the perceived work efficiency (reported by workers) in offices to that in an ‘ideal’ office with maximum work efficiency to estimate the economic value provided by the built environment. Similarly, they looked at the extent of presenteeism (working while sick) and compared it to a scenario where workers faced no health-related barriers to work. The study, led by Professor Shun Kawakubo from the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Hosei University, Japan, included colleagues Shiro Arata and Masaki Sugiuchi from Hosei University, and others. 

    The study found that participants perceived their work efficiency to be at an average of approximately 77%. Presenteeism varied, with some participants reporting no symptoms in the last 30 days, while others experiencing symptoms every day. The average decrease in performance due to presenteeism was approximately 34%. 

    The effects of overall office environment elements on perceived work efficiency and presenteeism were examined in the study. A better overall office environment was associated with higher perceived work efficiency among workers. “Workers in offices with lower environmental performance had  low work efficiency, while those in higher-performing offices had high work efficiency. The 16.8-point difference in work efficiency between workers in offices with relatively good and poor environments equates to an annual economic benefit of about 1,039,000 JPY, highlighting the financial advantages of a good work environment,” explains Prof. Kawakubo. Similarly, a better overall office environment was linked to lower performance loss due to presenteeism. Prof. Kawakubo notes, “The better the office environment, the lower the amount of loss due to presenteeism. The difference in annual economic loss due to presenteeism between workers in offices with relatively low environmental performance and workers in offices with relatively high environmental performance was 423,000 JPY.”

    The study also revealed that higher quality elements such as “interior and furnishings,” “overall building sanitation,” “airflow from HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning),” and “meeting space” were associated with higher perceived work efficiency. Elements like “disaster and emergency,” “thermal environment,” “lightning environment,” and “telecommunication networks” were associated with lower economic losses due to presenteeism. The estimated economic benefits related to perceived work efficiency were greater than those associated with presenteeism.

    The study concludes that offices can boost economic benefits, and underscores the global need for enhancing worker efficiency as well as employee health by developing good quality offices. “Today, companies around the world are reaffirming the importance of human capital. We believe that widespread recognition of the fact that investment in the creation of a good office environment is directly linked to maintaining and improving the health of office workers and increasing the productivity of the company as a whole, will contribute to the building of a healthier society,” concludes Prof. Kawakubo.

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    Hosei University

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  • IBD patients at risk of serious infection, even when disease is mild

    IBD patients at risk of serious infection, even when disease is mild

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    Newswise — Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an independent risk factor for serious infection, even at very low levels of gastrointestinal inflammation. This has been shown by a study at the University of Gothenburg.

    IBD is an umbrella term for chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, with a population prevalence of around 0.5%. The main types of IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Unlike irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), IBD results in visible damage to the intestinal mucous membrane.

    IBD is characterized by intermittent symptoms. Periods of high disease activity are sometimes followed by longer periods of low or no activity. However, the extent to which IBD patients with low disease activity are also at increased risk of serious infections, including sepsis, has been unclear.

    The current study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, included data on 55,626 individuals diagnosed with IBD. ‘Serious infections’ referred to infections requiring hospitalization.

    The difference between healed and unhealed

    The results show that during periods of low disease activity but active gastrointestinal inflammation, known as microscopic inflammation, there was an increased risk of being affected by serious infections compared to periods of microscopically healed intestinal mucosa.

    In the case of microscopic inflammation, the number of serious infections was 4.62 per 100 people per year. The corresponding figure for microscopically healed mucosa was 2.53. This corresponded to a 59% relative risk increase for residual microscopic gastrointestinal inflammation, on adjusting the results for various confounders.

    Interestingly, the results held true even after adjusting for the prescribed IBD medications, and were otherwise similar regardless of age group, sex, and level of education.

    The study’s first-named and corresponding author is Karl Mårild, an associate professor in pediatrics at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy and a consultant at the Gastrointestinal and Liver Clinic at Queen Silvia’s Children’s Hospital in Gothenburg.

    Healing provides important protection

    “We have shown that even during periods of microscopic intestinal inflammation, IBD patients have an increased risk of serious infections, including sepsis, compared to periods when they have a microscopically healed mucosa,” he explains. “This is also true for patients who appear to have low-active disease in clinical terms, but who have microscopic intestinal inflammation beneath the surface.

    “The results indicate that achieving a fully healed intestinal mucosa in IBD may reduce the risk of serious infections. This is important, as serious infections currently contribute toward increased morbidity and mortality in both children and adults with IBD.”

    The results from the study are based on data from a national cohort (ESPRESSO) with information from Swedish health registers, and from the quality register for IBD (SWIBREG) on people in Sweden diagnosed with IBD between 1990 and 2016. This information was linked to data from microscopic intestinal examinations of patients with IBD.

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    University of Gothenburg

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  • Aoun Named to Georgia’s Trend’s 40 Under 40

    Aoun Named to Georgia’s Trend’s 40 Under 40

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    BYLINE: Barbara Myers

     Newswise — A pitch for a business competition at Georgia State University in 2016 was the impetus behind the establishment of the Georgia First Generation Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Gwinnett County, which has helped more than 750 students consider next steps after high school graduation.

    The Georgia FirstGen brochure begins like a novel. “On a cold and rainy February morning, Charbel Aoun, MS ’21 (PharmD ’25) and Francisco Martinez, MS were in a college study area when they entered the competition.

    “Being the first in their families to graduate from high school and attend college, Aoun and Martinez understood the real, yet not impossible barriers that students face when working to achieve a college education.”

    Though they did not win the competition, a wave of interest from the community spurred the founders on to forming a nonprofit organization to support the growth and success of first generation high school students and, just as importantly, to create a sense of belonging and community for these students.

    Aoun, a third year pharmacy student at PCOM Georgia, is the founding executive director. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in physics and astronomy, Martinez, a Lanier High School graduate from Sugar Hill, completed a master’s degree in physics from Georgia Tech and works as a data analyst.

    Georgia FirstGen has helped 750 high school students

    To date, Georgia FirstGen has student chapters at seven Gwinnett County high schools and has served 750 first generation students who have more than a 95% acceptance rate into college, according to Aoun. In addition, Aoun has helped organize more than 45 educational meetings and conferences.

    “These events have served as a platform for students from underrepresented backgrounds to gain valuable insights into higher education and career opportunities,” he said.

    “Witnessing the impact of these events on students’ lives has been incredibly gratifying. It reaffirms my belief that education can transform lives and break down barriers.”

    Aoun’s efforts have been noticed.

    Last year, Aoun was named to the 35 Under 35 class by the Gwinnett Young Professionals, which is sponsored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. This year, Georgia Trend magazine recognized Aoun, 27, as a member of the 2023 class of 40 Under 40 and placed his photo on the cover of the magazine as the youngest to receive this year’s recognition.

    Aoun said, “Being named to Georgia Trend’s 40 Under 40 is a significant and humbling honor representing a pivotal moment in my career.”

    He added, “The award reflects my dedication to equitable access to higher education and the transformative power of mentorship.

    “It motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of what I can achieve in pharmacy, advocating for healthcare improvement, and empowering future generations of leaders through education.

    ‘It’s about how we can make the table larger for everyone to be a part of it’

    “Being the youngest on this list gives me an opportunity to showcase why my perspective, why my voice, why my intentionality to work is absolutely needed,” he said, “in an age where young professionals and young healthcare advocates aren’t as well represented.”

    He noted that the philosophy he lives by – “If not you, then who?” – ensures that healthcare professionals, first generation advocates, and future leaders need to be present in every part of the conversation.

    He said, “It’s not about adding seats to the table. It’s about how we can make the table larger for everyone to be a part of it.”

    Aoun grew up in Gwinnett County and is a product of Gwinnett County Public Schools, graduating from Mountain View High School in Lawrenceville. The first of five children, he was born in the early ‘90s shortly after his parents met and were married following their immigration to the United States in hopes of pursuing a fresh start – his father from Lebanon and his mother from Syria.

    Gwinnett’s small community at the time attracted them, where Aoun said, “they felt that they could raise a family and connect with a sense of diversity.” In addition, Gwinnett’s school system was a deciding factor in their move to Gwinnett.

    Aoun earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Georgia State University, before matriculating into PCOM Georgia in Suwanee in 2018 where he earned a Master of Science degree in organizational development and leadership. He then enrolled in the Doctor of Pharmacy program.  

    Dedicated to a pharmacy career

    Aoun’s dedication to the pharmacy field extends beyond the classroom and pharmacy counter. He serves as vice chair of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Student Forum Executive Committee and is actively involved in the Georgia Pharmacy Association.

    In the community, he is a member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and its Gwinnett Young Professionals board.

    His plans including merging his passion for pharmacy with his commitment to leadership and education.

    “I aspire to continue my journey as a pharmacist, leveraging my diverse educational background and clinical experiences to provide exemplary patient care,” he said.

    He also envisions a future beyond clinical practice.

    “I see myself taking on roles that allow me to contribute to advancing pharmacy practice as a whole.”

    Future endeavors could include teaching and mentoring student pharmacists as part of an academic faculty, or healthcare administration positions that enable him to influence policy, drive quality improvement initiatives and optimize patient outcomes.

    “Ultimately, my overarching goal is to leave a lasting legacy in pharmacy and health care. I am also deeply passionate about mentorship and inspiring future generations to pursue their dreams and aspirations in the healthcare sector.”

    He said that if he had a do-over, he would not change his healthcare profession.

    “Pharmacy gives me the space to be a future educator who can guide patients and professionals while advancing the healthcare community.”

    About PCOM Georgia

    Established in 2005, PCOM Georgia is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institute of higher education dedicated to the healthcare professions. The Suwanee, Georgia, campus is affiliated with Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a premier osteopathic medical school with a storied history. PCOM Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and physical therapy and graduate degrees in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science, and physician assistant studies. Emphasizing “a whole person approach to care,” PCOM Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service to the wider community. For more information, visit pcom.edu/georgia or call 678-225-7500. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit pcomgeorgiahealth.org.

     

     

     

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    Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

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  • Wake Forest University School of Medicine Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Campaign for Research

    Wake Forest University School of Medicine Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Campaign for Research

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    Newswise — WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Nov. 1, 2023 – Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the academic core of Advocate Health, are launching their largest campaign for research. Designed with health equity at the forefront, funds raised in this campaign will transform health care for patients, communities and the next generation of health care leaders by integrating research with clinical care while enhancing the speed with which new ideas move from research labs to patients’ bedsides and beyond.

    The campaign – called ENVISION, now in its public phase, will take place over the next two years. The goal is to raise at least $100 million to support research and accelerate the discoveries which provide hope and, ultimately, improved care.

    Philanthropic funds raised during the ENVISION campaign will support research throughout an individual’s lifespan with key focus areas in health equity; Alzheimer’s disease; cancer; cardiovascular disease; diabetes, obesity and metabolism; healthy aging and mobility; neurosciences; and regenerative medicine.

    “Our research and discoveries serve as a catalyst for improved patient care in the communities we serve and far beyond,” said Dr. Ebony Boulware, dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and chief science officer and vice chief academic officer of Advocate Health. 

    “Investing in this campaign today is an investment in the future of medicine,” said Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, CEO and chief academic officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, chief academic officer and executive vice president of Advocate Health and executive vice president for health affairs at Wake Forest University. “Through research, equipment, technology, community outreach and funding to support research, we will make new discoveries and translate those findings to the bedside to help patients have the best outcomes possible.”

    The ENVISION campaign provides opportunities to support research and the future of medicine from investing in startup research, upfitting research space and supporting student scholarship to endowing positions to further advance research and attract the best researchers and faculty members to Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

    Examples of philanthropic support include the Jarrahi Family Endowed Research Scholars Fund in Geroscience Innovation at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a recent partnership with The Ambrose Monell Foundation.

    Dr. Ali Jarrahi, a retired psychiatrist, established a fund to support early-career, research-intensive faculty focused on geroscience, which is the study of the biology of aging and aging-related diseases. An initial emphasis of Jarrahi’s fund is on research into aging on a cellular level and Alzheimer’s disease.

    “It’s been a blessing to do,” Jarrahi said. “This was $1 million, and who knows what we might find out? The success of research is not always just in the amount of money. Young researchers have a lot of ideas and a lot of enthusiasm, but not always the funds and resources they need.”

    Maia Monell, with The Ambrose Monell Foundation and co-founder and chief revenue officer at Nav.it, recently supported the ENVISION campaign focusing on Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Geroscience Healthspan Initiative. The Ambrose Monell Foundation focuses on early stage research and social initiatives that have the opportunity to build a more creative, equitable and innovative society.

    “We are thrilled to support the Geroscience Healthspan Initiative. We have a longstanding commitment to supporting initiatives that are working to advance medical breakthroughs,” said Maia Monell of The Ambrose Monell Foundation. “We profoundly believe in the power of geroscience and its potential to revolutionize our understanding of mortal diseases. By focusing on aging, we hope this work will start to better anticipate and potentially prevent conditions such as cancer, reaffirming our dedication to promoting longevity and health.”

    “We have all been impacted by research in some way and knowing we have teams of researchers here working on the future delivery of health care is part of who we are as the city of innovation,” said Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines. “The growth of the research established at Wake Forest University School of Medicine positively impacts our city, the communities of Advocate Health and, indeed, health care across the country.”

    “Philanthropic support allows research to happen at a faster pace, and we are grateful for the support of our region and beyond as we launch our ENVISION campaign,” said Lisa Marshall, chief philanthropy officer and vice president at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.  “With the inspiring support from corporations, foundations and individuals across the country, we have successfully raised over $50 million of the $100 million goal in the campaign to date.

    Those who would like more information and would like to contribute to ENVISION may visit Giving.WakeHealth.edu/ENVISION or contact the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations at 336-716-4589. 

     

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    Wake Forest University School of Medicine

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  • Metformin eases weight gain in youth on bipolar meds. Study finds.

    Metformin eases weight gain in youth on bipolar meds. Study finds.

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    Newswise — A new large-scale study led by researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care provider, found the drug metformin can help prevent or reduce weight gain in youth taking medication to treat bipolar disorder.

    The collaborative team presented its findings during a symposium at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry conference in New York City Oct. 27.

    Weight gain side effect

    Medications to treat bipolar disorder, known as second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), are often effective at helping young patients’ mental health improve but can have significant side effects including elevated blood pressure and glucose, increased appetite and weight gain.

    “We, the clinicians naively justified that we’re improving your psychosis, so just deal with the weight gain,” said Victor Fornari, MD, a child/adolescent psychiatrist at Northwell Health. “But patients stopped taking their medicine because they said they didn’t want to gain weight.”

    UC’s Christina Klein, PhD, said in addition to patients not taking their medication, the weight gain side effects can lead to lifelong harmful health outcomes.

    “So you’re not just looking at the mental health, but you’re looking at the physical health of the whole person,” said Klein, a research scientist in UC’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in the College of Medicine.

    Klein said a survey found patients want interventions to address the side effects as soon as possible, while doctors and caregivers prefer a wait and see approach. 

    Metformin, a medication typically used for Type 2 diabetes, is known to also prevent weight gain, but nearly all psychiatrists surveyed initially said they did not feel comfortable prescribing it, leading to the study testing metformin’s effect.

    Study design

    Klein said the study had a pragmatic design, meaning it had broad enrollment criteria and was conducted at a wide variety of clinics, even those without prior participation in research studies.

    “We wanted the regular person who was just going to their doctor,” Klein said. “It’s not this perfect patient where you have this disorder and nothing else, you’re only taking this medicine, you’re adherent to the medicine or you show up every time.”

    A total of 1,565 patients aged 8-19 with bipolar disorder taking SGAs were enrolled in the study, a “Herculean” accomplishment according to Fornari.

    “It was 60 sites across the country, and it was a large sample of patients to really demonstrate what’s going on,” he said. “I don’t know that anybody has done a study of this magnitude with almost 1,600 kids and their families.”

    Everyone enrolled in the trial received a lifestyle intervention with recommendations for healthy eating and exercise. Half of the youth were randomized to receive the healthy lifestyle intervention and were prescribed metformin. 

    “If patients weren’t doing well on the metformin, they could come off and stay in this study,” Klein said. “Really we’re just trying to meet the patients when and where they received services, seeing what happens to them over the course of two years.” 

    Prior to beginning the interventions, researchers collected information on youth living with bipolar disorders’ quality of life and adherence to taking their medication as prescribed. 

    While 87% of youth reported they took their medication regularly, a majority reported they were unhappy with their weight and/or had been sad, mad or frustrated about their weight. 

    Researchers also collected baseline metabolic data to determine if youth had metabolic syndrome, which Northwell’s Claudine Higdon, MD, said is a common consequence of taking SGAs that places youth at risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The study found 33% of youth enrolled in the study had metabolic syndrome at the start. 

    “The key elements of metabolic syndrome are obesity, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and elevated glucose,” said Higdon, a child/adolescent psychiatrist. “It is important that clinicians monitor for metabolic syndrome when treating youth with second-generation antipsychotics.” 

    Study results

    UC’s Jeffrey Welge, PhD, said in the short-term six-month follow-up data, metformin had a modest but significant effect at preventing and in some cases reversing weight gain in the study’s patient population. The drug was also found to be safe, with some gastrointestinal distress symptoms being the only side effects reported.

    “It’s not a drug you take and weight falls off of you, but it tends to reduce that out of control appetite which we think then makes it easier for patients to adhere to a healthy diet and as they lose some weight maybe also make it easier for them to engage in more exercise,” said Welge, professor in UC’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences. “So, the lifestyle is really what’s driving good outcomes, but metformin is in some cases putting the wind at their back to help with that.”

    “It’s safe, effective and very inexpensive. It’s an intervention that has the potential to have widespread applicability,” Fornari added. “It’s not a medicine that you need to have an endocrinologist or a pediatrician prescribe, and I think it really speaks to the fact that the psychiatrist needs to be caring for the entire person, the physical and the mental health of the patient.”

    While having an effect on weight gain, metformin was not found to have a significant effect on youth’s metabolic syndrome in the short term, Welge said. 

    “Further research is needed on effective interventions for metabolic syndrome,” Higdon said.

    Patient-centered partnership

    The study received funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and included patient and caregiver advocate input throughout.

    “We really could not have done it without the support of youth living with bipolar disorders and their caregivers, and their continued recommendations on how to keep the trial patient-centered throughout the study,” Klein said. 

    Most research studies take about 15-17 years from being published to being widely applied in clinics across the country, so PCORI has additionally supported the research team with a dissemination grant so the knowledge can be spread more quickly.

    Klein said the team will conduct focus groups with youth living with bipolar disorders, as well as their caregivers and clinicians, to see how they want information to be presented to them. 

    UC’s Melissa DelBello, MD, served as the trial’s principal investigator

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    University of Cincinnati

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  • Cancer Research Institute to Honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath with 2023 Alt Award

    Cancer Research Institute to Honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath with 2023 Alt Award

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    Newswise — New York, October 27, 2023

    The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing the immune system’s power to control and potentially cure all cancers, will honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath, Executive Vice President and Director, Allen Institute for Immunology with the Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology. Dr. Goldrath will receive the award at the 2023 CRI Annual Awards Dinner on Monday, November 6, in New York City.

    The Frederick W. Alt award is designated specifically for former CRI postdoctoral fellows to honor their contribution towards research that has had an outsized impact in the field of immunology, either in academia or industry.

    The award is named after CRI Scientific Advisory Council member Frederick W. Alt, PhD (Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School). Dr. Alt has empowered many emerging, promising scientists in his career, and has made several monumental contributions within the field of immunology.

    “The Cancer Research Institute has been supporting the training of young scientists and nurturing careers for decades,” says Dr. Goldrath. “CRI funded my training and research as a fellow and then again when I started my own lab. CRI funds helped us carry out some of our earliest experiments that led to key insights into how to induce ‘memory’ T cells that provide protective immunity and kill tumor cells. To receive the CRI 2023 Frederick W. Alt award for New Discoveries in Immunology is a thrilling honor and reflects the hard work and creativity of many brilliant trainees I have had the privilege of working with over the course of my career.”

    Dr. Goldrath has made many critical contributions to the field of immunology. Notably, her lab has revealed a mechanistic understanding of the creation and maintenance of long-lived protective immunity. She is extremely active in the larger science and immunology space, as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Pew Scholar, a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fellow, and a member of the Immunological Genome Project.

    Additionally, Dr. Goldrath recently joined the Allen Institute for Immunology after nearly two decades at the University of California San Diego where she was a Tata Chancellor’s Professor in the School of Biological Sciences in the Molecular Biology Department and Co-Director of the Program in Immunology.

    “Dr. Goldrath’s contributions to the field of immunology epitomize the sort of scientific excellence that CRI seeks in its most exceptional scientists,” says CRI CEO and Director of Scientific Affairs Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, PhD. “Her research on memory T cells has provided valuable insight on how to manipulate the immune system to deliver long lasting immunity against infection and cancer. Such discoveries are not only significant for the immunology field, but they benefit us all.”

    CRI is proud to honor Dr. Goldrath with the 2023 Fredrick W. Alt award for New Discoveries in Immunology. The discoveries she has made, and the knowledge she has passed on to scientists that have worked in her lab, go directly towards our goal of creating a world immune to cancer.

    About the Cancer Research Institute

    The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the preeminent U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to saving more lives by fueling the discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes four Nobel laureates and 33 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested over $517 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. To learn more, go to cancerresearch.org.

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  • Survey: 65% Willing To Use Cannabis Under Guidance of Clinician | High Times

    Survey: 65% Willing To Use Cannabis Under Guidance of Clinician | High Times

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    A survey, released this week by the cannabis wellness company EO Care, found that “18 percent of respondents have used cannabis for health reasons in the past year, 19 percent have used cannabis for recreational reasons, and 14 percent have used it for both.”

    It also revealed that the “top three reasons for their cannabis use are anxiety, pain and sleep. 88 percent of medical cannabis users say it reduced their use of prescription drugs, alcohol, or both,” and that “51 percent said they would be likely/very likely to use cannabis if it were offered by their health plan.”

    But perhaps most notable was the finding that “65 percent of respondents said they would feel more comfortable using cannabis if it were screened and dosed by a clinician.”

    Sean Collins, co-founder and CEO of EO Care, said that the survey highlights the need for readily available medical advice on marijuana treatment.  

    “Finding clinical guidance for medicinal cannabis is difficult because most doctors lack the knowledge and retail dispensaries are not equipped to provide medical advice,” Collins said in a press release. “As a result we have tens of millions of Americans using cannabis for health reasons without guidance on specific product recommendations, dosage amounts, possible drug interactions, or consideration of their health history and other potential health risks. Given that sales of cannabis for health reasons is far higher than most prescription drugs, this is a highly concerning situation for healthcare generally.”

    EO Care said that the survey was based on responses of 1,027 Americans who are “employed at least part-time and were from US states where cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use.”

    “94 percent of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form,” added Collins. “And we know a large percentage of Americans have used cannabis in the past year, so this is definitely impacting employees and health outcomes. With the right medicinal cannabis guidance employers have an opportunity to help their employees, improve health outcomes and be progressive leaders in offering this important benefit that employees will come to expect.”

    Thirty-eight states have legalized some form of medical cannabis treatment, and polls routinely show that broad swaths of the country are in favor of making it legally available. 

    That trend holds true even in states where cannabis remains illegal. A poll released earlier this year found that 76% of adults in South Carolina are in favor of legal medical cannabis. Both recreational and medical marijuana are illegal in the state.

    Last year, a survey from the Pew Research Center showed that an “overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%).”

    “With a growing number of states authorizing the use of marijuana, the public continues to broadly favor legalization of the drug for medical and recreational purposes…Over the long term, there has been a steep rise in public support for marijuana legalization, as measured by a separate Gallup survey question that asks whether the use of marijuana should be made legal – without specifying whether it would be legalized for recreational or medical use. This year, 68% of adults say marijuana should be legal, matching the record-high support for legalization Gallup found in 2021,” Pew wrote in its analysis.

    “There continue to be sizable age and partisan differences in Americans’ views about marijuana. While very small shares of adults of any age are completely opposed to the legalization of the drug, older adults are far less likely than younger ones to favor legalizing it for recreational purposes.”

    The survey from EO Care, which was released on Tuesday, also found that “56 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to take a job at a company whose health plan offered cannabis care,” and that “44 percent would reconsider applying for a job at a company that tested for prior use of cannabis use or prohibited cannabis outside of the workplace.”

    EO Care bills itself as “the first clinically guided cannabis health and wellness solution for employers,” saying that its “digital health service gives HR and benefits leaders the necessary tools to help employees determine if cannabis should be part of their healthcare journey or not by providing clinical education and personalized care guidance – including cannabis overuse, which is increasingly common given the lack of medical guidance.” 

    “Built on data from leading cannabis clinicians and researchers, EO Care provides clinician guidance and proprietary data models to help employers tackle unguided cannabis use and give employees an effective option for relief in cancer treatment, pain management, opioid replacement, anxiety, and sleep management. The company is led by a team of experts in CX healthcare, biotech and data intelligence,” this week’s press release read.

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  • Sanofi Plans to Split Consumer-Healthcare, Pharma Businesses — Update

    Sanofi Plans to Split Consumer-Healthcare, Pharma Businesses — Update

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    By Adria Calatayud

    Sanofi plans to split its consumer-healtchare and pharmaceutical operations, making it the latest big drugmaker to sharpen its focus on prescription medicines by offloading adjacent businesses.
    

    The French company outlined the plan on Friday as part of a strategic update that includes increased investment in its pipeline and a cost-savings program.
    

    

    Sanofi said it is evaluating potential separations options, but believes that the most likely path would be through a capital markets transaction, by creating a listed entity headquartered in France. The split could take place in the fourth quarter of 2024 at the earliest, it said.
    

    The move will allow Sanofi to increase its focus on innovative medicines and vaccines, the company said. The split will create two entities and will enable each to pursue its own strategy, it said.
    

    Sanofi was one of the few big pharma companies that still housed innovative drugs and consumer-healthcare operations under the same roof.
    

    Johnson & Johnson earlier this year spun off consumer-health business Kenvue, which owns brands such as Band-Aid and Tylenol, and GSK last year separated its Haleon consumer arm. Other pharma giants such as Novartis and Pfizer made similar moves in recent years.
    

    The plan remains subject to market conditions and consultation with social partners. Sanofi’s consumer-healthcare business is present in 150 countries and employs more than 11,000 people, it said.
    

    Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com
    

    

    

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    Antibody-drug conjugate helps patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer live longer, delaying disease progression
    
			
    Antibody-drug conjugate helps patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer live longer, delaying disease progression
    
			
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BYLINE: Denise Heady 
    

    Newswise — Treatment with datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a novel Trop-2 directed antibody-drug conjugate, was found to significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, an improvement that was primarily driven by patients with non-squamous tumors.
    

    These results from the TROPION-Lung01 Phase III trial, which compared the standard of care in second-line docetaxel, a type of chemotherapy, with Dato-DXd, an antibody drug conjugate, in patients with pretreated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2023 Congress by Dr. Aaron Lisberg, assistant professor of medicine and thoracic medical oncologist at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
    

    Lisberg and the team found that patients treated with Dato-DXd experienced a 25% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to patients treated with docetaxel.
    

    “While there was an overall reduction of disease progression, the data clearly indicates that this benefit was primarily driven by patients with non-squamous tumors,” Lisberg said.
    

    More than 75% of enrolled patients had non-squamous tumors, noted Lisberg. And in that group alone, the therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 37%, while patients with squamous tumors did not appear to derive a therapeutic benefit from Dato-DXd on trial.
    

    In addition, a trend in favor of Dato-DXd was observed in the interim overall survival analysis. In those assessments of how long a patient will live after receiving a therapy for their cancer, the improvement was most pronounced in the non-squamous population with a reduction in the risk of death of 23% with Dato-DXd.
    

    The improvements in progression-free and overall survival observed in the Dato-DXd treated patients were accompanied by significant tumor shrinkage with Dato-DXd (26.4%) vs docetaxel (12.8%), a difference that was more pronounced in patients with non-squamous tumors (31.2% vs 12.8%).
    

    The overall safety profile of Dato-DXd was superior to docetaxel as fewer patients had high grade drug related toxicities with Dato-DXd (25%) compared to docetaxel (41%). Common side effects of Dato-DXd included mild to moderate mouth sores and nausea. There were also fewer severe side effects leading to dose reduction or treatment discontinuation in Dato-DXd treated patients compared to those treated with docetaxel.
    

    “Dato-DXd is the first antibody-drug conjugate in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival over the standard of care chemotherapy drug docetaxel, while evidencing a more favorable safety profile due to its unique ability to selectively delivers a potent chemotherapy directly into tumor cells,” said Lisberg.
    

    These findings are encouraging, noted Lisberg, since the current standard of care second-line chemotherapy docetaxel is associated with modest benefit and substantial toxicity and suggest that Dato-DXd has the potential to be new therapy for patients with previously treated non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
    

    TROPION-LUNG01 Study Design
    

    Researchers on the global TROPION-LUNG01 trial compared the effectiveness and tolerability of Dato-DXd vs docetaxel by randomizing 604 patients to receive either Dato-DXd (299 patients) or docetaxel (305) patients. Patients both with and without genetic driver mutations such as EGFR were enrolled and must have received multiple therapies for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer prior to enrollment. No minimum level of TROP-2 expression on the tumor surface was required for enrollment, as TROP-2 expression has not been found to correlate with Dato-DXd effectiveness, to date.
    

    UCLA Leadership in Dato-DXd Development
    

    UCLA’s thoracic medical oncology team has been at the forefront of Dato-DXd’s global development punctuated by Lisberg’s ESMO 2023 TROPION-LUNG01 Presidential Symposium. Critical support has been provided by the Hematology/Oncology Clinical Research Unit, as well as Lisberg’s UCLA thoracic medical oncology colleagues Dr. Edward Garon, Dr. Jonathan Goldman, and Dr. Amy Cummings, who identified the potential of Dato-DXd early on in development and prioritized Dato-DXd for their heavily pretreated non-small cell lung cancer patients. These patients had a paucity of effective treatment options at the time of Dato-DXd trial enrollment and their participation was essential to the success of the TROPION-LUNG01 study, with many experiencing a prolonged improvement in their lives, as result of Dato-DXd. The TRIO-US network also made significant contributions to the TROPION-LUNG01 study under the direction of Lisberg.
    

    UCLA and TRIO-US Network at Forefront of Future Dato-DXd Lung Cancer Trials
    

    This antibody-drug conjugate is now being evaluated as potential first-line therapy for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic non-small cell lung cancer on the TROPION-LUNG07/08 studies (NCT05555732/NCT05215340), both of which were recently opened at UCLA clinics throughout Southern California. In addition, the TRIO-US network is participating in the TROPION-LUNG07 trial, as it did for TROPION-LUNG01. These trials hold the promise to improve clinical outcomes for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer by providing Dato-DXd to an even larger number of patients with non-squamous tumors.
    

    Datopotamab deruxtecan is a specifically engineered TROP2-directed DXd antibody drug conjugate being jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.
    

    

    

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     University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences
    

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    Case Western Reserve School of Medicine postdoctoral fellow Marissa Scavuzzo wins coveted 2023 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology for glial cell research
    
			
    Case Western Reserve School of Medicine postdoctoral fellow Marissa Scavuzzo wins coveted 2023 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology for glial cell research
    
			
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    Newswise — CLEVELAND—Marissa Scavuzzo, a postdoctoral fellow at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has won the 2023 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology for research in how glial cells in the intestine’s nervous system operate.
    

    Glial cells are considered support cells in the brain and help control and safeguard neurons. It is unclear what they do in the gut.
    

    The goal of Scavuzzo’s research is to understand the role of enteric glia in a healthy gut and how they respond to dietary, environmental or genetic changes. Her research could lead to the development of novel and efficient medicines that may benefit millions of people with gastrointestinal illnesses.
    

    “It’s still surreal,” Scavuzzo, the HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow in the School of Medicine’s Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, said of the coveted award. “I am grateful to Eppendorf and Science for their recognition of my work, and will be forever grateful to my postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Paul Tesar, who played a crucial role in fostering my research in his lab. My long-term research goal is to understand the molecular underpinnings of enteric glia’s functional states in both health and disease.”
    

    “Marissa is a superstar,” said Tesar, professor of genetics and genome sciences and the Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics at School of Medicine. “I am so proud of her for receiving this prestigious award that recognizes her groundbreaking science.”
    

    Since 2002, the annual Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology has honored early-career scientists for groundbreaking research. Scavuzzo is the 22nd recipient of this international prize, which is awarded jointly by the journal Science  and Eppendorf SE, a leading Germany-based life-science company that develops, makes and sells systems for use in laboratories worldwide..
    

    Researchers age 35 and younger who have made outstanding contributions to neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology are invited to apply. The winner is awarded $25,000 and is able to publish an essay published in Science.
    

    “Eppendorf and the journal Science have awarded this prestigious prize for over 20 years. Many awardees have gone on to become leading scientists in their field,” said Alex Jahns, Eppendorf’s vice president of corporate citizenship and governmental affairs. “Congratulations to Marissa on her amazing achievement in winning this year’s award.”
    

    “The support from the School of Medicine has been critical to the success of my research,” Scavuzzo said, “and continued collaborations with colleagues will help advance my work towards my goal in the future.”
    

    ###
    

    Case Western Reserve University is one of the country’s leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, we offer a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Our leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 6,000 undergraduate and 6,300 graduate students comprise our student body. Visit case.edu to see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible.
    

     
    

    

    

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     Case Western Reserve University
    

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    Your body knows the difference between good stress and bad stress: Do you?
    
			
    Your body knows the difference between good stress and bad stress: Do you?
    
			
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    Newswise — LONDON — It may be surprising to hear, but medically speaking, not all stress is bad. Healthy stress levels help build resilience, says Safia Debar, MBBS, a stress management expert at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London. In this expert alert, Dr. Debar explains the difference between good and bad stress and how to tell when you are in danger of overload.
    

    Stress is a physical and psychological reaction to a demand, and that demand can be anything, Dr. Debar says. Stress that is good for us and may even give us a sense of well-being is eustress, the opposite of distress. The same event—for example, getting married—might provoke either one, Dr. Debar says.
    

    “It’s about the perception of that stress and how your body is actually handling it,” Dr. Debar says. “Chronic stress will impact every organ system in the body: You might feel anxiety, depression and digestive issues, for example.”
    

    Stress prompts a cascade of reactions within the mind and body as you mount a stress response, Dr. Debar says. Under normal stress, a person starts at a baseline of relaxation, encounters a stressor, the stress response begins, rises to a peak, and then comes back down to baseline.
    

    Among the physical changes that may occur when you perceive a threat:
    

      

    • The sympathetic nervous system and production of the primary stress hormone, cortisol, activate.
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    • Thinking becomes negative as you experience or anticipate something bad. Attention becomes hyperfocused on what is happening.
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    • The heart, lungs and muscles prepare for you to fight or run. There is increased heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate as the body needs to deliver more oxygen to cells. Muscles tense.
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    • The digestive and reproductive systems aren’t needed, so their activities slow.
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    • The immune system turns its attention from fighting microscopic invaders such as viruses or cancer cells and goes into an inflammatory mode, increasing its production of proteins called cytokines that adjust this process.  
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    When someone realizes the threat has passed, the body begins to repair itself from this response and “tidy up”. It shifts to a repair, renew and growth state as the stress response is mopped up. Physically, breathing and heart rate slow down, blood pressure normalizes, you take more expansive breaths, muscular tension eases, the digestive and reproductive systems resume normal activity, and you may begin to connect with others to recount the threat you just experienced, Dr. Debar says.
    

    “If you go up in stress and then come back down, you have completed our cycle. There’s no wear and tear, there’s no damage,” Dr. Debar says. “In fact, it’s probably good for you because it leads to greater resilience. If you’ve ever overcome a stressful event in life, processed it fully and completed that cycle, then the next similar experience you have, you think, `Oh no, but I can do it.’”
    

    However, when someone is repeatedly under too much stress, the ability to go back to baseline slowly starts to wane, Dr. Debar says.
    

    “You can go up in stress and stay there, having a prolonged response. This is when you’re hypervigilant: You’re wired but tired, you’re anxious,” Dr. Debar says. “Or, life has thrown at you so many stressors, that you respond inadequately. It is the lack of recovery rather than the actual stressor itself that is critical. After a while, you may just numb out and show no response.”
    

    Sometimes people think it would be good to show no response, Dr. Debar adds, but internally the stress response and its cascade of internal activities are still happening. They are just hidden.
    

    There are several signs that you may be in danger of stress overload and it is time to address it, Dr. Debar says:
    

      

    • If stress feels unremitting and constant.
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    • If stress feels uncontrollable and you’re unable to relax or feel like you’re on autopilot.
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    • If you have problems regulating emotions.
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    • If you start hiding from life and/or people.
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    • You’re experiencing physical symptoms such as headaches, chest pain, stomach upsets, problems sleeping, or getting sick more often.
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    “Think about how your body handles stress, and how you handle it emotionally, physically and in your relationships,” Dr. Debar says. “What do you do, what do you not do.”
    

    Chronic stress can have long-term health effects. People who feel ongoing physical symptoms or find that lifestyle changes do not seem to help should consult with their health care team, Dr. Debar says.
    

    ###
    

    About Mayo Clinic Healthcare
    Mayo Clinic Healthcare, located in London, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mayo Clinic, a not-for-profit academic medical center. Mayo Clinic is ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report in more specialties than any other hospital for a reason: quality of care. Mayo Clinic Healthcare is the U.K.’s front door to that unparalleled experience. Visit Mayo Clinic Healthcare for more information.
    

    

    

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    AI: from an exciting concept to practical applications
    
			
    AI: from an exciting concept to practical applications
    
			
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    AI has quickly evolved from an exciting concept generating global headlines to a powerful, practical tool that is helping many companies in the public sector reshape how employees work. AI is already helping drive value, and though some approaches to AI are sector specific, many can be broadly applied to help employees in all sectors work more efficiently and enjoy their jobs more. We’ve brought together experts from healthcare, state and local governments, and education to share their insights into the steps organizations are taking to move AI from concept to action.
    

    Building a modern data foundation
    

    Many organizations already have the data they need to generate meaningful insights with AI. But unless they connect that data, even the most powerful AI won’t be able to deliver the analysis that companies and organizations need to grow, innovate, and provide excellent service. To make sharing data easier, leaders first need to shift mindsets.
    

    Connecting data is the key to unlocking the power of AI in healthcare. “Using AI, we will have the power of the professional complemented by the power of information,” says Gil Bashe, Chair of Global Health and Purpose at FINN Partners. Bashe believes that AI is a game changer that will help healthcare providers make better decisions faster.
    

    State and local governments see a similar opportunity as they work to improve public welfare. “In the last 50 years, our infrastructure was built with concrete and steel. But in the next 50 years, it is going to be built with software and code,” says Laura Chace, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. Investments in digital infrastructure, such as AI solutions, can help organizations move from data to action. For example, AI can help to shorten emergency response times, analyze traffic patterns, and reroute traffic to prevent accidents and reduce carbon emissions.
    

    In addition to connecting data, organizations are considering how to collect the right data. “We have to be intentional about identifying what data we need, how we are going to analyze and synthesize it, and how we are going to use it to inform instructional decisions,” says Donna Murray, Digital Teaching and Learning Consultant at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. By developing a road map, educators are positioned to deploy AI for that analysis and to gain the insights needed to inform decisions.
    

    Applying AI to drive personalization in public services 
    

    AI-powered personalization is especially exciting. In education, teachers and trainers are using AI to modify instructional delivery to meet the unique needs of their students and to make educational resources more accessible to everyone. “To effectively design accessible technology and create accessible learning environments, we have to include learners with disabilities in the discussion,” says Murray. “Their voices and experiences are critical if we are authentically committed to creating accessible educational opportunities for each and every learner.” This approach doesn’t just apply to schools; lifelong learners can also benefit from personalization as they seek to master new skills.
    

    State and local governments are also applying AI solutions to help them provide greater personalization to their constituents. Jess Maneely, Assistant Director for Process Innovation at the American Public Human Services Association, notes that organizations are analyzing workflows to identify where they can improve service delivery without having to increase budgets or personnel. This groundwork will allow them to deploy AI to meet people where they are. “This is done through a customer-centered approach that minimizes barriers, removes redundancies, and reduces the administrative burden,” says Maneely.
    

    In healthcare, innovators like those at the Mount Sinai Health System are discovering new ways that technology can support nursing staff by working alongside them to identify tasks that can be offloaded to AI. This way, nurses can focus on providing the best patient care possible. “What’s happening with these technologies is exactly what needs to happen. It’s not ‘this’ or ‘that’—it’s a hybrid,” says Bashe.
    

    Taking action today to accelerate the adoption of AI
    

    Chatbots might have been an organization’s entry into AI, but they were just the beginning. Instead of focusing on the headlines, act today to prepare your teams to innovate. AI is ready to help deliver valuable insights, facilitate better decision-making, and uncover new opportunities for organizations to increase the value they offer their customers and the public. Accelerate the deployment of AI by migrating systems to Microsoft Azure.
    

    Learn how you can get more value from your data and reduce costs with the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform.
    

    

    

    

    

    
													
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

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    Potential brain cancer survival boost with anti-anxiety medication.
    
			
    Potential brain cancer survival boost with anti-anxiety medication.
    
			
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    Newswise — A new research study shows that cerebrospinal fluid reduces current treatment efficacy in brain cancer and identifies new therapeutic opportunities.
    

    Cerebrospinal fluid, the clear colourless liquid that protects the brain, also may be a factor that makes brain cancers resistant to treatment, Australian researchers led by Associate Professor Cedric Bardy at the South Austraila Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Flinders University reveal in the journal Science Advances.
    

    Reporting how this occurs, the study in high-profile journal Science Advances shows that a decades-old anti-anxiety drug can improve the effectiveness of chemo-radiotherapy towards glioblastoma, or GBM, the most common and lethal brain cancer.
    

    Brain cancers kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer. They are resistant to therapies that kill cancers elsewhere in the body. The study team speculates that unique brain features might contribute to this.
    

    The collaborative Australian team of neurobiologists, neurosurgeons and oncologists tested the effect of the precious resource of human cerebrospinal fluid on the growth of tumour cells collected from 25 local patients with glioblastoma.
    

    Among their findings, the tumour cells quickly changed their identity and became more resistant to radiation and the drug temozolomide, which are mainstays of glioblastoma therapy.
    

    Associate Professor Cedric Bardy says, “Glioblastoma kills so many people who are otherwise fit, healthy and young, within months. This is a horrible disease, and the treatments available are just not effective enough despite serious side effects.
    

    “This study helps us understand the limitations of the current chemotherapies and provides new hope for repurposing a class of drugs that could be added to the standard of care. We are working hard now to try this on patients in a clinical trial.”
    

    Investigating the molecular basis for these changes, the team found glioblastoma cells exposed to cerebrospinal fluid were more resistant to ferroptosis, a form of therapy-induced cell death.
    

    Importantly, they showed that trifluoperazine, an anti-anxiety drug used since the 1950s, could re-sensitise glioblastoma cells to both therapies. In contrast, trifluoperazine was found not to harm healthy brain cells. The researchers concluded that combining trifluoperazine with standard care may improve GBM patient survival.
    

    The paper – ‘Human cerebrospinal fluid affects chemoradiotherapy sensitivities in tumor cells from patients with glioblastoma’ (2023) BW Str27inger, MI De Silva, Z Greenberg, AN Puerta, R Adams, B Milky, M Zabolocki, M van den Hurk, LM Ebert, CF Bishop, SJ Conn, G Kichenadasse, MZ Michael, RJ Ormsby, S Poonoose and C Bardy  – is published in Science Advances journal. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf1332
    

    https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf1332
    

    

    

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     Flinders University
    

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    5D4, a novel small molecule, disrupts MYC pathways, curbing cancer growth.
    
			
    5D4, a novel small molecule, disrupts MYC pathways, curbing cancer growth.
    
			
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    Newswise — Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have identified a small molecule named 5D4 that can suppress the growth of breast and ovarian cancers in animal models. 5D4 works by binding to TopBP1 protein in cancer cells, disrupting its interactions with several pathways that promote cancer growth. Combining 5D4 with another cancer inhibitor, talazoparib, enhances the effectiveness of the anti-cancer activity. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly supports continuing the investigation toward further developing this strategy for clinical use.
    

    “Cancer development involves many steps of genetic alterations and signaling pathway deregulation. About 10 years ago, our team discovered that protein TopBP1 is at a convergent point of multiple cellular pathways involved in cancer growth and progression, making it a potential candidate for targeted cancer therapy,” said corresponding author Dr. Weei-Chin Lin, professor of medicine-hematology and oncology and of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor. He also is a member of Baylor’s Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Our idea was to identify molecules that would bind to TopBP1 and interfere with its interactions with molecular pathways that promote cancer growth.”
    

    Lin and his colleagues report in the current study that years of progressive work screening more than 200,000 compounds followed by multiple rounds of structure-based compound optimization have finally produced fruits. They have discovered that 5D4 can bind to and effectively inhibit TopBP1 from stimulating several cancer-promoting molecular pathways. Importantly, 5D4 can inhibit MYC activity in cancer. MYC has been known to be very difficult to target. Their finding may open a new avenue to target MYC indirectly with TopBP1 inhibitors.
    

    “The TopBP1 protein has multiple parts or domains that serve diverse functions within cells. 5D4 inhibits specific domains within TopBP1 that are involved in cancer progression without interfering with the protein’s normal function in cell replication. The domains that 5D4 targets are responsible for regulating E2F1, mutant p53, MYC and a process called homologous recombination. Thus, 5D4 shows anti-cancer activity without toxicity to normal tissues,” Weei-Chin Lin said. “We also found that combining 5D4 with other compounds such as PARP inhibitors, highly enhances the anti-cancer effect. Taken together, our findings strongly support the potential use of TopBP1inhibitors as a targeted cancer therapy.”
    

    “It’s very exciting to have found a TopBP1 inhibitor that really stops cancer growth in cells and in animal models in the lab,” said first and co-corresponding author Dr. Fang-Tsyr Lin, associate professor of medicine-hematology and oncology at Baylor and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Our next step is to continue developing this compound for human testing, to optimize its anti-cancer effect in combination with other inhibitors and to minimize potential toxicities.”
    

    Kang Liu, Lidija A. Wilhelms Garan, Helena Folly-Kossi, Yongcheng Song and Shwu-Jiuan Lin also contributed to this work. The authors are affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine or Taipei Medical University.
    

    This work was supported by funding from NIH grants (R01CA203824 and R01CA269971), Department of Defense Grants (W81XWH-18-1-0329, W81XWH-19-1-0369, W81XWH-22-1-0226 and W81XWH-22-1-0534), a Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Pilot Award and awards T32CA174647 and T32GM136560.
    

    

    

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     Baylor College of Medicine
    

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    Older adults from distressed communities attend less cardiac rehab after heart procedures
    
			
    Older adults from distressed communities attend less cardiac rehab after heart procedures
    
			
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BYLINE: Noah Fromson 
    

    Newswise — Older adults who live in disadvantaged communities are less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation after common heart procedures, a Michigan Medicine-led study finds.
    

    The study aimed to calculate how many Medicare beneficiaries attended cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised program exercise and education program, after coronary revascularization between mid-2016 and 2018.
    

    Patient communities were categorized using the Distressed Community Index, which analyzes economic well-being and social determinants of health, such as educational disparities and poverty rate, of United States zip codes.
    

    Only 26% of patients from distressed communities use cardiac rehab, compared to 46% of patients from areas deemed prosperous. Any patient who attended cardiac rehab, no matter where they lived, had a reduced risk of death, hospitalization and heart attack, according to results published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
    

    “Addressing barriers to participation in cardiac rehabilitation in distressed communities may improve outcomes for these patients and reduce longstanding disparities in such outcomes,” said first author Michael P. Thompson, Ph.D., assistant professor of cardiac surgery at University of Michigan Medical School.
    

    “While some individuals who face geographic barriers to participation may benefit from transportation services or virtual options for cardiac rehab, there is a critical need to address socioeconomic barriers that prevent so many patients from attending this lifesaving therapy.”
    

    Additional authors include, Hechuan Hou, Francis D. Pagani, M.D., Ph.D., Robert B. Hawkins, M.D., Devraj Sukul, M.D., and Donald S. Likosky, Ph.D., all of University of Michigan, James W. Stewart II, M.D., of Yale School of Medicine, and Steven J. Keteyian, Ph.D., of Henry Ford Health.
    

    This study was funded as part of a career development award Thompson received from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, Grant no. 1K01HS027830).
    

    Paper cited: “Relationship Between Community-Level Distress and Cardiac Rehabilitation Participation, Facility Access, and Clinical Outcomes After Inpatient Coronary Revascularization,” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.123.010148
    

    

    

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     Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan
    

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    Novartis Raises 2023 View
    
			
    Novartis Raises 2023 View
    
			
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    By Adria Calatayud
    

    Novartis raised its full-year earnings guidance for the third time this year after it reported higher net profit and sales for the third quarter, boosted by strong sales of key drugs.
    

    

    The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Tuesday that it now expects core operating profit to grow this year by a percentage in the mid to high teens range. It had previously anticipated a growth rate from low double percentage digits to mid teens excluding Sandoz, the generics unit that was spun off earlier this month.
    

    Novartis reiterated its expectation for net sales growth of a high single digit in 2023.
    

    For the third quarter, the company made a net profit of $1.76 billion compared with $1.57 billion for the same period last year.
    

    Net sales for the quarter grew to $11.78 billion from $10.49 billion.
    

    “Our growth drivers, including Kesimpta, Entresto, Kisqali and Pluvicto, continue to perform well in the market,” Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said.
    

    Excluding exceptional items, core operating income from continuing operations was up 21% at $4.41 billion.
    

    Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com
    

    

    

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    Dr. Jonathan Woodson Is Fourth Recipient of American College of Surgeons Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award
    
			
    Dr. Jonathan Woodson Is Fourth Recipient of American College of Surgeons Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award
    
			
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    Newswise — Boston (October 23, 2023): Retired USAR Major General Jonathan Woodson, MD, MSS, FACS, MG, MC, renowned for his significant contributions to both military and civilian surgical care, was honored with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award during the ACS Clinical Congress 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Established by the Board of Regents in 2018, the award is selectively conferred based on merit, rather than annually. 
    

    Dr. Woodson is a quadruple-board-certified surgeon whose career has intertwined military service, surgical practice, and leadership in education. After earning his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in New York City, Dr. Woodson completed residency training in internal medicine and general and vascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He also completed fellowships in general, vascular, and critical care surgery at Waltham Weston Hospital & Medical Center in Massachusetts and Massachusetts General Hospital. 
    

    Dr. Woodson attained board certification in internal medicine, general surgery, surgical critical care, and vascular surgery. In addition, he completed a fellowship at the Health Services Research Institute of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C., and later, a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  
    

    His career achievements also include several years as the Lars Anderson Professor in Management and Professor of the Practice at Boston University Questrom School of Business, with joint appointments as professor of surgery at the school of medicine and professor of health law, policy, and management at the school of public health. At Boston University, he also established and led the Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy.   
    

    At present, Dr. Woodson is the president of the Uniformed Services University (USU) of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, where he leads the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences, public health, nursing, dentistry, and allied health. Prior to assuming this role in 2022, Dr. Woodson was appointed as a member of the USU Board of Regents in 2016 and served as its chair from 2019 to 2021.   
    

    Dr. Woodson’s military achievements span several countries. He joined the military in 1986 as a Captain and served for 36 years, retiring as a Major General of the U.S. Army Reserve and Commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Command of Pinellas Park, Florida, in 2022.   
    

    During his military career, Dr. Woodson was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as to Kosovo. Additionally, in 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Woodson the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Director of the Tricare Management Activity in the U.S. Department of Defense, a role he held until 2016.  
    

    Notably, Dr. Woodson is the second winner of the Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award who responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The 2021 winner, Lieutenant General (Retired) Paul K. Carlton, MD, FACS, was present in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., at the time of the airplane crash and helped rescue three colleagues from the burning building immediately afterward. Dr. Woodson’s contribution to the rescue operation was at the World Trade Center in New York City, where he responded as a senior medical officer with the U.S. National Disaster Medical System.  
    

    In nomination materials for the Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award, Board of Regents member Anton N. Sidawy, MD, MPH, FACS, wrote, “Jonathan is the ultimate officer, gentleman, and scholar. He is highly respected, transparent, and extremely thoughtful.”  
    

    When asked about the award, Dr. Woodson responded with a modesty that reflected Dr. Sidawy’s description. He said, “To think that the College would honor me with a lifetime achievement award is unexpected, and I’m very humbled by it and very honored.” 
    

    The Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award was established by the ACS Board of Regents’ Honors Committee in 2018 to recognize a physician’s distinguished contributions to the advancement of military surgery. Recipients for this Award must be a physician with a demonstrated commitment to the advancement of military surgical care but are not required to be in active medical practice. 
    

    # # # 
    

    About the American College of Surgeons 
    The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. “FACS” designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. 
    

    

    

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     American College of Surgeons (ACS)
    

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