Monthly Archives: April 2017

Human Behavior

‘Human behaviour leading cause of accidents’ – The Borneo Post

KUCHING: Human behavior is the leading cause of accidents and fatal accidents in Malaysia according to police statistics.

Director of Bukit Aman Investigation and Traffic Enforcement Department SAC Datuk Mahamad Akhir Darus said analysis showed there were six main offences committed by drivers.

They are speeding, using handphones while driving, cutting queues, driving on emergency lanes, overtaking at double lines and misjudgement while overtaking, Akhir told a press conference after the symbolic handing over of 32 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycles to the Sarawak police contingent here yesterday.

He added that drivers who misjudged the distance while overtaking on dangerous stretches of roads or blindspots were more likely to end up in an accident.

All these (offences) point to the behaviour of drivers. We are not yet disciplined, he said.

On another note, he said ever since the police started to issue summonses to foreign drivers in Malaysia, there was a decrease in the number of offences committed by those drivers.

Among the offences were speeding and illegal parking.

Singaporeans make up the most number of offenders summonsed, followed by the Thais. He, however, was unable to disclose the total number of summonses being issued to the foreigners.

We want to let everyone know that no one is above the law when using the roads in Malaysia. We will also make sure that foreigners pay their summonses before they return to their own country, he added. Operations, he added, were carried out periodically by Bukit Aman with the state contingents that border the neighbouring countries.

Recently, we had an operation at the Kelantan-Thailand border while operations were carried out last year at the Johor Bahru-Singapore and Limbang-Miri-Brunei borders.

The next operation would be carried out at the Sabah-Indonesia border followed by the Sarawak-Indonesia border.

On the installation of the Automated Enforcement System (AES) in Sarawak, Akhir clarified that it came under the jurisdiction of the Road and Transport Department which would decide where the cameras would be installed.

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'Human behaviour leading cause of accidents' - The Borneo Post

Genetics

Cancer Genetics to Evaluate Biomarkers for Effector Therapeutics – GenomeWeb

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) Cancer Genetics said today that it has been hired by Effector Therapeutics to provide clinical biomarker services for Effector's lead product candidate, eFT508 a highly selective oral small molecule inhibitor of MNK1 and MNK2.

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Cancer Genetics to Evaluate Biomarkers for Effector Therapeutics - GenomeWeb

Genetics

Mixed Results with Genetics-Guided Cancer Therapy – MedPage Today

Action Points

Molecular screening of different tumor types led to a matched targeted treatment strategy for a subset of patients with advanced, hard-to-treat cancers, although only a minority of those who were successfully screened and treated derived clinical benefit from the approach, a single-center, single-arm, open-label trial indicated.

Out of a cohort of 1,035 patients, a molecular portrait could be identified in 89% of them, among whom an actionable target was detected in almost half of the group at 49%, reported Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, of Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute in Villejuif, France, and colleagues. This subsequently led to 199 patients actually receiving a treatment course matched to their specific genomic alternation.

And in this subgroup of patients, clinical benefit as reflected by the percentage of patients who achieved a progression-free survival (PFS) interval on matched therapy (PFS2) that was 1.3-fold longer than the PFS interval achieved on prior therapy (PFS1) was documented in one-third of them, 11% of them being objective responses.

"There are controversies about whether the use of high-throughput genomics could improve outcomes in patients with hard-to-treat cancers," explained Andre and colleagues in Cancer Discovery. "In the present study, we have shown that tumor sequencing improves outcome in 33% of patients with advanced cancers," they added. "Although these results are encouraging, only 7% of the successfully screened patients benefited from this approach."

The Molecular Screening for Cancer Treatment Optimization (MOSCATO) 01 trial involved both adult and pediatric patients with a variety of tumor types. The most common tumors included digestive cancer followed by lung cancer, urological cancers, breast cancer, and head and neck cancer. The median number of prior lines of therapy was 4 and tumor biopsies were successfully taken in the majority of patients.

The approaches used to obtain molecular portraits for the 843 patients in whom such a portrait was identified included targeted sequencing and array comparative genomic hybridization analysis. As investigators noted, both RNA sequencing and whole-exome sequencing were added during the course of the study. "The vast majority of the patients received matched therapy in the context of phase I/II trials," Andre noted. Complete responses were documented in two patients or 1% of those who received matched treatment.

There were also 20 partial responses, 10% of the treated cohort. Disease stabilized in 52% of the group and 17% had progressive disease. "The median follow-up for progression-free survival on matched therapy or PFS2 was 20 months," researchers noted, "and median PFS2 was estimated at 2.3 months." The estimated median overall survival was 11.9 months.

"There are several ways to further improve the efficacy of precision medicine," Andre suggested. First, researchers need better ways with which to identify genomic alterations. For example, although both RNA and whole-exome sequencing were done in a large proportion of patients in the MOSCATO trial, "they were not useful to drive patients to therapy," as he pointed out. Researchers also need to be able to more accurately identify which patients might gain from a genomics approach.

Lastly, scientists need to identify targeted combinations of therapies that might improve clinical outcomes, especially for patients who have more than one driver alteration.

Commenting on the study, Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Breast Cancer Center in Boston, felt that overall, the MOSCATO 01 trial was an encouraging study.

"There are a few things that you have to remember about this study in particular and the field in general," Ellisen said. To some degree the "deck was stacked" against the study because patients who previously received standard therapy -- including targeted agents against well-established actionable targets -- were excluded from this trial.

"In other words, the study had already culled out known successes of genotype-driven therapy," Ellisen emphasized.

He also pointed out that the median number of prior therapies was four, so investigators were pitted against advanced disease known to be more aggressive and resistant to treatment. "But the bigger picture is that systematically doing genotypic-directed therapy is really a means to a larger end and that larger end is allowing us to collect the data about the relationship between the genotype of a tumor and response to therapy that informs us how we should treat future patients."

If physicians 30 years ago abandoned chemotherapy for patients with advanced cancer on the grounds that only a minority of them responded to it, "we would never have made any progress in oncology," he added.

"This is really the same story -- because only a minority of patients who benefit from this approach today does not mean that the data we are collecting and correlating with responses is not going to be the thing that allows us to make advances tomorrow as we refine our predictions and more patients can benefit in the future."

The study was supported by Genentech and Sanofi.

Andre disclosed no relevant relationships with industry. One or more coauthors disclosed relationships with Roche/Genentech, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Servier, Merck, Pfizer, Eisai, Actelion, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Haliodx, Novartis, Sanofi, Pharmamar, and Pierre Fabre.

Ellisen disclosed no relevant relationships with industry.

2017-04-08T16:00:00-0400

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Mixed Results with Genetics-Guided Cancer Therapy - MedPage Today

Embryology

New award for loss of genetic affinity a gain for IVF law – The Straits Times

The Court of Appeal last month created a new compensation award for "loss of genetic affinity" in the case of a baby conceived with the wrong sperm following an IVF mix-up.

Genetic affinity loss refers to the cost and hurt to a parent of being deprived of having a baby with her spouse via reproductive technology through the negligence of a third party.

In the 2010 incident, the woman and her husband went to the Thomson Medical Centre for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment but a stranger's sperm - instead of her husband's - was used to fertilise her extracted eggs.

The mistake resulted in her giving birth to a baby girl with her genetic make-up but not her husband's. She sued the centre for negligence in 2012 seeking, among other things, damages for the baby's upkeep until she grew up.

The end result: The apex court rejected her upkeep claim but recognised she had suffered loss termed as "genetic affinity". The court said her desire to have a child of her own with her husband "is a basic human impulse, and its loss is keenly and deeply felt".

It pointed out ordinary human parents and children are bound by ties of blood and this fact of biological experience - heredity - carries deep socio-cultural significance. "And when, as in the present case, a person has been denied this experience due to the negligence of others then she has lost something of profound significance and has suffered a serious wrong. This loss of 'affinity' can also result in social stigma and embarrassment arising out of the misperceptions of others, as was the case here."

The five-judge panel placed the compensation sum at 30 per cent of the financial costs of raising Baby P, with the precise sum to be assessed by the High Court. The ground- breaking judgment, unprecedented here or elsewhere, suggests the court is prepared to address compensation for loss in an uncharted area.

Issues of heredity and family become all the more important in an era when IVF is increasingly common and genetic manipulation is well on the way to becoming reality. Gene-editing technology, for example, could in future be used to tweak a child's traits more in favour of one parent than the other.

Problems arise when plans go awry and the court has in a way served notice it will not back away from looking at losses not hitherto compensated within the traditional categories of civil claims. Such issues were highlighted by National University of Singapore (NUS) biomedical ethics researcher G. Owen Schaefer, who underlined the importance of the concept in this "genomic era".

Even family publication parentsworld flagged that after the incident, "it is expected that couples who are seeking alternative methods to conceive would be greatly concerned about this issue".

One practical effect in the immediate case is whether the father could also have been eligible to be compensated for the loss of genetic affinity, just like Baby P's mother. "By recognising loss of genetic affinity as a head, it would appear that the husband as the legal father has also suffered a loss, perhaps even more acutely than the mother as he has no genetic connection with the child," said NUS law faculty professor A. Kumaralingam.

Baby P's father, as her legal parent, has rights and obligations but the rights of her biological father remain to be established or clarified. Lawyers point out that the man has not surfaced to make any civil claim for potential compensa- tion for over six years - the recognised deadline in civil claims - which means that the case is moot.

Medical confidentiality constrains him from being identified to third parties without consent but what of his rights as a biological parent? Parliament passed the Status of Children (Assisted Reproduction Technology) Act in 2013 and it states that interested parties involved in such mix-ups can apply to the court to be declared as parents of the child within two years of the mistake being discovered. The Act does not apply in his case which preceded the Act and one possible unknown is that he could have relinquished his rights formally despite the nexus.

If that were to happen, it would not be without precedent as in the case of the twins at the centre of a custody battle between their Singapore mum and American dad in 2011. It emerged while the twins were here that the biological father was someone else who was understood to have signed his rights away, according to the twins' mother then. Interestingly, the twins knew of this when they were court-ordered to return to the US accompanied by their legal father six years ago. The access tussle between the divorced mum and dad is still ongoing in the US to date.

While the litigation in the case of Baby P is over, it is possible that the biological father may surface at some point in time in the future, for whatever reason, for example, should Baby P gain some prominence that bears notice. Such is the sad saga that while all appears over in the court arena, the affected parties will continue to court the consequences for good.

Such prospects, in this area of law that is in its infancy, bear contemplation, given that the numbers resorting to IVF techniques are expected to rise, and the need to minimise incidents.

In its annual report issued last October, Britain's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said it received reports of 517 incidents, out of approximately 72,000 cycles of fertilisation treatment in 2015. "Whilst incidents make up less than 1 per cent of treatment, any incident is one too many and is one of the reasons we produce this report," added HFEA.

For the year under review, there were no Grade A incidents for the first time in the five years since HFEA was established in Britain. A Grade A category error or incident includes events such as the death of a patient, being implanted with the wrong embryo, or something that affects a large number of patients, such as a storage-unit malfunction.

As IVF continues in an important way to help couples with reproductive difficulties and the numbers multiply, the British examples and the case of Singapore's Baby P illustrate this is a difficult area when incidents arise - as the Court of Appeal suggested in dealing with the case - with ongoing ramifications.

Like others elsewhere, the court here has shied away from the claim for upkeep of the baby on principle, but unlike others, it has inched forward to detect the need for redress by recognising "loss of genetic affinity". What a signal gain for the law's development indeed in finding such an inventive loss.

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New award for loss of genetic affinity a gain for IVF law - The Straits Times

Cell Biology

Scientists use time-lapse video to identify cells that trigger blood stem cell development – News-Medical.net

April 10, 2017 at 11:03 PM

Like private investigators on a stake out, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists used patience and video surveillance-like tools to identify cells that trigger blood cell development. The findings offer clues for making blood-forming stem cells in the laboratory that may ultimately help improve access to bone marrow transplantation.

"The research will likely open new avenues of investigation in stem cell biology and blood development and provide insight to aid efforts to make transplantable hematopoietic stem cells in the lab," said corresponding author Wilson Clements, Ph.D., an assistant member of the St. Jude Department of Hematology. The research appears today in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Blood-forming stem cells are capable of making any type of blood cell in the body. They are also used in transplant therapies for cancers like leukemia or other blood diseases like sickle cell. They are starting to be used to deliver gene therapy. However, a shortage of suitable donors limits access to treatment, and efforts to produce blood from pluripotent stem cells in the laboratory have been unsuccessful. Pluripotent stem cells are the master cells capable of making any cell in the body.

All blood-forming stem cells normally arise before birth from certain endothelial cells found in the interior blood vessel lining of the developing aorta. This process--including how endothelial cells are set on the path to becoming blood stem cells--is not completely understood.

Clements and first author Erich Damm, Ph.D., a St. Jude postdoctoral fellow, have identified trunk neural crest cells as key orchestrators of the conversion of endothelial cells to blood stem cells. Trunk neural crest cells are made in the developing spinal cord and migrate throughout the embryo. They eventually give rise to a variety of adult cells, including neurons and glial cells in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, which control feeding, fighting, fleeing and procreating.

Using time-lapse video, the researchers tracked the migration of neural crest cells in the transparent embryos of zebrafish. Zebrafish and humans share nearly identical blood systems, as well as the programming that makes them during development. After about 20 hours, the neural crest cells had reached the developing aorta. After hour 24, the migrating cells had cozied up to the endothelial cells in the aorta, which then turned on genes, such as runx1, indicating their conversion to blood stem cells.

The investigators used a variety of methods to show that disrupting the normal migration of neural crest cells or otherwise blocking their contact with the aorta endothelial cells prevented the "birth" of blood stem cells. Meanwhile, other aspects of zebrafish development were unaffected.

"Researchers have speculated that the endothelial cells that give rise to blood-forming stem cells are surrounded by a support 'niche' of other cells whose identity and origins were unknown," Damm said. "Our results support the existence of a niche, and identify trunk neural crest cells as an occupant."

Adult bone marrow includes niches that support normal function and notably feature cells derived from trunk neural crest cells.

The findings also suggest that trunk neural crest cells use a signal or signals to launch blood stem cell production during development. The researchers have eliminated adrenaline and noradrenaline as the signaling molecules, but work continues to identify the signaling proteins or small molecules involved.

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Scientists use time-lapse video to identify cells that trigger blood stem cell development - News-Medical.net

Cell Biology

Mighty morphed brain cells cure Parkinson’s in mice, but human trials still far off – STAT

M

ice that walk straight and fluidly dont usually make scientists exult, but these did: The lab rodents all had a mouse version of Parkinsons disease and only weeks before had barely been able to lurch and shuffle around their cages.

Using a trick from stem-cell science, researchers managed to restore the kind of brain cells whose death causes Parkinsons. And the mice walked almost normally.The same technique turned human brain cells, growing in a lab dish, into the dopamine-producing neurons that are AWOL in Parkinsons, scientists at Swedens Karolinska Institute reportedon Monday in Nature Biotechnology.

Success in lab mice and human cells is many difficult steps away from success in patients. The study nevertheless injected new life into a promising approach to Parkinsons that has suffered setback after setback replacing the dopamine neurons that are lost in the disease, crippling movement and eventually impairing mental function.

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This is not going to happen in five years or possibly even 10, but Im excited about the potential of this kind of cell replacement therapy, said James Beck, chief scientific officer of the Parkinsons Foundation, which was not involved in the study. It could really give life back to someone with Parkinsons disease.

There is no cure for Parkinsons, a neurodegenerative disease that affects an estimated 10 million people worldwide, most prominently actor Michael J. Fox. Drugs that enable the brain to make dopamine help only somewhat, often causing movement abnormalities called dyskinesia as well as bizarre side effects such as a compulsion to gamble; they do nothing to stop the neurodegeneration.

As Parkinsons patients wait, Fox Foundation and scientist feud over drug trial

Rather than replacing the missing dopamine, scientists led by Karolinskas Ernest Arenas tried to replace dopamine neurons but not in the way that researchers have been trying since the late 1980s. In that approach, scientists obtained tissue containing dopamine neurons from first-trimester aborted fetuses and implanted it intopatients brains.Although a 2001clinical trialfound that the transplants partly alleviated the rigidity and tremors of Parkinsons, the procedure caused serious dyskinesia in about 20 percent of patients, Beck said. More problematic is that fetal issue raises ethical concerns and is in short supply.

It was clear that usable fragments of brain tissue were extremely difficult to recover, said Dr. Curt Freed, of the University of Colorado, who pioneered that work.

Instead, several labs have therefore used stem cells to produce dopamine neurons in dishes. Transplanted into the brains of lab rats with Parkinsons, the neurons reduced rigidity, tremor, and other symptoms. Human studies are expected to begin in the US and Japan this year or next, Beck said.

In the Karolinska approach, there is no need to search for donor cells and no cell transplantation or [need for] immunosuppression to prevent rejection, Arenas told STAT. Instead, he and his team exploited one of the most startling recent discoveries in cell biology: that certain molecules can cause one kind of specialized cell, such as a skin cell, to pull a Benjamin Button, aging in reverse until they become like the embryonic cells called stem cells. Those can be induced to morph into any kind of cell heart, skin, muscle, and more in the body.

Muhammad Ali and Parkinsons disease: Was boxing to blame?

Arenas and his team filled harmless lentiviruses with a cocktail of four such molecules. Injected into the brains of mice with Parkinsons-like damage, the viruses infected plentifulbrain cells called astrocytes. (The brains support cells, astrocytes perform jobs like controlling blood flow.)The viruses also infected other kinds of cells, but their payload was designed to work only in astrocytes, and apparently caused no harm to the other cells.

The molecules, called transcription factors, reprogrammed some of the astrocytes to become dopamine neurons, which were first detected three weeks later in the mouse brains. The dopamine neurons were abundant 15 weeks later, an indication that after changing into dopamine neurons the astrocytes stayed changed.

Five weeks after receiving the injections, the mice, which used to have Parkinsons-like gait abnormalities, walked as well as healthy mice. That suggests that direct reprogramming [of brain cells] has the potential to become a novel therapeutic approach for Parkinsons, Arenas told STAT.

That could have value for preserving the brain circuitry destroyed by Parkinsons, said Colorados Freed.

A lot of hurdles need to be overcome before this becomes a Parkinsons treatment. The Trojan horse system for delivering the reprogramming molecules inside viruseswould need to turn more astrocytes into dopamine neurons and leave other kinds of cells alone: Although viruses getting into mouse brain cells apparently caused no harm, that might not be so in people. We will need to use virus with selective [attraction] for astrocytes, Arenas said.

The morphed cells would presumably be ravaged by whatever produced Parkinsons in the first place. But in other cell transplants, Arenas said, the disease catches up with transplanted cells in 15 to 20 years, buying patients a good period of time. He thinks it might be possible to give patients a single injection but hold off some of the reprogramming with a drug, turning it on when the brain again runs short of dopamine neurons.

The basic technology to develop such strategies currently exists, he said.

The Karolinska lab is working to make the techniquesafer and more effective, including by using viruses that would deliver reprogramming molecules only to astrocytes. We are open to collaborations aimed at human studies, Arenas said.

Would patients be willing to undergo brain injections? People with Parkinsons disease, Beck said, are willing to go through a lot for any hope of improvement.

Sharon Begley can be reached at sharon.begley@statnews.com Follow Sharon on Twitter @sxbegle

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Mighty morphed brain cells cure Parkinson's in mice, but human trials still far off - STAT

Biochemistry

Doors open – Gazette

On July 1, 2017, Memorial University will mark a special milestone.

On that date, the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, which first opened on July 1, 1967, will turn 50 years old. To commemorate, the department is hosting a reunion weekend Sept. 8-10 and hopes to reconnect with many former students, staff and faculty.

Dr. Mark Berry is the current head of the department. He says details about the reunion are still being finalized, but plans include a dinner and reception, and an open house.

We will be opening our labs to visitors on Sept. 9, and students will display posters and share their research, he said.

This will provide our alumni the chance to see new research space that has been added to the department since their time, especially the Biotechnology building facilities which came online in the early 90s, and learn about the research of some of our newer department members.

Photo: Submitted

The reunion dinner and reception will take place on Friday, Sept. 8, at the Johnson Geo Centre, with tickets on sale at $50 per person. The evening has been designed to provide ample opportunity to reconnect and reminisce with old classmates, staff and faculty. The location also provides easy access to the downtown district for those that wish to continue into the later hours.

Things are changing and in five years the department is likely going to look very different. Dr. Mark Berry

Dr. Berry estimates more than 2,200 students have passed through the departments doors over the last 50 years and hes looking forward to the opportunity to meet as many of them as possible.

The great thing about a reunion is it will allow us to get a handle on who our alumni are, he said. We know they feel a great affinity for the Department of Biochemistry, but in the past we havent been great at keeping in touch with them. Also, if anyone has old memorabilia or photos from their time in the department that they are willing to share, wed love to hear from them.

Photo: Submitted

With some of the departments longtime faculty members set to retire in the next few years, Dr. Berry notes this may be one of the last chances for alumni to come back and see some of those familiar faces.

Things are changing and in five years the department is likely going to look very different, he said. Alumni who were here in the 80s and 90s will still recognize most of the people around here, but I suspect not for much longer.

The first course in biochemistry at Memorial was given in the Department of Biology by Dr. Woodrow (Woody) Feltham, who was chief clinical chemist at the General Hospital at the time.

The idea that a Department of Biochemistry shouldbe created was at first rejected by one of the committees looking at thepossibility of establishing a new medical school at Memorial.

They suggested thatthree basic science departments biochemistry, physiology and microbiology should be established before the admission of the first class of medical students. Thesedepartments were to be hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Science untilsuch time as the medical school should be established; they would then become partof the medical school.

This work, in my opinion,was among the most consequential ever carried out at Memorial. Dr. Sean Brosnan

Of these three, only the Department of Biochemistry was established, with Dr.Feltham as its head. A professorof physiology, Ken Roberts, was appointed and also became associate deanof Basic Medical Sciences.

Ken was philosophically opposed to the idea of departments; he felt that theycaused artificial divisions in what should be a seamless body ofknowledge and scholarly enquiry, said Dr. Sean Brosnan, the longest serving member of the biochemistry departments faculty.

He established the Division of Basic Medical Sciences, which has sincebecome the Division of Biomedical Sciences, within the medical school.Woody Feltham decided that biochemistry should remain within the Facultyof Arts and Science, soon to become the Faculty of Science.

When Dr. Brosnan arrived at Memorial in January of 1972, the department had four faculty members: Dr. Feltham, Peter OBrien,Clive Little and John Wheldrake. They were joined by Dr. Brosnan and another assistantprofessor, Peter Penner.

However, Profs. Little and Wheldrake left soon after. Kevin Keough joined inSeptember of 1972; Choi Hew and Margaret Brosnan joined in the fallof 1974.

At the time, research areas included biological oxidation, metabolism, membranes and molecular biology.

Choi Hew teamed up with Garth Fletcher of the Ocean Sciences Centre, then the Marine Sciences Research Laboratory, to pioneer ways ofintroducing foreign genes into salmon, said Dr. Brosnan.This work, which, in my opinion,was among the most consequential ever carried out at Memorial, directlyled to the first genetically modified animal approved for humanconsumption by the FDA.

Drs. Sean and Margaret Brosnan are conservatively estimated to have taught 90-95 per cent of the departments 2,200 alumni in some capacity, and are still going strong.

Photo: Submitted

Its impossible for me to calculate how many undergraduates I may havetaught, said Dr. Sean Brosnan.Certainly, enrolment in the third-year metabolism course hasincreased from about 15 per year to more than 200. I calculate that morethan 100 students have received research training in mylaboratory, as summer/honours students, graduate students orpost-doctoral fellows.

My most pleasant and memorable events have allhad to do with the success of the students, he added.

The department has seen four Rhodes Scholars, Tim Whalen, Ann Colbourne, Paul Boland and Luke Pike; two future Canada Research Chairs, Tim Whalen and Jason Treberg; and twofuture heads of nutrition departments, Jim House and Mark Jois. Manyothers have gone on to careers in academia or the professions,particularly in medicine.

Online registration for the reunion recently opened and alumni, staff, faculty and friends of the department can register here.

The department has also created a dedicated reunion email address, biochem50@mun.ca, for alumni who wish to send in memorabilia, such as photos or copies of old mixer posters and exams, or stories about the department. Sponsorship opportunities are also available and full details can be requested through the biochem50 email address.

To learn more about the Department of Biochemistry, visit their website, or Facebook page.

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Doors open - Gazette

Biochemistry

Three Local Students Named Bucklew Scholars at West Virginia University – Wheeling Intelligencer

MORGANTOWN Three Northern Panhandle students are among this years class of Bucklew Scholars at West Virginia University.

Wheeling Park High Schools Adam Craig and Mariam Demasi and Weir High Schools Georgia Beatty are among 20 high-achieving West Virginia students accepted to WVU as Bucklew Scholars. The Bucklew Scholarship qualifies them to be considered for a Foundation Scholarship, the highest academic scholarship the university awards.

This years group of Bucklew Scholars comes to WVU with a few common goals most notably, gaining an education that will allow them to search for solutions to what they see as the world problems their generation will be faced with overcoming.

The variety of their experiences brings them to WVU with a broad scope of talents and achievements. Among the 20 high school seniors, two already are published authors and one has her own business. They are musicians, bakers, dancers, runners, actors, readers, hikers, poets, knitters and volunteers.

Craig said he wants to carry his WVU experience farther afield.

With an eye on foreign service work through the Peace Corps, Craig decided hed stay close to home to work on his undergraduate degree in international studies.

WVU has been an important part of my life since I can remember, Craig said. WVU has always been the obvious option. Football games were the best experience. You could feel the spirit and the family this creates.

Research is important to Demasi, who wants to work with Engineers Without Borders. Shes already developed building materials from waste paper, fly ash and lime that will withstand an earthquake, and shes intent on recycling and repurposing what others discard.

Getting her undergraduate career started as a Foundation Scholar would be validation for Beatty, who wants to show that her hard work at Weir High School has paid off.

I cared about something and its going to help me, but its also going to help other people, said Beatty, who wants to be a journalist. Shed like to write about politics, and also travel. If that leads me into politics, so be it.

Beatty has a long game plan that concludes with a doctorate degree in English literature and teaching at a university.

The remaining 17 Bucklew Scholars are:

Breellen Fleming, Wirt County High School Shes already an entrepreneur with her own online business, designing business cards and logos, and also commissioned traditional artwork. She sees art as economic development and believes that it could help retain students who leave West Virginia after college graduation.

Nicholas Miller, Hedgesville High School Miller, who plans to major in biochemistry, then go on to medical school, said he wants to be a surgeon who works in rural areas, but also to travel with Operation Smile, to repair cleft palates.

Molly Powney, Parkersburg High School Powney plans to go to medical school to become an obstetrician/gynecologist and practice in an area that has a low population of female doctors.

Noor Dahshan, George Washington High School Dahshan said her goal is to become a psychiatrist and help address attitudes about mental health.

Jessica Miller, Scott High School She plans to stay in the state and practice rural medicine.

Quinn Hopen, Braxton County High School Hopen wants to earn her degree in biochemistry with a women and gender studies minor so that she can work with Doctors Without Borders.

Larissa Tyree, Woodrow Wilson High School Tyree wants to specialize in infectious diseases and work on HIV/AIDS research with Doctors Without Borders in South Africa.

Sarah Cokeley, Ritchie County High School Cokeleys Mountaineer legacy begins with her grandfather who was on the wrestling team and continues with her father, who was the Mountaineer in the early 1980s. Two of her sisters were Bucklew Scholars and one of those, a Foundation Scholar.

Zach Gilpin, Morgantown High School He appreciates the universitys Honors College, and appreciates all WVU has to offer.

Jessica Hogbin, Hedgesville High School WVU has been one of her dreams since she came to the school in 7th grade with the Governors School for Math and Science.

Alyssa Rittinger, Winfield High School Rittinger, who wants to study in the legal field, said she was determined to go out of state to college until she attended a Mountaineer football game.

David Gainer, Elkins High School He wants to major in biochemistry and develop the use of stem cells in generating artificial organs.

Meagan Dougherty, Berkeley Springs High School Dougherty looks forward to the opportunities shell have at an R1 research institution, where she plans to pursue a career in medicine, beginning with a degree in biochemistry.

Abby Sine, Clay-Battelle High School She wants to study mathematics, and would like to receive a doctorate degree from WVU.

Joseph Sullivan, Hurricane High School He wants to make science accessible to others and admires Bill Nye and Neil Degrasse Tyson for doing that. Sullivan plans on a mechanical engineering degree that will evolve into a career in the aerospace field.

Will McNeil, University High School Hes an Eagle Scout whos written a book about treating others with kindness and respect. Me First: A Modern Day Fable about Service, Scouting, and Self-Esteem features an eagle who thinks only of himself and finally learns that treating others with respect makes him happy, as well.

Grace Bannister, Logan High School Bannister wants to study anthropology and would use her semester abroad in the Andes Mountains, amid the Incan ruins.

The Neil S. Bucklew Scholarship is named after WVUs 20th president and is valued at $32,000, providing its recipients with more than $8,000 per year over four years to be used toward educational costs. All Bucklew Scholars have qualified for the Honors College at WVU, and the scholarship can be used in addition to the states PROMISE Scholarship.

The Foundation Scholarships, which will be announced May 16, are awarded to five Bucklew Scholars.

CHARLESTON (AP) West Virginia lawmakers have voted to raise water-pollution limits, legalize medical marijuana, ...

WHEELING If it isnt vetoed, West Virginias state budget bill passed early Sunday wouldnt go into ...

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Three Local Students Named Bucklew Scholars at West Virginia University - Wheeling Intelligencer

Anatomy

Scoop: GREY’S ANATOMY on ABC – Thursday, April 27, 2017 – Broadway World

On the episode Dont Stop Me Now Bailey and April work to fix things between Richard and Catherine. Meanwhile, Eliza continues to pursue Arizona, and one of Alexs previous patients returns to Grey Sloan, on Greys Anatomy, THURSDAY, APRIL 27 (8:00-9:01 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network.

Greys Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens Jr. as Richard Webber, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery, Sarah Drew as April Kepner, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, Jerrika Hinton as Stephanie Edwards, Kelly McCreary as Maggie Pierce, Jason George as Ben Warren, Martin Henderson as Nathan Riggs and Giacomo Gianniotti as Andrew DeLuca.

Greys Anatomy was created and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder), Betsy Beers (Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder) and Mark Gordon (Saving Private Ryan). William Harper, Stacy McKee, Zoanne Clack and Debbie Allen are executive producers. Greys Anatomy is produced by ABC Studios.

Guest Starring is Debbie Allen as Catherine Avery.

Dont Stop Me Now was written by Andy Reaser and directed by Louis Venosta.

Greys Anatomy is broadcasted in 720 Progressive (720P), ABCs selected HTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound.

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Scoop: GREY'S ANATOMY on ABC - Thursday, April 27, 2017 - Broadway World

Anatomy

’13 Reasons Why’: Kate Walsh & Dylan Minnette’s Other TV Connection Will Blow Your Mind – Hollywood Life

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Dylan Minnette, 20, and Kate Walsh, 49, currently star as Clay Jensen and Mrs. Baker on the hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. However, this isnt the first time these two have technically been on the same TV show.

Before playing the mother of Hannah Baker in 13 Reasons Why, Kate starred as the fan favorite character Dr. Addison Montgomery on Greys Anatomy and Private Practice. Turns out, Dylan was a guest star on Greys Anatomy back in 2007! At the time, he was just 10 years old!

He played Ryan, a little boy asking for new ears on Halloween, in the episode Haunt You Every Day. Dr. Mark Sloan, Addisons former flame, ends up doing the surgery and builds him ears. Once fans figured out Dylans connection to Greys Anatomy, their minds were completely blown.

Dylan has grown up so much since then! Kate wasnt in the episode with Dylan, but its still really weird they were on the same TV show once upon a time. Theyre tiedtogether forever not just by 13 Reasons Why but by Mark Sloan. Thankfully, they were able to share some scenes in 13 Reasons Why!

Heres another little bit of trivia: Dylan also stayed in the TGIT family when he had a recurring role on Scandal as Fitz and Mellies son, Jerry! Unfortunately, his character was killed off at the end of season 3 after being poisoned by a strain of bacterial meningitis. ClearlyShonda Rhimes has an eye for amazing talent!

HollywoodLifers, did you know about Dylan and Kates Greys Anatomy connection? Let us know!

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'13 Reasons Why': Kate Walsh & Dylan Minnette's Other TV Connection Will Blow Your Mind - Hollywood Life