Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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translational research

NINDS director: neuroscience now largest ‘bucket of money’

On Friday, NINDS director Walter Koroshetz made an interesting remark in a lecture to Emory’s Department of Neurology. He said that in the 2016 National Institues of Health budget, neuroscience is now the largest “bucket of money,” especially with the recent boost in funding for Alzheimer’s research. That’s larger than the bucket for cancer. To be sure, biomedical research in general got a boost from Congress, with the NIH receiving its largest increase in a decade, and cancer is still a big deal!

Koroshetz explained that neuroscience research is spread out among NINDS (National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke), NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), NIDA (National Institute for Drug Abuse) and several others, while cancer research is concentrated at the National Cancer Institute. [Here’s some official category tracking that the NIH does – his breakdown checks out.]

Koroshetz highlighted a project from Dieter Jaeger and Garret Stanley that is part of the White House’s BRAIN Initiative focused on mapping brain circuits and connectivity. He also noted NINDS’s efforts in promoting translational research, since pharmaceutical companies were frustrated by repeated failures in the 1990s with difficult areas such as stroke, and the R35 mechanism for funding “outstanding investigators” for up to eight years continuously.

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Quinn Eastman in Neuro 2 Comments

Federal research funding sparks economic growth

A recent report from The Science Coalition gives numerous examples of how federally funded research at universities has led to innovation, new companies, and the creation of jobs. The Sparking Economic Growth report lists the university research origins of 100 companies, including Google, Genentech, Cisco Systems and iRobot. Four Emory startup companies were highlighted among the success stories: GeoVax, Inc., Pharmasset, Inc., Syntermed, Inc., and Triangle Pharmaceuticals, which was later acquired by Gilead Sciences in California.

Emory President James Wagner wrote a followup editorial in the Atlanta Business Chronicle about the importance of scientific research in Georgia’s universities to the health of our economy.

“Atlanta can be proud that Emory University is a shining example in this report, with four highlighted successful companies that were launched because federally funded research resulted in innovative and life-saving discoveries. These four success stories only scratch the surface as examples of the more than 150 companies and the resulting 5,500 jobs created in Georgia from discoveries at its research universities.

“Since the 1990s, Emory has turned external research funding, the majority from the federal government, into more than $775 million in licensing revenues from drugs, diagnostics, devices and consumer products. This is money infused into the state’s economy that helps create jobs and educational opportunities, saves lives, and leads to more research discoveries for the benefit of all. Emory has launched 47 start-up companies and licensed 27 drugs, medical devices and diagnostics already in the marketplace and 12 more currently in human trials.”

GeoVax, Inc., is developing and testing a promising AIDS vaccine based on research at the Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center. Gilead Sciences (from Triangle Pharmaceuticals) and Pharmasset, Inc. are creating AIDS drugs that are taken by over 90 percent of HIV-infected patients in the United States and many more around the world. Syntermed, Inc. distributes imaging software developed at Emory that helps in the diagnosis of more than four million heart disease patients every year.

Posted on July 12, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Microsoft Life Sciences Award recognizes ACTSI innovation

Microsoft Corp. recently selected the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) for a 2010 Life Sciences Innovation Award. The award recognized the ACTSI’s Biomedical Informatics Program for implementing the Thermo Scientific Nautilus Laboratory Information System (LIMS) across ACTSI laboratories.

The ACTSI is a partnership of Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Institute of Technology, along with other community partners and collaborators. It is one of 46 medical research institutes working to enhance translational research in the United States and is supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award program, National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources.
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Posted on June 23, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Med into grad program bridges gap between basic and clinical research

Former National Institutes of Health director Elias Zerhouni created a vivid label for a persistent problem. He noted there was a widening gap between basic and clinical research. The “valley of death” describes the gap between basic research, where the majority of NIH funding is directed and many insights into fundamental biology are gained, and patients who need these discoveries translated to the bedside and into the community in order to benefit human health. Thus, a chasm has opened up between biomedical researchers and the patients who would benefit from their discoveries.

Translational research seeks to move ideas from the laboratory into clinical practice

Translational research seeks to move ideas from the laboratory into clinical practice in order to improve human health.

A new certificate program in translational research is designed to empower PhD graduate students to bridge that gap. Participants (PhD graduate students) from Emory, Georgia Tech and Morehouse School of Medicine can take courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, bioethics, designing clinical trials and grant writing, and will have rotations with clinicians and clinical interaction network sites where clinical research studies are carried out to get a better sense of the impact and potential benefit of the research they are conducting.

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Posted on June 15, 2010 by Quinn Eastman in Uncategorized 2 Comments

NIH director visits Emory, Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute

David Stephens, MD, Jim Wagner, PhD, Earl Lewis, PhD, Francis Collins, MD, PhD

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, and chief of staff Dr. Kathy Hudson, paid a daylong visit to Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center, including Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Morehouse School of Medicine on April 14.

The purpose of Collins’ visit was to view the activities of the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute, one of 46 national CTSAs funded by the NIH through the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).  Collins also will visit CTSAs at Duke, UNC, and Vanderbilt in the future.

Collins asked that his visit focus on “how CTSAs are enabling science.” It was an opportunity for the ACTSI, a partnership among Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology and others, including Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia BIO, Kaiser Permanente, CDC, the Atlanta VA Medical Center and the Grady Health System, to showcase the unique contributions the ACTSI makes to enabling clinical and translational research.

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Posted on April 21, 2010 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Research match eases clinical trials participation

Research Match LogoIf you’d like to consider joining a clinical trial, a new secure website will make it easier. ResearchMatch.org will match any interested person living in the U.S. with researchers who are approved to recruit potential study volunteers.

Emory is one of 51 institutions participating in this first national, secure, volunteer recruitment registry. After registering at the website, potential volunteers can check out available trials. If a person indicates interest in a study, they are notified electronically about a possible match. Then they can decide whether to provide their contact information to a researcher.

The new website is sponsored by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ResearchMatch is the product of the NCRR’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Consortium. The CTSA is a national network of 46 medical research institutions working together to improve the way biomedical research is conducted across the country.

Emory leads the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI), a CTSA partnership including Morehouse School of Medicine, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

ResearchMatch.org is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in participating in clinical research, says Arlene Chapman, MD, Emory professor of medicine and director of the ACTSI Clinical Interaction Network Program. It’s available to young and old, healthy or ill. And people with a rare disease can find out more about available research studies throughout the country.

The registry strictly protects anonymity. It also increases the chance to participate in local studies and saves much of the time typically spent finding out about eligibility for a particular study.

ResearchMatch is available at: www.researchmatch.org/route=emory

Posted on December 3, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Gaining better medicine in translation

 

David Stephens, MD

David Stephens, MD

Translational research has traditionally been thought of as the process of moving a discovery in one direction – from the laboratory to the patient. More recently, though, researchers have recognized the importance of community engagement in the biomedical discovery process. That’s because involving the community makes for better medical care for patients.

The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) is a partnership of educational, research, and health care institutions that involves the community in clinical research that translates laboratory discoveries into advanced treatments for patients. The ACTSI is part of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health.

The ACTSI’s goal of supporting more effective clinical and translational research has led to a broader definition of translation: discovering what new healthcare tools, diagnostic tests and therapies a community needs and then taking that information back to the laboratory or conducting clinical research to find ways to meet those needs.

David Stephens, MD, is principal investigator of the ACTSI. Stephens says community engagement brings together leaders who discuss the health care needs of their respective communities. Researchers can then periodically meet with leaders, and let them know what progress is being made in the laboratory.

The ACTSI also brings together laboratory scientists with clinical investigators, community clinicians, professional societies and industry collaborators in a wide variety of research projects.

The ACTSI is led by Emory University, along with Morehouse School of Medicine, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Kaiser Permanente Georgia. Other partners include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Grady Health System, the Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Bio, the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the American Cancer Society.

To hear Stephens’ own words about translational research and the ACTSI, listen to Emory University’s Sound Science podcast.

Posted on September 1, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Translating research into life-saving

You or a loved one is suffering severe brain trauma in the wake of an accident. Imagine if doctors told you there was a treatment available that could up your chances of survival and even your chances at recovery. This isn’t just theoretical, because that’s an option some Emory patients have had, thanks to the availability of PROTECT, a progesterone-based treatment developed at Emory University and being administered by Emory trauma doctors.

Dr. Donald Stein, whose research led to the development of PROTECT, has just been honored by the Association for Psychological Science for his research and commitment to finding treatments and cures for traumatic brain injured patients.

Watch the video below to learn the real-life story of an accident victim who benefited from Stein’s work and the work of Emory’s doctors.

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Wendy Darling in Uncategorized Leave a comment