Cell Biology

North Quincy High instructor named Mass. Teacher of the Year – The Boston Globe

Cara Pekarcik, 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, stood amid her grateful and applauding students on Tuesday.

QUINCY As students took their seats in the bleachers and the pep band played, it felt like a homecoming rally.

But instead of cheering on the Red Raiders of North Quincy High School, students had gathered to thank their teachers for their hard work and dedication.

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In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day, the 2018 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year was announced here Tuesday. The winner was kept secret, and speculation was running wild. But when Cara Pekarciks name was called, it didnt come as a surprise.

I apologize to anyone I had to lie to over the past few days, said Pekarcik, a biology teacher. Without a doubt, my biggest thanks goes to students here at North Quincy High. There is kindness, respect, and empathy in this group of students.

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Kennex Lam, 17, said science had always been her weakest subject before she took Pekarciks class. At the start, she found cell biology really confusing. But Pekarcik would stay after school to tutor her, Lam said.

She is never one to deny her students help, Lam said.

Before becoming a teacher, Pekarcik had worked as a biologist, and students praised her ability to make biology seem fun and relevant.

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Everyday she makes the class interesting, she just brings it to life, said Maria Zraizaa, 16. She actually cares about people, and you can tell that she cares about what you do. Shes just so passionate about everything.

Talia Viera, 16, said Pekarcik made her look forward to science class, something she didnt think likely.

I used to not like science as much, but now its not one of the classes I go to just to get it over with, she said. I go and I actually enjoy being there. She really makes what we learn interesting.

Elizabeth DiMattio, 17, who took Pekarciks class last year, said she often turned to Pekarcik for guidance.

There was one time I was absolutely freaking out about an essay, she just sat me down and was like You need to calm down. She guided me through it, DiMattio said.

After the assembly, Pekarcik said she was thrilled by the honor. She said she often tells her students they can take an interest in science without being an expert.

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North Quincy High instructor named Mass. Teacher of the Year - The Boston Globe

Cell Biology

Lithium May Protect Nerve Cells After Traumatic Brain Injury – ReliaWire

A drug used to treat bipolar disorder and other forms of depression may help preserve brain function and prevent nerve cells from dying in people with a traumatic brain injury.

Scientists discovered that lithium and rapamycin, a treatment for some forms of cancer, protect nerve cells in the brain and stop the chemical glutamate from sending signals to other cells and creating further brain cell damage.

Many medications now used for those suffering with traumatic brain injury focus on treating the symptoms and stopping the pain instead of protecting any further damage from occurring. We wanted to find a drug that could protect the cells and keep them from dying,

says lead author Bonnie Firestein, professor of cell biology and neuroscience at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in the United States with an estimated 1.7 million people sustaining an injury every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 30 percent of all deaths due to injury are due, in part, to a TBI.

TBI symptoms can include impaired thinking or memory, personality changes, and depression, as well as vision and hearing problems. The CDC reports that every day 153 people in the US die from injuries that include a TBI, with children and older adults at the highest risk.

When a TBI occurs, a violent blow to the head can result in the release of abnormally high concentrations of glutamate, which under normal circumstances is an important chemical for learning and memory. But an overproduction of glutamate, Firestein says, causes toxicity which leads to cell damage and death.

The research shows that when these two FDA-approved medications were added to damaged cell cultures in the laboratory, the glutamate was not able to send messages between nerve cells which stopped cell damage and death.

Further research needs to be done, in animals and humans, to determine if these drugs could help prevent brain damage and nerve cell death in humans after a traumatic brain injury.

The most common traumatic brain injury that people deal with every day is concussion which affects thousands of children each year, Firestein says. Concussions are often hard to diagnose in children because they are not as vocal, which is why it is critical to find drugs that work to prevent long-term damage.

The New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research funded the work.

Image: Dr David Furness, Wellcome Images

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Lithium May Protect Nerve Cells After Traumatic Brain Injury - ReliaWire

Anatomy

Two companies work to demystify surgical procedures and anatomy … – MobiHealthNews

Even the tiniest view of a surgical procedure can be too much for non-medical professionals, but for actual surgeons, more visibility is a real asset. But there is only so much to be seen with the naked eye, so medical navigation technology and mixed reality company Scopis has launched a new tool to give surgeons enhanced visibility when performing spinal surgery.

By merging the capabilities of Microsoft HoloLens with their surgical navigation platform, Berlin, Germany and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Scopis has developed the Holographic Navigation Platform. By donning a pair of the HoloLens glasses, surgeons can see a 3D overlay of the pre-planned positioning of screws, allowing the surgeon to interactively align their instruments with the holographic visualization and find the proper location more quickly. Additionally, surgeons can keep their eye on the operative field, and they can also used gestures to place virtual monitors onto their visual field.

Scopis Holographic Navigation Platform is a universal solution that offers specific advantages for spinal surgeries and can also be applied in the many other areas where the highest levels of precision and speed are critical. In neurosurgery, for example, brain tumors could be located faster and with higher accuracy, Scopis CEO and founder Bartosz Kosmecki, said in a statement. The development of this holographic platform further highlights Scopis leading role in medical mixed and augmented reality.

The holographic platform also seeks to work in the place of fluoroscopy devices, which are used today to determine screw placement positioning but have the negative side effect of radiation exposure to the patients and medical professionals.

In other three-dimensional surgical technology news, Dublin-based 3D4Medical, which makes apps for medical education and fitness, unveiled its new suite of the clinical apps for iPhone and iPad collectively called Compete Consultation. The idea is to facilitate conversation and education between doctors and their patients on a range of areas including orthopedics, cardiology, internal medicine and trauma.

Previously, the company launched a version of the app in 2013, but only to the largest and most familiar hospital chains in the United States. Now, orthopedic surgeons and clinics around the world will have access, and the app is free to the general public.

With 3D technology and animations, Complete Consultation is intended to help healthcare professionals more thoroughly educate their patients, allowing them to give visual pointers on anatomy of the part of the body in question, potential pathologies and treatments (including step-by-step animations).

Maurice Neligan, director of Orthopedic Surgery at Irelands Beacon Hospital and associate clinical professor at University College Dublin School of Medicine, pointed to the technology as a significant advancement in engaging patients.

It dispenses with the need for plastic models and scribbled diagrams, replacing them with top-quality illustrations, animations, and information that are personalized to the patients pathology and treatment, Neligan said in a statement. It is well-known that better-engaged patients have better outcomes and the information generated from patient engagement with Complete Ortho allows a more robust consent process for treatment, lowering the risk of malpractice litigation and the process can be seamlessly incorporated into existing practice models with little or no increase in consultation time.

We last heard from 3D4Medical in mid-2015, when the company raised $16.4 million. 3D4Medical's flagship app, calledEssential Anatomy, is a medical reference application that displays male and female models with 11 systems and8,200 anatomical structures. Essential Anatomy also allows medical students to create customized pins with notes that they canplace anywhere on the model, slice through certain structures using a plane tool, create bookmarks, and take interactive quizzes. The company is also an Apple Mobility Partner, and in 2012, AppleCEO Tim Cookhighlighted3D4Medicalina video playedatWorld Wide Developers Conference that showeda few apps that had made an impact in peoples lives. 3D4Medicaloriginally started off as a medical stock image company, but when the iPad came outthe company started to offer educational content.

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Two companies work to demystify surgical procedures and anatomy ... - MobiHealthNews

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Finale Has ‘Amazing Cliffhanger’ Before ‘Spectacular’ Season 14 – Moviefone

The "Grey's Anatomy" Season 13 finale will be "very on fire." Literally? We'll see.

Episode 24, "Ring of Fire" (hint, hint?) airs Thursday, May 18 with this synopsis: "The doctors' lives are at risk after a dangerous patient escapes the hospital room. Alex must make a hard choice in his relationship with Jo while Meredith has some big news for Nathan that brings things to a turning point."

Executive producer Debbie Allen (Catherine Avery) directed the finale, and she told Entertainment Weekly, "There's actually two events going on at the same time that are pretty big that affect the entire hospital community. You should be worried. There's cause for worry. There's an amazing cliffhanger that will have everybody thinking, 'Wow, where is this going?!'" She added that they'll "plant more seeds that fuel the fire for what is going to happen next season."

Allen added, in a separate EW interview, "I think Season 14 is going to be spectacular. We're planting some seeds that you won't see coming, but you will be waiting to see how it's all going to play out." Show creator Shonda Rhimes is the one who teased, to EW, "Debbie Allen and I like to say that the episode is on fire. That's the only way we're going to describe it. It's a pretty exciting episode that's very on fire."

Kelly McCreary (Maggie Pierce) previously teased the "event" of the finale, telling EW, "It's a great big event that will keep everyone on the edge of their seats. It really is shocking. There were so many gasps of horror and surprise at the table read. It was delicious. It was just so much fun." A while back, Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt) told TVLine the finale would be "pretty dramatic and pretty intense. It's pretty dark and very good."

We're excited to see the cliffhangers, and what they mean for Season 14, but it's the relationship stuff with Mer, Riggs, and Jolex that really has us curious.

Before we get to the finale, we have one more episode to get through, "True Colors," which airs May 11 with this synopsis: "The doctors of Grey Sloan encounter a difficult case involving a dangerous patient. Meanwhile, Owen receives life-changing news that pushes Amelia to step up to support him, and Alex attends a medical conference after making a shocking discovery."

Jo's hubby, comin' in hot? Hmm..."Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Finale Has 'Amazing Cliffhanger' Before 'Spectacular' Season 14 - Moviefone

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 13 Episode 23 Promo: Stephanie Takes a Fatal Fall? – Wetpaint

Credit: Richard Cartwright/ABC 2017 Disney | ABC Television Group. All rights reserved.

Greys Anatomy Season 13 has been writing Stephanie Edwards off the show for ten episodes now, but perhaps the end of her storyline will take a violent turn.

A new promo suggests Steph will be going out not with a whimper but with a splat.

Stephanie has become increasingly disillusioned with surgery, and now shes even suspended from the OR, so a career change could be nigh.

But this promo for Season 13 Episode 23 airing this Thursday, May 11 has us worried this doc will actually fall to her death.

In the teaser, we see Stephanie treating her potential murderer, a patient at Grey Sloan Memorial.

Help me, he beseeches her.

Were guessing hes the dangerous patient mentioned by ABCs synopses for both this episode and the May 18 season finale perhaps hes mentally ill.

In the next shot, the man is throwing Stephanie against a wall and pressing a sharp object to her throat.

Next, we see her hurriedly open a door with a keycard. Then, we see her stagger down a flight of stairs in his grasp, followed by a vertiginous shot looking straight down the stairwell.

Above the tense music, we hear a snippet of dialogue. It sounds like shes saying, I cant.

Then comes the scariest shot: The patient is seemingly pushing Stephanie so that shes leaning far out over the stairway railing.

The rest of this promo hypes another major plot twist. At home, Owen answers a knock at the door, and an offscreen male voice asks, Owen Hunt?

Cut to: a shot of Owen sobbing, with Amelia comforting him.

Could we finally be seeing the return of Megan Hunt, Owens sister and Nathans ex? Megan has been missing since their days serving as Army docs together she disappeared on a helicopter trip through unprotected airspace.

If youll recall, Megan discovered Nathan was cheating on her, and Owen encouraged her to board that ill-fated chopper just to get away from Nathan.

Fans have speculated that Megan is due for a reappearance, especially now that Nathan is getting cozy with Meredith. Your new boyfriend finding his ex-girlfriend after years of her being MIA? Thats peak Shondaland, if you ask us.

And we havent even mentioned the first clip of this promo, in which Bailey announces a code orange situation, which often means hazardous materials are at play.

If thehottest Season 13 finale spoilers are any indication, those hazardous materials are of the flammable persuasion

And that would mean Steph and Owen arent the only docs rocked by drama as Season 13 concludes!

Greys Anatomy Season 13 Episode 23 True Colors airs Thursday, May 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Season 13 Episode 23 Promo: Stephanie Takes a Fatal Fall? - Wetpaint

Anatomy

IPOB: The Anatomy Of A Journey Without Map By Churchill Okonkwo – SaharaReporters.com

In a treacherous Nigerian political terrain, embarking on a journey without a map is akin to a ram going to a head-fight without a skull. Even with a map, you still need to know the contours and other geophysical attributes of your domain in order to navigate the challenges you will encounter in the course of the journey. Ndigbo have a saying that, if a child is not well prepared and mature enough to seek what killed his father, what killed his father may kill him, too.

Some of the consequences of embarking on a journey without a map are that your trails will be lined with thorns rather than roses; your vision will be blurred rather than clear, all of which could make your journey endless. In the case of IPOB, the interesting outcome of attempting to navigate the complex Nigerian political terrain without a map was getting stuck, only to be rescued by your uncles you once characterized as saboteurs. The first lesson for IPOB: a newborn child does not throw his father up and a boisterous show does not imply knowledge.

Talking about noise, it is an irony that Nnamdi Kanu, who is meant to be Odimegwu Ojukwureincarnate, landed in the tummy of FKK, who in an attempt to belittle Ndigbo once claimed to have slept with Ojukwus wife. What a journey, what an embarrassment. I hope that by now, my IPOB brothers would have admitted that they were heading in the wrong direction after watching the IPOB leader run into the arms of the Yoruba tribe they characterized as betrayers. Second lesson: during a famine, you will be forced to eat what you earlier said you disliked.

So, what should you do when you realize that you are facing the wrong direction in the course of a journey? Keep wallowing in the wilderness? Turnaround? Ask for direction? I guess the Chinese proverb to know the road ahead, you need to ask those who are coming back, is a good start. Where will IPOB find those that are coming back? In history books, oral and written.

The Pan-Africanist writer and historian, Prof. John Henrik Clarke, wrote that even though history is not everything, it is a starting point. He referred to history as a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. This history, he stated, is a compass we should use to find ourselves on the map of human geography.

Using a compass to navigate your way to a destination is not a dumb luck. It is paying attention to a wonderful tool of science. If the brains behind IPOP had paid attention to the history of Biafran Civil War or the history of the last two independent countries in Africa, Eretria, and South Sudan, they would have realized the folly in a headless ram initiating a head-fight. As such, they should have started by drawing a map, even if it is a sketch.

Without a clear map, one will certainly not know where he or she is. To think that an Independent State of Biafra is in the best interest of Ndigbo in Nigeria is still puzzling to me. To imagine that an independent country could be realized by going to an International Court of no consequence even to countries that obey laws was an illusion. It is also laughable and an act of lazy analysis to compare the EU or Scottish referendum to the realization of Biafra. Without any political backing, therefore, it is a big joke to be calling for a referendum on social media.

Here is a fact: no matter how long one travels in the wrong direction, getting to the right destination will remain elusive. The navigation to any destination should truly begin in the hearts of the voyager. This is the most important map of all. Where is the heart of Ndigbo? If we generate a heat map of Ndigbo, what will be the spread of our data matrix on the map of Nigeria?

If those behind this journey without map had measured the footprint of Ndigbo in Nigeria, they would have realized that the fastest way to get to the top of the mountain is to climb down. Because more than 60% of the heat map of the heartbeat of Ndigbo in Nigeria are outside the domain of the enclave of Igbo states, any map of our domain should be boundless.

IPOB should make a heat map of Ndigbo in Nigeria and distribute it to all their followers and sympathizers. The intent is for them to stare at the spatial distribution of the heartbeat of our brothers and sisters anytime they get that strange feeling of destroying the zoo. By so doing, they will realize that destruction of the zoo is like committing suicide.

The struggle to ensure an equitable Nigeria, essential to the vibrancy of Ndigbo should not be about changing the map of Nigeria. Rather, what is needed is mapping a change of the way we assert ourselves in our domains irrespective of whether it is in Lagos or Kano. My duty is to bring Ndigbo out of this lethargy of always seeing themselves as poor victims that are being trampled by every other tribe in Nigeria. Not everyone is trampling on us. We are champs.

This botched journey should be a lesson that an old woman that provokes a fight but is not pushed to the ground, will provoke again. It is hoped that the voyagers have discovered that Biafra is not and should never be all about them. From here, it is hoped that they will learn to be who they are meant to be in the first place - ordinary mortals with no superior powers. When a black ant bites the buttocks, it learns common sense.

Before IPOB, there was MOSSOB. Like Uwazurike, like Nnamdi Kanu? Time will tell. After this distraction from what the focus of Ndigbo should be in Nigeria, there is currently a pause, a space. In that space lies our freedom to choose how to respond. How should Ndigbo respond? Push for restructuring of Nigeria state? Look inwards and develop the Igbo States? Or Both?

I am happy to hear that Ohaneze will attempt to convince Nnamdi Kanu of the need to push for a restructuring of Nigeria rather than acting like a turtle that geared up beside a river that swallowed an elephant as if it will fly over it. To succeed, however, Ohaneze should let the experience from IPOBs journey without map shape their approach in agitating for restructuring.

As the call for restructuring garner momentum, Ohaneze, just like IPOB, should know that some renegades in the zoo that made the most out of the captivity of Nnamdi Kanu, will be key players. They should know that it will take the cooperation of the dissatisfied ethnic nationalities and different interest groups in Nigeria to make headway with restructuring. As such, Ohaneze should be careful in their actions, not to destroy the bridges that will be crucial in crossing the shark infested rivers of a restructuring. A word is enough for the wise.

In the final analysis, the need to have a map before embarking on any checkered political journey in Nigeria, including restructuring is very crucial. The concept of ebule ji isi eje ogu (A ram goes to fight with its head), without a strategy, even with courage, is outdated and folly.

You can email Churchill at[emailprotected] or follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi.

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IPOB: The Anatomy Of A Journey Without Map By Churchill Okonkwo - SaharaReporters.com

Immunology

Cancer Immunology and Oncolytic Virology: Technologies and Global Markets – PR Newswire (press release)

LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights The global cancer immunotherapy market should reach $96.5 billion by 2021 from $73.0 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7%, from 2016 to 2021. The US region of the global cancer immunotherapy market is the largest market. The market is expected to grow from

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$38.8 billion in 2016 to $50.6 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 5.4% for the period 2016-2021. The Japan region of the global cancer immunotherapy market is expected to grow from $6.4 billion in 2016 to $10.1 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 9.6% for the period 2016-2021.

Goals and Objectives This report, PHM129B Cancer Immunology and Oncolytic Virology: Technologies and Global Markets, provides an overview of the current and potential global market for cancer immunotherapy and oncolytic virology. This report provides information on most clinically significant types of cancers, with supportive information on historical incidence and mortality trends. It underlines the importance of more effective and personalized treatment options for these diseases.

The objective of this report is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current state and the future direction of cancer immunotherapy. Additionally, the report also provides information on the current developments in oncolytic virology and introduces the promising products in clinical trials. The conventional treatment paradigms, trends in each market segment, and clinical trials and outcomes are provided along with sales figures and forecasts for cancer immunotherapy and virotherapy products from 2015 through 2021.

In this report, the critical evaluation of the products and markets is based on extensive primary and secondary research from industry sources. The evaluation takes into account regulatory policies as well as demographic and epidemiological factors that strongly influence the oncology market.

Reasons for Doing This Study The aim of this report is to provide detailed information on the new areas of cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Considering the shortcomings of the current treatment paradigms, immunotherapy has provided ground-breaking improvements in the treatment of different types of cancers. Growing clinical information stresses the importance of immunotherapy in cancer treatment. Immunotherapy addresses the need for more efficacious and flexible treatment strategies for managing the global burden of cancer.

This report focuses on the new and latest types of treatment based on immunology. It also features oncolytic virology, a field that is still in its latency, with budding treatment options that promise clinical value for the treatment and management of cancer.

Intended Audience This report is a comprehensive study of the global market for immunotherapy and oncolytic virology. It includes statistical analysis of industry-oriented information on available and pipeline drugs; discussion of technological trends; and analysis of market landscape and structure in terms of market size, market segments, and geographical market regions.

This report provides crucial information about market growth in cancer immunotherapy and oncolytic virology as indicated for the most common types of cancers. The in-detail analysis and forecasts of the market will be of interest to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as to healthcare providers and clinical and scientific research institutions. Additional audiences may include investment firms in this sector.

Scope of The Study The scope of this report covers current cancer immunotherapy markets for most common cancers. The market segments included in this report are therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (with special focus on checkpoint inhibitors), synthetic interleukins, interferons, and colony-stimulating factors; small kinase inhibitors of cancer-related targets; protective and therapeutic cancer vaccines; and adoptive cell therapies.

This report also covers treatments that are in development for late-stage and early-stage oncolytic viruses. Detailed epidemiological information, discussion of incidence and mortality trends, overview of regulatory landscapes, and analysis of market shares for leading products and companies are also included in this report.

Information Sources for the Technology Assessment Both primary and secondary research were conducted and used in preparing this study. The author of the report conducted a comprehensive literature search from public, private, and government sources, which included company publications, industrial and market reports available in physical or electronic format, academic journals, and other professionally written dedicated sources, as well as company and product literature and industrial databases. Data were obtained through interviews and correspondence with clinical-stage pharmaceutical companies and technical experts in cancer immunology and oncolytic virology.

Cancer immunotherapies were assessed according to preclinical, clinical, and post-marketing data in order to evaluate efficacy, safety, competitive edge, and utilization in the market. The market and the pipeline products were stratified according to product category (based on mechanism of action), indication, and geographical region. These products were then comparatively assessed and interrelated.

The selected regions include the U.S., major markets of Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, and Italy), and Japan. Other international territories such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Central and South America, and Southeast Asia were categorized as a single region (rest of the world). Major markets such as Canada, Mexico, China, India, Australia, and New Zealand were included under this rest of the world (ROW) category.

Forecasting Methodology For forecasting, initially the affected populations who have access to diagnosis and treatment in each regional market were estimated using epidemiological and demographic data. Each population was then stratified according to obtained prescription rates for market products.

For each drug, an average annual consumption coefficient was calculated. Finally, the values for the selected population, the average annual drug consumption coefficient, and the unit price of the selected drug were multiplied. Individual trends; generic competition; patent expirations; in-out licensing; co-marketing and codevelopment agreements; merger and acquisitions; and other market dynamics were taken into consideration during forecasting.

Geographic Breakdown In this report, the geographic regions considered for market analysis include, and only include: U.S. Europe Japan Rest of the World

Summary and Highlights Cancer is a disease with global implications. There are many different types of cancer, of which the most common types include lung, breast, colon and rectal, stomach, head and neck, prostate, cervical, melanoma, and ovarian cancer, as well as leukemia. Cancer is a genetic disease that is conventionally treated by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and immunotherapy.

Surgery is the mainstay treatment for all cancers. Usually surgery is complimented with radiation or chemotherapy to ensure the clearance of all residual cancer. Despite the advances in treatment, cancer has great plasticity; therefore, after a certain time the effects of treatment fade and cancer returns with acquired resistance. Combination therapy, using multiple modalities including surgery and pharmaceutical or radiation therapy, improves response to treatment.

Radiation and chemotherapy have many side effects. Biological treatment options provide less impactful treatment of cancer. Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy and it incorporates elements of the immune system in cancer treatment. The immune system has various types of cells and proteins that detect and act upon signs of a disease or infection by harmful and foreign substances such as microbes, bacteria and viruses. The immune system differentiates the body's own cells and tissues through an evolutionary bar-coding system. This system helps the immune system understand encountered foreign substances as "nonself." Cancer cells are recognized as nonself as well. The immune system monitors the body for cancer and destroys when it detects a malignancy. Cancer cells can avoid being recognized by the immune system and develop resistance through numerous methods.

Since the early 1900s, the connection between cancer and the immune system has caught the attention of various scientists and medical practitioners. Although the early studies were bluntly done without current technological and scientific tools, they nonetheless shed insights leading to the development of the first monoclonal antibodies and to the use of biologically derived synthetic interleukins and interferons. After many decades of research, immunotherapy finally emerged as a fully functional clinical area in the 1990s. Since then, the cancer therapeutics landscape has changed dramatically.

With the stream of product approvals in recent years, the global immunotherapy market has reached its current value. In 2015, the global cancer immunotherapy market hit $65 billion. The current immunotherapy market contains several blockbuster products reaching their end-of-market exclusivities; however, the market is mostly comprised of newly introduced and expensive therapies. In 2016, the market expanded by more than 10% over the previous year, reaching $73 billion. During the period of 2016 through 2021, the global cancer immunotherapy market is forecast to grow by a 5.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching $96.5 billion in 2021.

The strongest growth is expected to occur in checkpoint-inhibitor drugs with a 19.4% CAGR during the forecast period. Immunomodulators are anticipated to show the second-highest growth rates among immunotherapy products, with an 8.4% CAGR during the same period. The combined sales from both segments are expected to make up for nearly one-third of the market, with a combined sales value of $28 billion in 2021. Checkpoint inhibitors are virtually comprised of monoclonal antibodies; however, they are assessed separately due to their immense commercial and clinical significance. Sales from other therapeutic antibodies accrued to $28 billion in 2016, and this value is expected to remain relatively constant through 2021, due to several patent expiries, pressure from anticipated generic entries, and newly introduced classes of drugs expected by 2021.

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Cancer Immunology and Oncolytic Virology: Technologies and Global Markets - PR Newswire (press release)

Immunology

RCSI scientist wins l’Oreal award for immunology expertise – Siliconrepublic.com

Dr Annie Curtis, a scientist at RCSI, is one of five LOral For Women In Science winners.

Securing 15,000 to help further research into their chosen field, five scientists have receivedhigh-profile fellowships in the UK and Ireland.

Now into its tenth run, the LOral-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship initiative named Dr Annie Curtis (of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) as one of this years winners, alongside UK-based Drs Radha Boya, Manju Kurian, Bethan Psaila and Priya Subramanian.

Curtis is an immunologist who focuseson our internal body clock, a process regulating our sleep patterns as well as our daily energy use.

With some research linking this clock to a similar activity within cells, Curtiss work is investigating how this could be harnessed to control inflammation a key target in a wide range of diseases.

A further study could help explain why we are more prone to inflammation at certain times of the day, and why disruptions to our body clock cause increased risk of disease.

As documented by Science Foundation Ireland, Curtiss work has also changed our understanding of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegeneration.

In 2015, Irish cancer biology researcher Dr Trona N Chonghaile was named as one of the five fellowship winners for her work developing a novel HDAC6 inhibitor that can kill chemo-resistant breast cancers.

Prof Dame Carol Robinson, head of the judging panel at the event, said the competition is now so well known that scientists are fiercely competitive when it comes to securing the fellowships.

Each of our finalists is working on innovative and groundbreaking research, so selecting the winners was a tough task for the judges, but we are delighted they can now benefit from this support at a crucial stage in their careers, and we look forward to seeing the fruits of their research in the future, she said.

Boya, based at the University of Manchester, is a nanoscientist aiming to produce atomically thin channels through layers of two-dimensional materials such as graphene.

Kurian is a geneticist atUCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health who is researching the genetic causes of cerebral palsy.

University of Oxford-based Psaila is a haematologist examining the role of blood cells in the bone marrow known as megakaryocytes in a fatal disease called myelofibrosis.

Subramanian, a mathematician at the University of Leeds, is researching mathematical recipes for never-repeating quasicrystals.

Women still face significant barriers to STEM careers, from a shortage of female role models for young children to a lack of support once on their chosen career path, said Dr Steve Shiel, scientific director at LOral UK and Ireland.

Science needs women and, as a company founded on science, we are committed to ensuring more women are able to enjoy long and successful careers in science.

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RCSI scientist wins l'Oreal award for immunology expertise - Siliconrepublic.com

Human Behavior

Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky takes on human behavior, free will – Stanford University News

Robert Sapolsky (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

Robert Sapolsky is a lot of things: a MacArthur Fellow who spent years studying a troop of baboons in Kenya, a neuroendocrinologist who changed the way we think about stress and the brain, an accomplished columnist and writer of popular science books. He is also a professor of biology at Stanford who has long been interested in what animals can tell us about our own behavior.

Most recently, Sapolsky has been reflecting on the origins of human behavior, starting deep in the brain moments before we act and working his way millions of years back to the evolutionary pressures on our prehistoric ancestors decisions, with stops along the way to consider how hormones, brain development and social structures shape our behavior. He also has been thinking about free will and comes to the conclusion, based on the biological and psychological evidence, that we do not have it.

On the occasion of his latest book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Stanford News Service interviewed Sapolsky about science, the need to be behavioral biologists and what to do about justice if, as Sapolsky argues, we do not have free will.

Youve advanced the idea that we cant understand human behavior by studying it at just one level that, for example, we cant understand politics without studying neurons, brain chemistry without studying psychology, or perhaps even humans without studying apes. Does that mean that weve been studying behavior the wrong way? Are university departments too compartmentalized to see the forest for the trees?

Well, theres nothing particularly special about the idea scientists thinking about the bases of behavior know that you have to be multidisciplinary. There are entire journals that enshrine that concept, for example, Psychoneuroimmunology or Brain, Behavior and Evolution, and every university of note is overflowing with interdisciplinary programs.

Where the contrast comes in is with individual scientists research. Of necessity, a scientist typically studies one incredibly tiny sliver of some biological system, totally ensconced within one discipline, because even figuring out how one sliver works is really hard. There are not many scientists who would argue that their sliver is the only thing that should be studied just that its the most important, which sure makes sense, if they just spent their last seven decades obsessing over that sliver.

Is that a problem?

Its not a problem if all they do is talk and think about sliver X. But potentially a definite problem if they think larger and their sliver X-centric view of the universe is distorted.

All roads in human behavior seem to lead to its complicated. Out of the mess of things that combine to create our best and worst and typical behavior, what do you think is most important for ordinary people to know? What about policymakers or other scientists?

I think its the same for both groups, which is that were all behavioral biologists when we serve on juries, when we vote for whether government funds should be spent to try to correct some societal ill, when we deal with an intimate with a mental illness, we are tacitly deciding how and how much our behavior is constrained by biology. So we might as well be informed behavioral biologists. And one thing that involves is being profoundly cautious and humble when it comes to deciding you understand the causes of a behavior, especially one that we judge harshly.

What does that suggest about judicial sentencing rules or the death penalty, for example?

Basically, that the criminal justice system is staggeringly out of date in incorporating neuroscience into its thinking. As one flagrant example, the gold standard for determining whether someone is so organically impaired that they cant be held responsible for their criminal actions the MNaghten rule concerning an inability to tell the difference between right and wrong is based on the case of a man by that name, almost certainly a paranoid schizophrenic, from the 1840s. The 1840s!

What are the most important questions that remain?

For me, the single most important question is how to construct a society that is just, safe, peaceful all those good things when people finally accept that there is no free will.

Thats a tall order, given that philosophers let alone politicians and activists have trouble deciding what justice and free will mean.

A tall order, indeed, because words like justice, punishment, accountability become completely irrelevant as irrelevant as if a car that has damaged brakes and is dangerous to drive is thought to be accountable for being dangerous, and that justice is served when the car is punished by locking it up in a garage and not driven.

And its equally important and challenging to realize that free will is also irrelevant to our best as well as our worst behaviors. And thus where praising seems as irrelevant as praising a car for having a strong work ethic and admirable gratification postponement when it makes it up the top of a steep road. Or if you give a car preferential treatment if it was manufactured with a really attractive hood ornament.

Yes, a very tall order, and Im not sure if it is achievable.

Sapolsky is also the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences and of neurosurgery, and a member of Stanford Bio-X and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute.

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Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky takes on human behavior, free will - Stanford University News

Human Behavior

Google Docs Phishing Scam Takes Advantage of Human Behavior – IT Business Edge (blog)

Last week, I wrote a bit about the dangers of passwords and the relationship with the Google Docs phishing scam that recently broke. Today, Im going back to the Google Docs issue, but to look at it from a different angle: how scammers continue to use social engineering so successfully.

An eSecurity Planet article touched on this:

Fidelis Cybersecurity threat research manager John Bambenek said by email that the attack is a stark reminder that criminals and nation states are targeting the one thing technology can't fix -- the user. "If you can trick the user into compromising themselves, you have no need for a zero-day," he said. "Security awareness and vigilance of end users are the key to the security of any system."

This echoes what Nathan Wenzler, chief security strategist at AsTech, told me in an email message. Hackers are using attacks such as ransomware and honed spearphishing campaigns to go after the weakest link: people, adding:

These attacks take advantage of social and emotional constructs to either fool the user into clicking on a link or a file that is malicious, or in the case of ransomware, appeal to the user's sense of ownership of their data and the desire to gain access to files which are important to them and may not be available anywhere else.

Someone recently asked what excites me about cybersecurity right now, and I said behavior analytics and how hackers use human behavior to manipulate their attacks, but also how security professionals can turn to behavior to better prevent attacks. In the Google Docs phish, the hackers not only turned to behavior to gain an edge, they also used the legitimate functionality within Google's infrastructure to provide a proper user login. They counted on the phishing recipients to simply react without thinking. And we should expect hackers to build on this type of attack vector, according to Simon Taylor, vice president of products at Glasswall, who told me in an email comment:

Cyber criminals know that productivity suites like O365 and Google, as well as dynamic documents and other types of shared files are the lifeblood of todays internet users. This includes consumers and employees of massive corporations, and oftentimes, theyre one and the same. While the threat has reportedly been mitigated by Google, this will not stop the ever-expanding theme of clever phishing tactics by malicious actors.

What can you do to help your employees avoid phishing scams that are using the tools they use every day to conduct ordinary job duties? You know Im going to say its time for security awareness training, specifically about this type of attack, and to always verify everything before clicking, especially if the request is out of the ordinary. In addition to that, Wenzler suggested that users should understand exactly how the software works:

Under normal conditions, Google Docs won't ask a user to provide access to Google Docs. It already has it, essentially, as that's the nature of signing up for the service. Users who know that something called "Google Docs" won't ask for access like this attack did would know that something is amiss and could stop before providing that access. Always take a moment to understand what your web-based applications are supposed to do, and if you see something abnormal, err on the side of caution and do not proceed.

Sue Marquette Poremba has been writing about network security since 2008. In addition to her coverage of security issues for IT Business Edge, her security articles have been published at various sites such as Forbes, Midsize Insider and Tom's Guide. You can reach Sue via Twitter: @sueporemba

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Google Docs Phishing Scam Takes Advantage of Human Behavior - IT Business Edge (blog)