[Source: TGen] - The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) will forge a strategic alliance that will enable both to maximize their worldwide contributions to science and health.
The non-profit researcher institutes jointly announced today the initiation of an "alliance and affiliation agreement."
The partnership between Phoenix, Ariz.-based TGen and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based VARI will enable both institutes to speed up their mutual goals of moving research discoveries about cancer and other debilitating medical conditions as quickly as possible from laboratories to patient care.
"Combining many of the scientific, educational, financial and business potentials of TGen and VARI will advance the research of both institutions and enhance the economic development of both Arizona and Western Michigan," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen since its founding in 2002.
"This alliance will elevate both organizations in the world of scientific research," said Dr. Trent, who will retain his roles at TGen, but upon implementation of the agreement also will become President and Research Director of VARI.
VARI is the research arm of the Van Andel Institute (VAI), established in 1996 as a philanthropic research and educational organization by the late Jay and Betty Van Andel.
"We are excited to welcome Dr. Trent and TGen as they combine forces with us in our mission to conquer cancer and human disease," said VAI Chairman and CEO David Van Andel. "This alliance demonstrates that VARI and TGen are at the forefront of redefining a borderless, collaborative, national and international scientific community that transcends geographical limitations."
The alliance combines the groundbreaking basic research expertise of VARI with the cutting-edge translational genomics and analysis of TGen.
Dr. Trent will replace Dr. George Vande Woude, who in 1998 was appointed the founding Director of VARI.
"The search for a new director has ended with the best possible results - a renowned, research director in Dr. Trent, who will now lead VARI, and an alliance that strengthens two of the nation's fast-emerging leaders in biomedical research," David Van Andel said.
Dr. Vande Woude, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, will remain at VARI as head of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology. Dr. Vande Woude, who held top-level administrative posts at the National Cancer Institute since the early 1980's, will be able to achieve a long-held desire to return to the lab full-time.
"This is a great moment for both Institutions. I have known Dr.Trent professionally for nearly 20 years and have always admired him as one of the nation's leading scientists. One of Dr. Trent's greatest attributes is bringing together researchers from many disciplines to work on problems that will improve human health," Dr. Vande Woude said.
TGen is dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and infectious diseases. TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research, in which investigators unravel the genetic basis of complex diseases and medical conditions.
VARI opened its facility in 2000. Its 18 research laboratories are primarily dedicated to molecular cancer research, but it also focuses on conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, osteoporosis, and heart disease. VARI will open a 240,000 square-foot building expansion this fall, which will allow it to broaden its efforts to include additional neurological disorders and chronic illnesses. VARI's primary work has been in basic research - looking for what occurs to cause disease in individual cells, and using that information to identify "biomarkers" that can help predict and diagnose diseases, and lead to the development of safer, more effective drugs.
"VARI is on the verge of expanding its already strong basic research programs and implementing further translational research," said Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-In-Chief and a world-renowned cancer scientist.
"TGen is poised to translate the discoveries generated in laboratories from both organizations into real solutions for patients," said Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare. "This is a terrific opportunity to work together and increase our chances of making a difference for our patients."
Both TGen and VARI are relatively young organizations that have triggered regional growth of the life sciences and biomedical industries in Arizona and Western Michigan.
Both organizations have a strong focus on cancer, collaborations and expansion locally, nationally and internationally.
The "alliance and affiliation agreement" is expected to become effective July 1, 2009.
Showing posts with label TGen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TGen. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
TGen, Scottsdale Healthcare, Mayo Clinic study starts for new drug that could bolster the immune systems of cancer victims
[Source: TGen] - The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Scottsdale Healthcare and Mayo Clinic are testing a new drug that could help cancer patients by stimulating the immune system.
Clinical trials of the drug VTX-2337 are being conducted at TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, a partnership of Phoenix-based TGen and Scottsdale-based Scottsdale Healthcare Corp., and at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Dr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Medical Director of TGen Clincal Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, said the new drug appears promising.
"VTX-2337 is a new, novel, small molecule aimed at stimulating the immune cells in the blood, lymph nodes, and in and around the tumor. It represents an exciting new class of agents for cancer therapy with good preclinical evidence of activity," Dr. Ramanathan said.
The Phase I trial, a yearlong first-in-humans test, will study the drug's safety. If successful, a Phase II trial will test the drug's effectiveness on tumors.
A weakened immune system is often the result of advanced cancer. The hope is that this new drug will actually help enable the immune system to slow down the growth of tumors, and perhaps even shrink them, Dr. Ramanathan said.
VTX-2337 is the first drug of its kind developed by San Diego-based VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. The biopharmaceutical company is focused on the development of new Toll-Like Receptor 8 (TLR8) agonists, which are small molecules that prompt a response in the body's immune system. The drugs are intended to treat cancer, respiratory and autoimmune diseases.
"VentiRx is very excited to be working with TGen, Scottsdale Healthcare and Mayo Clinic on this important and novel program," said Michael Kamdar, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at VentiRx. "Entering Phase I clinical trials represents a significant milestone for VentiRx and our TLR efforts in that we have rapidly advanced into a clinical development company with a novel molecule that may play an important role and have broad application in the treatment of cancer."
VTX-2337 is a small molecule TLR8 agonist that is expected to be used in combination with standard of care for the treatment of patients with cancer. Preclinical evaluation of VTX-2337 suggests that it may play a key role in augmenting the innate arm of the immune system.
There are two broad components of the immune system, the innate arm, and the adaptive arm. Both generally aim to eliminate viruses and bacteria.
-- The innate arm senses infectious agents as they infect the body by recognizing structures they have in common, such as lipids, proteins, sugars, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). This is an initial rapid response, which is not precise but potent.
-- The adaptive arm of the immune system is instructed by the innate arm to devise more specific responses to unique components of the invading pathogens. This is a more precise response and takes longer, especially when an infectious agent is encountered for the first time.
The first clinical trial at TCRS at Scottsdale Healthcare will investigate the safety and pharmacology of multiple doses of VTX-2337 in patients with late-stage cancer. For more information about this clinical trial, please call Joyce Ingold, R.N., research patient care coordinator for Scottsdale Healthcare, at 480-323-1339.
The clinical trial coordinator for Mayo Clinic is Dianna Boughter, who can be reached at 480-301-9875.
"VTX-2337 is the first selective TLR8 compound to reach the clinic, and we are hopeful that modulation of the innate immune response will provide a benefit to patients in a number of oncology indications," said Dr. Robert Hershberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at VentiRx.
Clinical trials of the drug VTX-2337 are being conducted at TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, a partnership of Phoenix-based TGen and Scottsdale-based Scottsdale Healthcare Corp., and at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Dr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Medical Director of TGen Clincal Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, said the new drug appears promising.
"VTX-2337 is a new, novel, small molecule aimed at stimulating the immune cells in the blood, lymph nodes, and in and around the tumor. It represents an exciting new class of agents for cancer therapy with good preclinical evidence of activity," Dr. Ramanathan said.
The Phase I trial, a yearlong first-in-humans test, will study the drug's safety. If successful, a Phase II trial will test the drug's effectiveness on tumors.
A weakened immune system is often the result of advanced cancer. The hope is that this new drug will actually help enable the immune system to slow down the growth of tumors, and perhaps even shrink them, Dr. Ramanathan said.
VTX-2337 is the first drug of its kind developed by San Diego-based VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. The biopharmaceutical company is focused on the development of new Toll-Like Receptor 8 (TLR8) agonists, which are small molecules that prompt a response in the body's immune system. The drugs are intended to treat cancer, respiratory and autoimmune diseases.
"VentiRx is very excited to be working with TGen, Scottsdale Healthcare and Mayo Clinic on this important and novel program," said Michael Kamdar, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at VentiRx. "Entering Phase I clinical trials represents a significant milestone for VentiRx and our TLR efforts in that we have rapidly advanced into a clinical development company with a novel molecule that may play an important role and have broad application in the treatment of cancer."
VTX-2337 is a small molecule TLR8 agonist that is expected to be used in combination with standard of care for the treatment of patients with cancer. Preclinical evaluation of VTX-2337 suggests that it may play a key role in augmenting the innate arm of the immune system.
There are two broad components of the immune system, the innate arm, and the adaptive arm. Both generally aim to eliminate viruses and bacteria.
-- The innate arm senses infectious agents as they infect the body by recognizing structures they have in common, such as lipids, proteins, sugars, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). This is an initial rapid response, which is not precise but potent.
-- The adaptive arm of the immune system is instructed by the innate arm to devise more specific responses to unique components of the invading pathogens. This is a more precise response and takes longer, especially when an infectious agent is encountered for the first time.
The first clinical trial at TCRS at Scottsdale Healthcare will investigate the safety and pharmacology of multiple doses of VTX-2337 in patients with late-stage cancer. For more information about this clinical trial, please call Joyce Ingold, R.N., research patient care coordinator for Scottsdale Healthcare, at 480-323-1339.
The clinical trial coordinator for Mayo Clinic is Dianna Boughter, who can be reached at 480-301-9875.
"VTX-2337 is the first selective TLR8 compound to reach the clinic, and we are hopeful that modulation of the innate immune response will provide a benefit to patients in a number of oncology indications," said Dr. Robert Hershberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at VentiRx.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tissue samples collect, store and analyze
[Source: Luxemburger Wort (via Google Translate)] - (fh) - About 200 biobanks exist in Europe. The new Integrated biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL), which yesterday the press was presented, differs in two respects from other tissue banks: in addition to the collection and storage of biological samples (tissue, tumors, blood, urine, saliva ...) leads the IBBL also analyzes and stores this addition is a national project, which represents an independent unit. The samples or data of research made available. The IBBL is part of the biotechnology project in the field of molecular medicine, the 140 million euros over five years will cost and also the creation of a Center for Systems Biology and the implementation of a cancer research project covers. The goal of the biotech project is among other things, one day, drugs and therapies targeted to be able to treat patients more efficiently and reduce costs. Founded as the IBBL by CRPs Santé, Henri Tudor and Gabriel Lippmann and the University of Luxembourg. Has inspired a look at biobank model of the company "Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), by Dr. Jeffrey Trent, which, in Phoenix in the U.S. state of Arizona is located. The IBBL has the shape of a foundation. Your Board includes nine persons.Chairman of the Board is Dr. Jean-Claude Schmit, director of the CRP Santé. IBBL to include also a Board of Directors, an external ethics committee, a scientific project evaluation committee, a scientific council and a monitoring committee for the hospitals and the National Health Laboratory. Hospitals are important partners of the country and the wider region.
Strict conditions
The biobank itself has no research. It mainly manages data to interested researchers. If samples are made available, then only under very strict conditions. Each research project must be ethically tested and approved. The donations are voluntary, donors may withdraw their consent at any time.
If desired they can test for a special project available. The data of the donors are encrypted on several levels - the technology is called de-identification. It plays a so-called trusted third party, it still applies to define an important role. This alone can, if necessary, the data back together. This could for example be necessary if one for the health of the donor beneficial discovery is made.
In contact with the doctors
In Luxembourg, 200 people are annually diagnosed with lung cancer, but only a few surgery. These operations are carried out in two hospitals of the country. The IBBL is in contact with the concerned physicians, their patients about a possible use by the tissue biobank information. In addition, samples of healthy individuals to be collected. This is a call made via the press. Soon more information www.ibbl.lu available.
Strict conditions
The biobank itself has no research. It mainly manages data to interested researchers. If samples are made available, then only under very strict conditions. Each research project must be ethically tested and approved. The donations are voluntary, donors may withdraw their consent at any time.
If desired they can test for a special project available. The data of the donors are encrypted on several levels - the technology is called de-identification. It plays a so-called trusted third party, it still applies to define an important role. This alone can, if necessary, the data back together. This could for example be necessary if one for the health of the donor beneficial discovery is made.
In contact with the doctors
In Luxembourg, 200 people are annually diagnosed with lung cancer, but only a few surgery. These operations are carried out in two hospitals of the country. The IBBL is in contact with the concerned physicians, their patients about a possible use by the tissue biobank information. In addition, samples of healthy individuals to be collected. This is a call made via the press. Soon more information www.ibbl.lu available.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Medipacs named best of show at Invest Southwest
[Source: Phoenix Business Journal,Patrick O'Grady ] - Medipacs, a maker of infusion pumps for the medical industry, was named the top presenter at the annual Invest Southwest conference Thursday in Scottsdale.
The Tucson company received a $200,000 prize from SCF Arizona for the presentation and idea judged to be the best of the year’s crop — just a drop in the bucket toward Medipacs’ quest to land $8 million to $10 million.
The conference brought together a dozen companies from throughout the Western U.S. — and for the first time, a company from Mexico. Unima Bioseguridad Integra presented its method for using natural methods to prevent food-borne illnesses. The company already has another technology, Custovac, being distributed by German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim for use in animal vaccinations.
The conference had more attendees this year than last, a feat praised by organizers given the economic climate. Still, it may be a few weeks or months before this year’s attendees find out whether they will garner funding.
Other presenters at the event:
• AmpliMed Corp of Tucson brought in its phased cancer drug approach. The company has gone through three funding rounds and is working on its fourth as it moves to a trial for the drug.
• CaptiveMotion LLC of Tempe brought its computer face modeling technology. The startup by former video-game developer Adam Kraver allows game and film companies an easier way to convert images of the human face for digital uses.
• CellTrust Corp. displayed its technology to encrypt and store secure text and voice messages. The Scottsdale-based company sees a large market for the technology, particularly in medical fields where new federal laws require patient data be kept confidential.
• Consolidated Energy Systems LLC of Salt Lake City brought its technology for taking petroleum-based fuels that ordinarily could not be used and converting them to run large diesel electrical generating plants. To keep the project carbon-neutral, the plan would be to use the carbon dioxide in underground oil recovery.
• Eco Pool Technologies Inc. of Phoenix has begun production of a solar pool cleaner on a limited basis. The company also is developing a new version that would be able to work 24 hours a day, and other products that could lower electric costs for pool owners.
• Grip Audio LLC of Glendale presented a way to use computer software and local-area networks to replicate the cabling necessary for live music and studio productions. The company is looking at the professional audio market and has begun testing with several businesses and groups.
• Targeting the home video market, iMemories LLC of Scottsdale has developed a way to transfer VHS tapes to digital format and gives users the option of storing them online.
• MedTrust Online LLC, a spinoff of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, is an online resource for oncologists looking for up-to-date information in the fight against cancer. The database will provide physicians with data to help them better and more accurately treat their patients.
• NanoMR of Albuquerque, N.M., offered a patented medical diagnostic tool that could examine blood cultures in minutes, targeting detection of blood-borne bacteria.
• Protein Genomics Inc. of Sedona made its pitch for Tropoelastin, a device that can help in healing and preventing scarring.
The Tucson company received a $200,000 prize from SCF Arizona for the presentation and idea judged to be the best of the year’s crop — just a drop in the bucket toward Medipacs’ quest to land $8 million to $10 million.
The conference brought together a dozen companies from throughout the Western U.S. — and for the first time, a company from Mexico. Unima Bioseguridad Integra presented its method for using natural methods to prevent food-borne illnesses. The company already has another technology, Custovac, being distributed by German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim for use in animal vaccinations.
The conference had more attendees this year than last, a feat praised by organizers given the economic climate. Still, it may be a few weeks or months before this year’s attendees find out whether they will garner funding.
Other presenters at the event:
• AmpliMed Corp of Tucson brought in its phased cancer drug approach. The company has gone through three funding rounds and is working on its fourth as it moves to a trial for the drug.
• CaptiveMotion LLC of Tempe brought its computer face modeling technology. The startup by former video-game developer Adam Kraver allows game and film companies an easier way to convert images of the human face for digital uses.
• CellTrust Corp. displayed its technology to encrypt and store secure text and voice messages. The Scottsdale-based company sees a large market for the technology, particularly in medical fields where new federal laws require patient data be kept confidential.
• Consolidated Energy Systems LLC of Salt Lake City brought its technology for taking petroleum-based fuels that ordinarily could not be used and converting them to run large diesel electrical generating plants. To keep the project carbon-neutral, the plan would be to use the carbon dioxide in underground oil recovery.
• Eco Pool Technologies Inc. of Phoenix has begun production of a solar pool cleaner on a limited basis. The company also is developing a new version that would be able to work 24 hours a day, and other products that could lower electric costs for pool owners.
• Grip Audio LLC of Glendale presented a way to use computer software and local-area networks to replicate the cabling necessary for live music and studio productions. The company is looking at the professional audio market and has begun testing with several businesses and groups.
• Targeting the home video market, iMemories LLC of Scottsdale has developed a way to transfer VHS tapes to digital format and gives users the option of storing them online.
• MedTrust Online LLC, a spinoff of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, is an online resource for oncologists looking for up-to-date information in the fight against cancer. The database will provide physicians with data to help them better and more accurately treat their patients.
• NanoMR of Albuquerque, N.M., offered a patented medical diagnostic tool that could examine blood cultures in minutes, targeting detection of blood-borne bacteria.
• Protein Genomics Inc. of Sedona made its pitch for Tropoelastin, a device that can help in healing and preventing scarring.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Napolitano exit worries biotech, climate-change, education boosters
[Source: The Arizona Republic] - Gov. Janet Napolitano's selection for a job in Washington, D.C., may be secure, but her vision of a research-based economy in Arizona is no sure thing.
Napolitano has been a key figure in the state's push to foster the biosciences since she became governor in 2003. She played a critical role in securing funding for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and establishing Science Foundation Arizona.
But if she takes over the reins of the Homeland Security Department in Barack Obama's administration, she will leave Arizona as the state faces a $1.2 billion budget shortfall this year and the Legislature is poised to make sharp cuts.
Fiscal conservatives may see biotechnology programs as a ripe target, which is making many bioscience and research boosters nervous. They insist that cutting research programs now would be a mistake.
"If this economic downturn does anything, it shows we must diversify our economy," said John Murphy, president and chief executive officer of the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix. "The investments that have been made should be sustained."
The state's push to grow a bioscience economy has been ambitious.
Arizona and Phoenix combined have committed more than $1 billion to bioscience and research initiatives this decade.
A large chunk has paid for new research labs such as the TGen building in downtown Phoenix, the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University in Tempe and Bio5 Institute at the University of Arizona. The Legislature this year also approved a stimulus package that would provide $470 million to expand the campus of the UA College of Medicine, in partnership with ASU, in downtown Phoenix.
Science Foundation Arizona secured a $25 million annual commitment over five years from the state Legislature provided that it raises an equal amount from private donors.
The funding commitment is subject to review each year, and groups such as the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers have targeted the foundation for cuts in past years.
The nonprofit foundation uses the state money to fund grants for everything from science education in high school to new research projects that cement ties between university researchers and large corporations in Arizona.
William Harris, the foundation's chief executive officer, said the group already has secured its matching private funds for 2009 from a large base of donors. Harris realizes that Napolitano has been the foundation's prime backer, but he also has high hopes that successor Jan Brewer, a fiscal conservative, will support the foundation's goals of strengthening the state's economy through targeted investments in science and research.
"We have to control our own destiny and get out of this ditch we're in," said Harris, who modeled the foundation after a similar group he led in Ireland. "We do that by diversifying our economy and strengthening our education in Arizona."
Climate change
Napolitano's departure could also portend a major shift in policy for one of her biggest local priorities: climate change.
Environmental groups, elected officials and other political watchers say that a new Republican administration would likely significantly reduce Arizona's involvement in the Western Climate Initiative.
Napolitano was a founding member of the regional effort, which brings several Western states and a handful of Canadian provinces together to limit and reduce man-made greenhouse gases, among other things.
"As far as what I know about Jan Brewer, I would say she is probably not going to go along with (the WCI)," said Republican Rep. Ray Barnes, who serves as chairman of the House Environment Committee, adding that other priorities, such as dealing with the state's billion-dollar budget deficit, would likely be higher on the new governor's to-do list.
Education
Educators agree that Napolitano's most substantial contributions were providing free full-day kindergarten, allocating new money to rebuild dilapidated buildings on state university campuses and preventing cuts to existing education budgets.
With Napolitano's expected departure, some education leaders worry about keeping the gains made under her leadership, but many expect Brewer to be a similar, practical politician. Brewer has not been willing to talk about her role as governor or her education agenda.
"I'm sure Miss Brewer will have the best interests of the state at heart and a good agenda at all levels," said Fred Boice, president of the Arizona State Board of Regents, which oversees the state's three universities.
Napolitano has been a key figure in the state's push to foster the biosciences since she became governor in 2003. She played a critical role in securing funding for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and establishing Science Foundation Arizona.
But if she takes over the reins of the Homeland Security Department in Barack Obama's administration, she will leave Arizona as the state faces a $1.2 billion budget shortfall this year and the Legislature is poised to make sharp cuts.
Fiscal conservatives may see biotechnology programs as a ripe target, which is making many bioscience and research boosters nervous. They insist that cutting research programs now would be a mistake.
"If this economic downturn does anything, it shows we must diversify our economy," said John Murphy, president and chief executive officer of the Flinn Foundation in Phoenix. "The investments that have been made should be sustained."
The state's push to grow a bioscience economy has been ambitious.
Arizona and Phoenix combined have committed more than $1 billion to bioscience and research initiatives this decade.
A large chunk has paid for new research labs such as the TGen building in downtown Phoenix, the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University in Tempe and Bio5 Institute at the University of Arizona. The Legislature this year also approved a stimulus package that would provide $470 million to expand the campus of the UA College of Medicine, in partnership with ASU, in downtown Phoenix.
Science Foundation Arizona secured a $25 million annual commitment over five years from the state Legislature provided that it raises an equal amount from private donors.
The funding commitment is subject to review each year, and groups such as the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers have targeted the foundation for cuts in past years.
The nonprofit foundation uses the state money to fund grants for everything from science education in high school to new research projects that cement ties between university researchers and large corporations in Arizona.
William Harris, the foundation's chief executive officer, said the group already has secured its matching private funds for 2009 from a large base of donors. Harris realizes that Napolitano has been the foundation's prime backer, but he also has high hopes that successor Jan Brewer, a fiscal conservative, will support the foundation's goals of strengthening the state's economy through targeted investments in science and research.
"We have to control our own destiny and get out of this ditch we're in," said Harris, who modeled the foundation after a similar group he led in Ireland. "We do that by diversifying our economy and strengthening our education in Arizona."
Climate change
Napolitano's departure could also portend a major shift in policy for one of her biggest local priorities: climate change.
Environmental groups, elected officials and other political watchers say that a new Republican administration would likely significantly reduce Arizona's involvement in the Western Climate Initiative.
Napolitano was a founding member of the regional effort, which brings several Western states and a handful of Canadian provinces together to limit and reduce man-made greenhouse gases, among other things.
"As far as what I know about Jan Brewer, I would say she is probably not going to go along with (the WCI)," said Republican Rep. Ray Barnes, who serves as chairman of the House Environment Committee, adding that other priorities, such as dealing with the state's billion-dollar budget deficit, would likely be higher on the new governor's to-do list.
Education
Educators agree that Napolitano's most substantial contributions were providing free full-day kindergarten, allocating new money to rebuild dilapidated buildings on state university campuses and preventing cuts to existing education budgets.
With Napolitano's expected departure, some education leaders worry about keeping the gains made under her leadership, but many expect Brewer to be a similar, practical politician. Brewer has not been willing to talk about her role as governor or her education agenda.
"I'm sure Miss Brewer will have the best interests of the state at heart and a good agenda at all levels," said Fred Boice, president of the Arizona State Board of Regents, which oversees the state's three universities.
TGen and international team identify gene that could put people at risk for age-related hearing loss
{Source: TGen] - Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, working with scientists from Los Angeles and Belgium, have identified a gene that could help explain why some people lose their hearing as they age.
In a study released online today in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, researchers identified a gene that could help lead to the treatment of presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, which accounts for 30 percent of all deafness.
“Finding the genetic causes of age-related hearing loss could lead to treatments that would bring relief to millions of people worldwide who now suffer from social isolation, depression and even cognitive impairment as a result of not being able to properly understand what others are saying,’’ said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an Investigator in TGen’s Neurogenomics Division and one of the scientific paper’s lead authors.
Researchers at TGen, the Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute, and the University of Antwerp, Belgium, said they believe the paper’s findings represent important and significant progress in the efforts to discover the origins of presbycusis.
“This is the first ever and largest genome-wide association study for age-related hearing loss,” said Dr. Rick Friedman, another lead author who also is a Principal Investigator at the House Ear Institute and surgeon at the House Clinic.
The study uncovered several genes, but one gene stands out and is believed to put people at risk for hearing loss as they age. The research team believes a common variant in the GRM7 gene may be associated with susceptibility to glutamate excitotoxicity and hearing loss. It is the overexpression of glutamate that causes damage to the inner and outer hair cells in the inner ear leading to age-related hearing loss.
“We have known for a long time that genes play an important role in presbycusis. But until now, genetic research has lagged behind compared to other important diseases,” said Guy Van Camp, director of the Hereditary Deafness Laboratory and professor, University of Antwerp, Belgium. “The identification of GRM7 is a very exciting result, as it may provide insights in the development of the disease.”
The study participants were Caucasian, ages 53 to 67, and the samples were collected at eight centers in six nations throughout Europe from population registries or audiological consultations. The team of investigators analyzed the samples and identified genetic risks. In the lab, the research team scored markers across the entire genome of more than 2,000 samples.
Friedman said the next step is developing a laboratory model to test pharmaceuticals for possible treatment of presbycusis in the future.
In a study released online today in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, researchers identified a gene that could help lead to the treatment of presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, which accounts for 30 percent of all deafness.
“Finding the genetic causes of age-related hearing loss could lead to treatments that would bring relief to millions of people worldwide who now suffer from social isolation, depression and even cognitive impairment as a result of not being able to properly understand what others are saying,’’ said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an Investigator in TGen’s Neurogenomics Division and one of the scientific paper’s lead authors.
Researchers at TGen, the Los Angeles-based House Ear Institute, and the University of Antwerp, Belgium, said they believe the paper’s findings represent important and significant progress in the efforts to discover the origins of presbycusis.
“This is the first ever and largest genome-wide association study for age-related hearing loss,” said Dr. Rick Friedman, another lead author who also is a Principal Investigator at the House Ear Institute and surgeon at the House Clinic.
The study uncovered several genes, but one gene stands out and is believed to put people at risk for hearing loss as they age. The research team believes a common variant in the GRM7 gene may be associated with susceptibility to glutamate excitotoxicity and hearing loss. It is the overexpression of glutamate that causes damage to the inner and outer hair cells in the inner ear leading to age-related hearing loss.
“We have known for a long time that genes play an important role in presbycusis. But until now, genetic research has lagged behind compared to other important diseases,” said Guy Van Camp, director of the Hereditary Deafness Laboratory and professor, University of Antwerp, Belgium. “The identification of GRM7 is a very exciting result, as it may provide insights in the development of the disease.”
The study participants were Caucasian, ages 53 to 67, and the samples were collected at eight centers in six nations throughout Europe from population registries or audiological consultations. The team of investigators analyzed the samples and identified genetic risks. In the lab, the research team scored markers across the entire genome of more than 2,000 samples.
Friedman said the next step is developing a laboratory model to test pharmaceuticals for possible treatment of presbycusis in the future.
Friday, November 14, 2008
TGen's Dr. Von Hoff is named Arizona's Community Service Leader of the Year
[Source: TGen] - Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, a world-renowned cancer scientist and Physician-In-Chief of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), was named Arizona's Community Service Leader of the Year today at the 2008 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation.
Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, won the William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award, presented annually to an individual or organization from industry, government or academia that contributes to Arizona's technology industry through relentless community involvement, leadership, visibility and excellence in economic development activity.
"Dr. Von Hoff has devoted a lifetime toward advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. He shared the vision for the establishment of (TGen) a premier center for the application of the understanding of the human genome to the treatment of diseases," according to the presentation made by the Arizona Technology Council in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Honorable Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona.
"The quality and diversity of this year's award recipients is a positive indication that technological innovation in both large established and emerging small companies is thriving in Arizona," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.
The prestigious awards ceremony, celebrating excellence in innovative technological advancement, was emceed at the Dodge Theatre by author Jane Poynter, one of eight people who lived sealed for two years in the early 1990s inside the artificial environment near Tucson known as Biosphere 2. She now is President of Paragon Space Development Corp., which develops technologies for extreme environments, such as space, under water and hyper-efficient buildings.
Other winners included:
-- Paolo Soleri – Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many contributions in addressing environmental sustainability. Soleri is an internationally recognized Paradise Valley architect, artist and philosopher, and creator of the innovative city Arcosanti.
-- Jeff Morhet – Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year Award. Morhet is President and Chief Executive Officer of InNexus Biotechnology Inc., a drug development company at the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building in Scottsdale.
-- Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, "Representative of the Year."
-- Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley, "Senator of the Year."
*
In addition to his work at TGen, Dr. Von Hoff is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona, and a member of the Mayo Clinic's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Von Hoff is a founder of TGen, a founder of the non-profit International Genomics Consortium based in Phoenix, and has helped bring countless other jobs to this community. His commitment was instrumental in helping establish the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute, a hospital-based research institute that serves as a bridge between cure and care. It is one of the finest programs in the nation in its ability to help patients with advanced cancer. It is emblematic of the translation of discoveries in genomic science to specific treatments for individual patients.
Dr. Von Hoff earned his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973. Following an internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, he spent four years at the prestigious National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.
After experience at the forefront of cancer research at NCI, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas in San Antonio, where during the next 20 years he expanded the knowledge of cancer biology and tumor growth factors.
Dr. Von Hoff moved to Arizona in 1999, serving as Director of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, and as Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, before joining TGen.
In addition to his other duties, Dr. Von Hoff is serving a six-year presidential appointment (June 2004-March 2010) on the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Advisory Board. He also is past president of the American Association for Cancer Research, which with more than 28,000 members is the world's largest cancer research organization. He has published more than 540 scientific papers, more than 130 book chapters, and nearly 950 scientific abstracts. He is the holder of a dozen patents for new anti-cancer agents and medical devices.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Von Hoff has been devoted to advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. His programs have two main goals:
-- Applying new knowledge to identify the best new targeted anti-cancer agents to treat individual cancer patients.
-- Curing pancreatic cancer.
The William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award is named in honor of the late co-founder of the Arizona Innovation Network and its successor professional groups in Arizona, including the Arizona Technology Council, which have supported creative technological thinking. McWhortor, a Fountain Hills resident who died in 1997, patented a pattern recognition device in 1989 to help stop counterfeit checks.
Past winners of the McWhortor award include:
-- Ira A. Fulton, chairman and chief executive officer of Tempe-based Fulton Homes Inc.
-- Former Arizona State University President Lattie Coor.
-- Richard Mallery, partner and founding director of the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer, for his successful efforts to bring the Translational Genomics Research Institute to Arizona.
Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, won the William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award, presented annually to an individual or organization from industry, government or academia that contributes to Arizona's technology industry through relentless community involvement, leadership, visibility and excellence in economic development activity.
"Dr. Von Hoff has devoted a lifetime toward advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. He shared the vision for the establishment of (TGen) a premier center for the application of the understanding of the human genome to the treatment of diseases," according to the presentation made by the Arizona Technology Council in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Honorable Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona.
"The quality and diversity of this year's award recipients is a positive indication that technological innovation in both large established and emerging small companies is thriving in Arizona," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council.
The prestigious awards ceremony, celebrating excellence in innovative technological advancement, was emceed at the Dodge Theatre by author Jane Poynter, one of eight people who lived sealed for two years in the early 1990s inside the artificial environment near Tucson known as Biosphere 2. She now is President of Paragon Space Development Corp., which develops technologies for extreme environments, such as space, under water and hyper-efficient buildings.
Other winners included:
-- Paolo Soleri – Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many contributions in addressing environmental sustainability. Soleri is an internationally recognized Paradise Valley architect, artist and philosopher, and creator of the innovative city Arcosanti.
-- Jeff Morhet – Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year Award. Morhet is President and Chief Executive Officer of InNexus Biotechnology Inc., a drug development company at the Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building in Scottsdale.
-- Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, "Representative of the Year."
-- Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley, "Senator of the Year."
*
In addition to his work at TGen, Dr. Von Hoff is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona, and a member of the Mayo Clinic's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Von Hoff is a founder of TGen, a founder of the non-profit International Genomics Consortium based in Phoenix, and has helped bring countless other jobs to this community. His commitment was instrumental in helping establish the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute, a hospital-based research institute that serves as a bridge between cure and care. It is one of the finest programs in the nation in its ability to help patients with advanced cancer. It is emblematic of the translation of discoveries in genomic science to specific treatments for individual patients.
Dr. Von Hoff earned his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973. Following an internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, he spent four years at the prestigious National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.
After experience at the forefront of cancer research at NCI, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas in San Antonio, where during the next 20 years he expanded the knowledge of cancer biology and tumor growth factors.
Dr. Von Hoff moved to Arizona in 1999, serving as Director of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, and as Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, before joining TGen.
In addition to his other duties, Dr. Von Hoff is serving a six-year presidential appointment (June 2004-March 2010) on the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Advisory Board. He also is past president of the American Association for Cancer Research, which with more than 28,000 members is the world's largest cancer research organization. He has published more than 540 scientific papers, more than 130 book chapters, and nearly 950 scientific abstracts. He is the holder of a dozen patents for new anti-cancer agents and medical devices.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Von Hoff has been devoted to advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. His programs have two main goals:
-- Applying new knowledge to identify the best new targeted anti-cancer agents to treat individual cancer patients.
-- Curing pancreatic cancer.
The William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award is named in honor of the late co-founder of the Arizona Innovation Network and its successor professional groups in Arizona, including the Arizona Technology Council, which have supported creative technological thinking. McWhortor, a Fountain Hills resident who died in 1997, patented a pattern recognition device in 1989 to help stop counterfeit checks.
Past winners of the McWhortor award include:
-- Ira A. Fulton, chairman and chief executive officer of Tempe-based Fulton Homes Inc.
-- Former Arizona State University President Lattie Coor.
-- Richard Mallery, partner and founding director of the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer, for his successful efforts to bring the Translational Genomics Research Institute to Arizona.
First Alana’s Champs 5K to fund TGen brain cancer efforts
[Source: TGen] - The first Alana's Champs 5K, a run and walk to benefit brain cancer research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), is set for Dec. 6 at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.
The event is named for Alana Lysholm-Bernacchi, a TGen neurogenomics researcher who studied hearing loss, Down syndrome and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. She died as the result of a brain tumor on Dec. 3, 2007.
Alana's Champs 5K is coordinated by the TGen Foundation, Arizona Road Racers and by Brett Bernacchi, a TGen volunteer and the husband of Alana.
If you go
Where: Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, just east of the Arizona State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.
When: Dec. 6. Event-day registration starts at 7 a.m.; the 5-kilometer run starts at 8 a.m.; the 5K walk at 8:10 a.m.; and the 1-mile run/walk at 8:45 a.m., followed by a kids dash and raffle.
Participation Fees:-- Ages 13 and up: $20 if pre-registered by Nov. 16; $25 from Nov. 16-Dec. 5; and $30 on Dec. 6.-- Ages 5-12: $5 if pre-registered by Nov. 16; $10 from Nov. 15-Dec. 6.-- Children ages 4 and younger are free.
Details: Please visit the TGen Foundation at www.helptgen.org or call Erin Massey, assistant director of development, at 602-343-8470.
The event is named for Alana Lysholm-Bernacchi, a TGen neurogenomics researcher who studied hearing loss, Down syndrome and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. She died as the result of a brain tumor on Dec. 3, 2007.
Alana's Champs 5K is coordinated by the TGen Foundation, Arizona Road Racers and by Brett Bernacchi, a TGen volunteer and the husband of Alana.
If you go
Where: Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, just east of the Arizona State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.
When: Dec. 6. Event-day registration starts at 7 a.m.; the 5-kilometer run starts at 8 a.m.; the 5K walk at 8:10 a.m.; and the 1-mile run/walk at 8:45 a.m., followed by a kids dash and raffle.
Participation Fees:-- Ages 13 and up: $20 if pre-registered by Nov. 16; $25 from Nov. 16-Dec. 5; and $30 on Dec. 6.-- Ages 5-12: $5 if pre-registered by Nov. 16; $10 from Nov. 15-Dec. 6.-- Children ages 4 and younger are free.
Details: Please visit the TGen Foundation at www.helptgen.org or call Erin Massey, assistant director of development, at 602-343-8470.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Light-speed computer connection will slash the time it takes TGen-ASU to transfer huge amounts of genetic data
[Source: TGen] - Hot on the heels of a new supercomputer, plans for a new light-speed data line between the Translational Genomics Research Institute and Arizona State University could slash the time is takes to transfer genetic information.
Accelerating the flow of information could help speed discoveries that eventually could help produce treatments and cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes and various cancers.
Because of the huge amounts of data generated by TGen's experiments, it now take as long as 12 days using conventional cables to transmit 7 terabytes of information from a typical experiment 10 miles between TGen's downtown Phoenix labs and ASU's new Saguaro 2 supercomputer in Tempe.
But through a partnership between ASU and Obsidian Strategics Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta-based defense-intelligence contractor, the same voluminous data – the equivalent of 3.5 million iPod songs – soon could be transmitted in as short as 1 hour.
The difference is something called "dark fiber," unused fiber optic cables installed years ago throughout the nation in anticipation of future growth and development.
"The primary advantage of a link like this is it will allow us to move data faster from the instruments at TGen to the computation and storage at ASU," said Dan Stanzione, director of the High Performance Computing Initiative at ASU's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
"This particularly applies to the next-gen sequencers," said Stanzione, referring to TGen's deployment of ever-faster tools for analyzing DNA in its quest to discover the causes, treatments and possible cures of various diseases.
Dr. Edward Suh, TGen's Chief Information Officer, said such capabilities will help expedite the translation of biomedical research from TGen labs into clinical drug treatments.
"The proposed high-speed data communication link, using Obsidian's network, will significantly reduce the time it takes to run complex data analyses and systems simulations on TGen's supercomputer systems," Suh said.
James Lowey, TGen's Director of High-Performance Biocomputing, said, "The high-speed link between TGen and ASU will enable TGen scientists to transfer data between their labs and the computational resources at ASU at an unprecedented rate, accelerating the pace of discovery.
"With the ever-increasing amount of data being generated by both proteomics and next-generation sequencing, it is critical to have state-of-the-art communications networks between locations where data is generated, and where it is analyzed," Lowey said. "Having this very high-speed link helps position TGen as being a leader in biomedical data analysis."
Stanzione said ASU still is looking for a partner to provide the fiber optic cable, but that a planned pilot dark-fiber link would be between ASU and TGen.
A single experimental run from DNA sequencers can generate 7 terabytes, or 7,000 gigabytes, of data, Stanzione said. Existing ASU-TGen connections can move about 30 gigabytes an hour, he said, meaning the transfer of scientific experimental information can take more than a week.
The proposed system using Obsidian Strategics technology is expected to hit 8,000 gigabytes per hour, or about 8 terabytes, reducing the time it takes to move data between TGen scientific instruments and the ASU supercomputer to as little as 1 hour, Stanzione said.
Reducing transmission time will be come more critical in the future, with TGen’s next generation sequencers easily producing as much as 30 terabytes of data, or the equivalent of an iPod with 15 million songs.
Obsidian Strategics is the leading developer of InfiniBand range extension, routing and encryption technology. ASU and Obsidian will join with others in a venture supported by the Canadian Consulate-Phoenix to advance the capabilities of the optical network, linking higher education facilities in Arizona, as well as in adjacent states.
Obsidian's Longbow technology leverages existing optical networks, and originally was designed to meet the demands of the U.S. Department of Defense’s next generation large data communications architecture.
Saguaro 2, the TGen-ASU supercomputer dedicated Oct. 3 at ASU's Barry M. Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering, is capable of 50 trillion mathematical operations per second.
Accelerating the flow of information could help speed discoveries that eventually could help produce treatments and cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes and various cancers.
Because of the huge amounts of data generated by TGen's experiments, it now take as long as 12 days using conventional cables to transmit 7 terabytes of information from a typical experiment 10 miles between TGen's downtown Phoenix labs and ASU's new Saguaro 2 supercomputer in Tempe.
But through a partnership between ASU and Obsidian Strategics Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta-based defense-intelligence contractor, the same voluminous data – the equivalent of 3.5 million iPod songs – soon could be transmitted in as short as 1 hour.
The difference is something called "dark fiber," unused fiber optic cables installed years ago throughout the nation in anticipation of future growth and development.
"The primary advantage of a link like this is it will allow us to move data faster from the instruments at TGen to the computation and storage at ASU," said Dan Stanzione, director of the High Performance Computing Initiative at ASU's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
"This particularly applies to the next-gen sequencers," said Stanzione, referring to TGen's deployment of ever-faster tools for analyzing DNA in its quest to discover the causes, treatments and possible cures of various diseases.
Dr. Edward Suh, TGen's Chief Information Officer, said such capabilities will help expedite the translation of biomedical research from TGen labs into clinical drug treatments.
"The proposed high-speed data communication link, using Obsidian's network, will significantly reduce the time it takes to run complex data analyses and systems simulations on TGen's supercomputer systems," Suh said.
James Lowey, TGen's Director of High-Performance Biocomputing, said, "The high-speed link between TGen and ASU will enable TGen scientists to transfer data between their labs and the computational resources at ASU at an unprecedented rate, accelerating the pace of discovery.
"With the ever-increasing amount of data being generated by both proteomics and next-generation sequencing, it is critical to have state-of-the-art communications networks between locations where data is generated, and where it is analyzed," Lowey said. "Having this very high-speed link helps position TGen as being a leader in biomedical data analysis."
Stanzione said ASU still is looking for a partner to provide the fiber optic cable, but that a planned pilot dark-fiber link would be between ASU and TGen.
A single experimental run from DNA sequencers can generate 7 terabytes, or 7,000 gigabytes, of data, Stanzione said. Existing ASU-TGen connections can move about 30 gigabytes an hour, he said, meaning the transfer of scientific experimental information can take more than a week.
The proposed system using Obsidian Strategics technology is expected to hit 8,000 gigabytes per hour, or about 8 terabytes, reducing the time it takes to move data between TGen scientific instruments and the ASU supercomputer to as little as 1 hour, Stanzione said.
Reducing transmission time will be come more critical in the future, with TGen’s next generation sequencers easily producing as much as 30 terabytes of data, or the equivalent of an iPod with 15 million songs.
Obsidian Strategics is the leading developer of InfiniBand range extension, routing and encryption technology. ASU and Obsidian will join with others in a venture supported by the Canadian Consulate-Phoenix to advance the capabilities of the optical network, linking higher education facilities in Arizona, as well as in adjacent states.
Obsidian's Longbow technology leverages existing optical networks, and originally was designed to meet the demands of the U.S. Department of Defense’s next generation large data communications architecture.
Saguaro 2, the TGen-ASU supercomputer dedicated Oct. 3 at ASU's Barry M. Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering, is capable of 50 trillion mathematical operations per second.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Two top TGen officials appointed to new positions on the Arizona Technology Council’s board of directors
[Source: TGen] - Dr. Michael Berens and MaryAnn Guerra - two top officials of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) - have been appointed to new positions on the board of directors of the Arizona Technology Council.
Dr. Berens, Director of TGen's Cancer and Cell Biology Division, was named Chairman Emeritus on the ATC board, one of four new executive officers named to two-year terms. Dr. Berens, who has served six years on the board - the past two as Chairman of the nearly 500-member organization - also was one of five Director's Emeritus named to serve indefinite terms on the board.
"It is an honor to be named by my peers on the board as one of the organization's leaders. My goal is to strengthen the Arizona Technology Council's efforts to grow the state’s knowledge-based industries by helping to promote key national and international business partnerships," Dr. Berens said.
Guerra, TGen's Chief Business Officer and President of TGen Accelerators LLC, was one of 10 new directors appointed to three-year terms on the 33-member board, following its Oct. 23 meeting.
"Being named to the board is an honor, and presents an exciting opportunity to help the Arizona Technology Council work to diversify the state's economic base with high-paying jobs in the fast-growing fields of medicine, technology and innovation," Guerra said.
The board represents the interests of Arizona's technology industries and advises ATC in its expressed goals of promoting research, education and access to a highly skilled workforce.
Three other newly appointed board executive officers are: Chairman Steve Phillips, CIO of Avnet; Secretary Ray Harris Esq., director of Fennemore Craig; and Treasurer Kevin McHolland, CPA and partner of Ernst & Young.
"The Arizona Technology Council has been the principal point of connection for technology companies," Phillips said. "As the new chairman, I will oversee an agenda that continues to build valuable programs and services for all members and supports technology innovation and growth."
Nine other newly appointed directors are: David Beauchamp, partner, Bryan Cave; Thomas Campbell, partner, Lewis and Roca; Kathleen A. Collins, Mesa functional chief engineer, Boeing; John Cummerford, shareholder, Intellectual Property & Technology, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Greenburg Traurig; Joe Drazek, partner, Quarles and Brady; Carl Lytikainen, senior vice president of Technical Services, Lumension Security; Jane Poynter, president, Paragon Space Development Corporation; Dr. R. F. "Rick" Shangraw, vice president for Research and Economic Affairs, Arizona State University; and Judith K. Weiss, partner, Perkins Coie Brown & Bain.
Four other Director's Emeritus are: Joanne Carthey Bradley, COO, Namescape Corporation; Charles Jirauch, partner, Quarles & Brady LLP; Quinn Williams, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP; and Mark Schonau, CFO, Insysrx.
Steven G. Zylstra, President and Chief Executive Officer of ATC, remains as an executive officer.
Dr. Berens, Director of TGen's Cancer and Cell Biology Division, was named Chairman Emeritus on the ATC board, one of four new executive officers named to two-year terms. Dr. Berens, who has served six years on the board - the past two as Chairman of the nearly 500-member organization - also was one of five Director's Emeritus named to serve indefinite terms on the board.
"It is an honor to be named by my peers on the board as one of the organization's leaders. My goal is to strengthen the Arizona Technology Council's efforts to grow the state’s knowledge-based industries by helping to promote key national and international business partnerships," Dr. Berens said.
Guerra, TGen's Chief Business Officer and President of TGen Accelerators LLC, was one of 10 new directors appointed to three-year terms on the 33-member board, following its Oct. 23 meeting.
"Being named to the board is an honor, and presents an exciting opportunity to help the Arizona Technology Council work to diversify the state's economic base with high-paying jobs in the fast-growing fields of medicine, technology and innovation," Guerra said.
The board represents the interests of Arizona's technology industries and advises ATC in its expressed goals of promoting research, education and access to a highly skilled workforce.
Three other newly appointed board executive officers are: Chairman Steve Phillips, CIO of Avnet; Secretary Ray Harris Esq., director of Fennemore Craig; and Treasurer Kevin McHolland, CPA and partner of Ernst & Young.
"The Arizona Technology Council has been the principal point of connection for technology companies," Phillips said. "As the new chairman, I will oversee an agenda that continues to build valuable programs and services for all members and supports technology innovation and growth."
Nine other newly appointed directors are: David Beauchamp, partner, Bryan Cave; Thomas Campbell, partner, Lewis and Roca; Kathleen A. Collins, Mesa functional chief engineer, Boeing; John Cummerford, shareholder, Intellectual Property & Technology, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Greenburg Traurig; Joe Drazek, partner, Quarles and Brady; Carl Lytikainen, senior vice president of Technical Services, Lumension Security; Jane Poynter, president, Paragon Space Development Corporation; Dr. R. F. "Rick" Shangraw, vice president for Research and Economic Affairs, Arizona State University; and Judith K. Weiss, partner, Perkins Coie Brown & Bain.
Four other Director's Emeritus are: Joanne Carthey Bradley, COO, Namescape Corporation; Charles Jirauch, partner, Quarles & Brady LLP; Quinn Williams, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP; and Mark Schonau, CFO, Insysrx.
Steven G. Zylstra, President and Chief Executive Officer of ATC, remains as an executive officer.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
New Supercomputer Can Do 50 Trillion Operations Per Second
[Source: ScienceDaily] - In less time than the blink of an eye, the Translational Genomics Research Institute's new supercomputer at Arizona State University can do operations equal to every dollar in the recent Wall Street bailout.
That would be 700 billion computations in less than 1/60th of a second, says Dan Stanzione, director of the High Performance Computing Initiative at ASU's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
The "Saguaro 2" supercomputer, housed on the first floor of ASU's Barry M. Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering, is capable of 50 trillion mathematical operations per second.
"That's the equivalent of taking a calculator and doing one operation per second, by hand, continuously for the next one and a half million years," Stanzione said.
Although the computing world changes daily, and measurements depend on numerous factors, Stanzione said, for some functions, ASU's new computer may be among the top five in the world.
TGen will need that speed as it continues its research into a variety of human diseases through the use of data-rich DNA sequencing, genotyping, microarrays and bioinformatics.
"This is really a remarkable testament," to the cooperative efforts of ASU and TGen, said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen, especially in a tight funding environment.
The new supercomputer will help TGen's efforts in translational biomedicine, developing new therapies targeted for individual patients suffering from Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes, coronary heart disease, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, multiple myeloma, and breast cancer.
Dr. Edward Suh, TGen's Chief Information Officer, said a joint TGen-ASU computer support team is being assembled, and he urged the creation of more partnerships between TGen and ASU.
"I am confident this new supercomputer system will help the ASU and TGen scientists expedite their research, and accelerate innovation in biomedical and engineering research," Suh said. "It is my hope to see this supercomputer system, and a supporting informatics program which Dan and I are putting together, bring the ASU and TGen scientists closer than before for even greater success."
Saguaro 2 – a partially water-cooled set of 7-foot-tall black monolith computer racks, each with as many as 512 processor cores, and linked by ultra-high-speed Infiniband cables – was funded in part by a nearly $2 million grant in July by the National Institutes of Health. The grant was in response to a wide range of scientific activities proposed by TGen, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, and ASU's BioDesign Institute.
The new system doubles the capabilities of ASU's High Performance Computing Initiative (HPCI). The system consists of Intel microprocessors, servers from Dell, storage from Data Direct Networks, and components from a number of other partners, including fiber optic cables from Phoenix-based Zarlink.
More importantly for TGen, the new system has 20 times the previous computational power available to TGen researchers, said James Lowey, director of TGen's High Performance Biocomputing Center.
The new supercomputer also adds to the storage capacity of the HPCI, bringing the total storage to 1.5 quadrillion bytes, or 1.5 petabytes -- or 15 followed by 14 zeroes (1,500,000,000,000,000). That's enough storage space to record nearly a quarter million DVD discs.
The HPCI storage will be used to store a vast array of data from TGen's sequencers and simulations, as well as other large datasets from ASU researchers, including a high resolution mapping of the moon to be performed in 2009 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
"As we move in science into the nano scale of materials and molecular design and diagnostics, or into the macro scale of global climate or the motion of the galaxies, experimentation becomes more expensive and difficult, and simulation becomes invaluable," Stanzione said. "The speed of those simulations determine the speed of progress."
The computational speed of Saguaro 2 is especially critical to the work of TGen. "In 2009, more genome sequence data will be generated than all the words spoken by humans in all of history. Teasing meaningful understanding from this avalanche of data is also the role of HPC (high performance computing)," Stanzione said.
That would be 700 billion computations in less than 1/60th of a second, says Dan Stanzione, director of the High Performance Computing Initiative at ASU's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
The "Saguaro 2" supercomputer, housed on the first floor of ASU's Barry M. Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering, is capable of 50 trillion mathematical operations per second.
"That's the equivalent of taking a calculator and doing one operation per second, by hand, continuously for the next one and a half million years," Stanzione said.
Although the computing world changes daily, and measurements depend on numerous factors, Stanzione said, for some functions, ASU's new computer may be among the top five in the world.
TGen will need that speed as it continues its research into a variety of human diseases through the use of data-rich DNA sequencing, genotyping, microarrays and bioinformatics.
"This is really a remarkable testament," to the cooperative efforts of ASU and TGen, said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen, especially in a tight funding environment.
The new supercomputer will help TGen's efforts in translational biomedicine, developing new therapies targeted for individual patients suffering from Alzheimer's, autism, diabetes, coronary heart disease, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, multiple myeloma, and breast cancer.
Dr. Edward Suh, TGen's Chief Information Officer, said a joint TGen-ASU computer support team is being assembled, and he urged the creation of more partnerships between TGen and ASU.
"I am confident this new supercomputer system will help the ASU and TGen scientists expedite their research, and accelerate innovation in biomedical and engineering research," Suh said. "It is my hope to see this supercomputer system, and a supporting informatics program which Dan and I are putting together, bring the ASU and TGen scientists closer than before for even greater success."
Saguaro 2 – a partially water-cooled set of 7-foot-tall black monolith computer racks, each with as many as 512 processor cores, and linked by ultra-high-speed Infiniband cables – was funded in part by a nearly $2 million grant in July by the National Institutes of Health. The grant was in response to a wide range of scientific activities proposed by TGen, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, and ASU's BioDesign Institute.
The new system doubles the capabilities of ASU's High Performance Computing Initiative (HPCI). The system consists of Intel microprocessors, servers from Dell, storage from Data Direct Networks, and components from a number of other partners, including fiber optic cables from Phoenix-based Zarlink.
More importantly for TGen, the new system has 20 times the previous computational power available to TGen researchers, said James Lowey, director of TGen's High Performance Biocomputing Center.
The new supercomputer also adds to the storage capacity of the HPCI, bringing the total storage to 1.5 quadrillion bytes, or 1.5 petabytes -- or 15 followed by 14 zeroes (1,500,000,000,000,000). That's enough storage space to record nearly a quarter million DVD discs.
The HPCI storage will be used to store a vast array of data from TGen's sequencers and simulations, as well as other large datasets from ASU researchers, including a high resolution mapping of the moon to be performed in 2009 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
"As we move in science into the nano scale of materials and molecular design and diagnostics, or into the macro scale of global climate or the motion of the galaxies, experimentation becomes more expensive and difficult, and simulation becomes invaluable," Stanzione said. "The speed of those simulations determine the speed of progress."
The computational speed of Saguaro 2 is especially critical to the work of TGen. "In 2009, more genome sequence data will be generated than all the words spoken by humans in all of history. Teasing meaningful understanding from this avalanche of data is also the role of HPC (high performance computing)," Stanzione said.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Science programs worth cost
[Source: Jeffery Trent: My Turn, The Arizona Republic] - The Translational Genomics Research Institute helps Arizona students pursue a lifetime of science learning
Recently published results from this spring's first science test administered by Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) showed only 38 percent of Arizona high-school students passed.
Without judging the validity or necessity of AIMS or its pilot science program, there is substantial evidence that Arizona's and America's schoolchildren are lagging behind much of the developed world in science instruction
The most recent international comparisons published by the U.S. Department of Education show that American 15-year-olds ranked 29th of 57 nations surveyed in science literacy.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Science doesn't have to be a chore. As science advocates from Carl Sagan, Mr. Wizard (Don Herbert) and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, have shown, science can be fun - even hip.
Organizations such as Yale's Women in Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have mentoring programs that show early exposure to the process of discovery can pay lifetime dividends in commitment and knowledge.
To sustain Arizona's growing biotechnology industry, it is important to understand the impact of science in our lives; on decisions with profound implications for issues as varied as climate change, health care and the economy.
Scientific literacy is key to understanding today's technologically advanced world. And providing for the needs of scientifically empowered citizens begins with education.
One way to foster learning and develop a love of science is internship programs, in which experts mentor students who are immersed in scientific inquiry and the creation of new insights.
TGen hosts the Helios Scholars Program, which recently received $6.5 million to fully fund the program for 25 years from the Phoenix-based Helios Education Foundation.
Each summer, 45 Helios Scholars participate in eight-week internships. TGen scientist-mentors actively engage high school, undergraduate and graduate students in research projects, including new ways to treat cancer, diabetes, autism and Alzheimer's disease.
These programs work. Some of TGen's interns include:
• Anne Lee and Albert Shieh, the first Arizona high-school students to win the team competition for the internationally recognized Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology. They developed new software that more accurately analyzes genetic data, resulting in a shared prize of $100,000.
• Shannon Fortin, an Arizona State University graduate in biochemistry, who received a $7,500 Goldwater Scholarship, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship to spend nine months in Belgium researching brain cancer.
• Graduates of TGen's Helios program have gone on to attend some of the most prestigious schools in the nation, including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown and Stanford, as well as ASU, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
TGen is not alone in this movement. Other Arizona science education efforts:
• Gov. Janet Napolitano in September announced the establishment of the Arizona STEM Education Center, housed within Science Foundation Arizona in downtown Phoenix. STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) goals follow the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap, which urges "a more informed citizenry in the biosciences and encourage(s) young people to explore and pursue scientific and technical careers."
• Phoenix Union Bioscience High School began in 2007, providing a unique, four-year science education with opportunities for as many as 400 students a year to collaborate with downtown Phoenix's academic and scientific communities.
• The Biotechnology Laboratory for Arizona Students and Teachers (BLAST), established in 2006 at the Tucson Magnet High School, provides instruction at a state-of-the-art-equipped molecular-biology laboratory.
• ASU's School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research (SOLUR) program since 2004 has provided opportunities Valley-wide for students to participate in exciting biological research.
Internships and other educational programs are both time-consuming and costly. But the investment is critical to our recognizing a brighter future for all Arizonans.
Dr. Jeffery Trent is president and scientific director of the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Recently published results from this spring's first science test administered by Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) showed only 38 percent of Arizona high-school students passed.
Without judging the validity or necessity of AIMS or its pilot science program, there is substantial evidence that Arizona's and America's schoolchildren are lagging behind much of the developed world in science instruction
The most recent international comparisons published by the U.S. Department of Education show that American 15-year-olds ranked 29th of 57 nations surveyed in science literacy.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Science doesn't have to be a chore. As science advocates from Carl Sagan, Mr. Wizard (Don Herbert) and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, have shown, science can be fun - even hip.
Organizations such as Yale's Women in Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have mentoring programs that show early exposure to the process of discovery can pay lifetime dividends in commitment and knowledge.
To sustain Arizona's growing biotechnology industry, it is important to understand the impact of science in our lives; on decisions with profound implications for issues as varied as climate change, health care and the economy.
Scientific literacy is key to understanding today's technologically advanced world. And providing for the needs of scientifically empowered citizens begins with education.
One way to foster learning and develop a love of science is internship programs, in which experts mentor students who are immersed in scientific inquiry and the creation of new insights.
TGen hosts the Helios Scholars Program, which recently received $6.5 million to fully fund the program for 25 years from the Phoenix-based Helios Education Foundation.
Each summer, 45 Helios Scholars participate in eight-week internships. TGen scientist-mentors actively engage high school, undergraduate and graduate students in research projects, including new ways to treat cancer, diabetes, autism and Alzheimer's disease.
These programs work. Some of TGen's interns include:
• Anne Lee and Albert Shieh, the first Arizona high-school students to win the team competition for the internationally recognized Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology. They developed new software that more accurately analyzes genetic data, resulting in a shared prize of $100,000.
• Shannon Fortin, an Arizona State University graduate in biochemistry, who received a $7,500 Goldwater Scholarship, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship to spend nine months in Belgium researching brain cancer.
• Graduates of TGen's Helios program have gone on to attend some of the most prestigious schools in the nation, including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown and Stanford, as well as ASU, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
TGen is not alone in this movement. Other Arizona science education efforts:
• Gov. Janet Napolitano in September announced the establishment of the Arizona STEM Education Center, housed within Science Foundation Arizona in downtown Phoenix. STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) goals follow the Arizona Bioscience Roadmap, which urges "a more informed citizenry in the biosciences and encourage(s) young people to explore and pursue scientific and technical careers."
• Phoenix Union Bioscience High School began in 2007, providing a unique, four-year science education with opportunities for as many as 400 students a year to collaborate with downtown Phoenix's academic and scientific communities.
• The Biotechnology Laboratory for Arizona Students and Teachers (BLAST), established in 2006 at the Tucson Magnet High School, provides instruction at a state-of-the-art-equipped molecular-biology laboratory.
• ASU's School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research (SOLUR) program since 2004 has provided opportunities Valley-wide for students to participate in exciting biological research.
Internships and other educational programs are both time-consuming and costly. But the investment is critical to our recognizing a brighter future for all Arizonans.
Dr. Jeffery Trent is president and scientific director of the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute.
TGen spin-off MedTrust Online enables cancer doctors to quickly obtain best-available treatment information
[Source: TGen] - TGen has spun off its third company: MedTrust Online, a reliable one-stop medical information source for oncologists.
The for-profit, privately held MedTrust Online draws on a variety of data sources, including genetic-based medical discoveries by the non-profit, Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Scottsdale-based MedTrust Online aims to provide oncologists with the knowledge they need to design the best tailor-made treatments for individual patients.
"MedTrust Online is the first, comprehensive Internet-based solution that enables physicians to practice precision medicine," said Chris Yoo, MedTrust's President and Chief Executive Officer. “We provide clinically-useful knowledge to help physicians find and communicate with each other about cutting-edge cancer treatments for the benefit of their patients."
MedTrust Online is the third company to spin out of TGen Accelerator Management LLC, a firm designed to quickly translate TGen’s genetic research discoveries into medical treatments and services.
"While MedTrust is our third spin-off company, it is a first in the informatics area for TGen Accelerator, and marks a beginning in the effort to use the vast knowledge generated by TGen scientists for the commercial benefit of doctors and the general public," said MaryAnn Guerra, TGen's Chief Business Officer and President of TGen Accelerator Management.
Richard Love, a former TGen Chief Operating Officer and former CEO of ILEX Oncology Inc., praised the advent of MedTrust as a boost to the local economy.
“The creation of MedTrust is part of the promise TGen holds for helping Arizona develop local biomedical expertise, jobs and productive venture partnerships," said Love, now a Manager for Translational Accelerator LLC, or TRAC, an Arizona-based bioscience venture capital group. "I personally believe that MedTrust can have a bigger positive impact on patient care than anything I've seen come along over the past decade."
TGen and MedTrust Online signed licensing and services agreements Aug. 5 covering TGen-generated technologies and personnel.
MedTrust Online solution will help speed information to oncologists as they seek the best knowledge available about various diseases, especially quality information about potential drug therapies.
The MedTrust Online's Electronic Curbside Consult provides doctors with a platform for discussing difficult cases with experts and promotes peer-to-peer collaboration.
Also, MedTrust has formed a partnership with the South Texas Oncology and Hematology, one of the Southwest's leading cancer care providers. STOH is assisting MedTrust in creating its web site, www.medtrust-online.com, which is expected to go public to doctors starting in December.
In addition, MedTrust has added two key executives to its management team:
-- Dr. Leo Otake, a widely published graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine. Otake has been named Vice President of Medical Informatics. Otake’s primary responsibilities include coordinating the collection, organization and distribution of MedTrust Online content, including peer-reviewed medical journals and pharmaceutical databases. He also will be in charge of managing relationships with oncologists and advisers.
-- Russell J. Clark, an attorney with an extensive background in conducting cancer data analytics and creating proprietary tools to identify and analyze patterns of care. Clark has been named Executive Vice President of Business Development. Clark’s primary responsibilities include developing business opportunities and recruiting doctors to subscribe to MedTrust.
Clark has more than 25 years of experience in health care, legal and business ventures.
The for-profit, privately held MedTrust Online draws on a variety of data sources, including genetic-based medical discoveries by the non-profit, Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Scottsdale-based MedTrust Online aims to provide oncologists with the knowledge they need to design the best tailor-made treatments for individual patients.
"MedTrust Online is the first, comprehensive Internet-based solution that enables physicians to practice precision medicine," said Chris Yoo, MedTrust's President and Chief Executive Officer. “We provide clinically-useful knowledge to help physicians find and communicate with each other about cutting-edge cancer treatments for the benefit of their patients."
MedTrust Online is the third company to spin out of TGen Accelerator Management LLC, a firm designed to quickly translate TGen’s genetic research discoveries into medical treatments and services.
"While MedTrust is our third spin-off company, it is a first in the informatics area for TGen Accelerator, and marks a beginning in the effort to use the vast knowledge generated by TGen scientists for the commercial benefit of doctors and the general public," said MaryAnn Guerra, TGen's Chief Business Officer and President of TGen Accelerator Management.
Richard Love, a former TGen Chief Operating Officer and former CEO of ILEX Oncology Inc., praised the advent of MedTrust as a boost to the local economy.
“The creation of MedTrust is part of the promise TGen holds for helping Arizona develop local biomedical expertise, jobs and productive venture partnerships," said Love, now a Manager for Translational Accelerator LLC, or TRAC, an Arizona-based bioscience venture capital group. "I personally believe that MedTrust can have a bigger positive impact on patient care than anything I've seen come along over the past decade."
TGen and MedTrust Online signed licensing and services agreements Aug. 5 covering TGen-generated technologies and personnel.
MedTrust Online solution will help speed information to oncologists as they seek the best knowledge available about various diseases, especially quality information about potential drug therapies.
The MedTrust Online's Electronic Curbside Consult provides doctors with a platform for discussing difficult cases with experts and promotes peer-to-peer collaboration.
Also, MedTrust has formed a partnership with the South Texas Oncology and Hematology, one of the Southwest's leading cancer care providers. STOH is assisting MedTrust in creating its web site, www.medtrust-online.com, which is expected to go public to doctors starting in December.
In addition, MedTrust has added two key executives to its management team:
-- Dr. Leo Otake, a widely published graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine. Otake has been named Vice President of Medical Informatics. Otake’s primary responsibilities include coordinating the collection, organization and distribution of MedTrust Online content, including peer-reviewed medical journals and pharmaceutical databases. He also will be in charge of managing relationships with oncologists and advisers.
-- Russell J. Clark, an attorney with an extensive background in conducting cancer data analytics and creating proprietary tools to identify and analyze patterns of care. Clark has been named Executive Vice President of Business Development. Clark’s primary responsibilities include developing business opportunities and recruiting doctors to subscribe to MedTrust.
Clark has more than 25 years of experience in health care, legal and business ventures.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
TGen’s Dr. Von Hoff is a finalist for prestigious Arizona technology community service award
[Source: TGen] - Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-in-Chief, is one of three nominees for the 2008 William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award.
The McWhortor award is presented annually to an individual or organization from industry, government or academia that contributes to Arizona's technology industry through relentless community involvement, leadership, visibility and excellence in economic development activity.
The winner will be announced during the Governor's Celebration of Innovation from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Dodge Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. The awards are organized through the Governor's Office, the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Arizona Technology Council.
Dr. Von Hoff also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona, and a member of the Mayo Clinic's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In addition to being an accomplished and recognized cancer scientist, Dr. Von Hoff has been tireless in what he has brought to the Arizona community. He is a founder of TGen, a founder of the non-profit International Genomics Consortium based in Phoenix, and has helped bring countless other jobs to this community. His commitment was instrumental in helping establish the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute, a hospital-based research institute that serves as a bridge between cure and care. It is one of the finest programs in the nation in its ability to help patients with advanced cancer. It is emblematic of the translation of discoveries in genomic science to specific treatments for individual patients.
Dr. Von Hoff is committed to the professional advancement of younger colleagues, recruiting young investigators and incorporating teaching into every staff meeting. With his encouragement and guidance, younger scientists develop new research and present findings.
His warmth and humor sustain his staff in one of the most challenging fields of medicine, and his colleagues and staff refer to him as the "heart and soul" of the cancer research program.
Dr. Von Hoff earned his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973. Following an internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, he spent four years at the prestigious National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.
After experience at the forefront of cancer research at NCI, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas in San Antonio, where during the next 20 years he expanded the knowledge of cancer biology and tumor growth factors.
Dr. Von Hoff moved to Arizona in 1999, serving as Director of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, and as Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, before joining TGen.
In addition to his other duties, Dr. Von Hoff is serving a six-year presidential appointment (June 2004-March 2010) on the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Advisory Board. He also is past president of the American Association for Cancer Research, which with more than 28,000 members is the world's largest cancer research organization. He has published more than 540 scientific papers, more than 130 book chapters, and nearly 950 scientific abstracts. He is the holder of a dozen patents for new anti-cancer agents and medical devices.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Von Hoff has been devoted to advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. His programs have two main goals:
-- Applying new knowledge to identify the best new targeted anti-cancer agents to treat individual cancer patients.
-- Curing pancreatic cancer.
The William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award is named in honor of the late co-founder of the Arizona Innovation Network and its successor professional groups in Arizona, including the Arizona Technology Council, which have supported creative technological thinking. McWhortor, a Fountain Hills resident who died in 1997, patented a pattern recognition device in 1989 to help stop counterfeit checks.
Past winners of the McWhortor award include:
-- Ira A. Fulton, chairman and chief executive officer of Tempe-based Fulton Homes Inc.
-- Former Arizona State University President Lattie Coor.
-- Richard Mallery, partner and founding director of the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer, for his successful efforts to bring the Translational Genomics Research Institute to Arizona.
The McWhortor award is presented annually to an individual or organization from industry, government or academia that contributes to Arizona's technology industry through relentless community involvement, leadership, visibility and excellence in economic development activity.
The winner will be announced during the Governor's Celebration of Innovation from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Dodge Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. The awards are organized through the Governor's Office, the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Arizona Technology Council.
Dr. Von Hoff also is Chief Scientific Officer of TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona, and a member of the Mayo Clinic's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In addition to being an accomplished and recognized cancer scientist, Dr. Von Hoff has been tireless in what he has brought to the Arizona community. He is a founder of TGen, a founder of the non-profit International Genomics Consortium based in Phoenix, and has helped bring countless other jobs to this community. His commitment was instrumental in helping establish the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute, a hospital-based research institute that serves as a bridge between cure and care. It is one of the finest programs in the nation in its ability to help patients with advanced cancer. It is emblematic of the translation of discoveries in genomic science to specific treatments for individual patients.
Dr. Von Hoff is committed to the professional advancement of younger colleagues, recruiting young investigators and incorporating teaching into every staff meeting. With his encouragement and guidance, younger scientists develop new research and present findings.
His warmth and humor sustain his staff in one of the most challenging fields of medicine, and his colleagues and staff refer to him as the "heart and soul" of the cancer research program.
Dr. Von Hoff earned his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973. Following an internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco, he spent four years at the prestigious National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.
After experience at the forefront of cancer research at NCI, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas in San Antonio, where during the next 20 years he expanded the knowledge of cancer biology and tumor growth factors.
Dr. Von Hoff moved to Arizona in 1999, serving as Director of the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, and as Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, before joining TGen.
In addition to his other duties, Dr. Von Hoff is serving a six-year presidential appointment (June 2004-March 2010) on the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Advisory Board. He also is past president of the American Association for Cancer Research, which with more than 28,000 members is the world's largest cancer research organization. He has published more than 540 scientific papers, more than 130 book chapters, and nearly 950 scientific abstracts. He is the holder of a dozen patents for new anti-cancer agents and medical devices.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Von Hoff has been devoted to advancing the understanding and treatment of cancer. His programs have two main goals:
-- Applying new knowledge to identify the best new targeted anti-cancer agents to treat individual cancer patients.
-- Curing pancreatic cancer.
The William F. McWhortor Community Service Leader of the Year award is named in honor of the late co-founder of the Arizona Innovation Network and its successor professional groups in Arizona, including the Arizona Technology Council, which have supported creative technological thinking. McWhortor, a Fountain Hills resident who died in 1997, patented a pattern recognition device in 1989 to help stop counterfeit checks.
Past winners of the McWhortor award include:
-- Ira A. Fulton, chairman and chief executive officer of Tempe-based Fulton Homes Inc.
-- Former Arizona State University President Lattie Coor.
-- Richard Mallery, partner and founding director of the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer, for his successful efforts to bring the Translational Genomics Research Institute to Arizona.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
TGen Researchers Publish New Multiplexed Sequence Approach
[Source: By a GenomeWeb staff reporter , GenomeWeb News] - In a paper appearing online in Nature Methods this weekend, a team of researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute described a new multiplexed, targeted re-sequencing strategy for assessing regions of the human genome more quickly and efficiently.
The team used PCR amplicons to create degenerate, indexed DNA barcodes targeting specific regions of the genome before sequencing them with the Illumina Genome Analyzer. The multiplexed approach, they say, is an effective way to uncover genetic variation in genes of interest — an approach intended to facilitate cost-efficient re-sequencing on genes involved in particular diseases and conditions.
“In many cases, rather than sequencing the whole genome for ten people, researchers would rather sequence a dozen genes for 1,000 people,” co-lead author John Pearson, head of TGen’s Bioinformatics Research Unit, said in a statement.
The researchers tested their approach by simultaneously sequencing Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, or ENCODE, regions from the genomes of numerous HapMap individuals. Using its targeted resequencing approach, the team was able to identify genetic variants not previously described for these regions.
“Although whole-genome sequencing may be the primary motivator for improvements in sequencing technology, it is clear that next-generation technologies are immediately useful for focused, hypothesis-driven sequencing of linkage peaks, groupings of candidate genes or sequencing the entire known coding region of the human genome,” the authors noted. “In this report, we developed per-individual indexing of pooled PCR amplicons to carry out targeted sequencing.”
In the future, they added, pooled amplicons may also be replaced by other sample-preparation strategies, including genome partitioning. “[V]ariant discovery through the re-sequencing of all candidate regions implicated in a disease across genomes of dozens, possibly hundreds, of individuals could be considerably accelerated by merging multiplex capture, indexing, and next-generation sequencing approaches in a single protocol.”
The team used PCR amplicons to create degenerate, indexed DNA barcodes targeting specific regions of the genome before sequencing them with the Illumina Genome Analyzer. The multiplexed approach, they say, is an effective way to uncover genetic variation in genes of interest — an approach intended to facilitate cost-efficient re-sequencing on genes involved in particular diseases and conditions.
“In many cases, rather than sequencing the whole genome for ten people, researchers would rather sequence a dozen genes for 1,000 people,” co-lead author John Pearson, head of TGen’s Bioinformatics Research Unit, said in a statement.
The researchers tested their approach by simultaneously sequencing Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, or ENCODE, regions from the genomes of numerous HapMap individuals. Using its targeted resequencing approach, the team was able to identify genetic variants not previously described for these regions.
“Although whole-genome sequencing may be the primary motivator for improvements in sequencing technology, it is clear that next-generation technologies are immediately useful for focused, hypothesis-driven sequencing of linkage peaks, groupings of candidate genes or sequencing the entire known coding region of the human genome,” the authors noted. “In this report, we developed per-individual indexing of pooled PCR amplicons to carry out targeted sequencing.”
In the future, they added, pooled amplicons may also be replaced by other sample-preparation strategies, including genome partitioning. “[V]ariant discovery through the re-sequencing of all candidate regions implicated in a disease across genomes of dozens, possibly hundreds, of individuals could be considerably accelerated by merging multiplex capture, indexing, and next-generation sequencing approaches in a single protocol.”
Monday, September 15, 2008
TGen investigators devise faster, cheaper way of analyzing the human genome
[Source: TGen] - Investigators at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) today announced a faster and less expensive way for scientists to find which genes might affect human health.
Using bar-codes, not unlike what shoppers find in grocery stores, TGen researchers found a way to index portions of the nearly 3-billion-base human genetic code, making it easier for scientists to zero in on the regions most likely to show variations in genetic traits.
The findings were published today in the online version of the journal Nature Methods. The study will be published in print in the journal's October edition.
Dr. David Craig, associate director of TGen's Neurogenomics Division, said the new method should cost only one-tenth, or less, of the current cost of sequencing genes commonly done to analyze Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), and in performing Genome-Wide Association (GWA) studies.
"Our goal is to find the genetic basis of disease," said Craig, the study's lead author. "It (the new method) provides us a way to immediately use next-generation sequencing technology for studying hundreds to thousands of individuals."
John Pearson, the head of TGen's Bioinformatics Research Unit, said the new method would allow scientists worldwide to more easily tune their sequencing experiments, and conduct their experiments with greater speed.
"In many cases, rather than sequencing the whole genome for 10 people, researchers would rather sequence a dozen genes for 1,000 people," said Pearson, who contributed to the study.
TGen scientists adapted an exciting new technology known as "next generation sequencing" to allow samples to be run and analyzed using 15 well-characterized indexes.
"Moving forward, TGen scientists are now attempting to merge this indexing approach with sequence-capture methods currently under development in their laboratories, which would likely further improve the cost savings and speed," said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an investigator in TGen's Neurogenomics Division, who also contributed to the study.
Depending on assumptions made in an experiment, the desired coverage -- and as a consequence, the cost -- can vary substantially, the study said, depending on whether the objective is:
Discovering genetic variants for genotyping by a separate method such as custom SNP genotyping.
Conducting polymorphism discovery and variant calling within one sequencing experiment.
Exhaustively resequencing for all common and rare variants.
The new method of analyzing human genetics should enable scientists at TGen and elsewhere to push ahead with key scientific research needed to prevent, diagnosis and treat a variety of diseases and conditions.
"Although whole-genome sequencing may be the primary motivator for improvements in sequencing technology," the study said, "it is clear that next-generation technologies are immediately useful for focused, hypothesis-driven sequencing of linkage peaks, groupings of candidate genes or sequencing the entire known coding sequence of the human genome."
Using bar-codes, not unlike what shoppers find in grocery stores, TGen researchers found a way to index portions of the nearly 3-billion-base human genetic code, making it easier for scientists to zero in on the regions most likely to show variations in genetic traits.
The findings were published today in the online version of the journal Nature Methods. The study will be published in print in the journal's October edition.
Dr. David Craig, associate director of TGen's Neurogenomics Division, said the new method should cost only one-tenth, or less, of the current cost of sequencing genes commonly done to analyze Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), and in performing Genome-Wide Association (GWA) studies.
"Our goal is to find the genetic basis of disease," said Craig, the study's lead author. "It (the new method) provides us a way to immediately use next-generation sequencing technology for studying hundreds to thousands of individuals."
John Pearson, the head of TGen's Bioinformatics Research Unit, said the new method would allow scientists worldwide to more easily tune their sequencing experiments, and conduct their experiments with greater speed.
"In many cases, rather than sequencing the whole genome for 10 people, researchers would rather sequence a dozen genes for 1,000 people," said Pearson, who contributed to the study.
TGen scientists adapted an exciting new technology known as "next generation sequencing" to allow samples to be run and analyzed using 15 well-characterized indexes.
"Moving forward, TGen scientists are now attempting to merge this indexing approach with sequence-capture methods currently under development in their laboratories, which would likely further improve the cost savings and speed," said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an investigator in TGen's Neurogenomics Division, who also contributed to the study.
Depending on assumptions made in an experiment, the desired coverage -- and as a consequence, the cost -- can vary substantially, the study said, depending on whether the objective is:
Discovering genetic variants for genotyping by a separate method such as custom SNP genotyping.
Conducting polymorphism discovery and variant calling within one sequencing experiment.
Exhaustively resequencing for all common and rare variants.
The new method of analyzing human genetics should enable scientists at TGen and elsewhere to push ahead with key scientific research needed to prevent, diagnosis and treat a variety of diseases and conditions.
"Although whole-genome sequencing may be the primary motivator for improvements in sequencing technology," the study said, "it is clear that next-generation technologies are immediately useful for focused, hypothesis-driven sequencing of linkage peaks, groupings of candidate genes or sequencing the entire known coding sequence of the human genome."
International TGen-led team finds link between brain protein and Alzheimer's disease
[Source: TGen] - Investigators at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) today announced a link between the brain protein KIBRA and Alzheimer's disease, a discovery that could lead to promising new treatments for this memory-robbing disorder.
The new discovery builds on a previous TGen-led study published in the prestigious journal Science, which showed a genetic link between KIBRA and memory in healthy adults.
In the new study, TGen researchers found that carriers of a memory-enhancing flavor of the KIBRA gene had a 25 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The findings were reported Saturday in the online edition of Neurobiology of Aging, a Philadelphia-based peer-review journal that generally focuses on how aging affects the nervous system.
"This research suggests that KIBRA, and possibly some of the proteins with which it interacts, may play a role in Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an investigator in TGen's Neurogenomics Division and the paper's senior author.
The critical difference found in KIBRA, a protein so named because it is commonly found in the kidneys and brain, was that those individuals with the T-allele gene were less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those with the C-allele. Alleles are those genetic markers – A, C, G or T – that determine such inherited traits as eye and hair color, or susceptibility to disease.
"We are now beginning to dig deeper regarding the genetic sequence of KIBRA in individuals carrying, and not carrying, the T-allele. We believe this variation causes a potential lifelong difference in the total levels of KIBRA in the brain, and that this may influence one's risk for Alzheimer's," said Huentelman, who led a team that worked with several Arizona institutions, as well as other national and international universities and research institutions.
Dr. Eric Reiman, clinical director of TGen's Neurogenomics Division and executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, said, "This study suggests a link between the inherited genes involved in normal human memory and the predisposition to Alzheimer's disease."
"It provides promising new targets at which to aim new treatments to stave off Alzheimer's and improve memory," said Reiman, who also is director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium and a contributor to the study.
The findings announced today are built on a 2006 study led by collaborative teams from Arizona and Zurich, Switzerland, and published in the journal Science. That pioneering TGen research revealed a link between KIBRA and memory, in which healthy adults with the KIBRA T-allele performed better on memory tests than those without this gene.
In the most recent analysis, Huentelman's team confirmed a link between KIBRA and Alzheimer's in three different ways:
Using TGen's powerful analytic tools to find a genetic association between the KIBRA gene and Alzheimer's disease, comparing more than 1,700 living and deceased people, with and without the disorder.
Using gene expression tools to find that KIBRA, and genes for other molecules that interact with KIBRA, were significantly altered in the neurons of people who had Alzheimer's disease, but not in individuals without the disorder.
Using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to find that cognitively-normal, late-middle-aged people lacking the protective T-allele gene had reduced activity in parts of the brain usually affected by Alzheimer's.
Genetic association studyIn a study of 702 deceased persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and 1,026 living and deceased persons with and without Alzheimer's, researchers found that non-carriers of the KIBRA T-allele had increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer's.
The genotyped samples came from five centers, including three European organizations representing German, Dutch and Norwegian populations.
Gene expression studyThe gene expression study examined tissues from six regions of the brain among 47 deceased individuals. The brain tissue samples were provided by three Alzheimer's disease centers: Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.; Duke University in Durham, N.C.; and Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Ariz.
KIBRA, and a subset of other molecules directly interacting with it, were significantly altered in regions of the brain involved in Alzheimer's disease pathology. The regions investigated included the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, middle temporal gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus. However, they were not altered in a region of the brain typically unaffected by the disease -- the primary visual cortex.
Positron Emission Tomography scans
PET scans of 67 non-carriers of the KIBRA T-allele, and 69 carriers -- all with close relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer's -- showed that non-carriers exhibited, on average, similar alterations in the metabolic activity of key brain regions known to be altered in the earliest stages of the disease. All 136 individuals were mentally-normal, late-middle-aged Phoenix-area volunteers solicited from newspaper advertisements. They ranged in age from 47 to 68, with an average age of 55.
Scans showed that individuals without the KIBRA T-allele -- those with only KIBRA C-alleles from their mother and from their father -- had less metabolic brain activity when compared to those individuals carrying the T-allele -- from either their mother or father, or both. These differences were found in the precuneus and posterior cingulated regions of the brain affected in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's.
Previous work led by Reiman illustrated a similar finding when individuals were grouped according to whether they carried the most powerful genetic indicator for Alzheimer's -- the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E. In the current study, the effects of this allele were controlled for, yet similar observations were made. This suggests that KIBRA may play a role in a convergent biological risk pathway for the disease.
###
ParticipantsTGen's Jason Corneveaux and Dr. Winnie S. Liang were the paper's first authors.
Other Arizona participants in the study were: Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Sun Health Research Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital, Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic Arizona, and the University of Arizona's departments of Psychiatry, Radiology, and its Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute.
Other U.S. participants included: University of Miami, the National Institute on Aging, and the Mayo Clinic Rochester.
International collaborators included: the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences, Netherlands; the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and St. Olav's Hospital, Norway; the University of Bonn, Germany; and the University of Basel, Switzerland.
The new discovery builds on a previous TGen-led study published in the prestigious journal Science, which showed a genetic link between KIBRA and memory in healthy adults.
In the new study, TGen researchers found that carriers of a memory-enhancing flavor of the KIBRA gene had a 25 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The findings were reported Saturday in the online edition of Neurobiology of Aging, a Philadelphia-based peer-review journal that generally focuses on how aging affects the nervous system.
"This research suggests that KIBRA, and possibly some of the proteins with which it interacts, may play a role in Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Matthew Huentelman, an investigator in TGen's Neurogenomics Division and the paper's senior author.
The critical difference found in KIBRA, a protein so named because it is commonly found in the kidneys and brain, was that those individuals with the T-allele gene were less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those with the C-allele. Alleles are those genetic markers – A, C, G or T – that determine such inherited traits as eye and hair color, or susceptibility to disease.
"We are now beginning to dig deeper regarding the genetic sequence of KIBRA in individuals carrying, and not carrying, the T-allele. We believe this variation causes a potential lifelong difference in the total levels of KIBRA in the brain, and that this may influence one's risk for Alzheimer's," said Huentelman, who led a team that worked with several Arizona institutions, as well as other national and international universities and research institutions.
Dr. Eric Reiman, clinical director of TGen's Neurogenomics Division and executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, said, "This study suggests a link between the inherited genes involved in normal human memory and the predisposition to Alzheimer's disease."
"It provides promising new targets at which to aim new treatments to stave off Alzheimer's and improve memory," said Reiman, who also is director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium and a contributor to the study.
The findings announced today are built on a 2006 study led by collaborative teams from Arizona and Zurich, Switzerland, and published in the journal Science. That pioneering TGen research revealed a link between KIBRA and memory, in which healthy adults with the KIBRA T-allele performed better on memory tests than those without this gene.
In the most recent analysis, Huentelman's team confirmed a link between KIBRA and Alzheimer's in three different ways:
Using TGen's powerful analytic tools to find a genetic association between the KIBRA gene and Alzheimer's disease, comparing more than 1,700 living and deceased people, with and without the disorder.
Using gene expression tools to find that KIBRA, and genes for other molecules that interact with KIBRA, were significantly altered in the neurons of people who had Alzheimer's disease, but not in individuals without the disorder.
Using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to find that cognitively-normal, late-middle-aged people lacking the protective T-allele gene had reduced activity in parts of the brain usually affected by Alzheimer's.
Genetic association studyIn a study of 702 deceased persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and 1,026 living and deceased persons with and without Alzheimer's, researchers found that non-carriers of the KIBRA T-allele had increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer's.
The genotyped samples came from five centers, including three European organizations representing German, Dutch and Norwegian populations.
Gene expression studyThe gene expression study examined tissues from six regions of the brain among 47 deceased individuals. The brain tissue samples were provided by three Alzheimer's disease centers: Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.; Duke University in Durham, N.C.; and Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Ariz.
KIBRA, and a subset of other molecules directly interacting with it, were significantly altered in regions of the brain involved in Alzheimer's disease pathology. The regions investigated included the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, middle temporal gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus. However, they were not altered in a region of the brain typically unaffected by the disease -- the primary visual cortex.
Positron Emission Tomography scans
PET scans of 67 non-carriers of the KIBRA T-allele, and 69 carriers -- all with close relatives diagnosed with Alzheimer's -- showed that non-carriers exhibited, on average, similar alterations in the metabolic activity of key brain regions known to be altered in the earliest stages of the disease. All 136 individuals were mentally-normal, late-middle-aged Phoenix-area volunteers solicited from newspaper advertisements. They ranged in age from 47 to 68, with an average age of 55.
Scans showed that individuals without the KIBRA T-allele -- those with only KIBRA C-alleles from their mother and from their father -- had less metabolic brain activity when compared to those individuals carrying the T-allele -- from either their mother or father, or both. These differences were found in the precuneus and posterior cingulated regions of the brain affected in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's.
Previous work led by Reiman illustrated a similar finding when individuals were grouped according to whether they carried the most powerful genetic indicator for Alzheimer's -- the epsilon 4 allele of apolipoprotein E. In the current study, the effects of this allele were controlled for, yet similar observations were made. This suggests that KIBRA may play a role in a convergent biological risk pathway for the disease.
###
ParticipantsTGen's Jason Corneveaux and Dr. Winnie S. Liang were the paper's first authors.
Other Arizona participants in the study were: Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Sun Health Research Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital, Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic Arizona, and the University of Arizona's departments of Psychiatry, Radiology, and its Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute.
Other U.S. participants included: University of Miami, the National Institute on Aging, and the Mayo Clinic Rochester.
International collaborators included: the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences, Netherlands; the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and St. Olav's Hospital, Norway; the University of Bonn, Germany; and the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Developer floats cancer center in suburbs
[Source: Jahna Berry and Edythe Jensen, The Arizona Republic] - An influential developer wants the University of Arizona to consider putting a sought-after cancer center in a suburb, not downtown Phoenix.
Officials from UA, which would oversee the future cancer center, have downplayed the developer's queries in Chandler and Surprise. Patients need a center in a sprawling, resort-like setting, and Phoenix doesn't have enough room for that, said the developer, Tom Hornaday.
But Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon isn't taking any chances and wants UA to reaffirm its commitment to build the center in his city.
Gordon has reasons to be worried:
• Last year, Phoenix lost to Goodyear on a $70 million cancer center that was to be built near Loop 101 and Thomas Road. This year, talks collapsed for a Banner teaching hospital on UA's fledgling downtown Phoenix medical-school campus.
• Chandler and Surprise are jockeying to be players in the state's bioscience scene.
• There are new Valley political players, and leaders at UA, who were not part of the early planning for Phoenix's 28-acre biomedical hub.
Eventually the area, bounded by Garfield, Monroe, Fifth and Seventh streets, would share a hospital, researchers, and the three state universities. Already, UA's medical school and Translational Genomics Research Institute and a unit from the ASU engineering college have taken root there. State lawmakers recently approved $470 million for future campus construction.
Gordon wants UA to reaffirm its four-year-old commitment to put a branch of the Arizona Cancer Center in Phoenix.
"While outsiders are trying to put together a speculative real-estate deal, it risks slowing down and diverting the attention necessary to continue the momentum to build the biomedical campus," Gordon said, noting the state Legislature and other groups have committed more than $1 billion to the downtown project.
UA hasn't changed its mind, said Judy Bernas, a university associate vice president.
"That which was envisioned on the Phoenix campus is what we will do," she said. Hornaday is a well-intentioned supporter who's talking to cities on his own time, she said. He does not represent the university, she said.
Unique commitment
But Hornaday is no ordinary developer.
The 67-year-old businessman is a longtime board member of the Arizona Cancer Center, a center donor and he's bankrolled a 110,000-square-foot medical facility at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.
He's also a player in bioscience circles: he sits on a key Flinn Foundation committee, and a fund named in honor of his daughter helps to fund skin-cancer research at TGen. Hornaday lost his mother to breast cancer and his daughter died of skin cancer.
Chandler could be an ideal place for the Arizona Cancer Center, said Hornaday, who talked to Chandler officials about putting a facility near Kyrene Road and Loop 202. Chandler owns 56 acres in the area and has an option to buy 31 additional acres.
And if Banner goes through with plans to put a cancer hospital in central Phoenix, Arizona Cancer Center should go in the East Valley, he said. The West Valley and Scottsdale already have cancer facilities or have plans to build them, he said.
Hornaday stressed he's made only a few early inquires to suburban cities. The regents haven't formally approved the proposed Valley center, which is a few years off, he added.
"My commitment is to cancer and the cancer patient," said the businessman. "I am sort of doing it on my own."
Powerhouse plans
Like Phoenix, other Valley cities want to be a biotech powerhouse.
"We're letting the world know, we're letting the universities know, that Chandler is interested in biomedical development," Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said.
Chandler officials, including the mayor and a spokeswoman for the city manager, confirmed they discussed the project with Hornaday but said talks are "very preliminary."
In 2007, the East Valley city aggressively went after biotech.
A pro-business group founded by former Chandler Mayor Jim Patterson organized a biotech conference at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort.
Two years earlier, the city met with and lured Covance Inc., a global drug-development company that is building one of its largest facilities near the Chandler Municipal Airport.
Surprise wants to get into the biotech game, too.
Economic Development Director John Hagen said he has had conversations with Hornaday but would not comment on discussions involving Arizona Cancer Center.
Surprise wants to lure biotech and medical employers to an 80-acre area surrounding the city's spring-training stadium near Greenway Road and Civic Center Drive.
Republic reporter Erin Zlomek contributed to this article.
Officials from UA, which would oversee the future cancer center, have downplayed the developer's queries in Chandler and Surprise. Patients need a center in a sprawling, resort-like setting, and Phoenix doesn't have enough room for that, said the developer, Tom Hornaday.
But Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon isn't taking any chances and wants UA to reaffirm its commitment to build the center in his city.
Gordon has reasons to be worried:
• Last year, Phoenix lost to Goodyear on a $70 million cancer center that was to be built near Loop 101 and Thomas Road. This year, talks collapsed for a Banner teaching hospital on UA's fledgling downtown Phoenix medical-school campus.
• Chandler and Surprise are jockeying to be players in the state's bioscience scene.
• There are new Valley political players, and leaders at UA, who were not part of the early planning for Phoenix's 28-acre biomedical hub.
Eventually the area, bounded by Garfield, Monroe, Fifth and Seventh streets, would share a hospital, researchers, and the three state universities. Already, UA's medical school and Translational Genomics Research Institute and a unit from the ASU engineering college have taken root there. State lawmakers recently approved $470 million for future campus construction.
Gordon wants UA to reaffirm its four-year-old commitment to put a branch of the Arizona Cancer Center in Phoenix.
"While outsiders are trying to put together a speculative real-estate deal, it risks slowing down and diverting the attention necessary to continue the momentum to build the biomedical campus," Gordon said, noting the state Legislature and other groups have committed more than $1 billion to the downtown project.
UA hasn't changed its mind, said Judy Bernas, a university associate vice president.
"That which was envisioned on the Phoenix campus is what we will do," she said. Hornaday is a well-intentioned supporter who's talking to cities on his own time, she said. He does not represent the university, she said.
Unique commitment
But Hornaday is no ordinary developer.
The 67-year-old businessman is a longtime board member of the Arizona Cancer Center, a center donor and he's bankrolled a 110,000-square-foot medical facility at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.
He's also a player in bioscience circles: he sits on a key Flinn Foundation committee, and a fund named in honor of his daughter helps to fund skin-cancer research at TGen. Hornaday lost his mother to breast cancer and his daughter died of skin cancer.
Chandler could be an ideal place for the Arizona Cancer Center, said Hornaday, who talked to Chandler officials about putting a facility near Kyrene Road and Loop 202. Chandler owns 56 acres in the area and has an option to buy 31 additional acres.
And if Banner goes through with plans to put a cancer hospital in central Phoenix, Arizona Cancer Center should go in the East Valley, he said. The West Valley and Scottsdale already have cancer facilities or have plans to build them, he said.
Hornaday stressed he's made only a few early inquires to suburban cities. The regents haven't formally approved the proposed Valley center, which is a few years off, he added.
"My commitment is to cancer and the cancer patient," said the businessman. "I am sort of doing it on my own."
Powerhouse plans
Like Phoenix, other Valley cities want to be a biotech powerhouse.
"We're letting the world know, we're letting the universities know, that Chandler is interested in biomedical development," Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said.
Chandler officials, including the mayor and a spokeswoman for the city manager, confirmed they discussed the project with Hornaday but said talks are "very preliminary."
In 2007, the East Valley city aggressively went after biotech.
A pro-business group founded by former Chandler Mayor Jim Patterson organized a biotech conference at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort.
Two years earlier, the city met with and lured Covance Inc., a global drug-development company that is building one of its largest facilities near the Chandler Municipal Airport.
Surprise wants to get into the biotech game, too.
Economic Development Director John Hagen said he has had conversations with Hornaday but would not comment on discussions involving Arizona Cancer Center.
Surprise wants to lure biotech and medical employers to an 80-acre area surrounding the city's spring-training stadium near Greenway Road and Civic Center Drive.
Republic reporter Erin Zlomek contributed to this article.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ovarian cancer drug tested at Scottsdale site
[Source: Julie Janovsky, East Valley Tribune] - A new cancer drug being tested at Scottsdale Healthcare is the latest weapon medical researchers are using in their fight against ovarian cancer.
Often called a "silent killer," ovarian cancer strikes approximately 20,000 women in the U.S. annually, claiming the lives of roughly 15,000 per year, according to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, a national cancer education and advocacy group.
As health advocates help women learn what they need to know about the disease this month - designated national ovarian cancer awareness month - Scottsdale Healthcare, in partnership with TGen Clinical Research Services, is spreading the word about the new cancer treatment drug that is showing promise in preliminary testing.
The experimental drug, CBP501, in its first phase of testing, is helping make tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy treatment, especially in women with ovarian cancer, said Dr. Raoul Tibes, director of the hematologic malignancies program and assistant investigator at TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare.
Tibes said ovarian cancer patients who have taken part in early clinical testing of the drug have responded so well that Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen Clinical Research Services are expanding the trials to accommodate an additional ten qualified patients with ovarian cancer.
"If it holds true in additional patients, (the drug) could potentially become a treatment option for patients with ovarian cancer," said Tibes regarding the first wave of early trials which began at Scottsdale Healthcare a little more than a year ago.
Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen Clinical Research Services are the only medical entities in Arizona to offer the experimental drug in trials to ovarian cancer patients, said Tibes.
Meanwhile, as national ovarian cancer awareness month is in full swing, health advocates are alerting the public to the symptoms of ovarian cancer - symptoms that can easily mimic other common ailments.
The key, said Michele Avery, an ovarian cancer survivor and administrative assistant at Scottsdale Healthcare, is how persistent the symptoms are.
"Women need to be their own advocates and know what is not normal for them," said Avery, 40, stressing early detection, as in her case, is the best way to have the greatest chance of survival.
Often called a "silent killer," ovarian cancer strikes approximately 20,000 women in the U.S. annually, claiming the lives of roughly 15,000 per year, according to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, a national cancer education and advocacy group.
As health advocates help women learn what they need to know about the disease this month - designated national ovarian cancer awareness month - Scottsdale Healthcare, in partnership with TGen Clinical Research Services, is spreading the word about the new cancer treatment drug that is showing promise in preliminary testing.
The experimental drug, CBP501, in its first phase of testing, is helping make tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy treatment, especially in women with ovarian cancer, said Dr. Raoul Tibes, director of the hematologic malignancies program and assistant investigator at TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare.
Tibes said ovarian cancer patients who have taken part in early clinical testing of the drug have responded so well that Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen Clinical Research Services are expanding the trials to accommodate an additional ten qualified patients with ovarian cancer.
"If it holds true in additional patients, (the drug) could potentially become a treatment option for patients with ovarian cancer," said Tibes regarding the first wave of early trials which began at Scottsdale Healthcare a little more than a year ago.
Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen Clinical Research Services are the only medical entities in Arizona to offer the experimental drug in trials to ovarian cancer patients, said Tibes.
Meanwhile, as national ovarian cancer awareness month is in full swing, health advocates are alerting the public to the symptoms of ovarian cancer - symptoms that can easily mimic other common ailments.
The key, said Michele Avery, an ovarian cancer survivor and administrative assistant at Scottsdale Healthcare, is how persistent the symptoms are.
"Women need to be their own advocates and know what is not normal for them," said Avery, 40, stressing early detection, as in her case, is the best way to have the greatest chance of survival.
Drug may help cancer survivors
[Source: Arizona Republic] - A drug trial aims to help cancer survivors feel stronger, no matter the type of cancer.
More than 65 percent of cancer patients survive at least five years after diagnosis.
That success has generated a new focus:improving life for cancer survivors.
The Scottsdale drug study by TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare takes the issue to the bedside.
Scientists led by Dr. Daniel Von Hoff are testing a drug developed by Eli Lily and Co. that may help cancer patients get their muscle strength back.
The new drug is believed to stop muscle deterioration by blocking a body protein called myostatin that naturally diminishes muscle growth.
"This is a treatment for people who have already been treated for advanced cancer," said study coordinator Joyce Ingold, who is enrolling study participants.
People interested in participating may contact her at 480-323-1339 or jingold@shc.org.
More than 65 percent of cancer patients survive at least five years after diagnosis.
That success has generated a new focus:improving life for cancer survivors.
The Scottsdale drug study by TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare takes the issue to the bedside.
Scientists led by Dr. Daniel Von Hoff are testing a drug developed by Eli Lily and Co. that may help cancer patients get their muscle strength back.
The new drug is believed to stop muscle deterioration by blocking a body protein called myostatin that naturally diminishes muscle growth.
"This is a treatment for people who have already been treated for advanced cancer," said study coordinator Joyce Ingold, who is enrolling study participants.
People interested in participating may contact her at 480-323-1339 or jingold@shc.org.
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