November 2010
Biotech Park News
Pilot Transplant Project Aims to Spur Kidney Swaps
Too often, would-be kidney donors are wasted because the friend or loved one they want to help isn’t a match. Now a new national database promises to help find matches for those frustrated pairs so they can be part of so-called kidney exchanges and cut the wait for a transplant. If the long-awaited pilot project by the United Network for Organ Sharing pans out, specialists predict it eventually could result in an extra 2,000 to 3,000 transplants a year through “kidney paired donation,” where someone donates a kidney on a patient’s behalf so they can receive a compatible organ from someone else in return.
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Center for Transplant System Excellence to Study National Potential for Future Deceased Donation; Federal Contract Amendment Worth Nearly $1.7 Million Over Two Years
As the demand for organ transplantation continues to grow, many key decisions in medical care and national policy depend on a realistic estimate of the future number of potential deceased organ donors. The Center for Transplant System Excellence, a new initiative of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), will study this issue under UNOS’ contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). HRSA will add $1.7 million in federal funds to the contract over two years to support a multidisciplinary study to estimate deceased donor potential in the United States.
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Richmond-Area Biotech Firms To Get $1 Million
Virginia’s biotechnology industry is getting a dose of capital from the federal government. More than $11 million in federal tax credits and grants will go to 45 biotechnology companies in the state, including more than $1 million to seven Richmond-area firms, biotech industry groups said. The grants and tax credits were approved as part of the health-care overhaul that Congress passed this year. The money is intended to provide resources for biotech firms, especially small startup firms, that are researching new disease therapies or technologies that can meet medical needs and reduce health-care costs.
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At Biotech Conference, A Focus On Finding Funding
The Mid-Atlantic Bio conference has built an identity by knitting together what many see as the region’s biggest biotech strength, its proximity to federal labs and regulators, with what many lament as its biggest weakness, a small investment community. The annual event, now in its seventh year, didn’t deviate from that theme as it brought biotech executives and investors from both sides of the Potomac together at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. Coming off a year when venture capital across most industries sank to its lowest levels in a decade, a sense of measured enthusiasm seemed to prevail as the numbers posted so far in 2010 show a slow return to pre-recession levels.
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VCU News and Research
New Function of Gene Promoting Cancer Found by VCU Researchers
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered that a gene well known for its involvement in tumor cell development, growth and metastasis also protects cancer cells from being destroyed by chemotherapy. By inhibiting the expression of this gene, doctors may have a new viable and effective approach for treating aggressive cancers such as breast, liver and prostate carcinomas, malignant gliomas and neuroblastomas that result from high expression of this cancer-promoting gene. The new study was reported the week of Nov. 22 in PNAS Early Edition, an online publishing of the latest scientific research by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work was a collaboration among researchers from VCU Massey Cancer Center, the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), and the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics of the VCU School of Medicine, and was led by Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at VCU Massey Cancer Center.
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VCU Pauley Heart Center Researcher Leads Clinical Trial Examining How to Improve Response to CRT
Standard cardiac resynchronization therapy in which a special device tunes the heart’s rhythm works as well as more costly and time-consuming methods used to regulate the time interval between the squeezing of the heart’s upper and lower chambers, according to a study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center researcher. Results of the multicenter study were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2010. Physicians have been treating patients with suboptimal atrioventricular interval delay using standard cardiac resynchronization therapy, or CRT, in which a special device is implanted in the patient to strengthen the heart muscle. Suboptimal atrioventricular interval delay is a condition in which the timing between the constrictions of the heart’s upper and lower chambers is askew by milliseconds. Researchers were investigating ways to improve the effectiveness of standard CRT because it only works in approximately 70 percent of patients.
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VCU Among Top Producers of Fulbright Scholars
Virginia Commonwealth University ranked in a tie for third among United States research institutions for most Fulbright Scholars produced during the 2010-11 academic year, according to a list compiled by the Institute of International Education. VCU, which has six Fulbright Scholars this academic year, was tied with five other schools in the third position. Fulbright scholars included in the tally were faculty members and other professionals at a school.
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Children’s Hospital of Richmond Pediatric ICU Recognized for Excellence in Critical Care
The Children’s Hospital of Richmond Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has received the Beacon Award for critical care excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. It is the first PICU in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of only a handful in the country to receive the Beacon Award, which recognizes adult critical care, adult progressive care and pediatric critical care units that demonstrate strong patient outcomes and exemplify excellence and innovation.
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