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Neuroscience

Hoag and BehaVR Partner to Launch First-of-its-Kind Virtual Reality Program for Expectant Moms – Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain…

Based in neuroscience research, NurtureVR combines prenatal education, pain management, postpartum education and mindfulness in a unique program designed to support women through their third and fourth trimesters

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., & NASHVILLE, Tenn.(BUSINESS WIRE)Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and BehaVR today announced the launch of NurtureVR, a first-of-its-kind program for expectant mothers that uses virtual reality (VR) to augment prenatal education, pain management related to pregnancy, mindfulness, and support women through postpartum care.

By combining accessible, immersive technology with compassionate, mindful care, NurtureVR brings innovation to support women as they journey through pregnancy and into motherhood. NurtureVR will be launched in a pilot program at Hoag next month and made broadly available to healthcare providers and health plans across the nation in November 2020.

We are delighted to partner with BehaVR to create and bring NurtureVR to new and expectant mothers across the nation, said Allyson Brooks, M.D., the Ginny Ueberroth Executive Medical Director Endowed Chair of Hoag Womens Health Institute. This program was developed by women for women. It incorporates the insights of women who are pregnant or were recently pregnant to ensure that it meets needs that are as diverse as the experiences of pregnancy and early motherhood.

NurtureVR is built upon decades of research into VRs ability to mitigate pain related to pregnancy, create experiential learning environments, reduce stress, and improve wellbeing. It is designed to be offered to women beginning in their third trimesters. Using VR headsets in their homes, women access 14 weeks worth of educational material, meditation capabilities and other immersive experiences, helping them with diverse topics including stress and pain management. 3D ultrasound images can be uploaded into the system to ensure personalized experiences. The program continues for an additional eight weeks after the baby is born with tools that cover issues such as maternal-baby bonding, partner intimacy, stress management, and hormonal and emotional changes.

Hoag knows firsthand how beneficial VR technology can be in helping patients with pain management, patient education and mindfulness, said Robert Louis, M.D., Chief of Neurosurgery and the Empower360 Endowed Chair for Skull Base and Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag. We have incorporated VR technology to assist surgeons with operations since 2015.

NurtureVR combines our decades of caring for women and years of VR experience with the perspective and technology of BehaVR, which has allowed us to create a program that is unlike anything else were seeing in therapeutic VR or in womens health, he added. The idea of NurtureVR is that virtual reality can serve as a lifelong tool, something women can carry with them through the fourth trimester, that eight-week period after a baby is born, and beyond. We believe that women will be able to draw on the meditation, mindfulness, stress management and education they experienced through VR throughout their motherhood experience.

VR works by engaging all four systems of learning in the brain:

VR has already been proven as a highly effective tool for patient education, pain management and mental health and wellness, but we believe we have just scratched the surface of the value it can have in healthcare and on patients lives and experiences, said Pete Buecker, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of BehaVR. BehaVR is excited to partner with Hoag to bring NurtureVR to women as they journey through pregnancy and into early motherhood, and we look forward to exploring how this technology can continue to be expanded and refined to support new moms and their babies.

The NurtureVR experience can be customized and individualized for each woman, allowing expectant mothers to experience different environments, sounds and visuals, based on their preferences and input. The individual journey is continuously refined and personalized with BehaVRs Dynamic Experience Engine. This includes everything from a mothers and babys skin tones, to the landscapes a woman sees, to the way a woman chooses to hold her baby while breastfeeding.

We believe that VR is going to become standard for maternal education, pain management related to pregnancy, emotional health and support for the coming generation of parents, and we are pleased to be on the leading edge of this trend, said Dr. Brooks. We recognize that healthy moms lead to healthy babies, and VR is an exciting new tool to help get us there. I envision mothers developing a relationship with the VR experience that allows them to feel better about themselves, to reduce feelings of angst and confusion and to remind them to take care of themselves.

About Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Hoag is a nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients and 480,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010 in addition to nine health centers and 13 urgent care centers. Hoag has invested $261 million in programs and services to support the underserved community within the past five years, including areas like mental health, homelessness, transportation for seniors, education, and support for single mothers. Hoag is a designated Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, womens health, and orthopedics through Hoags affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and four ambulatory surgical centers. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the 2019 2020 U.S. News & World Report. For an unprecedented 23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the countys best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit http://www.hoag.org for more information.

About BehaVR

BehaVR is advancing health care access and delivery and improving patient outcomes and experiences through the pioneering use of virtual reality (VR), cloud computing, and machine learning. Founded by leading clinicians, healthcare veterans and technology innovators, BehaVR has a proprietary technology platform that enables a personalized and progressive treatment approach grounded in decades of neuroscience research and designed to educate, motivate, and activate individuals to make long-term, sustained improvements to their health. For more information, visit http://www.behavr.com.

Contacts

Kerri Guyton

615 610 0322

kerri.guyton@finnpartners.com

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Hoag and BehaVR Partner to Launch First-of-its-Kind Virtual Reality Program for Expectant Moms - Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain...

Neuroscience

Plans upended by pandemic, a professor and three students find each other – Yale News

In March, Yale political scientist Elizabeth Nugent was about to start a post-election survey in Tunisia to better understand the effects of repression on political partisanship following a revolution. COVID-19 upended those plans.

Nugent, whose work explores the psychology of political behavior in the Middle East, had to shift gears. She postponed the survey and turned her attention to a book project shed been planning about the activists who mobilized uprisings in Egypt and Syria during the Arab Spring of 2011.

In February, shortly before the gravity of the pandemic became clear in the United States, Nugent had travelled to Berlin to do preliminary fieldwork for the book, which will examine the activists lives in exile following the failed revolutions. There she engaged with members of the citys burgeoning community of Syrian and Egyptian expatriates. With further fieldwork suddenly impossible, she revised her approach and hired three summer research assistants to help pursue it. The virus had disrupted their plans also.

They have been an absolute joy to work with and an unexpected high point of the past few months, Nugent said of Nick Wade 21, Sarah Kammourh 22, and Marwan Safar Jalani 20 B.A. They've not only helped me move forward with the new project on activism in exile, but also challenged me to think about the project differently.

The match between Nugent and her assistants represents an example of the creative and productive ways Yale scholars and students are adapting to the constraints of pandemic life.

Wade, a resident of Pauli Murray College majoring in political science with a concentration on the Middle East, had planned on doing a 10-week internship as an investment-banking analyst at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan. Due to the pandemic, the internship was reduced to five weeks and made fully remote. He had taken Nugents seminar Politics of the Contemporary Middle East in the fall of his sophomore year, which piqued his interest in studying Middle East politics. He contacted Nugent to see if she had any research opportunities to fill the gap created by the truncated internship.

The change in plans turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Ive really enjoyed working with Professor Nugent, said Wade, who is pursuing a certificate in advanced language study in Arabic and is studying on campus this semester.

Wades portion of the project has involved scouring government and other databases for information on the migration of Syrians and Egyptians to Germany, the United States, Turkey, and other countries from the late 1950s to the present. He tracked asylum and refugee claims as well as work and student visas. He wrestled with discrepancies in the data, learning that information compiled by the United Nations and other multilateral organizations was often more reliable than government records, he said.

Kammourh and Safar Jalani tackled a different aspect of the project. Nugent assigned Kammourh, who is Egyptian American, to analyze novels and memoirs in English and Arabic that address Egypts 2011 revolution and its aftermath. Safar Jalani, who was born in Damascus, Syria and left the country in 2012 during the civil war, was assigned to study memoirs and novels about the Syrian conflict. Both students are identifying how the books address revolution, the subsequent transition period from protest to war in Syria and the collapse of the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the aftermath of the defeat.

They are highlighting the personal experience how authors describe the feelings of euphoria, disappointment, betrayal, and astonishment, Nugent said. Trying to put people into the shoes of revolutionaries as events unfolded is a worthwhile exercise.

Kammourh, a neuroscience major, had planned on staying in New Haven to work as an undergraduate research assistant in a neuropsychiatry lab at Yale School of Medicine, but the temporary closure of many university research labs due to the pandemic thwarted that plan. Determined to find a meaningful summer job, Kammourh browsed the student employment listings and discovered Nugents research opportunity, which combined her interests in mental health and Egyptian politics.

I have always been interested in the mental health and psychiatric services available to people in Egypt, especially after the 2011 revolution, said Kammourh, who also is pursuing a certificate in advanced language study in Arabic and studying remotely this fall. I saw this project as an opportunity to explore the mental health of Egyptian activists who experienced the aftermath of a revolution by reading their memoirs, novels, and interviews.

Safar Jalani the first Yale student from Syria to earn a Rhodes Scholarship had planned to be a counselor in the Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) program during the first half of the summer, followed by travel in Europe during which hed make presentations to Syrian refugee populations about how to apply to his high school, the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

When those plans fell through, he connected with Nugent through Andrea Aldrich, a lecturer in the political science department who had advised him on his senior thesis, which compared post-conflict inter-ethnic initiatives in two cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mostar and Brko. Nugents project dovetailed nicely with own research interests, said Safar Jalani, who served as president of the Yale Refugee Project and worked as an undergraduate for Human Rights Watch in New York.

Professor Nugents emphasis on memoirs and non-fiction narratives allows me to hear what Syrians have to say about their revolution, about the new world that they live in, inside or outside Syria, about the new reality that the world and the government have placed all of us in, he said.

Safar Jalanis lived experience and background in human rights scholarship, and Kammourhs interest in neuroscience brought valuable perspectives to the project, Nugent said.

The ideas they pick up on have challenged me to think about which direction to take the project, she said. How much should I incorporate psychology? How far should I go in placing this into a human rights context? Meanwhile, Nick has been very helpful in understanding what constitutes a valid source. Is every statistic equally worthy? Which sources are the most reliable?

The ideas they pick up on have challenged me to think about which direction to take the project.

Elizabeth Nugent

The reading has helped Kammourh to better understand the struggles Egyptians have faced in the revolutions aftermath, such as addiction, unemployment, and mental-health problems, she said.

The topic hits very close to home, as members of my family in Egypt encounter these tribulations, she said. However, the hope of this project is to finally document these narratives and hopefully integrate them into the theories of political science surrounding revolutions.

Overall, though, I learned that there is a lot more hope in the future of Egyptian politics than we feel there is, she added. Though some people have completely abandoned activism, others are now mobilizing on issues affecting Egyptians, womens groups, and queer communities. Even when their continued efforts garner very little media attention and are met by severe violence, their hope for a better Egypt keeps them fighting and organizing.

Safar Jalani, who will pursue a Masters of Philosophy degree in comparative government at Oxford, said the reading taught him how peoples experiences in the Syrian war differed depending on where in the country they lived.

I lived in Damascus, and only witnessed the conflict when it was a war between the government and the Free Syrian Army, he said. But the authors of the books I am reading come from Raqqa, Hama, Daraa, and Idlib. Their opinions are shaped by their social and political circumstances. The perspective of the author from Raqqa, naturally, was affected by the terrifying experiences he went through under ISIS, while narrators from other cities did not live under ISIS, and therefore did not write as much about it.

One specific text that stood out to him, the Rhodes Scholar said, is The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy by Syrian scholar and writer Yassin Al-Haj Saleh.

He weaves together his own experiences with philosophical and political explanations of what happened on the ground in Syria during the conflict, Safar Jalani said. Through political philosophy, he explains Islamism, sectarianism, war, dictatorship, and nihilism in a way that relates to the everyday experiences of Syrians living the conflict.

While Safar Jalani plans to begin the next chapter of his academic career at Oxford this fall, Wade and Kammourh both plan to keep working with Nugent this semester. Wade will continue to build the immigration while Nugent and Kammourh will be analyzing existing public opinion datasets measuring drug use and addiction, mental health, and political behavior.

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Plans upended by pandemic, a professor and three students find each other - Yale News

Cell Biology

The Road To Scale: Challenges Facing the Implementation of Animal-Free Recombinant Proteins Into Stem Cell Supply Chains – Technology Networks

Most industries today are under pressure to switch to more ethical and sustainable animal-free alternatives, and now the trend is coming to stem cell labs. As stem cell applications accelerate towards the clinic, novel drug discovery platforms are rapidly scaled, and new transformative stem cell-based technologies such as cultured meat arise, there is a drive to switch to animal-free cell culture media. This move is essential to facilitate future regulatory approval for advanced therapies, and enable pharma and biotech companies to ethically, reproducibly and cost-effectively scale stem cell-based innovations.Most stem cell scientists today use recombinant growth factor and cytokine proteins in their chemically-defined media to supply their cultures with the necessary biological signals required for maintenance of pluripotency, cell proliferation and differentiation into specific cell lineages. However, the fundamental biochemistry and manufacturing processes of these protein messengers can often be overlooked. But as scientists are trying to establish new animal-free systems to support the scale-up of their stem cell applications, the properties and challenges inherent in these proteins are becoming more prominent and frankly a headache for many.

Highlighted here are three key challenges facing pharma and biotech companies as they embark on the path to implementing animal-free systems, from the perspective of two protein scientists.1.Why batch consistency is kingAs stem cell therapies gear up to make the leap from bench to clinic and the promise of stem cell biology in drug discovery and other industrial applications is realized, more subtle and still largely inexplicable challenges in optimizing growth factor and cytokine supply chains for defined media are being identified why when you change from one supplier or even batch of a recombinant protein do stem cells need weaning onto that protein, or dont tolerate the change? Is this a fundamental lack of batch consistency across the supply chain or is there an underlying biological basis?

At the minute, there is simply not enough data to answer this definitively. While we are starting to tease apart these questions, it highlights the need for greater innovation within the recombinant protein supply chain to bring best practice and innovation from other areas to improve the robustness of the global supply chain and encourage great openness and scrutiny of fundamental biochemical quality early in process development.

Questions we should ask include: are we seeing heterogeneity in post-translational modifications, which is well documented in monoclonal antibody manufacturing? Can synthetic biology or protein engineering be used to optimize proteins and engineer out features contributing to this variation?

For now, and until we have answers, its a good idea to source proteins from reputable suppliers that have rigorous standards for batch quality testing and meticulously scrutinize all biochemical and bioactivity data provided.2.Cost of goods as a barrier to scaleTo bring innovative stem cell applications to market, pharma and biotech companies need to be able to seamlessly scale their cultures, meet regulatory requirements and achieve a sensible and sustainable process cost. Where recombinant proteins are needed in cell culture media, they are usually the greatest contributor to cost of goods.

Well-defined industry challenges catalyze change and the stem cell field is seeing renewed focus on much needed innovation in complex bioactive protein production to meet the needs for animal-free, highly reproducible proteins. Protein engineering technology, enhanced cell-based and cell-free expression systems, such as bacteria, yeast and even plants, coupled with improvements to downstream processing systems are just some of the latest innovations in this space. Previously, there have been concerns over the ability of simpler systems to form correctly folded and bioactive recombinant proteins. However, it is clear that many of these barriers can be overcome to produce highly pure growth factors and cytokines at scale.Others are striping back chemically-defined media protocols to determine the essential growth factors and cytokines needed for their cell type. For example, homebrews of key growth factors to reduce costs - Paul Burridge and his team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have pioneered a cost-effective B8 chemically-defined media for weekend-free hiPSC culture at just 3% of the price of commercially available media. Now the challenge is to take the learnings from academic studies such as these and translate them into industrial processes.Meating the price of lab-grown steaksYou cannot discuss the cost of growth factors without mentioning the daunting step-change and barrier facing the fast-evolving cultured meat market. Here, highly optimized animal-free growth factor production systems will be required to provide the economies of scale needed to deliver kilogram-ton quantities at a fraction of the price in order to bring these lab-grown meat alternatives to consumers. After all, it just isnt viable for companies to be spending hundreds of dollars on each liter of culture media - instead, this needs to be reduced to ~$1/liter.3.Animal-free or ADCF? Now that is the questionDespite animal-free/animal-derived component free (ADCF) growth factors and cytokines becoming increasing important, there are no standard definitions for these terms across the industry, with many protein manufacturers supporting the sector by defining their own internal standards. For the clinical space, the United States Pharmacopeia and International Organization for Standardization have published a framework for classifying raw materials used in cell therapy manufactureinto four different tiers based on their risk. Under this classification, ancillary materials used in the manufacture of cell-based therapies and tissue-engineered products, such as recombinant growth factors and cytokines, are considered low risk so fall into tiers 1 and 2 with an ADCF level of manufacturing defined as all components, sub-components and consumables do not contain materials derived from animals.To support the wider sector, not just those at the transition to the clinic, clarity over definitions and transparency from manufacturers will help to define and overcome the challenges faced and allow the promise of stem-cell derived innovations to be delivered.

Article Authors:

Beata Blaszczyk, Senior Scientist, Qkine

Dr Catherine Elton, CEO and Founder, Qkine

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The Road To Scale: Challenges Facing the Implementation of Animal-Free Recombinant Proteins Into Stem Cell Supply Chains - Technology Networks

Cell Biology

New type of taste cell discovered in mice – University at Buffalo Reporter

Some taste cells are multitaskers that can detect bitter, sweet, umami and sour stimuli, a new study finds.

The research challenges conventional notions of how taste works. In the past, it was thought that taste cells were highly selective, capable of discerning only one or two types of the five basic stimuli only sweet, for instance, or only salty and sour. Though many cells are indeed specialists, the discovery of a subset of cells that can respond to up to four different tastes suggests that taste science is more complex than previously thought.

The study was published on Aug. 13 in the journal PLOS Genetics. The research was done on mice, which have a very similar taste system to humans, says Kathryn Medler, associate professor of biological sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, who led the study with first author Debarghya Dutta Banik.

This changes the way weve been thinking about how taste cells function and how taste information is collected in a taste bud and sent back to the brain, Medler says. Our data fills in a lot of holes. Other research has suggested that taste cells can be broadly responsive, but we were able to isolate individual taste cells and describe how they work. I cannot definitively state that humans have these broadly responsively taste cells, but based on the high degree of similarity between the mouse and human taste systems, I predict that these cells are very likely present in humans.

It is currently believed that taste cells are very specific about what stimuli they detect. The surprising thing with this new cell population is that individual cells can detect bitter, sweet, umami as well as sour stimuli, says Dutta Banik, a postdoctoral fellow in anatomy, cell biology and physiology in the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dutta Banik did the research while pursuing his doctorate at UB. It was surprising to know that individual taste cells can respond to so many taste qualities.

Taste cells are critical to survival: They help us decide whether a food is a good source of nutrients or a potential poison.

Beyond identifying the multitasking taste cells, the new study describes some of their traits. Scientists showed that the cells detect sour stimuli using one signaling pathway, and sweet, bitter and umami stimuli using a different pathway.

Experiments also showed that when broadly responsive taste cells are silenced, mice have trouble tasting sweet, bitter and umami stimuli. This was the case even when the more selective taste cells those that specialize in detecting individual stimuli remained active, says study co-author Ann-Marie Torregrossa, assistant professor of psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, and associate director of UBs Center for Ingestive Behavior Research.

We did a series of taste tests, says Torregrossa, who led the behavioral aspects of the study. When the animals were missing the function of either the broadly responsive cells or of the traditional taste cells, they responded to sweet, bitter and umami solutions as if they were water. This is very exciting because it suggests they needed both cells to taste the solution normally. When we did the same taste tests with animals that had both cells, they as you would expect licked the sweet solution avidly and avoided the bitter.

This shows that both of these cell populations are important for sending the taste information to the brain, Dutta Banik says.

The groundbreaking findings highlight how much scientists still have to learn about taste, including how taste buds work and send information to the brain.

Compared to other sensory systems, we know surprisingly little about how taste is coded and processed, Torregrossa says. This study identifies a new population of cells that are contributing to normal taste function, which could be a large piece in the puzzle.

The studys co-authors also included Eric D. Benfey, Amy R. Nelson, Zachary C. Ahart, Barrett T. Kemp and Bailey R. Kemp in the Department of Biological Sciences, and Laura E. Martin, Kristen E. Kay and Gregory C. Loney in the Department of Psychology. The research received support from the UB North Campus Imaging Facility, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

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New type of taste cell discovered in mice - University at Buffalo Reporter

Cell Biology

Technologies to Enhance Cell Line Productivity and Expand Antibody-Drug Conjugate Therapeutic Window to be Presented by Catalent Biologics at PEGS -…

Catalent, the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products, today announced that two Catalent Biologics experts will present at the upcoming 16th Annual PEGS Boston Virtual Conference & Expo, taking place between Aug. 31 - September 4, 2020.

SOMERSET, N.J., Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Catalent, the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products, today announced that two Catalent Biologics experts will present at the upcoming 16th Annual PEGS Boston Virtual Conference & Expo, taking place between Aug. 31 September 4, 2020.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 9:45 a.m. EDT, Gregory Bleck, Ph.D., Global Head of R&D, Catalent Biologics, will present "GPEx Boost A Novel Approach for High-Expressing CHO Cell Line Engineering" during the "Optimizing Protein Expression" stream. Dr. Bleck will explain how the next generation of Catalent's GPEx cell line development technology can result in highly specific productivities, titers, and improved cell growth characteristics for most protein products.

Also on Wednesday, at 3:05 p.m. EDT, during the "Engineering Antibody-Drug Conjugates" stream, Robyn Barfield, Ph.D., Group Leader, Catalent Biologics, will discuss Catalent's proprietary SMARTag technology, which uses a simple, robust manufacturing process to generate stable, site-specific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). In her presentation, titled "Novel SMARTag Linkers Enable Better-Tolerated ADCs," Dr. Barfield will discuss how the technology can offer wider therapeutic windows, illustrated through a comparison between Catalent's anti-HER2 RED-106 ADC, and the related drug, T-DM1.

During the virtual event, Dr. Barfield will also present the case study in her presentation as a poster, "A Novel HER2-Targeted Antibody-Drug Conjugate Offers the Possibility of Clinical Dosing at Trastuzumab-Equivalent Exposure Levels."

Dr. Bleck has more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical research and development. He has a bachelor's degree and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and performed postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, working in the areas of gene regulation and expression. At Catalent, Dr. Bleck has transferred his knowledge of gene expression and transgenic systems to the development and continued optimization of retrovector expression systems and development of the proprietary GPEx process.

Dr. Barfield has more than 10 years' experience working in bioconjugation, and joined Catalent Biologics when it acquired Redwood Bioscience in 2014. She has a doctorate in cell and molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a bachelor's degree in genetics and cell biology, from the University of Georgia.

The event's presentations and panel discussions will be available to view on-demand through the conference platform. For more information about the event, please visit biologics.catalent.com/events/pegs-boston/

Catalent, GPEx and SMARTag are registered trademarks of Catalent, Inc. or its affiliates or subsidiaries.

About Catalent Biologics

Catalent Biologics is a global leader in development, manufacturing and analytical services for new biological entities, cell and gene therapies, biosimilars, sterile injectables, and antibody-drug conjugates. With over 20 years of proven expertise, Catalent Biologics has worked with 600+ mAbs and 80+ proteins, produced 13 biopharmaceutical drugs using GPEx cell line development technology, and manufactured 35+ commercially approved products. Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy, a unit of Catalent Biologics, is a full-service partner for adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and CAR-T immunotherapies, with deep experience in viral vector scale-up and production. Catalent recently acquired MaSTherCell, adding expertise in autologous and allogeneic cell therapy development and manufacturing. Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy has produced 100+ cGMP batches across 70+ clinical and commercial programs. For more information, visit biologics.catalent.com

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About Catalent

Catalent is the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products. With over 85 years serving the industry, Catalent has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable global clinical and commercial product supply. Catalent employs over 13,500 people, including over 2,400 scientists and technicians, at more than 40 facilities, and in fiscal year 2019 generated over $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Catalent is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey. For more information, visit http://www.catalent.com

More products. Better treatments. Reliably supplied.

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Technologies to Enhance Cell Line Productivity and Expand Antibody-Drug Conjugate Therapeutic Window to be Presented by Catalent Biologics at PEGS -...

Cell Biology

Yale Researchers Take Stem Cells One Step Closer to Replacing Parathyroid Gland Function – Yale School of Medicine

Yale investigators have developed a multistep process that models the biological instructions to create parathyroid gland cells from pluripotent stem cells, a significant milestone along the path toward helping people who lack the hormones released by parathyroid glands.

In a study published Aug. 18 in the journal Endocrinology with funding from Womens Health Research at Yale, the authors demonstrated a highly reproducible technique for creating a cell that can produce RNA capable of manufacturing parathyroid hormone for people mostly women who suffer from missing or malfunctioning parathyroid glands. RNA serves as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA to produce proteins including hormones, substances secreted into the blood to regulate bodily functions.

This marks the latest development in senior author Dr. Diane Krauses efforts to achieve a cure for a condition known as hypoparathyroidism, in which patients lack parathyroid hormone (PTH), leading to calcium deficiency and many health problems, from painful muscle spasms to heart failure.

A major obstacle for this type of research is demonstrating the ability to reproduce the technique in other laboratories, said Dr. Krause, Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Cell Biology, and Pathology and Associate Director of the Yale Stem Cell Center. We were able to show our protocols success with two different cell types in our lab as well as in the laboratory of our partners at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco provided additional critical assistance.

Women in the United States suffer from thyroid disease at rates up to eight times higher than men. Women develop thyroid cancer at a rate three times higher than men, often requiring the surgical removal of the thyroid gland as well as the smaller, often embedded parathyroid glands responsible for maintaining the bodys calcium levels.

Building on research developed in part by three Womens Health Research at Yale grants, Dr. Krauses team manipulated what are known as pluripotent stem cells through stages of development so that they could eventually produce parathyroid hormone. Pluripotent stem cells are the bodys basic, convertible building blocks that have the potential for becoming any of the bodys specialized cells, such as those that form bone, heart tissue, or, in this case, parathyroid-like cells.

Our success would not have been possible without generous support from Womens Health Research at Yale, Krause said.

Dr. Krause has recently received a two-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to continue this work, including the first-ever single-cell analysis of normal human parathyroid tissue to better guide efforts toward developing parathyroid-like cells that produce functional levels of PTH when injected into the body.

These exciting results are the product of years of careful effort by Dr. Krause and her colleagues in guiding the slow and steady progress of science, said WHRY Director Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D. This is just the latest example of how early investment and dedication continues advancement toward life-changing results.

Other authors on the study include Betty R. Lawton and Courtney E. Gibson of Yale, Corine Martineau and Michael A. Levine of the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, and Julie Ann Sosa and Sanziana Roman of the University of California, San Francisco.

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Yale Researchers Take Stem Cells One Step Closer to Replacing Parathyroid Gland Function - Yale School of Medicine

Cell Biology

Duke-NUS to Join the TriNetX Network – PharmiWeb.com

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke-NUS, the only graduate-entry medical school in Singapore, has joined the TriNetX global research network to increase clinical trial adoption and to facilitate better collaboration with other global healthcare organizations (HCOs). This latest member for TriNetX in Asia will provide the network with access to de-identified data from more than a million patients.

"We are looking forward to exploring the range of capabilities that TriNetX provides," said Prof. Marcus Ong Eng Hock, Senior Consultant and Clinician Scientist at Duke-NUS. "We plan on taking advantage of the multiple use cases the TriNetX platform offers and we are excited by the opportunity to contribute to the growth of global clinical research."

Duke-NUS was established as a landmark collaboration between Duke University School of Medicine and the National University of Singapore (NUS), two world-ranking institutions of higher education. The main objective of the collaboration is to provide innovative education and impactful research to enhance the practice of medicine in Singapore. Duke-NUS has five signature research programs: cancer and stem cell biology, neuroscience and behavioral disorders, emerging infectious diseases, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, and health services and systems research.

"We chose TriNetX to help us further our mission because of their well-established network, their user-friendly technology, and their strong support of their academic partners," said Prof. Marcus Ong Eng Hock.

"We are extremely pleased to have Duke-NUS partner with TriNetX," said Steve Lethbridge, Senior Vice President of Global Healthcare Partnerships at TriNetX. "Their vision and values are closely aligned to ours and they add another impressive healthcare organization in Asia and a further expansion of our global network."

TriNetX is the global health research network enabling HCOs, pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations (CROs) to collaborate, enhance trial design, improve site selection and planning, and bring new therapies to market faster. Each member of TriNetX shares in the consolidated value of its global, federated health research network that connects clinical researchers in real-time to the patient populations which they are attempting to study.

TriNetX offers the fastest growing collaborative research network representing over 150 healthcare organizations and health data partners, spanning 29 countries. TriNetX has presented over 7,000 clinical trial opportunities to its HCO members and has been cited in more than 200 publications.

About Duke-NUS Medical SchoolDuke-NUS is Singapore's flagship graduate-entry medical school, established in 2005 with a strategic, government-led partnership between two world-class institutions: Duke University School of Medicine and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Through an innovative curriculum, students at Duke-NUS are nurtured to become multi-faceted 'Clinicians Plus' poised to steer the healthcare and biomedical ecosystem in Singapore and beyond. A leader in ground-breaking research and translational innovation, Duke-NUS has gained international renown through its five signature research programs and nine centres. The enduring impact of its discoveries is amplified by its successful Academic Medicine partnership with Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), Singapore's largest healthcare group. This strategic alliance has spawned 15 Academic Clinical Programs, which harness multi-disciplinary research and education to transform medicine and improve lives.

For more information, please visit http://www.duke-nus.edu.sg.

About TriNetX TriNetX is the global health research network that connects the world of drug discovery and development from pharmaceutical company to study site, and investigator to patient by sharing real-world data to make clinical and observational research easier and more efficient. TriNetX combines real time access to longitudinal clinical data with state-of-the-art analytics to optimize protocol design and feasibility, site selection, patient recruitment, and enable discoveries through the generation of real-world evidence. The TriNetX platform is HIPAA and GDPR compliant. For more information,visitTriNetX atwww.trinetx.comor follow@TriNetXon Twitter.

Media Contacts

Duke-NUSFederico Graciano(65) 6601 3272f.graciano@duke-nus.edu.sg

TriNetXJennifer Haas(857) 285-6052Jennifer.haas@trinetx.com

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Duke-NUS to Join the TriNetX Network - PharmiWeb.com

Cell Biology

Canada Foundation for Innovation invests $9.3M in McGill highly-specialized research infrastructures – Science Business

Thirty-eight McGill research projects have received federal grants through the CFI's John R. Evans Leaders Fund, which will provide them with state-of-the art research infrastructure needed to foster innovation.

The Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) recently announced their funding investment of more than $96 million to support 377 new research infrastructure projects at 55 institutions from coast to coast. The CFI also announced the funding of projects through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) in partnership with the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) Program, investing $4.6 million in 21 Chairs at 16 institutions to provide them with the innovative tools they need to pursue their valuable work.

Thirty-eight McGill research projects have received a combined total of $9.3M in federal grants through this round of JELF. The fund helps universities attract top talent in diverse fields of research by providing them with the highly specialized research infrastructure they need to be leaders in their field. The recipients will also receive matching funds from the Quebec government for their research endeavours.

ProfessorsJrg Hermann FritzandCorinne Mauriceof the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, andBastien Castagnerof the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, received $352,778 in JELF funding for their project on harnessing microbiota metabolism for human health benefits. The project will focus on the ill-defined relationship between bacteria in the human gut, metabolism and the immune system. The research will help design new, more effective drugs to treat inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity, asthma and other chronic diseases.

One McGill project received $520,000 in JELF funding, in partnership with the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program. ProfessorStephen Lomberof the Department of Physiology and Canada Research Chair in Brain Plasticity and Development, received $520,000 from the JELF and CRC partnership to establish an internationally recognized laboratory with state-of-the-art facilities for the study of brain plasticity and auditory neuroscience. The laboratory will help researchers understand how the brain processes sound, and how to best design therapeutic strategies for the 300,000 Canadians burdened with profound hearing loss.

McGill CRC-JELF recipient:

Hearing Loss and Restoration LaboratoryProfessorStephen Lomberof the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$520,000 from the CRC-JELF partnership; $520,000 matching provincial funds.

List of McGill JELF recipients:Creation of a Multidisciplinary Sleep Laboratory at the NeuroProfessorsJulien DoyonandBirgit Frauscherof the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, are the principal investigators.$254, 296 from JELF; $254, 296 matching provincial funds.

Harnessing Microbiota Metabolism for Human Health BenefitsProfessorsJrg Hermann FritzandCorinne Mauriceof the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, andBastien Castagnerof the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, are the principal investigators.$352,778 from JELF; $352,778 matching provincial funds.

Multi-scale in Vivo Imaging of Biological SystemsProfessorAbigail Gerholdof the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$271,990 from JELF; $271,990 matching provincial funds.

MAP-PRO: An Electronic Database and Learning Hub for Canadian Early Psychosis ServicesProfessorsSrividya IyerandManuela Ferrariof the Department of Psychiatry, Medicine and Health Sciences, are the principal investigators.$80,000 from JELF; $80,000 matching provincial funds.

McGill Soil Biogeochemistry and Ecology LaboratoryProfessorCynthia Kallenbachof the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the principal investigator.$150,000 from JELF; $150,000 matching provincial funds.

Subsurface Hydrogeochemistry and Fluid FlowProfessorMary Kangof the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$475,360 from JELF; $475,360 matching provincial funds.

Combined Microreactor Mass Spectrometry Infrastructure for Catalyst CharacterizationProfessorJan Kopyscinskiof the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$120,000 from JELF; $120,000 matching provincial funds.

Fast Scalable Deep Learning for Sensitive Big Data in Healthcare and Social ContextsProfessorsYue Li,William HamiltonandReihaneh Rabbanyof the School of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, are the principal investigators.$120,000 from JELF; $120,000 matching provincial funds.

Click Chemistry for Precision MedicineProfessorNathan Luedtkeof the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$285,000 from JELF; $285,000 matching provincial funds.

Conformational Dynamics of Complex Proteins in Health and DiseasesProfessorGergely Lukacsof the Department of Physiology, ProfessorKalle Gehringof the Department of Biochemistry, andJean-Francois Trempeof the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, are the principal investigators.$592,636 from JELF; $592,636 matching provincial funds.

Antagonistic Inter-bacterial InteractionsProfessorJennifer Ronholmof the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the principal investigator.$143,180 from JELF; $143,180 matching provincial funds.

Blood-based Biomarkers for Ageing-related Brain DiseasesProfessorsPedro Rosa-Netoof the Department of Psychiatry,Gerhard Multhaupof the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, andAngela Gengeof the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, are the principal investigators.$417,175 from JELF; $417,175 matching provincial funds.

Infrastructure for Advanced Arctic and Urban Climate Modelling in Support of Climate-resilient Engineering SystemsProfessorLaxmi Sushamaof the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$135,180 from JELF; $135,180 matching provincial funds.

CoDEx: Computational Design ExploratoryProfessorTheodora Vardouliof the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$78,807 from JELF; $78,807 matching provincial funds.

Metabolism of Stress-regulated Genes in Health and Disease using Single Molecule ImagingProfessorMaria Vera Ugaldeof the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, is the principal investigator.$200,000 from JELF; $200,000 matching provincial funds.

Drivers of Breast Cancer Progression Identified within Arm-level Somatic Copy Number AlterationsProfessorLogan Walshof the Department of Human Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$109,179 from JELF; $109,179 matching provincial funds.

Development of Biodegradable Functional Materials from Low-value Biomass for Food and Agricultural ApplicationsProfessorYixiang Wangof the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the principal investigator.$121,500 from JELF; $121,500 matching provincial funds.

The Role of Lipoma Preferred Partner (LPP) in Regulating Breast Cancer ProgressionProfessorsClaire Brownof the Department of Physiology andPeter Siegelof the Departments of Medicine, Biochemistry, and Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, are the principal investigators.$744,304 from JELF; $744,304 matching provincial funds.

Muscle Stem Cell Biology in Health and DiseaseProfessorNatasha Changof the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$149,582 from JELF; $149,582 matching provincial funds.

NIR Imaging Platform for Biophotonic Technologies Relying on New Dormant Sensors/SensitizersProfessorGonzalo Cosaof the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$172,875 from JELF; $172,875 matching provincial funds.

A Path to Anti-aging DrugsProfessorSiegfried Hekimiof the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$179,196 from JELF; $179,196 matching provincial funds.

Markers to Market: A Platform to Translate Quantitative Genomics Data into Field-ready, Value-added Commodity CultivarsProfessorValerio Hoyos-Villegasof the Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the principal investigator.$152,062 from JELF; $152,062 matching provincial funds.

Mechanism and Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders Associated with Copy Number VariantsProfessorWei-Hsiang Huangof the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$169,634 from JELF; $169,634 matching provincial funds.

Development of Strategies to Better Understand and Control the Long-term Side Effects of RadiotherapyProfessorJohn Kildeaof the Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$87,579 from JELF; $87,579 matching provincial funds.

4D Immersive Scene Capture and ProcessingProfessorDerek Nowrouzezahraiof the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$78,020 from JELF; $78,020 matching provincial funds.

Mapping Dopamine Circuits in the Healthy and Diseased BrainProfessorJean-Francois Poulinof the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$294,592 from JELF; $294,592 matching provincial funds.

UHPLC-MS to Develop Technologies to Control the Presence and Fate of Contaminants in Natural & Engineered Water SystemsProfessorViviane Yargeauof the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$406,300 from JELF; $406,300 matching provincial funds.

Integrated Facility for Research on Large Animals SpeciesProfessorsVilceu Bordignonof the Department of Animal Science andLuis B Agellon, of the Department of School of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, are the principal investigators.$800,000 from JELF; $800,000 matching provincial funds.

Exercise and Nutrition to Support Skeletal Muscle Heath Across the LifespanProfessorTyler Churchward-Venneof the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, is the principal investigators.$344,957 from JELF; $344,957 matching provincial funds.

Neuroecology of Spatial Behaviour LabProfessorMlanie Guiguenoof the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$165,000 from JELF; $165,000 matching provincial funds.

Biotechnological Production of High-value CompoundsProfessorCodruta Igneaof the Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$140,000 from JELF; $140,000 matching provincial funds.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Electrochemical Energy Storage DevicesProfessorEmmeline Kaoof the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$260,101 from JELF; $260,101 matching provincial funds.

High Throughput Monitoring of Cell Metabolism using a Modernized Tissue Culture FacilityProfessorRyan Maillouxof the School of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the principal investigator.$234,500 from JELF; $234,500 matching provincial funds.

Anishinaabe Stories DatabaseProfessorAaron Millsof the Faculty of Law, is the principal investigator.$46,961 from JELF; $46,961 matching provincial funds.

New Computational Techniques for Modeling of Disordered Molecular Systems for Applications in Nano- and Bio- engineeringProfessorYelena Simineof the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, is the principal investigator.$80,000 from JELF; $80,000 matching provincial funds.

Circulating Immune Cells and Interactions in the Nervous SystemProfessorJo Anne Strattonof the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, is the principal investigator.$141,863 from JELF; $141,863 matching provincial funds.

Heat Transfer in Thermal Energy TechnologiesProfessorMlanie Ttreault-Friendof the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, is the principal investigator.$233,308 from JELF; $233,308 matching provincial funds.

Read CFIs official press release.

This article was first published on 25 August by McGill University.

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Canada Foundation for Innovation invests $9.3M in McGill highly-specialized research infrastructures - Science Business

Cell Biology

Cytovia Therapeutics and NYSCF Announce Filing of Provisional Patent for iPSC-Derived NK Cells to Produce Unlimited On-Demand NK and CAR-NK Cells for…

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cytovia Therapeutics, an emerging biopharmaceutical company and the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research institute today announced the filing of a provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) for the differentiation of Natural Killer (NK) cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The NYSCF Research Institute is a pioneer and acknowledged leader in stem cell technology, having developed the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array, the premier automated robotic platform for reprogramming skin or blood into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiating them into disease-relevant cell types.

Cytovia and NYSCF are also collaborating on the process development of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) of iPSC NK and CAR-NK cells with the potential to file additional patents on the engineering, expansion and GMP manufacturing processes of iPSC NK cells to treat cancer.

Dr. Daniel Teper, CEO of Cytovia commented, This first patent application filing on iPSC-NK cells is an important milestone for Cytovia, positioning us as a pioneer in this emerging field. The use of iPSC-NK cells constitutes a transformational approach to cancer treatment, enabling the use of precision cell therapy for many patients. Cytovia plans to initiate first clinical trials with iPSC NK-cells in 2021.

Susan L Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of NYSCF added, We are delighted by the progress made by the NYSCF and Cytovia team in the differentiation and expansion of NK cells from an iPSC source. These iPSC-NK cells can be genetically modified to create iPSC-CAR-NK cells. In the coming months, the collaboration will focus on developing a standardized GMP process to support Cytovias iPSC-NK and iPSC-CAR NK therapeutic candidates for cancer.

ABOUT CAR NK CELL THERAPYChimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR) are fusion proteins that combine an extracellular antigen recognition domain with an intracellular co-stimulatory signaling domain. Natural Killer (NK) cells are modified genetically to allow insertion of a CAR. CAR-NK cell therapy has demonstrated initial clinical relevance without the limitations of CAR-T, such as Cytokine Release Syndrome, neurotoxicity or Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD). Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC) - derived CAR-NKs are naturally allogeneic, available off-the-shelf and may be able to be administered on an outpatient basis. Recent innovative developments with the iPSC, an innovative technology, allow large quantities of homogeneous genetically modified CAR NK cells to be produced from a master cell bank, and thus hold promise to expand access of cell therapy for many patients.

ABOUTTHE NEW YORK STEM CELL FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute is an independent non-profit organization accelerating cures and better treatments for patients through stem cell research. The NYSCF global community includes over 190 researchers at leading institutions worldwide, including the NYSCF Druckenmiller Fellows, the NYSCF Robertson Investigators, the NYSCF Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipients, and NYSCF Research Institute scientists and engineers. The NYSCF Research Institute is an acknowledged world leader in stem cell research and in the development of pioneering stem cell technologies, including the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array, which is used to create cell lines for laboratories around the globe. In 2019, NYSCF launched the Womens Reproductive Cancers Initiative, which aims to shift paradigms in the way these cancers are studied and treated, in collaboration with leading cancer experts across the globe. NYSCF focuses on translational research in an accelerator model designed to overcome barriers that slow discovery and replace silos with collaboration. For more information, visitwww.nyscf.org

ABOUT CYTOVIA THERAPEUTICS, INCCytovia Therapeutics Inc is an emerging biotechnology company that aims to accelerate patient access to transformational immunotherapies, addressing several of the most challenging unmet medical needs in cancer and severe acute infectious diseases. Cytovia focuses on Natural Killer (NK) cell biology and is leveraging multiple advanced patented technologies, including an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform for CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptors) NK cell therapy, next-generation precision gene-editing to enhance targeting of NK cells, and NK engager multi-functional antibodies. Our initial product portfolio focuses on both hematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma and solid tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma. The company partners with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and CytoImmune Therapeutics. Learn more atwww.cytoviatx.com

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Cell Biology

Discover: Is intermittent fasting the weight-loss cure people think it is? – Sudbury.com

The jurys still deliberating on that question, but the more we study intermittent fasting, the more we learn it doesnt just impact weight

The word fact has been more than a little abused in recent history, but for those who respect the power of the fact, their consistency and dependability can be a balm, a warm hug of stiff impenetrability, a wall against those who would attack you.

Or, they can sit on your chest like a gorilla.

These weight loss facts are the latter. Terribly sorry to have to do this to you, gentle readers, but we better just rip the Band-Aid off. If it helps, these come directly from Jeffrey Gagnon, associate professor and chair of the Biology Department at Laurentian University, whose field of study is medical endocrinology (during an interview that was followed directly by the interviewer taking a very long, very brisk walk).

That is to say that successful weight-loss mechanisms, diets really, are measured not by the amount of weight a person loses, but by how long they lose it for. If you are able to maintain that weight loss, it is sustainable for you, then that is a successful diet. What Gagnons quote reveals is that if you are 200 pounds and you lose 20 per cent (or 40 pounds) you are now 160 pounds. If, in five years, you weigh 190 pounds (ten pounds from your old weight, but still five per cent below) you are considered a great weight loss success story.

And of course, many people have stories about neighbours and friends who have lost weight and kept it off because there are always outliers but that could be more about the stories we choose to tell, versus the ones we do not. A classic case of remembering the hits and forgetting the misses.

So now is talk of another diet, one known as intermittent fasting (IF). With all the above caveats in place, it is time to talk about scientific studies, weight loss, glucose metabolism, and how stressful eating can be.

Intermittent fasting is a form of calorie restriction, but instead of a daily reduction in calories as in, you move from eating 2,000 calories per day to 1,500 per day this is a restriction in the time of each day, or each week, that you consume calories. It is a calorie-restricted diet in that you are limiting the hours in which you consume calories.

There are many fasting schedules you can try, but here are the four main ones: 1. Alternate day fasting (consuming no calories whatsoever, every other day, then eating as usual on the non-fasting days); 2. A modification of this wherein participants consume calories on the usual fasting days, but less than 25 per cent of what they normally would; 3. Time-restricted fasting (restricting calories intake to specific times during the day), and; 4. Periodic fasting, a fasting that takes place for one or two days at the participants discretion, often an occasional fast, or a weekly personalised version like five days of eating, two days of fasting.

Time-restricted fasting appears to be the most achievable, and most popular, type of fasting schedule. That said, according to a small and short-term study, there is not really a statistically superior fasting schedule.

And now, to the nitty gritty. While IF is still somewhat new in research circles, it has come to a point that a meta-analysis, published by the open access journal, the Journal of Clinical Medicine, has been created. A study or studies, if you will.

The meta-analysis examined the studies available on intermittent fasting on individuals who had no chronic diseases affecting glucose metabolism (like diabetes) and applied rigorous analysis to the quality of the studies performed so much so that out of the 2,814 studies they found in their search, only 12 studies made the cut.

As well, they add the additional issues that crop up with such studies: dietary studies are notoriously difficult to conduct, with the reliance on self-reporting and adherence to study from participants and often small groups of people over short periods. In fact, the current crop of studies only extended as far as four to 24 weeks.

But even with these challenges, there were remarkable findings. Not so much for weight loss, although there was that, but in the other effects that IF can have on the body.

Yes, studies are showing weight loss while fasting intermittently. Not that much, compared to other diets, and its most likely because participants are consuming fewer calories.

Per the meta-analysis: No significant weight loss was observed in studies that adjusted the fasting time while maintaining total calorie intake. Thus, the main pathophysiologic mechanism of weight loss through an Intermittent Fasting Diet is likely to be a reduction in calories.

As well, this should be considered in addition to the gorilla-sized facts from the beginning of this article.

But the interesting aspects of fasting come from our understanding of the endocrine system (a collection of glands producing hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep and mood), and the stress of consuming calories.

The meta-analysis found that there was an improvement in fasting blood glucose and insulin resistance through IF as compared with a non-fasting control group. To understand why that may be with heavy emphasis on the may we need to understand our stomach, the largest endocrine organ in the body.

The stomach produces our hunger hormone, called ghrelin, and our colon produces most of a hunger-supressing hormone called Glucagon-like Perptide-1 (GLP-1).

Ghrelin is a recent discovery (2000) and is the hormone responsible for your hunger pains, nausea and other you must eat indicators, like hangry.

But unlike sleep, which runs with circadian rhythms, ghrelin begins because that is the time you usually eat. We essentially train our system to tell us when to eat, based on when we ate before. And so, if you dont eat, your body insists upon it, very strongly, with rising levels of ghrelin that can actually be measured in the blood.

When someone restricts their eating periods refusing to listen to the insistent ghrelin, in effect then they can actually begin to blunt its effects, making it slightly easier to fast.

When you do eat, the ghrelin production crashes, and is immediately replaced by GLP-1, an appetite suppressant that shuts off the bodys processes to insist you eat.

Ghrelin was highly researched at first due to its potential for fighting obesity to shut off the hunger hormone. But it didnt work so well (somewhat like those older commercials that mentioned leakage (from a certain area). It is now being pursued as an appetite stimulant for treatment of wasting diseases and cancer.

GLP-1, however, is now a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, and for morbid obesity. And this is perhaps where the influence of intermittent fasting on glucose and insulin could be found. But again, the research is still unclear.

But the stress and no, not just choosing what is for dinner is another avenue of IF worthy of further study as it relates to the oxidization of the body. Free radicals, anyone?

When you ingest calories, particularly fats and energy-dense things like refined sugars and saturated fats, its like throwing a lot of fuel into the furnace, Gagnon said. The wood stove in this metaphor is going to be the mitochondria of your cell from a cell biology background thats like the main furnace in your cells ... thats the thing thats taking all of these fats and carbs and different things and making energy for your body.

To continue the furnace analogy: And so if you jam in a ton of gas-soaked wood, its going to get really, really hot.

This overly-intense mitochondrial stress creates cellular stress, and that cellular stress causes the cells to oxidize. This is the cause of Reactive Oxygen Species: unstable molecules that easily react with other molecules in a cell. Too many of these in cells may cause damage to DNA, RNA, and proteins, and may cause cell death. Reactive oxygen species are perhaps more commonly known as free radicals.

If you reduce that stress with fewer energy-dense (but not necessarily nutrient dense) calories, what happens?

As you reduce oxidative stress in your body from eating, you start to get cell functionality back something like insulin resistance, Gagnon said. Thats a common thing that happens in Type 2 diabetes: you make insulin, but your cells are kind of like yeah, I know its here but I dont really care. Thats partly caused by oxidative stress. So if you take out the stress the reactive oxygen species out of the individual then you might start to get that insulin sensitivity back.

But for all the talk of potential health benefits, fasting isnt easy. It not only requires an overabundance of research, but also requires the faster to overcome a complex wave of redundant systems. Your body wants you to feed it and has multiple mechanism for getting that message across.

If one system in our body fails to stimulate hunger, theres redundancy, Gagnon said. There are many other hormones, there are other pathways that will take over and ensure that you are going to find food, and youre going to drive yourself to go and find food. Even if you block ghrelin, something else is going to pick up the slack.

Additionally, all of modern society, including family and celebratory events and even workplace

schedules, are built around prescribed eating at prescribed times.

But if you are able to overcome the ghrelin and other systems then there could be potential for health benefits in intermittent fasting that extend beyond any short-term weight loss. Do your research, follow the advice of trained professionals, and continue to track the research as it comes available.

But for right now, there isnt much.

There is research, however, into the importance of a holistic approach to the obesity crisis. New

guidelines released by Obesity Canada and the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons advises health care workers that any talk of weight loss needs to focus on root causes, not any pre-conceived notions of fat.

Working with people to understand their context and culture, integrating their root causes, which include biology, genetics, social determinants of health, trauma and mental health issues, are essential to developing personalized plans,said Dr. David Lau, co-lead author of the guidelines and professor at the University of Calgary.

From his point of view, and Gagnons, its about understanding yourself first, and learning to understand your body after.

Get yourself to a place where you feel good; youre healthy, and youre under control, Gagnon said. And if that means you still have a little bit of weight, thats awesome own it. You know that youre healthy, and eventually, the less we stigmatize, maybe society will come around.

And so, once again, the answer to a diet question is: simple, complex, and a good pinch of I dont know.

Jenny Lamothe is a freelance writerand voice actor in Greater Sudbury. Contact her through her website, JennyLamothe.com.

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