Tag Archives: innovation

Genetics

First-Ever Consumer DNA Test to Unlock the Connection Between Genetics and Mental Wellness-Related Behavioral Tendencies – PR Web

NEW YORK (PRWEB) August 19, 2020

Living with a mental health challenges can be stressful even during the best of times. Then COVID-19 came along. Quarantine, distancing, not seeing family and loved ones, and economic worries have all added to the struggles of people dealing with mental wellness. On top of that, back-to-school stress is compounding the mental stressors were all dealing with right now. Recently, Amy Edgar, Founder of Childrens Integrated Center for Success and expert in pediatric mental health, teamed with YourUpdateTV to discuss steps we can take to take control of our mental wellness during this uncertain time.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/0WpBE2FWYC0

Parents, many of whom may be dealing with their own mental and emotional struggles, have taken on the burden of worrying about their childs mental health as well. With the back to school season in full swing, stress and anxiety are at an all-time high as families grapple with the reality of additional distance learning, or the potential dangers of returning to the classroom. Its natural for parents to wonder whether the last five months and whatever lies ahead will have a lasting effect on kids mental well-being.

So how can parents take back control of mental wellness in the age of COVID-19?

A first-ever consumer DNA test is helping unlock the connection between genetics and mental wellness. One cheek swab will produce results that will help people better understand how genes affect ones predisposition for stress, focus, substance abuse, sleep, and more.

Organized around Genominds proprietary 7 Core Genetic Mental Health Capabilities, the test analyzes 38 genetic variants and their influence on 29 mental health traits. The result is an interactive report that details 59 possible behavioral predispositions specific to each users genetic profile, along with resources and actionable recommendations shown to improve wellness and quality of life. Genomind Mental Health Map is the only DNA test in the consumer market with a specific focus on mental health and wellness, and is available without prescription. The test should not be used as a diagnostic or risk assessment for mental health diseases and disorders.

For more information, visit MentalHealthMap.com and use discount code MHMFALL5.

About Amy Edgar, APRN, CRNP, FNP-C:Amy Edgar is transforming healthcare and embracing our next generation of humans. Ignited by the experience of raising her now 19-year old daughter, Amy founded the Children's Integrated Center for Success in 2014. Weaving together the threads of mom, entrepreneur, teacher, nurse, primary care provider, and science geek, Amy utilizes systems thinking and integrated care delivery models to run her primary care center focused on children with behavioral health needs. From cutting edge genetics research to nutrition consults, speech and equine therapy, school advocates, and marriage counselors CICS strives to reach every child, every time. In 2017, Amy led CICS in connecting career opportunities for children with autism looking for suitable work to capture their own piece of the American Dream, which was realized in the CICS Foundation. Amy continues to practice and provide patient care while championing CICS's virtual healthcare expansion to reach families across and outside of Pennsylvania.

About Genomind:Genomind is a leading mental health company singularly focused on filling the innovation gap in mental health care through novel, genetics-based tools that bring mental health into the era of personalized medicine. Its flagship product, Genomind Professional PGx, is a pharmacogenetic testing service that helps medical professionals guide patients mental health treatment. The Company recently launched Genomind Mental Health Map a direct-to-consumer test that enables a better understanding of the biological basis of mental health, coupled with actionable guidance to help people improve health and wellness. Supported by a world-class genetics lab, a unique heritage of clinical mental health expertise, and a consultative approach, Genomind is advancing a new paradigm of precision medicine in mental health care. Learn more at http://www.genomind.com.

About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content.

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First-Ever Consumer DNA Test to Unlock the Connection Between Genetics and Mental Wellness-Related Behavioral Tendencies - PR Web

Human Behavior

Only the nose knows: New international network explores how odors lead to actions – CU Boulder Today

CU Boulder will lead a groundbreaking new international research network dubbed Odor2Action starting this fall. The work is aimed at understanding how animals use information from odors in their environment to guide behavior, with far-ranging implications for our understanding of the human brain.

The network was announced Monday as part of the Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) Program. Over the next five years, CU Boulder will be leading 16 scientists from 16 prestigious institutions around the world to better understand the brain and its evolution by reverse-engineering how it interprets odors. The project is funded by a $20.2 million award from the National Science Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council.

The network will examine all the steps involved in how an odor stimulus gets encoded by the brain and then activates the motor circuits to produce a behavioral response in an animal. The model species they will work with to do this, like fruit flies and mice, will make headway in understanding these same steps in humans.

Theres a lot of engineering involved in understanding what odors look like.In John Crimaldi's lab, he and his colleagues use lasers to track them. (Credit: Glenn Asakawa, CU Boulder)

The chemical sensing process (i.e. smell) evolved in the very earliest life forms on Earth, said John Crimaldi, lead principal investigator on the network and professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at CU. The idea here is that all brain evolution has taken place in the presence of chemical sensing. And so it's thought to be a primal portal from which to view brain function.

While Crimaldi and CU Boulder have previously received significant awards to research how animals find the source of an odor, this project is much broader and aims to understand the whole brain and the mechanism that goes into a behavioral response to smelling something.

Crimaldi said smell is the least understood sense and that humans have struggled to replicate odor-based searches with machines. Doing so, however, would allow robots to take over treacherous duties instead of humans or dogs, unlocking a new area of advancement for autonomous systems. These robots could one day rescue a person buried in an avalanche, locate valuable natural resources, or find chemical weapons and explosives on their own, for example.

Keith Molenaar, interim dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, said the network was truly a special project and among the largest the college had ever been involved in. He said the work would result in transformational research around our understanding of the brain that could also lead to cures for diseases that connect to our sense of smellor even understanding why loss of smell is a symptom of some diseases like COVID-19 among many other areas and across many different fields.

The fact that an engineer, Professor John Crimaldi, is leading a group of neuroscientists, mathematicians and biologists, speaks to the truly interdisciplinary nature of the research, Molenaar said.

The network is composed of three interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) that form a loop in animal sensing and behavior. The first is focused on theoretical mathematics and mapping to better understand how the characteristics of smells are encoded in the brain. The second builds on this and will determine how the encoded odors produce a behavioral response. The third group will investigate how this behavioral response alters the animals perception of the odor it is sensing.

As an engineer, Crimaldi said he never expected to end up working in neuroscience but it turns out theres a lot of engineering involved in understanding what odors look like. He currently studies fluid mechanics from a theoretical perspective; using lasers in a non-intrusive way to measure flowslike odorsthrough air and liquids. Hes looked at everything from why coral reproduction underwater is successful to how animals can tell where a smell is coming from.

Life forms have evolved to take advantage of specific opportunities and constraints that are imposed by their physical environment, Crimaldi said. I like to say we don't just use physics to understand biology or ecology, or the brain. We also use evolutionary processes that have evolved in animals to help us understand details of what's going on in the physical world.

Partners include Caltech, Penn State University, Duke University, Salk Institute, University of Utah, University of Pittsburgh, NYU School of Medicine, McGill University, Scripps Research, Arizona State University, Francis Crick Institute, University of Hertfordshire, Yale University and Weill Cornell.

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Only the nose knows: New international network explores how odors lead to actions - CU Boulder Today

Embryology

Praxis Media Group and Global Brands network announces winners of the National Healthcare Excellence Awards, 2020 and Indias Top 50 Healthcare, 2020…

New Delhi [India], Aug 17 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Praxis Media in association with Healthcare Leaders announced the prestigious National Healthcare Excellence Awards on August 15, 2020 to celebrate and honor more than 30 winners at 5 different levels for epitomizing strength, ingenuity, knowledge and foresight for the growth of the healthcare sector with vision and inspiration. Winners of Indias Top 50 Healthcare, 2020 were also declared by the Global Brands Network.These awards are announced each year to identify, celebrate and encourage excellence in healthcare and medicine. The endeavor is to recognize and reward quality excellence, innovative initiatives and exemplary work in the healthcare Sector in a spectacular style. The exacting and daunting feat of zeroing-in on the winners is achieved by the Praxis Media Group, with support from its associates and partners, after an elaborate and meticulous selection process which included inviting nominations from potential nominees, substantial research and surveys, collation of feedback and opinions, screening based on judging parameters and subsequently choosing the winners through an independent jury panel.The significant parameters which were considered for selecting the winners included Qualification & Professional Experience, Infrastructure & Facilities, Market Presence & Competition, Growth & Profitability, Quality & Operational Excellence, Financial & Business Acumen, Innovation & Novelty in Services, Ingenuity and Imagination, Sustainability & Environmental Awareness, Job & Impact Potential, Client/Customer & Industry Feedback, Use of Technology & Trends, Efforts for Risk & Setback Mitigation, Previous Awards & Achievements etc.National Healthcare Excellence Awards and Indias Top 50 Healthcare are an initiative of Praxis Media Group which are designed to recognize excellence and showcase the outstanding work by healthcare professionals. It intends to celebrate the trailblazing people and organizations that make our healthcare system more skilled, more compassionate and more equitable.These awards are not limited to medical professionals, but also aims at acknowledging the outstanding services and commitment from those involved in administration, staffing, consultation, product development, laboratory services as well as those supplying peripheral services that acts as the backbone of the healthcare sector.These awards, as a hallmark of excellence are not only a defining moment for the winners, but also intend to inspire others towards bigger and better achievements.The initiative was well supported by Healthcare Leaders Brand Partner, The Pharma Times Online Media Partner, Health Vision Magazine Partner, Global Brands Network Associate Partner and Lawspective Consulting LLP Knowledge Partner who echoed the same objective of healthcare excellence.A comprehensive list of winners of the National Healthcare Excellence Awards, 2020:Dr. Ankita Bhargava Most Promising Endocrine Dietitian in Bengaluru, Homoeopathic & Lifestyle Clinic Best Homoeopathic Clinic in Delhi & NCR, Dr. Indrajeet Kumar Tiwary Best Gastrointestinal and Liver Transplant Intensivist in Eastern India, Dr. Achyut Trivedi Best Consultant Neuropsychiatrist in Rajasthan, Dr. Jasjit Singh Best Hospital Administrator of the Year, Dt. Chaitali Mondal Best Nutrition Consultant in West Bengal, Dr. P.C. Jagadeesh Best Orthopaedic Surgeon in Karnataka, Dr. Abhishek Massey Best Consultant Physiotherapist in Delhi, Dr. Neha Nasa Best Dentist in Patient Care and Treatment in Gurgaon, Plexus Neuro and Stem Cell Research Centre Best Centre for Stem Cell Therapy in India, 2020, Dr. Premkumar Balachandran Excellence in Hernia Surgery and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction, Dr. Lokesh Jain Healthcare Leader of the Year, Dr. Manish Jain Best Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeon in Rajasthan, Dr. VijaitaSyngle Best Obesity Medicine Doctor of the Year, Manorama Infosolutions Private Limited Best Healthcare IT Application Company in India, Ziva Embryology and Fertility Institute Best Fertility Centre in Telangana, Ziva Embryology and Fertility Institute Best Embryology Training Institute in India, Androcare Andrology & Mens Health Institute Best Male Fertility Centre in India, Operon Biotech and Healthcare Best In-Vitro Diagnostic Company in Karnataka, Mr. Navdeep Kanwer Best Consultant Audiologist in Punjab, Swasth Bhoomi Private Limited Healthcare Start-Up of the Year, Sidana Dental Care Best Dental Clinic in Mohali, Dr. KedarBakshi Most Promising Dentist in Maharashtra, Dr. Smita Sanjay Deorukhkar Best Alternate Medicine Practitioner in Western India, Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh Best Oral Implantologist in Azamgarh, SAAOL Heart Center Best Heart Care Centre in Delhi & NCR, Bhrigu Sons Pharmaceuticals Award for the Pharmaceutical Brand of the Year, Dr. Uday DattaramTalwadker Best Dentist in Goa, Dr. Jagdish Shinde Best Radiation Oncologist in Maharashtra, Osho Medicare Best Ayurvedic Kidney Speciality Clinic in Gujarat.Dr. Rushda Riaz Best Gynaecologist in North India and Dr. Monga Ayurvedic Medi Clinic Private Limited Best Ayurveda Treatment Clinic in New Delhi were the exclusive winners of Indias Top 50 Healthcare Leaders in 2020.The Founder-Director of the media group, Mrs. Swagateeka Patel Singh congratulated all the winners and said that each winner has exemplified excellence and typifies the very best of healthcare practices and ethics. The National Healthcare Excellence Awards, 2020 are a small token of appreciation from Praxis Media to all these inspirational individuals and organization.These recognitions will further strengthen their ability to steer their objective through turbulent times, apply the best of the professional modules to manage and keep their missions afloat.This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

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Praxis Media Group and Global Brands network announces winners of the National Healthcare Excellence Awards, 2020 and Indias Top 50 Healthcare, 2020...

Genetics

Baylor Genetics and Rice University form COVID-19 screening partnership for fall semester – Fort Worth Business Press

HOUSTON Baylor Genetics, a clinical diagnostics laboratory known for genetic testing and precision medicine, and Rice University, a private, comprehensive research university, have partnered to create a first-of-its-kind, total turnkey solution for the university to resume in-person classes for the fall semester despite the COVID-19 pandemic.For Baylor Genetics and Rice University, this partnership represents a moon-shot opportunity to benefit students, faculty, and staff, Kengo Takishima, President and Chief Executive Officer at Baylor Genetics, said in a news release. It is imperative families have peace of mind as they send their children to college and weve set an aggressive goal of serving as a blueprint for other academic institutions and, more broadly, society.

Many universities nationwide have been strongly impacted by the pandemic and have announced changes to the fall semester. One of the major changes is universities going fully online for the semester.The news release said Rice has been able to overcome many challenges brought on by COVID-19 thanks to its partnership with Baylor Genetics.In terms of learning online, I found that it wasnt that intuitive and effective for my own learning style. In addition to that, it is my senior year and I wanted to get one last taste of the community that I have come to grow and love here, said Victor Nguyen, a senior at Rice University, in an interview released by the university. Being on campus again feels a little bit more of what we are used to, even though we live in a new reality. Its closer to normal so its exactly what we were hoping for.This partnership entails Baylor Genetics providing support for temperature checks, on-campus sample collection and transport logistics, processing of samples, and customized results reporting for individuals via email. Nearly 60,000 screening tests will be performed by Baylor Genetics with a turnaround time of 48 hours or less.In addition to large-scale surveillance testing, the partnership includes population management reporting. This custom reporting system delivers population data to assist policymakers at Rice with managing the campus community and by aiding in intelligent decision making.

Testing by itself is not enough, said Kevin Kirby, Rice Universitys Vice President for Administration. What matters is how we use that information to act quickly to isolate, treat, contact trace, and quarantine those affected. A systematic approach is the best practice for creating an environment that will mitigate the spread of COVID-19.In addition, data tracking will provide the university with specific trends and infection rates on buildings, facilities, and housing throughout the campus.Rice said in the news release that the innovative approach is part of the universitys strategy to prevent cross-contamination and ensure the safety of its faculty, students, and staff. There are plans to extend the partnership with symptomatic testing in the near future.

This opportunity is a chance to demonstrate that we can operate safely in such a difficult time, said Chad Shaw, Ph.D., Senior Director of the Baylor Genetics Innovation Lab, Adjunct Professor of Statistics at Rice University, and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.As a Houstonian and a member of both the Baylor and Rice faculty, I am excited by the opportunity to serve my community to find a thoughtful and creative way to overcome the COVID challenge. It takes commitment, grit, and a team effort, Shaw said.The program began the week of Aug. 3 with college staff, graduate students, and orientation coordinators. For students, testing is broken down into three phases and began Aug. 15. There will be no charge to faculty, students or staff for the on-campus testing.For members of the Rice community who are confirmed positive for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Rice will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contact-tracing protocols to identify others who have had significant contact with those tested positive.Baylor Genetics test for COVID-19 has one of the highest sensitivity (true positive rate) and specificity (true negative rate) rates for identifying active coronavirus infection, the news release said. FWBP Staff

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Baylor Genetics and Rice University form COVID-19 screening partnership for fall semester - Fort Worth Business Press

Human Behavior

Quietly waiting in the background of the pandemic, AI is about to become a big part of our lives – The Province

Way back in December, before the world started paying attention to the novel coronavirus, a Toronto-based company called BlueDot Inc. noticed the first hints that something was amiss.

By applying an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyze news reports and airline ticket data, BlueDot noted a significant disease outbreak brewing before even the World Health Organization raised the alarm.

An AI epidemiologist sent the first warnings of the Wuhan virus, a Wired headline reported in late January, flagging BlueDots achievement.

BlueDot earned another round of media coverage in March when the rest of the world caught up in understanding the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our weird behavior during the pandemic is messing with AI models

The companys use of artificial intelligence was the sort of application where the technology can shine: taking in large amounts of data to then find subtle patterns beyond what humans can come up with themselves.

But a couple of months later, the technology press was telling a different story.

Our weird behavior during the pandemic is messing with AI models, an MIT Technology Review headline declared.

AI systems designed to predict the rhythms of human behaviour based on historical data were no longer working, because those rhythms had been turned upside down by the pandemic-induced lockdown.

In spite of the hype and excitement among technologists in the past few years, AI has also been largely absent from the conversation about how to fight the coronavirus, with even the most ardent adherents acknowledging the technology has largely faded into the background during the pandemic.

The most significant public health measures have been decidedly low-tech, such as social distancing, cloth masks and track-and-trace epidemiology, but experts say the dip in attention wont last too long.

Indeed, the longer the pandemic lasts, the more important artificial intelligence will become, they say, and it will likely play a big part in the economic recovery.

I would tend to agree with you that the real-world impact has been relatively minimal, and theres different reasons for that, said Jean-Franois Gagn, chief executive of Element AI, a Toronto-based AI software developer.

Theres just only so much an algorithm can do in figuring out risk and uncertainty when things are so volatile.

Artificial intelligence is a hazily defined term for a collection of technologies, but most of the excitement in the past decade has been around deep learning, which uses computer programming structures loosely modelled on the neural networks in human brains.

Its possible to train an algorithm to identify patterns and make predictions by feeding vast amounts of data into these computerized neural networks.

This technology can be used for tasks such as image recognition. By showing a neural network a million photos, some with cats in the image and some without cats, you can train the system to recognize patterns in the data that look like cats. After a while, you have a computer that can reliably identify cats.

The same process can be applied to many different situations. For example, a neural network could take all the data about your internet browsing history, spot patterns in both your data and other customers data and then feed it into a recommendation algorithm so that an e-commerce company can show you products youre likely to buy.

Gagn and several other experts who spoke to the Financial Post said the success of AI is largely confined to such specific functions. He said that when you try to do something ambitious, such as running a whole shipping network with machine learning, it gets really difficult.

What we are all realizing is that describing the world and giving good examples to models is hard, he said. Most of our forecasting systems out there right now in the industry, broadly speaking, are very simple techniques that have been trained on a few months of data that often are at the daily level, with very few variables that describe the outside world.

In practice, this means that AI tends to work well as the special sauce inside a larger system.

For example, deep learning might improve your phone by analyzing the patterns in all your touchscreen inputs and then personalizing the sensitivity to better recognize a deliberate finger press as opposed to a palm brushing against the corner of the screen.

The vast majority of the time, (AI) is not transformative. The vast majority of the time, its a tool for a task that makes you more efficient, said Avi Goldfarb, a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and co-author of Prediction Machines, a book about the economics of AI.

Sometimes that means cost reduction, but often it means serving your customers better than you were before because you can personalize something.

But its one thing to analyze inputs on a touchscreen, quite another thing when problems become bigger and more complex.

AI might be used for self-driving cars someday, but the algorithm to do so would need to consider a vast array of possibilities in order to navigate a vehicle through city streets, and the stakes are much higher because a mistake could kill somebody.

The big, ambitious ideas for AI, such as self-driving cars or robots that make better stock picks, tend to be the ones where marketing hype and grandiose claims attract investment dollars and customer interest. But those problems are difficult to solve and require enormous amounts of data.

The sci-fi vision of artificial intelligence, while good at attracting attention, misses the mark, because it makes AI seem like something that hasnt yet proven its worth. Similarly, its easy to think that AI is absent from the pandemic because its not being used in spectacular ways.

Goldfarb said AI is already present in many of the tools being used to fight COVID-19, but its embedded in larger technology systems.

Some thermal cameras and thermometers to test for fever have machine learning embedded in their software to give more accurate results, and can even aggregate anonymized data to predict future infection flare-ups.

The machine learning function makes the tools in those systems work a bit better, but its not flashy enough to get the same marketing hype a robot would.

But, eventually, AI will become just a routine part of software development whenever theres a task that can use data for pattern recognition, said Wally Trenholm, chief executive of Toronto-based Sightline Innovation Inc. and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Trenholm said deep learning will be embedded in everything and become so normal that nobody will even talk about it.

I look at AI as kind of a multipurpose technology, kind of like the databases of the 1970s, he said. If you look at every piece of software right now, its got a database in it, and probably 40 years from now, every piece of software will have AI in it.

The current pandemic might even accelerate the path to a future of ubiquitous AI.

Goldfarb said one of the side effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and the shift to remote work is that people are creating far more data than they were before.

The meeting that used to happen in an office conference room is now happening over Zoom, and in-person conversations between coworkers have shifted to Slack.

The last few months have led to a massive digitization of work. A lot of things that used to happen either face to face or in ways that werent recordable are now digitized, Goldfarb said. Once information is digitized, you can use machine learning to help.

Already, as the pandemic stretches on past the initial crisis phase and becomes an ongoing challenge, scientists and technologists are finding ways to use data and neural networks to fight the disease.

In July, the University of Toronto highlighted the work of two researchers who are using deep learning to identify molecules from previous drug candidates and therapies that might work well to fight COVID-19.

Instead of taking a slow, methodical approach, they can use data to predict which potential drugs are the most promising, thereby speeding up the typical research process.

We normally take a linear approach, going step by step, selecting a few candidate drugs or therapies and slowly moving them forward with testing over several years, Jean-Philippe Julien, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, said on the universitys website.

But now, with COVID, we all understand that this approach is not possible. Everyone accepts that we have to move much faster.

Email: jmcleod@nationalpost.com | Twitter:

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Quietly waiting in the background of the pandemic, AI is about to become a big part of our lives - The Province

Immunology

Cell Separation Technologies Market Research Report by Technology, by Application, by End User – Global Forecast to 2025 – Cumulative Impact of…

New York, Aug. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Cell Separation Technologies Market Research Report by Technology, by Application, by End User - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913778/?utm_source=GNW

The Global Cell Separation Technologies Market is expected to grow from USD 5,347.52 Million in 2019 to USD 12,724.42 Million by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.54%.

Market Segmentation & Coverage:This research report categorizes the Cell Separation Technologies to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

Based on Technology, the Cell Separation Technologies Market studied across Fluorescence-activated Cell Sorting, Immunomagnetic Cell Separation, and Microfluidic Cell Separation.

Based on Application, the Cell Separation Technologies Market studied across Cancer Research, Immunology, and Stem Cell Research.

Based on End User, the Cell Separation Technologies Market studied across Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies and Hospitals and Diagnostic Laboratories.

Based on Geography, the Cell Separation Technologies Market studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas region surveyed across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

Company Usability Profiles:The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market including BD Biosciences, Life Technologies Corporation, Merck Millipore, Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, STEMCELL Technologies, Inc., and Terumo BCT, Inc..

FPNV Positioning Matrix:The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Cell Separation Technologies Market on the basis of Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.

Competitive Strategic Window:The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies. The Competitive Strategic Window helps the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. During a forecast period, it defines the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth.

Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments

The report answers questions such as:1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market?2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market during the forecast period?3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market?4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market?5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market?6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Cell Separation Technologies Market?Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05913778/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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Physiology

Pirbright Institute: Pigs ideal for assessing flu antibody therapies – The Pig Site

They also demonstrated pigs are suitable for analysing the delivery systems used to administer the antibodies in order to provide longer lasting protection.

Having been successfully utilised for Ebola virus and respiratory syncytial virus, the use of antibodies to provide protection and reduce symptoms of influenza is an area of great interest. Although several influenza antibodies have progressed to clinical trials based on their success in small animals (ferrets and mice), the outcome has been disappointing as no antibodies have shown therapeutic effect in humans.

A previous study by Pirbright showed that pigs are good models for influenza vaccine studies as they are naturally infected by the same subtypes of influenza viruses as humans, have similar immune systems and are more comparable in size and physiology than smaller animals.

The teams new research, published in the Journal of Immunology established that a human antibody (2-12C) can neutralise the H1N1 2009 flu pandemic virus in pigs, thereby providing protection. Both the amount of virus and signs of infection in the lungs were reduced in pigs that received treatment.

Alongside testing the efficiency of 2-12C, the team also assessed a new antibody delivery method that works by administering the antibody genes to pigs. Once inside pig cells, the genes continuously generate antibodies, providing longer term protection than a single direct inoculation of antibodies. The team showed that this gene delivery method for 2-12C was able to protect pigs from signs of disease typically caused by H1N1.

The success of this antibody and delivery platform in the pig model indicates that these treatments could potentially also work in humans. The pig provides an excellent intermediate step between trials in smaller animals and humans and could provide more accurate assessments of antibody therapies against influenza.

Dr Elma Tchilian, Head of the Mucosal Immunology Group at Pirbright said: We are very excited that the pig model is becoming useful for testing and refining antibody treatments for life threatening influenza infections and could be equally useful for other infectious diseases.

This research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Pirbright Institute: Pigs ideal for assessing flu antibody therapies - The Pig Site

Anatomy

18 Healthcare Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Companies to Watch – HIT Consultant

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are redefining whats possible in healthcare, as well as other sectors. The 18 companies listed below are some of the top virtual and augmented reality companies in the medical industry.

Defining Augmented Reality

Augmentedreality is a technology that blends real-world elements with virtual ones. Forexample, a person might visit a trade show and aim their smartphone at adisplay to activate an AR experience that allows them to see acomputer-generated version of a product.

Thisapproach is particularly useful for getting people excited about prototypes orhelping them understand the potential of any item not yet finalized.

AR vs. VR: Whats The Difference?

Virtual reality is another buzz-worthy technology that continues to capture attention and fascinate people in the medical sector and outside of it. Although VR and AR have some similarities, theyre not the same.

Bothtechnologies typically respond to real-time changes, such as how a personmoves. Thus, the technologies need extremely low latency to work seamlessly forusers. Additionally, VR and AR seek to give people experiences that are notpossible to achieve quickly in the real world alone. For example, homefurnishing brand IKEA offered an AR app that allowed people to place virtualpieces in their homes to check dimensions.

However,whereas AR incorporates some versions of the actual environment into itsresults, VR aims to give people a completely immersive experience that beginsonce they strap on the required headsets. A person engaging with a VRexperience will see everything happening inside the headset, but the ARexperience happens by enhancing things within an individuals environment.

Another difference between VR and AR is that the latter arguably has a wider variety of possible applications in other industries, such as manufacturing. Its not practical for people who are working on a factory floor to all don VR headsets. However, they may use far less cumbersome AR-enabled glasses, goggles, or screens to assist with a broad assortment of tasks ranging from quality assurance to assembly.

The Potential, Benefits and Use Cases for AR and VR in Healthcare

Ananalysis from MarketsandMarkets profiled the expected growth of AR and VR in healthcarefrom 2017-2025. The company anticipates a combined annual growth rate of30.7%duringthe timeframe studied.

Theresplenty of potential for VR and AR in healthcare, but how might people use it,specifically?Surgical planning could become easier. Even the mostexperienced surgeons sometimes encounter surprises when operating on patients,but these high-tech solutions may make those instances less common.

Researchershave investigated using VR to educate patientsbeforetheir surgeries, too. For example, a person can see a digitized version oftheir brain, along with the problem a surgeon needs to fix and how they will doit.

Beyond teaching patients about the procedures they need, VR and AR can help surgeons plan their interventions, making them less likely to encounter surprises or feel unprepared. Some technologies show digital information appearing on top of a patients body in real-time.

Also,these technologies could improve training in medical school. Researchers atJohns Hopkins University embarked on an AR project that could see medicalstudents trade their anatomy apps for AR. An augmented reality tool displayed an internal viewof the bodyon top of a students physique. The technology also included agesture-sensitive user interface, allowing people to interact with the AR representation.

The Top Augmented and Virtual Reality Companies in Healthcare

Thepromises of medical augmented reality and virtual reality are compelling enoughto get anyone excited about whats possible. These companies intend to be atthe forefront of VR and AR healthcare.

Founded: 2012

Location: London, United Kingdom

Funding to Date: $9.6 million

Key Clients/Milestones: FundamentalVR was named one of Time Magazines best inventions for 2018 and got an Interactive Innovation Award at SXSW 2019. All of FundamentalVRs simulations are accredited by theRoyal College of Surgeons of England. The company also has a joint development agreementwith the Mayo Clinic.

Thiscompany offers flight simulator-like training for surgeons. The approach allowsthem to rehearse, practice and improve their surgical techniques in acontrolled environment that includes haptic elements for tactile feedback.Although the company has many virtual reality simulations, it also offers AR tech using Microsofts HoloLens technology. It allows users to work togetherthrough the simulations.

Founded:2016

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding to Date: $3 million

Key Clients/Milestones: Products are HIPAA-compliant and FDA-registered.

Thecompany uses evidence-based approaches to treat chronic pain through virtualreality simulations. Patients can do the treatment at home or in a localclinic. If done in a clinic, the treatment program lasts from four to 12 weeksbased on the patients individual needs.

Founded: 2016

Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

Funding to Date:13.2 million

Key Clients/Milestones:It has partnerships with the United Kingdoms National Health Service, as well as the McPin Foundation, which works to improve mental health research. OxfordVR also won the 2020 award in the Apps and Software categoryfor Best Mental Health Immersive Technology at the MedTech Visionaries Awards.

OxfordVRfocuses on virtual reality to relieve the symptoms of mental disorders andfears. For example, its fear of heights simulation reduced the issue inpatients by an average of 68%after only two hours of treatment.

Founded: 2014

Location:Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Yoqneam, Israel

Funding to Date: $25.1 million

Key Clients/Milestones: The company hasreceived FDA 501(k) clearancefor its headset. It will begin distributing its headsets throughout the U.S in early 2020 and plans to move into uses beyond spinal surgeries soon.

Thecompany has what it calls the first augmented reality guidance system forsurgery, known as xvision. The technology adds a 3D representation thatenables surgeons to see the patients anatomy through skin and tissue as ifthey had X-ray vision. When tested as surgeons placed spinal screws incadavers, the accuracy rate while using the VR headset was 98.9%.

Founded: 2010

Location: Los Angeles, California, and Cleveland, Ohio

Funding to Date: $9.6 million

Key Clients/Milestones: The Mayo Clinic, UCLA School of Medicine, St. Josephs Childrens Hospital and the Stanford School of Medicine are among the places that have used the companys technology so far.

SurgicalTheater created a surgical rehearsal platform for neurosurgicalprocedures called Precision VR. It allows for better preoperative planning.However, unlike some medical technology companies, this one has simulations apatient can go through with their health provider. For example, if a personfaces an operation for a brain tumor, they can see a VR scenario that shows theprocess.

Founded: 2012

Location: Santa Clara, California

Funding to Date: $14.3 million

Key Clients/Milestones: It has received FDA clearance. Institutions includingCincinnati Childrens Hospital, Primary Childrens Hospital, C.S. Mott Hospital, Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital have brought the technology into clinical use.

Thecompany offers an AR healthcare platform called True3D that facilitatesvisualizing and interacting with the organs and tissue for a specific patient.Users can also see medical imaging results along with the holograph-like imagesprovided by the technology.

Founded: 2016

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Funding to Date: $2.5 million

Key Clients/Milestones: Medivis counts Verizon, Microsoft and Magic Leap among its industry partners. Medivis also recently launched its program for patientsusing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at the VA Palo Alto Medical Center. The goal of that initiative is to identify health applications that combine with 5G technology. West Coast also used the Medivs platform to help medical students learn anatomy.

The companycombines medical augmented reality with artificial intelligence (AI) to providehelpful presurgical information or details related to a persons anatomy. Itenvisions a time when healthcare providers can break free of the limitationsposed by 2D screens and instead bring information and tools to the real worldthrough 3D representations.

Founded: 2017

Location: Westminster, Colorado

Funding to Date: $17million

Key Clients/Milestones: St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital, the University of Michigan Health System, and Eastern Virginia Medical Center are some of the facilities that have used the Health Scholars platform so far.

Health Scholars offers VR medical training covering surgical skills, obstetrics, and resuscitation. The company also provides a learning management interface that enables educators to create simulations for students to use.

Founded: 2015

Location: Charlestown, Massachusetts

Funding to Date: $30 million

Key Clients/Milestones: It was the first surgical robotto receive FDA Breakthrough designation. Bill Gates is one of the companys backers.

Thecompany combines virtual reality with a surgical robot to result in minimallyinvasive procedures.

Founded: 2013

Location: London, United Kingdom

Funding to Date: $19.5 million.

Key Clients/Milestones: Touch Surgery received the Amazon Web Services Hot Startups Award, and it also got a Brandon Hall Silver Award in 2014. Residency programs at the Cleveland Clinic, Stanford School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital, and others use Touch Surgerys technology for training.

TouchSurgery offers more than 200 VR surgical simulations and videos across 17specialties that learners can access anywhere with an internet connection.

Founded: 2016

Location: Seattle, Washington

Funding to Date: $30 million

Key Clients/Milestones: Seattle Childrens Hospital and theUniversity of Washingtons Department of Neurological Surgery are two of the companys clinical research partners.

Thecompany blends human vision with computerized technology, enabling surgeons tosee the body in new, immersive ways and improving the success rates of theirprocedures.

Founded: 2005

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Funding to Date: $2.1 million

Key Clients/Milestones: The Cleveland Clinic, University of Calgary, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Johns Hopkins Medicine were some of the early adopters of ImmersiveTouchs technology.

ImmersiveTouchcreates 3D virtual reality models using a patients individualized medicalimaging data.

Founded: 2016

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Funding to Date: $2 million

Key Clients/Milestones: OSSO VR was involved in a pilot program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and was a DocsF18 Innovation Award Winner.

Thiscompany specializes in using virtual reality to facilitate surgical trainingand assessments. It offers fully immersive VR experiences, complete with hapticfeedback.

Founded: 2017

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Funding to Date: $7.4 million

Key Clients/Milestones: Was named one of the Top 10 Cardiovascular Device Companiesin 2019 by Med Tech Outlook

Thiscompany uses medical augmented reality to create a holographic visualization ofa patients anatomy. That image floats over the patient during interventionalprocedures, such as while treatingcardiac arrhythmias in a catheterlab.

Founded: 2016

Location: Taipei City, Taiwan, and Fairfax, Virginia

Funding to Date: $500,000

Key Clients/Milestones: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, and the Davao Medical School Foundation are some of the companys clients. Medical Augmented Intelligence counts Intel, NVIDIA, and Vive among its technology partners.

MedicalAugmented Intelligence offers immersive virtual reality training for anatomyand acupuncture, plus digital twin models for patient education.The patient-based models convert 2D medical images to VR models in less than 30seconds.

Developed: 2016

Location:Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic

Cost:The HoloAnatomy app is free, but the Microsoft HoloLens device that enables the app costs $3,000.

Key Clients/Milestones: It was a winner at the2016 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Science Media Awards

Althoughmost of this list consists of the top augmented and virtual reality healthcarecompanies, this entry is a bit different because its an app. When using aMicrosoft HoloLens device, people can go through a digitized, interactiveanatomy curriculum.

Founded: 2009

Location: Palo Alto, California

Funding to Date: $3.6 million

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18 Healthcare Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Companies to Watch - HIT Consultant

Genetics

University of East London lecturer says PHE report fails to address genetics – Newham Recorder

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PUBLISHED: 10:00 29 June 2020

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Dr Winston Morgan, Reader in Toxicology and Clinical Biochemistry at the University of East London, says race and genetics are key omissions from the PHE report on coronavirus. Picture: University of East London

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Dr Morgan a reader in toxicology and clinical biochemistry at the university commended the report for properly addressing the structural problems linked to racism which have caused Covid-19 to disproportionately impact BAME communities.

However, the lecturer criticised the complete lack of consideration given to the issue of genetics, and specifically to answering the question as to whether certain traits increase virus susceptibility.

Failing to adequately address this subject leaves the door open for continued speculation around race and genetics, said Dr Morgan.

This report was an opportunity to knock the speculation on its head, and allow for focus to be appropriately shifted to dealing with the damaging structural problems within society.

A spokesperson for PHE said: The review was not able to look at genetic factors and more research in this area is needed.

To complement the review, a research call by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has jointly called for research proposals to investigate emerging evidence of an association between ethnicity and COVID-19 incidence and adverse health outcomes.

Dr Morgan also queried how the report framed its discussion of the relationship between the BAME community and the NHS: The report missed a number of opportunities, such as not to consider that historical racism will impact on both the speed and level of treatment BAME groups are likely to receive when they interact with the NHS.

Instead, it focused on the fact that as a result of historical racism BAME groups are less likely to seek care when needed.

Both arguments are underpinned by historical racism, and should have been given equal weight in the report: By omitting the former it has the feel of blaming the victims for not complaining.

PHE conceded that the report did not consider every issue: There are many impacts of systemic racism and PHEs qualitative report identified the issues that were raised repeatedly by stakeholders.

This does not mean that other factors are not relevant and confirms the need for further more detailed research studies on these issues.

Dr Morgan concluded that despite reservations over the lack of wider recommendation about tackling structural racism in wider society, all seven recommendations should be implemented.

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University of East London lecturer says PHE report fails to address genetics - Newham Recorder

Physiology

Empatica and BARDA Join Forces to Validate Wearable System That Detects COVID-19 Before Symptoms Appear – PRNewswire

The aim is to validate Empatica's algorithm in real-life settings, with the participation of healthcare workers who are exposed to a high viral load while treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients.They will wear the E4, Empatica's medical-grade research wearable wristband, for 30 days, and their physiological data will be reviewed against daily nasopharyngeal (NP) samples and a daily qRT-PCR swab, ensuring the highest ground truth.

Empatica CEO Matteo Lai, stated, "We are very proud to join forces with BARDA to help improve the health and safety of millions of Americans going back to work. This product introduces a new paradigm: empowering individuals and institutions with smart health monitoring, so that they will know early when they need to self-isolate and take care of themselves. Without BARDA's leadership and foresight over the past year, our early detection algorithm would not have reached this pivotal stage of clinical validation, which will accelerate our request for FDA's approval of Aura as a medical product for use by people at risk of contracting COVID-19."

BARDA Acting Director, Gary Disbrow, Ph.D., added, "We anticipate that access to real-time and actionable health information will empower people to seek medical advice and care sooner, or to adopt behavioral changes such as temporary self-isolation that can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and similar infections."

Early detection can protect frontline workers, reduce spread, and improve the overall public health response as lockdowns ease globally. Recent estimates byCDC suggest that 35% of infections are asymptomatic, making contact tracing and containment of the virus a challenge. Meanwhile,the most infectious period could be 1 to 3 days before symptoms start, so even those patients who eventually display symptoms can still infect their family, colleagues and other people they interact with, before realizing they are ill. Digital biomarkers like Aura can help efficiently triage patients, enabling more effective care and prioritization of cases, and potentially saving lives.

Contact [emailprotected] for more info on Aura.

Empatica

Empatica Incis an MIT spinoff based in Boston, MA, and a pioneer in physiology-based biomarker development and continuous, unobtrusive patient monitoring driven by AI. Empatica's platform uses a combination of biosensors to detect features of human physiology that are distilled in AI-based algorithms and can remotely monitor autonomic activity, movement, sleep and cardiac activity. Empatica's E4 and Embrace2 smartwatches are CE-marked and have been sold to thousands of institutional partners for research purposes, in trials and studies examining Stress, Sleep, Epilepsy, Migraine, Depression, Addiction and other conditions.

HHS/ASPR/BARDA

HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. The mission of ASPR is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. Within ASPR, BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures vaccines, treatments, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats.

SOURCE Empatica

https://www.empatica.com/

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Empatica and BARDA Join Forces to Validate Wearable System That Detects COVID-19 Before Symptoms Appear - PRNewswire