Lifeboat Foundation

Is the Founder and CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals (https://www.torigen.com/), a company dedicated to researching and developing novel immuno-oncology products and services specifically for the veterinary market, with a focus on autologous cancer vaccines.

Torigen Pharmaceuticals is a start‑up that resulted from Ashley’s graduate thesis project at the University of Notre Dame, as she was working on her Masters in Engineering, Science and Technology Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Dr. Mark Suckow (https://www.research.uky.edu/staff/ma…). Ashley also received an undergraduate degree in Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiology from University of Connecticut.

“This remains I think an enormous concern,” the UN health agency’s chief scientist, Jeremy Farrar, told reporters in Geneva.

Cows and goats joined the list of species affected last month – a surprising development for experts because they were not thought susceptible to this type of influenza. US authorities reported this month that a person in Texas was recovering from bird flu after being exposed to dairy cattle, with 16 herds across six states infected apparently after exposure to wild birds.

The A(H5N1) variant has become “a global zoonotic animal pandemic”, Farrar said.

Evan A. Scott, PhD, comes to UVA from Northwestern University, where he has conducted groundbreaking research into the use of tiny nanostructures to battle heart disease, cancer, glaucoma and more. Scott’s nanostructures, far too small for the eye to see, allow for the precise delivery of drugs and other therapeutics to specific inflammatory cells to benefit the body’s immune response. His research provides important answers about the fundamental processes responsible for diseases and paves the way for high-tech treatments using cleverly designed, and mind-blowingly miniscule, synthetic materials.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Scott to head up nanoSTAR at this critical turning point in nanotechnology research at the University of Virginia,” said Melina R. Kibbe, MD, dean of the School of Medicine. “Nanotechnology has vast untapped potential to benefit patients everywhere. It is a long-standing strength for UVA and will be a foundational pillar of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology.”

The Manning Institute, under construction at Fontaine Research Park, will tackle some of the greatest challenges in medicine by focusing on cutting-edge areas of research such as nanotechnology, targeted drug delivery, cellular therapies and gene therapy. NanoSTAR, with Scott at the helm, will play a key role in that nanotechnology research, and Scott will work to foster collaborations across Grounds, including among the School of Medicine, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Data Science and the College of Arts and Sciences, among others.

Is it possible for nanoparticles to go through the digestive system and deliver medicine directly to the brain tissue? Researchers from Michigan State University say yes, and their latest findings are expected to benefit patients with neurodegenerative disorders like multiple sclerosis, or MS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS; and Parkinson’s disease, or PD.

Causal machine learning methods could be used to predict treatment outcomes for subgroups and even individual patients; this Perspective outlines the potential benefits and limitations of the approach, offering practical guidance for appropriate clinical use.

MRI scans of long COVID patients with brain fog suggest that the blood brain barrier may be leaky.

A multi-institutional team of geneticists and genomic and genotyping specialists in Japan has sequenced the genomes of thousands of Japanese people from across the country, looking to settle the debate surrounding the ancestry of the Japanese people.

Professor Fabio Boschini (above) and his colleagues are at the forefront of research in quantum materials, employing time-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES) to drive technological breakthroughs in industries like mining, energy, and healthcare. Their recent work, demonstrates how TR-ARPES enhances the understanding and manipulation of material properties through light-matter interaction. Credit: Fabio Boschini (INRS)

Research into quantum materials is leading to revolutionary breakthroughs and is set to propel technological progress that will transform industries such as mining, energy, transportation, and medical technology.

A technique called time-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES) has emerged as a powerful tool, allowing researchers to explore the equilibrium and dynamical properties of quantum materials via light-matter interaction.

“My hunch is the ancestor of all animals could regenerate its heart after an injury, and then that’s been repeatedly lost in different types of animals,” said Dr. James Gagnon. “I would like to understand why. Why would you lose this great feature that allows you to regenerate your heart after an injury?”

Can the heart physiology of zebrafish help treat human heart conditions? This is what a recent study published in Biology Open hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Utah compared the fish species of zebrafish and medaka since the former possesses heart regeneration capabilities while the latter does not. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the physiological processes responsible for fixing heart tissue after damage from a heart attack or other ailment that could lead to more advanced human treatments.

“We thought by comparing these two fish that have similar heart morphology and live in similar habitats, we could have a better chance of actually finding what the main differences are,” said Dr. Clayton Carey, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah and lead author of the study.

Continue reading “Understanding heart regeneration and the potential for human applications” »