March 2010
BIOTECH PARK NEWS
On Life-and-Death Issues, UNOS Chief a Steadying Influence
About 106,000 people are on the national waiting list for organ transplants. Needed: more than 83,000 kidneys, 15,000 livers, 3,000 hearts, 1,800 lungs, 1,400 pancreases and others. Only about a fourth of those needing a transplant get one in any given year. Walter K. Graham is cognizant of those numbers as head of the Richmond-based United Network for Organ Sharing, the national organization in charge of matching donor organs with people needing lifesaving transplants.
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Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. (HDL, Inc.) Launches Community Initiative, It Starts with the Heart
Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. (HDL, Inc.), has launched a community initiative known as It Starts with the Heart, a company-wide commitment to support not-for-profits of all sizes in making a difference in their community. HDL, Inc. will direct its first in a series of random acts of kindness to Medical Home Plus. A Richmond based nonprofit, Medical Home Plus is dedicated to helping children with special needs and their families by linking them to education and resources. On March 24, 2010, HDL, Inc. will present a check for $20,000 to Medical Home Plus at a dinner open to the public at Cafe Mosaic, a heart healthy restaurant in Richmond, Virginia.
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When You Want More Metal In Your socks Than a Gold Toe
A company founded on the therapeutic qualities of copper has created an affiliate company devoted to using copper in hospitals and raised more money. At the end of 2009, a recapitalization effort at Cupron Inc. created Cupron Medical, a company based in Delaware but with principle offices in Richmond. The recapitalization was funded by approximately a dozen private investors and was led by Virginia Life Sciences Investments, a biotech venture capital firm in Richmond.
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VaBIO 2010 Agenda Passed By Legislature
The Virginia Biotechnology Association is pleased to announce that every item on our 2010 legislative agenda has passed the General Assembly. On behalf of the board of directors, we would like to thank everyone who helped support VaBIO, the Virginia Bioscience Legislative Caucus, and the many requests we made for advocates to contact their elected officials on our behalf. Here is a summary of important legislation and budget items that should be of interest to the bioscience community.
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Health-Care Reform Brings New Taxes
Millions more Americans will have greater access to health care, but somebody has to pay for it. The health-care reform bill signed by President Obama last week brings with it new excise taxes on the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Many in the medical industry see the new taxes as a direct threat to their businesses, while others are more optimistic that more Americans being able to afford health care will increase sales.
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NEWS and RESEARCH at VCU
Researchers Identify Potential New Therapeutic Targets for Solid-Tumor Cancers
A team of researchers has found a new role for a receptor long known to be involved in tumor-induced angiogenesis, findings that could lead to improved drug treatments for solid-tumor cancers. In a study published in the March issue of the journal Molecular Cell, a team from the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, together with colleagues from the VCU School of Medicine and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, reported that the Tie1 receptor interacts with and inhibits another essential protein, known as Tie2, involved in angiogenesis.
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Children’s Hospital and VCU Health System in Formal Talks
Officials from Children’s Hospital and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System announced today that they are in formal talks to explore opportunities to jointly address the critical need for advancing the full range of specialty pediatric care in the greater Richmond area. A due-diligence process is underway to research and analyze financial, operational and programmatic issues involved in joint operations of the two organizations under the VCU Health System umbrella.
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VCU Medical Center First in Virginia to Offer New Robotic-Assisted Thyroid Surgery
A Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center physician is the first in the state to perform a new minimally invasive da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical procedure to treat thyroid nodules without leaving a scar on the patient’s neck. Amelia Grover, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Surgery’s Division of Surgical Oncology, performs the surgery on patients with thyroid nodules – lumps that commonly arise within an otherwise-normal thyroid gland. Symptoms may include swallowing or breathing problems.
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Researchers Identify Potential New Therapeutic Targets to Fight Severe Allergic Reaction
Anaphylaxis is a rapidly developing and serious allergic reaction that affects a number of different areas of the body at one time. This collection of rapid changes to the skin, blood vessel and lung systems is the least understood among allergic disorders. However, researchers are looking for ways to better understand what takes place in anaphylaxis to best prevent this dangerous allergic reaction. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers, led by Carole A. Oskeritzian, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, have been examining the roles of sphingosine-1-phosphate, or S1P, and its S1P2 receptor in developing and mature human mast, and also in a mouse model of anaphylaxis.
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VCU President Emeritus’ Book Published on Universities as Engines of Economic Development
A new book, “The Indispensable University” by VCU President Emeritus Eugene P. Trani and former Dean and Wilder School Director Robert Holsworth, examines the global transformation of institutions of higher education into indispensable agents of economic and community development. Published by Rowman & Littlefield in the American Council on Education Series on Higher Education, the book includes a foreword by former Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
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