Virginia BioTechnology Research Park

April 2010

BIOTECH PARK NEWS

VCU Medical Center Holds Cellular Therapeutics Lab Open House
Virginia Commonwealth University dedicated the Cellular Therapeutics Lab for the VCU Massey Cancer Center’s Bone Marrow Transplant Program.  Located in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, the $1.8 million, 5,000 square-foot expanded laboratory will include a main clinical lab for actual stem cell processing and three smaller GMP laboratories behind a special air lock for advanced cell therapy preparation. In addition, the expansion will allow for conference space and office areas.
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Entrepreneur Moms Create Time-Management Tools
When new mom Kirsten Knull casually admitted to another new mom that she was having trouble remembering things, she felt relieved to find commiseration rather than scorn.  Knull’s confidante was her sister-in-law Katie West. The two are now business partners and co-founders of ChicksWithKidz, a start-up that has developed an electronic gadget that stores and recalls a week’s worth of feeding and medication schedules and reminders.
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Dr. Joseph McConnell Joins Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.), www.hdlabinc.com, has brought Dr. Joseph McConnell to Richmond, Virginia as the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of the growing clinical laboratory focused on fighting the alarming increase in chronic disease.  “Dr. McConnell is a distinguished medical professional and formerly the Director of Cardiovascular Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Mayo Clinic.  He currently drives our laboratory forward with an unwavering commitment to empowering both physicians and patients,” said Tonya Mallory, President and CEO of HDL, Inc., an accredited clinical laboratory that has emerged as a leader in disease state management.
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Vital Connections: Since Sept. 11, 2001, Organ Transplant Agency Faces Changing Security Rules
What happens when the heart a patient needs is 2,000 miles away from the operating room and can’t be flown in time for the surgery?  It’s a scenario that the Richmond-based UNOS can sometimes face in coordinating dozens of organ donations each day throughout the United States. Formally known as the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit today must deal with changing air-travel security regulations — a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — which can slow down the transfer of vital organs used in organ transplant surgeries.
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HDL, Inc. CEO Named to List of Influential Women of Virginia
Virginia Lawyers Media, publishers of Virginia Lawyers Weekly and the Virginia Medical Law Report, has announced that Tonya Mallory, President and CEO of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.), has been selected as one of 2010′s “Influential Women of Virginia.”  This awards program, started last year, recognizes the outstanding efforts of women in the Commonwealth in all fields, including law, business, health care, education and the arts. The honors are given to individuals who are making notable contributions to their chosen professions, their communities and society at large.
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NEWS and RESEARCH at VCU

Researchers Identify new Gene Involved in the Development of Liver Cancer
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a new tumor-promoting gene that may play a key role in the development of liver cancer. Levels of the gene’s expression are significantly higher in more than 90 percent of patients with the disease compared to their healthy counterparts.  Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine hope the findings could lead to an effective therapy to target and inhibit the expression of this gene and result in inhibition of cancer growth.
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Richmond Magazine Top Docs Issue Recognizes VCU Medical Center Physicians
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center physicians figured prominently in Richmond Magazine’s latest Top Docs survey, which asked Richmond-area physicians whom they would recommend in a range of specialties.  In the magazine’s April issue, 92 full-time VCU Medical Center physicians appeared on the list, five of them appearing in more than one category.
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Getting to the Root of Psychiatric Disorders
With no significant treatment breakthroughs for schizophrenia in the past 50 years, and none for depression in the last 20, researchers in the field are now rallying for a fresh new approach — getting to the root of these neuropsychiatric illnesses by delving into the core of the brain and unraveling the genetic, molecular and cellular causes of these conditions.  In a new article highlighted in the Policy Forum of the March 26 issue of Science, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Washington, the Broad Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and the Baylor College of Medicine noted the lack of progress in the way of major treatment breakthroughs and knowledge of the underlying biology of these conditions. Among the team of prestigious authors are James D. Watson, Ph.D., who co-discovered DNA, and Eric Kandel, M.D., the 2000 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine.
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VCU Study: Simplifying Measures of Genetic Risk for Alcohol Dependence
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified four relatively simple measures of drinking behavior to assess genetic risk for alcohol dependence, making the process of risk identification both easier and faster.  Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, and a professor of human and molecular genetics in the VCU School of Medicine, and colleagues assessed the lifetime history of alcohol dependence in 5,073 same-sex adult twins from the Virginia Twin Registry against four measures of alcohol consumption at the time of heaviest drinking: drinking frequency, regular quantity, maximum quantity and drunk frequency. They used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-Fourth Edition criteria.
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VCU Study: Collaboration Between Primary Care Physicians and Telephone Quitlines More Likely to Help Smokers Quit
When it comes to helping smokers kick the habit, primary care practices that employ a telephone quitline are better able to help their patients, according to a study conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network.  Although telephone quitlines have been found to be effective for counseling and helping smokers quit, relatively few are offered in collaboration with clinicians.
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