Stem Cell-Gene Therapy Shows Promise in ALS Safety Trial

Cedars-Sinai investigators have developed an investigational therapy using support cells and a protective protein that can be delivered past the blood-brain barrier. This combined stem cell and gene therapy can potentially protect diseased motor neurons in the spinal cord of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal neurological disorder known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

UCI to lead transfer of UC COVID-19 patient information to federal database

Irvine, Calif., March 24, 2021 – Vaccines are here, but as COVID-19 cases continue and variants spread, researchers need easy access to a wide variety of data to better understand the disease. Led by the University of California, Irvine, UC hospitals have received a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to make this possible.

Radioactive bone cement found to be safer in treating spinal tumors

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 16, 2021 — A radioactive bone cement that’s injected into bone to provide support and local irradiation is proving to be a safer alternative to conventional radiation therapy for bone tumors, according to a study led by University of California, Irvine researchers. The study shows that this brachytherapy cement can be placed into spinal bones to directly irradiate tumors without harming the spinal cord, and the radioactive material will stay localized in the bones, which promises to virtually eliminate side effects.

Ionic liquid formulation uniformly delivers chemotherapy to tumors while destroying cancerous tissue

A Mayo Clinic team, led by Rahmi Oklu, M.D., Ph.D., a vascular and interventional radiologist at Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with Samir Mitragotri, Ph.D., of Harvard University, report the development of a new ionic liquid formulation that killed cancer cells and allowed uniform distribution of a chemotherapy drug into liver tumors and other solid tumors in the lab.

MD Anderson and Taiho Pharmaceutical announce collaboration to accelerate development of novel therapies for brain metastasis and other unmet medical needs

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., today announced a three-year strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of treatments for significant unmet medical needs in oncology, including patients with brain metastases and those with cancers refractory to available therapies.

UCLA Health’s Dr. Clara Lajonchere elected Chair of the California Precision Medicine Advisory Council

Dr. Clara Lajonchere, deputy director of the Institute for Precision Health at UCLA Health, has been elected chair of the new California Precision Medicine Advisory Council.

The Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, Inc. Renews Partnerships with Takeda and Bridge Medicines, LLC

To date, work done within the Tri-I TDI has resulted in the launch of two New York City–based companies and the licensing of six therapeutic discovery programs.

October’s SLAS Technology Special Issue Published

In the October Special Issue of SLAS Technology, Guest Editors Soojung Claire Hur, Ph.D., and Deok-Ho Kim, Ph.D., (Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD, USA) introduce a collection of articles and reviews focused on the advancement in technologies that are playing a major role in shifting healthcare closer to more predictive, preventative and personalized medicine.