StemCell Therapy

GOLDEN, CO / ACCESSWIRE / October 1, 2020 / Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. (OTCQB:VODG), dba Vitro Biopharma, announced its 3rd quarter, ended July 31st 2020, financial results of operations.

Vitro Biopharma recorded 3rd quarter revenues of $132,066 vs $225,191 a decrease of 41% over the comparative quarter last year. Revenues were up slightly from the prior quarter which were $128,631. The decrease in revenue is directly attributed to the COVID 19 pandemic. Lockdown extensions and business opening limitations have pushed our expectations of growth and revenue recovery out to the first half of 2021. Feedback from our customers and our partner clinic in the Cayman Islands http://www.DVCstem.com are that patients awaiting treatments are not dropping off, but merely postponing their treatments and as such, a significant backlog is building. The cosmetic clinics http://www.Infinivive.com have started to open up but only with lower occupancy and variations by state, resulting in reduced revenue into the 4th quarter with expectations of a revival of revenue into the first half of 2021.

Gross profit declined 3% from the comparative quarter last year primarily due to the reduced higher margin stem cell product sales versus the mid margin stem cell research and development products.

Overall operating expenses increased in the quarter ended July 31st 2020 by $180,326 to $336,442 from $194,682 in the prior year's comparative quarter. The increase in expenses reflects the increased costs of FDA regulatory, legal, consulting, and audit costs. We engaged the audit firm of MaloneBailey LLP to get the company fully reporting around January of 2021.

Vitro Biopharma Announces MaloneBailey L.L.P. as its new Auditors

The company added extra resources to turn its attention to the world-wide challenge of finding therapies to fight COVID-19. Vitro filed an Investigational New Drug ("IND") application and through its collaboration with GIOSTAR, received FDA authorization to treat COVID 19 patients under the Expanded Access Program with its AlloRx Stem Cells . A single patient was treated successfully with no adverse events and the patient showed evidence of improved lung, liver and kidney function while also recovering from a stroke-induced coma.

Critically ill COVID-19 Patient Successfully Treated with Vitro Biopharma’s AlloRx Stem Cells®

The company entered into an MOU with GIOSTAR, a leading global stem cell research company, who operates multiple international stem cell clinics. The supply agreement provides GIOSTAR with the use of our AlloRx Stem Cells to treat COVID 19 patients through FDA-pre and post-market approval.

Vitro Biopharma Signs MOU with GIOSTAR for COVID-19 IND Using AlloRx Stem Cells

During and subsequent to the quarter the company achieved and pursed the following objectives:

During the quarter and subsequent to the quarter, the company continued with its Series A Convertible Preferred Stock offering to accredited investors under the SEC Regulation D exemption. The preferred Stock is priced at $25 per share which is convertible at $0.25 cents per share for a total of 100 shares. The minimum investment is $50,000 per unit. The company has sold $1.0 million of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock during and subsequent to the quarter. The offering was sold out at $1.0 million and the company has expanded it to a total of up to $3.5 million to ensure sufficient working capital during the Coronavirus pandemic and to start the regulatory process of current reporting audits and funding for its expanded clinical trial activities with the FDA.

As a part of our overall strategy to target both global and US stem cell markets, Vitro submitted a Phase I IND application to the FDA to assess the safety of AlloRx Stem Cells in the treatment of COVID-19. We have established strong communication channels with FDA officials to facilitate our IND review and are providing additional information to the FDA to complete the approval of our IND. Several clinical centers have expressed interest in our stem cell therapy and we continue to enlist multi-center sites to conduct our Phase 1 trial. We are also pursuing other avenues for emergency use under the Expanded Access Program. No adverse events were reported and the patient who had various comorbidities stabilized and exhibited enhanced pulmonary, liver and renal function during the six weeks following AlloRx Stem Cell Therapy. The patient has now recovered and is at home from the hospital after 3 months of intensive care. We are currently pursuing additional emergency use authorizations under expanded access provision applications through our collaboration with GIOSTAR. MSCs have been shown to block the cytokine storm that occurs in COVID-19 patients in acute respiratory distress through their powerful anti-inflammatory effects. The cytokine storm leads to the need for assisted breathing by ventilators, transfer to ICU and related burdens on the US health care system. It is important to note that AlloRx Stem Cells are a possible therapy for other viral attacks including influenza. Stem cells may block acute respiratory distress and may repair damage to other major organs including cardiovascular, pulmonary, hepatic and renal systems. AlloRx Stem Cells have been shown to assist in recovery from failure of various organ systems in COVID-19 survivors, as our case study and results from several other labs are demonstrating.

The Company entered into an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research, Inc. ("GIOSTAR") a leading stem cell research institute based in San Diego, California. GIOSTAR has filed for a separate IND application using Vitro Biopharma's umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell product AlloRx Stem Cells in a clinical trial to treat COVID-19 patients. GIOSTAR has already obtained emergency use authorization under expanded access provisions from the FDA for severe COVID-19 hospitalized patients using AlloRx Stem Cells.

Vitro continues to seek FDA authorization of its pending IND. As the approval process proceeds, Vitro will seek AlloRx Stem Cells FDA approval through Phase 2/3 IND filings for other indications such as osteoarthritis while at the same time continuing to supply GIOSTAR AlloRx Stem Cells for treatment of COVID-19 patients in global markets.

The company has delayed the expansion of its laboratory and manufacturing facilities to better reflect the delays in revenue brought on by the pandemic. This new facility is expected to be operating in the second half of 2021. Our present facility has approximately $6M of AlloRx Stem Cell Vitro Biopharma revenue capacity per year. Furthermore, the completion of the 2nd clean room processing facility would expand our potential capacity to approximately 100 Billion AlloRx Stem Cell s a month or approximately $1.7 Million of AlloRx Stem Cell revenue capacity per month. This would give Vitro Biopharma a revenue run rate capacity of $20M a year.

Our increased capacity is rigorously controlled by our Quality Management System, now certified to the ISO9001 Quality Standard and the ISO13485 Medical Device Standard as well. This provides cGMP-compliant manufacturing of the highest quality stem cells/medical devices for clinical trial testing to provide further evidence of safety and efficacy for treatment of a wide variety of indications. Highly regulated cGMP biologics manufacturing within a BLA-compliant facility provides numerous opportunities to the Company to drive strong revenue growth. We are presently focused on our partnerships in the Caribbean with DVC Stem in Grand Cayman Island, InfiniVive MD in the US and emerging opportunities in the The Medical Pavilion of the Bahamas We are actively pursuing other partnership opportunities as well.

We have reformulated with our contract manufacturer to produce STEMulize in large quantity manufacturing runs. STEMulize contains natural substances that activate the body's own stem cells to enhance recovery from injury such as TBI, stroke, MS, PD and other autoimmune, inflammatory and neurological diseases. The STEMulize product will be offered as a private label product to Infinivive MD clinics and is being implemented as supplemental support to clinical treatments now ongoing in the Cayman Islands. Patients report positive benefits fromSTEMulize therapy following stem cell transplants including increased overall energy and enhancement of improved motor function in MS patients. We are currently pursing licensing arrangements with nutraceutical companies that can scale our formulation under their own private label.

The Company's cosmetic stem cell serum private labelled as Infinivive MD is being applied as a topical cosmetic serum in medical spas and plastic surgery offices. Infinivive MD revenue was reduced by the Coronavirus pandemic and as a result, revenues declined by 52% in the current quarter to approximately $50,000 vs $105,000 in the prior comparative quarter in 2019. This revenue has been flat from the prior quarter reflecting the reduced treatments due to the pandemic capacity limitations of various states.

Infinivive MD Cosmetic Serum is revolutionizing the cosmetic industry. Patients are experiencing unparalleled improvements in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This is one of the fastest growing revenue streams for Vitro Biopharma.. We work with a variety of regulatory experts to assist us in the appropriate regulatory pathways.

http://www.jackzamoramd.com http://www.infinivivemd.com

Vitro Biopharma's OEM cosmetic topical serum is being distributed exclusively by Infinivive MD into cosmetic clinics that are providing the topical treatment as a beautification product. To date the company's product is being offered in a number of clinics throughout the United States and soon internationally,; but with the clinics just opening again for business and with limited occupancy rules we do not expect this revenue to recover back to peak levels with growth until the first half of 2021.

The company has brought on Dr. Jack Zamora as its chief medical officer (C.M.O.) and together we have developed a new exosome product, Infinivive MD's Cosmetic Exosome Serum.

Vitro Biopharma Announces Jack Zamora M.D. as it’s Chief Medical Advisor

The product will be distributed by InfiniveMD along with the topical stem cell serum. The product is also used as a topical application for beautification. The product is a compliment to the topical stem cell serum and will provide the customer with a more competitive price point per application depending on the particular clinic. The new Exosome product

is being marketed and sold into the clinics in the first half of 2021. We are jointly working

on a topical Daily Serum. The Exosome market is part of the billion-dollar cosmetic market in the United States. These products will also be sold offshore around the world.

Update on the Clinical Trial of Musculoskeletal Conditions in the Bahamas

This initiative broadens Vitro Biopharma's expansion into highly regulated stem cell trials in collaboration with the Nassau-based Medical Pavilion of the Bahamas (TMPB).

Home

We will now be able to extend stem cell therapy based on our novel, patent-pending AlloRx Stem Cell product to a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. These include OA of any joint, ACL/MCL tear, Achilles tendon rupture, rotator cuff injury, tennis elbow and herniated disc that are highly prevalent and have few disease-modifying options. It is important to note that many stem cell treatments now performed are problematic due to limited potency and failure to meet basic criteria of stem cells. Vitro Biopharma operates a highly regulated, FDA-compliant commercial biologics manufacturing operation for several years and is cGMP compliant, ISO 9001Certified, ISO 13485 Certified, CLIA Certified and FDA registered and BLA-compliant. All manufacturing occurs in a certified sterile clean room with extensive and advanced testing to assure the absence of contamination. Furthermore, in numerous patients treated to date by IV infusion of AlloRx Stem Cells there have been no significant adverse events. The company is partnered with Dr. Conville Brown, MD, MBBS, FACC, FESC, PhD, the founder and CEO of the Medical Pavilion of the Bahamas who is the Principal Investigator of this trial and director of its clinical administration. Dr Brown was instrumental in the establishment of the NSCEC in the Bahamas.

About the Medical Pavilion of the Bahamas: TMPB operates within a 40,000 square foot building as a partnered care specialty medical facility with 10 different centers in various areas including cardiology, cancer, clinical research and kidney disease. One of the centers is the Partners Stem Cell Centre, where the present trial will be conducted. The Partners Stem Cell Centre provides an environment to conduct stem cell research and clinical trials under the model of ''FDA rigor in a Non-FDA Jurisdiction'' TMPB employs 20 medical specialists in various fields. See http://www.tmp-bahamas.com for additional information.

The company has entered into an operating agreement with the Partner's Stem Cell Centre and expects to begin patient enrollment for the clinical trial in QI/QII of 2021 once

the Bahamas opens up without quarantine restrictions.

Due to the Corona virus pandemic the Cayman Islands closed itself and its businesses down for the majority of the quarter and next quarter, the current status is listed as locked down until Oct. 1st 2020. However, our partner reports that customers are staying on the waiting list and will return for their treatments as soon as the island opens back up. There currently is a pending backlog of over 70 patients seeking treatment which exceeds all of the treatments performed in 2019 by over 200%. We expect to see a surge in revenues from this backlog to bring back our revenue stream in the into the first half of 2021.

The Company has 11 patent applications pending in the US and foreign jurisdictions. These patents cover our AlloRx Stem Cell line and various aspects of our STEMulize stem cell activation products and processes as well as specific diagnostic tests of stem cell activity and therapeutic effectiveness. During the quarter, the Company has responded to office actions and continues to vigorously prosecute & expand its patent filings.

Dr. Jim Musick, CEO of Vitro Biopharma, said, "We are pleased to report our activities in fighting the COVID-19 with filings of our eIND, INDs and partnership with GIOSTAR. While we are disappointed in the extraordinary events of the Corona Virus pandemic and its results on our operations, we have taken the time to advance our clinical applications, partnerships and new product development in further preparation for realized growth in 2021 as a result of these activities. In addition, with have started the intense process of organizing the company for audits and fully reporting status with the SEC targeted for January 2021.

We believe our stem cell products are distinctly superior to stem cell treatments offered in the USA. The latter usually involve use of impure products lacking validation as stem cells and containing insufficient numbers of stem cells to achieve therapeutic benefits. These are produced without regulatory oversight and have been known to cause serious adverse effects. Hence the use of highly purified and well characterized stem cells (AlloRx Stem Cells) is needed to provide safety and efficacy in regenerative medicine therapies.

In summary, Vitro Biopharma is advancing as a key player in regenerative medicine with 10+ years' experience in the development and commercialization of stem cell products for research, recognized by a Best in Practice Technology Innovation Leadership award for Stem Cell Tools and Technology and a growing track record of successful translation to therapy. We plan to leverage our proprietary technology platform to the establishment of international Stem Cell Centers of Excellence and regulatory approvals in the US and worldwide.

Vitro Biopharma has supplied major biopharmaceutical firms, elite university laboratories and clinical trials worldwide with its Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (AlloRx Stem Cells), and it's MSC-Grow Brand of cell culture media along with advanced stem cell diagnostic services. http://www.vitrobiopharma.com"

Sincerely yours,

James R. Musick, PhD.

President, CEO & Chairman of the Board

http://www.vitrobiopharma.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements herein regarding financial performance have not yet been reported to the SEC nor reviewed by the Company's auditors. Certain statements contained herein and subsequent statements made by and on behalf of the Company, whether oral or written may contain "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements are identified by words such as "intends,"

"anticipates," "believes," "expects" and "hopes" and include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's plan of business operations, product research and development activities, potential contractual arrangements, receipt of working capital, anticipated revenues and related expenditures.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, acceptability of the Company's products in the market place, general economic conditions, receipt of additional working capital, the overall state of the biotechnology industry and other factors set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulations, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:

Dr. James Musick4621 Technology DriveGolden, CO 80403(303) 999-2130 x1www.vitrobiopharma.com

Vitro Diagnostics, Inc.

Quarter Ended July 31st;

Income Statement

Stem Cell Therapies and Treatments

Stem Cell Products

Other Services

Total Revenues

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Gross Profit

SGA Expenses

Office Expenses

Consulting,Accounting,Legal and Banking Fees

Laboratory R&D & Quality Control

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Non Cash Depreciation and Amortization

Non Cash Stock for Services

Non Cash Interest on Shareholder Debt

Non Cash Interest on Secured Notes Payable

Net Income (Loss)

The company provides its financial information for investor purposes only, the results published are not audited or necessarily SEC or GAAP compliant.

Vitro Diagnositics Inc.

Quarter Ended July 31st;

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ASSETS

Cash

Accounts Receivable

Inventory

Notes Receivable and Prepaids

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Trade Accounts Payable

Bank Credit Cards

Capital Lease Obligaitons

Current Liabiities

Secured Convertible Notes with discount

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Shareholder Accrued Comp. Payable

Shareholder Debts Payable

Long Term Liabilities

Total Liabilities

SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY

Series A Convertible Preferred

Common Stock

Paid in Capital

Treasury Stock

Retained Earnings

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Vitro Biopharma 3rd Quarter ended July 31st 2020 Financial Results of Operations - BioSpace

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) (Rocket), a clinical-stage company advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies for rare childhood disorders, today announces two presentations at the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) 2020 Meeting to be held virtually October 14-17, 2020. An oral presentation will provide an update on data from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RP-L201 for Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I). An e-poster will highlight preclinical study data on RP-L401 for Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO).

Additional presentation details can be found below:

Oral Presentation

Title: A Phase 1/2 Study of Lentiviral-Mediated Ex-Vivo Gene Therapy for Pediatric Patients with Severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I): Results from Phase 1 Session Title: TreatmentPresenter: Donald B. Kohn, M.D., Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology), Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, and member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, Los AngelesSession Date: Friday, October 16, 2020Session Time: 10:45 a.m. 12:01 p.m. CESTLecture Time: 11:45 a.m. CESTLocation: Hall D

This session will be followed by a Q&A from 12:01 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. CEST

E-Poster

Title: Preclinical Efficacy and Safety of EFS.HTCIRG1-LV Supports IMO Gene Therapy Clinical Trial InitiationPresenter: Ilana Moscatelli, Ph.D., Associate Researcher, Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy, Lund University, Sweden

About Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I

Severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I) is a rare, autosomal recessive pediatric disease caused by mutations in the ITGB2 gene encoding for the beta-2 integrin component CD18. CD18 is a key protein that facilitates leukocyte adhesion and extravasation from blood vessels to combat infections. As a result, children with severe LAD-I (less than 2% normal expression) are often affected immediately after birth. During infancy, they suffer from recurrent life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections that respond poorly to antibiotics and require frequent hospitalizations. Children who survive infancy experience recurrent severe infections including pneumonia, gingival ulcers, necrotic skin ulcers, and septicemia. Without a successful bone marrow transplant, mortality in patients with severe LAD-I is 60-75% prior to the age of 2 and survival beyond the age of 5 is uncommon. There is a high unmet medical need for patients with severe LAD-I.

Rockets LAD-I research is made possible by a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Grant Number CLIN2-11480). The contents of this press release are solely the responsibility of Rocket and do not necessarily represent the official views of CIRM or any other Agency of the State of California.

About Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis

Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO) is a rare, severe autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the TCIRG1 gene, which is critical for the process of bone resorption. Mutations in TCIRG1 interfere with the function of osteoclasts, cells which are essential for normal bone remodeling and growth, leading to skeletal malformations, including fractures and cranial deformities which cause neurologic abnormalities including vision and hearing loss. Patients often have endocrine abnormalities and progressive, frequently fatal bone marrow failure. As a result, death is common within the first decade of life. IMO has an estimated incidence of 1 in 200,000. The only treatment option currently available for IMO is an allogenic bone marrow transplant (HSCT), which allows for the restoration of bone resorption by donor-derived osteoclasts which originate from hematopoietic cells. Long-term survival rates are lower in IMO than those associated with HSCT for many other non-malignant hematologic disorders; severe HSCT-related complications are frequent. There is an urgent need for additional treatment options.

RP-L401 was in-licensed from Lund University and Medizinische Hochschule Hannover.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) (Rocket) is advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies that correct the root cause of complex and rare childhood disorders. The companys platform-agnostic approach enables it to design the best therapy for each indication, creating potentially transformative options for patients afflicted with rare genetic diseases. Rocket's clinical programs using lentiviral vector (LVV)-based gene therapy are for the treatment of Fanconi Anemia (FA), a difficult to treat genetic disease that leads to bone marrow failure and potentially cancer, Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are frequently fatal, Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD) a rare, monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia and Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO), a bone marrow-derived disorder. Rockets first clinical program using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy is for Danon disease, a devastating, pediatric heart failure condition. For more information about Rocket, please visit http://www.rocketpharma.com.

Rocket Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Various statements in this release concerning Rocket's future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Rocket's expectations regarding its guidance for 2020 in light of COVID-19, the safety, effectiveness and timing of product candidates that Rocket may develop, to treat Fanconi Anemia (FA), Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO) and Danon Disease, and the safety, effectiveness and timing of related pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "will give," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may," "suggest" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although Rocket believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Rocket cannot guarantee such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, Rocket's ability to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on its business operations and take steps to ensure the safety of patients, families and employees, the interest from patients and families for participation in each of Rockets ongoing trials, our expectations regarding when clinical trial sites will resume normal business operations, our expectations regarding the delays and impact of COVID-19 on clinical sites, patient enrollment, trial timelines and data readouts, our expectations regarding our drug supply for our ongoing and anticipated trials, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates, Rocket's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Rocket's Annual Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, filed August 5, 2020 with the SEC. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Rocket undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Rocket Pharmaceuticals Announces Two Presentations at the European Society for Immunodeficiencies 2020 Meeting - Business Wire

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H-CYTE, Inc.(OTCQB: HCYT), a developer of regenerative cellular therapeutics, announced today that Robert Greif has been named the companys new chief executive officer.

Robert brings decades of pharmaceutical experience to H-CYTE, having successfully taken more than a dozen products from discovery to commercialization, said Ray Monteleone, H-CYTE board member and chair of the CEO search committee. We believe he possesses the crucial skill sets necessary to oversee the potential transformation of H-CYTE into a leading biotech company, focused on innovation and meaningful patient outcomes.

I am honored to be joining the H-CYTE team to innovate and implement novel growth strategies in our biologics development, said Greif. With a focus on evidence-based medicine, it is my hope for H-CYTE to immediately begin clinical research and development of a diverse pipeline of next-generation regenerative therapeutics to meet the needs of patients with a variety of diseases and chronic health conditions.

Greif joins H-CYTE with a strong track record leading high-growth pharmaceutical and biotech businesses. Most recently, he was Chief Commercial Officer and Business Development Leader at Atox Bio, where he built the North American commercial organization in preparation for the launch of a first-in-class immunomodulator. Prior to that, he led the Commercial Operations of rEVO Biologics, an orphan disease biotechnology company. He has also held a variety of business unit and commercial leadership roles at United Health Group, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi.

Greif joins H-CYTE as CEO and President effective immediately. He replaces William E. Horne, who is stepping down as CEO but will remain on the companys Board of Directors.

We are thrilled to have someone with Roberts background and experience join H-CYTE as our new CEO, especially as we transition to a biotech company, said Horne. I look forward to helping the company as a board member, assisting Robert in his transition, and watching H-CYTE thrive and prosper under his leadership.

About H-CYTE, Inc.H-CYTE is a medical biosciences company focused in the field of regenerative medicine. H-CYTEs mission is to become a leader in next-generation, cellular therapeutics for the treatment of chronic health conditions. For more information about H-CYTE, please visitwww.HCYTE.com.

Safe Harbor StatementCertain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While H-CYTE believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those outlined in H-CYTEs filings with the SEC, including but not limited to Risk Factors relating to its business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. H-CYTE expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

CONTACTS

H-CYTE Media RelationsSherry Yeamansyeaman@HCYTE.com214-725-4315

H-CYTE Investor RelationsJason AssadJassad@HCYTE.com678-570-6791

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Robert Greif named Chief Executive Officer of H-CYTE - GlobeNewswire

Scientists have created a detailed cellular and molecular map of the healthy human heart to understand how this vital organ functions and to shed light on what goes awry in cardiovascular disease.

The work, published in Nature Sept. 24 was led by investigators at Harvard Medical School, Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Womens Hospital, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Germany, Imperial College London and their global collaborators.

The team analyzed almost a half million individual cells to build the most extensive cell atlas of the human heart to date. The atlas shows the huge diversity of cells and reveals heart muscle cell types, cardiac protective immune cells and an intricate network of blood vessels. It also predicts how the cells communicate to keep the heart working.

The research is part of the Human Cell Atlas initiative to map every cell type in the human body. The new molecular and cellular knowledge of the heart promises to enable better understanding of heart disease and guide the development of highly individualized treatments.

The work also sets the stage for therapies based on regenerative medicine in the future, the researchers said.

Over a lifetime, the average human heart delivers more than 2 billion life-sustaining beats to the body. In doing so, it helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells, tissues and organs and enables the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products. Each day, the heart beats around 100,000 times with a one-way flow through four different chambers, varying speed with rest, exercise and stress. Every beat requires an exquisitely complex but perfect synchronization across various cells in different parts of heart. When this complex coordination goes bad, it can result in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, killing an estimated 17.9 million people each year.

Detailing the molecular processes inside the cells of a healthy heart is critical to understanding how things go awry in heart disease. Such knowledge can lead to more precise, better treatment strategies for various forms of cardiovascular illness.

Millions of people are undergoing treatments for cardiovascular diseases. Understanding the healthy heart will help us understand interactions between cell types and cell states that can allow lifelong function and how these differ in diseases, said study co-senior author Christine Seidman, professor of medicine in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and a cardiovascular geneticist at Brigham and Womens.

Ultimately, these fundamental insights may suggest specific targets that can lead to individualized therapies in the future, creating personalized medicines for heart disease and improving the effectiveness of treatments for each patient, Seidman said.

This is what researchers set out to do in the new study.

The team studied nearly 500,000 individual cells and cell nuclei from six different regions of the heart obtained from 14 organ donors whose hearts were healthy but unsuitable for transplantation.

Using a combination of single-cell analysis, machine learning and imaging techniques, the team could see exactly which genes were switched on and off in each cell.

The researchers discovered major differences in the cells in different areas of the heart. They also observed that each area of the heart had specific subsets of cells a finding that points to different developmental origins and suggests that these cells would respond differently to treatments.

This project marks the beginning of new understandings into how the heart is built from single cells, many with different cell states, said study co-first author Daniel Reichart, research fellow in genetics at Harvard Medical School. With knowledge of the regional differences throughout the heart, we can begin to consider the effects of age, exercise and disease and help push the field of cardiology toward the era of precision medicine.

This is the first time anyone has looked at the single cells of the human heart at this scale, which has only become possible with large-scale single-cell sequencing, said Norbert Hbner, co-senior author and professor at Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine. This study shows the power of single-cell genomics and international collaboration, he added. Knowledge of the full range of cardiac cells and their gene activity is a fundamental necessity to understand how the heart functions and to start to unravel how it responds to stress and disease.

As part of this study, the researchers also looked at blood vessels running through the heart in unprecedented detail. The atlas showed how the cells in these veins and arteries are adapted to the different pressures and locations and how this could help researchers understand what goes wrong in blood vessels during coronary heart disease.

Our international effort provides an invaluable set of information to the scientific community by illuminating the cellular and molecular details of cardiac cells that work together to pump blood around the body, said co-senior author Michela Noseda of Imperial College, London. We mapped the cardiac cells that can be potentially infected by SARS-CoV-2 and found that specialized cells of the small blood vessels are also virus targets, she said. Our datasets are a goldmine of information to understand subtleties of heart disease.

The researchers also focused on understanding cardiac repair, looking at how the immune cells interact and communicate with other cells in the healthy heart and how this differs from skeletal muscle.

Further research will include investigating whether any heart cells could be induced to repair themselves.

This great collaborative effort is part of the global Human Cell Atlas initiative to create a Google map of the human body, said Sarah Teichmann of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, co-senior author of the study and co-chair of the Human Cell Atlas Organising Committee.

Openly available to researchers worldwide, the Heart Cell Atlas is a fantastic resource, which will lead to new understanding of heart health and disease, new treatments and potentially even finding ways of regenerating damaged heart tissue, she said.

This study was supported by the British Heart Foundation, European Research Council, Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany, Deutsches Zentrum fr Herz-Kreislaufforschung e.V., Leducq Fondation, German Research Foundation, Chinese Council Scholarship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, EMBO, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Alberta Innovates, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome, U.S. National Institutes of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Jonathan Seidman, the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation Professor of Genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, is also co-senior author. Monika Litviukov and Carlos Talavera-Lpez of the Sanger Institute and Henrike Maatz of the Max Delbrck Center are co-first authors with David Reichart.

Here is the original post:
Map of the human heart could guide treatments - Harvard Gazette

[co-authors: Dan Meckley, Preston Tran, and Heather Hatcher, Ph.D.]

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Innovative technologies are being deployed to address the Western worlds major killer: cancer. Traditionally, cancer treatment has included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but recently, the development of targeted immunotherapies such as monoclonal antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors) are showing considerable promise in immunooncology.

The fields of immunology and oncology have been linked since the late 19th century, when studies showed that killed and denatured bacteria injected into sites of sarcoma (a tumor that starts in the bone or muscle) resulted in tumor shrinkage. The intersection between immune surveillance and tumor biology has led to broad therapeutic advances, including the search for a cancer vaccine.

Traditional prophylactic vaccines work to prevent disease by preparing the bodys immune system against a pathogenic infection such as influenza or polio. Over the last decade, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved prophylactic vaccines that prevent development of cancer by protecting against cancer-causing pathogens such as human papillomavirus (HPV) (GARDASIL 9; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Whitehouse Station, NJ) and hepatitis B virus (HEPLISAV-B; Dynavax Technologies Corp., Emeryville, CA).

A cancer vaccine is a therapeutic vaccine that targets pre-existing tumors in cancer patients who have a fundamentally different immune response relative to that of healthy individuals. Cancer is characterized by an accumulation of genetic alterations, and every tumor has its own unique composition of mutations and novel surface antigens, or neo-antigens, with only a small fraction shared between patients. Not surprisingly, therapeutic vaccines have been challenging to develop; however, tumor neo-antigens present an antigenic target for pharmaceutical companies to design and develop cancer vaccines.

Within the past several years, there has been an explosion in early-stage clinical activity in gene-modified and cell-based immunooncology, which now encompasses about 58% of Phase I trials. The FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) provided sponsors with guidance on Clinical Considerations for Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines (October 2011) to determine optimal dosing, potential biological and clinical activity, and safety profile during early phase clinical trials, as well as endpoint selection in late phase clinical trials to support a subsequent Biologics License Application (BLA) for marketing approval. Many trials have shown potent therapeutic responses in a proportion of patients with late stage cancer, but it has been rare for trials to obtain more than a 510% partial or complete response. However, this limited success has not lessened the enthusiasm for development of potential cancer vaccines. In 2019, there were nearly 700 oncology clinical trials utilizing specific regenerative medicine and advanced therapy technologies to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and cancers of the brain, breast, bladder, cervix, colon, esophagus, ovaries, pancreas and others (ARM 2019 Annual Report, https://alliancerm.org/sector-report/2019-annual-report/). The 2010 FDA approval of the first cancer vaccine (Provenge (sipuleucel-T); Dendreon Corp., Seattle, WA), was supported by clinical trials showing that the vaccine prolongs survival in patients with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer, though the effect was modest. In 2015, the FDA approved a therapeutic cancer vaccine for the treatment of advanced melanoma (IMLYGIC or T-VEC, talimogene laherparepvec; Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA).

Despite the challenges, each translation of cancer vaccines to the clinical setting has yielded a deeper understanding of the immunologic response produced by cancer.

Several platforms for cancer vaccination are being tested, including peptides, proteins, antigen presenting cells, tumor cells, and viral vectors. Prior clinical trials have shown that cancer vaccines are well tolerated, target tumor neo-antigens and induce antigen cascade. Current trials seek to improve cancer vaccine efficacy either by targeting novel tumor antigens or employing vaccines in combination with other therapeutic approaches. Additionally, provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act have allowed the FDA to use an accelerated approval pathway for cancer vaccines that have been designated as regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT).

Cancer vaccination comprises an array of approaches that seek to generate, amplify, or skew (or a combination thereof) antitumor immunity. Cancer immunotherapy may ultimately establish its position as the fourth pillar of anti-cancer therapy, complementing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

[View source.]

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Cancer Vaccines: The Fourth Pillar of Anti-Cancer Therapy? - JD Supra

Friday, October 2, 2020

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is being honored today as a recipient of the 2020 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. Presented annually, the national Health Professions HEED Award recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Insight Into Diversity magazine made the announcement today (Friday, October 2). As an award recipient, the college will be featured, along with 45 other recipients, in the December 2020 issue of the magazine.

Dean Willie Reed said the award is a great reflection of the colleges deep and abiding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This award makes an important statement about the way in which our college doesnt just talk about diversity and inclusion, but lives it, Dean Reed said. The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is playing a leadership role nationally with model initiatives that advance diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine.We are working diligently to make measurable progress as a college and as a profession in being truly welcoming and supportive of everyone and this award documents that fact.

This is the second year Purdue Veterinary Medicine has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient. PVM continues to raise the bar in diversity, equity, and inclusion through its innovative programming and leadership, said Dr. Latonia Craig, the colleges assistant dean for inclusive excellence. We are so thrilled for PVM to receive this award. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lie at the heart of PVMs mission. We have a supportive college community that makes every effort to ensure we bring our core values to life daily. This work is not easy, but we do it because thats just who we are, Dr. Craig explained. You can have diversity without inclusion, but at PVM, we strive to create an environment that welcomes and includes each student, faculty, and staff member. We hope that our efforts will inspire others to engage in this work in the best way they know how.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine selected Purdue Veterinary Medicine for the award because of its multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives. In February, the college launched its five-year diversity strategic plan, which continues to receive praise for its thoroughness and commitment to inclusive excellence. PVMs role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in veterinary medicine is long-standing. Award-winning programs such as Vet Up!, led by Dr. Craig, and This is How We Role, led by Dr. Sandra San Miguel, associate dean for engagement, each received INSIGHT Into Diversity magazines Inspiring Programs in STEM Award in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Other programs include PVMs new and popular virtual Learning Cafs, a monthly series of 50-minute critical conversations surrounding diverse topics chosen by the PVM community.

The HEED Award process consists of a comprehensive and rigorous application that includes questions relating to the recruitment and retention of students and employees and best practices for both, continued leadership support for diversity, and other aspects of campus diversity and inclusion, said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.

The other recipients of the 2020 Health Professions HEED Award include three other veterinary schools:

Click here for more information about the 2020 Health Professions HEED Award.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

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Purdue Veterinary Medicine Receives 2020 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award - Purdue Veterinary News

Mississippi State University seeks to hire a Vice President forthe Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine(DAFVM).

Mississippi State University (MSU) represents the highestlevel of research activity for doctorate-granting institutions andis designated by the Carnegie Foundation as an R1-Very HighResearch Activity University. Also, a National ScienceFoundation Top 100 research University, MSU shelters a chapter ofPhi Beta Kappa, the nations oldest and most prestigious honorsociety, and values the talents of our distinguished faculty,staff, and student scholars. With over 22,000 students and4,600 faculty and staff, MSU is located in Starkville, MS. Here, aculture of inclusion is fostered and were driven each day to makea difference at the local, state, regional, national and globallevels. We invite you to join MSU as we continue our momentumin research, teaching, and service.

DAFVM consists of six major units: The College of Agricultureand Life Sciences (CALS), The College of Forest Resources (CFR),the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), the MississippiAgricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES), the Forestand Wildlife Research Center (FWRC) and the MSU Extension Service(MSUES.) These unit heads report to the Vice President. TheDeans of the three academic colleges report jointly to theUniversity's Provost and Executive Vice President of AcademicAffairs. The Heads of some specialized research centers andinstitutes within the Division may also report to additional vicepresidents. DAFVM conducts teaching, research, extensionprogramming, and service on the University's main campus andthrough four research and extension centers, 16 branch stations,four CVM diagnostic labs, and Extension offices in all 82 countiesof Mississippi. Annual expenditures by units in the Divisionare normally at or above $200 million. The National ScienceFoundation has ranked MSU #11 in Research and Developmentexpenditures in Agriculture Sciences, Natural Resources andConservation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Vice President serves along with the other vice presidentsas a member of the University's senior management team providingvisionary leadership for planning, budgeting, and resourcedevelopment. The Vice President is also responsible for thedevelopment of strategic goals for DAFVM and evaluating programs,faculty, and staff within DAFVM. The Vice President developsand maintains productive relationships with agriculture andforestry producers; industry constituents; federal, state, andlocal government agencies; and organizations and associations thatare concerned with agriculture and natural resources, families andyouth, and community development. The Vice President promotesdiversity within DAFVM with respect to faculty, staff, and studentsand fosters a sense of common purpose while serving as an advocatefor DAFVM to its constituencies and as a spokesperson foragriculture and natural resources both regionally andnationally. The Vice President worksclosely with the Provost and Executive Vice President regarding theacademic mission within DAFVM, and the Vice President for Researchand Economic Development regarding the research missions withinDAFVM. The Vice President is expected to take a leadershiprole in strategic initiatives that project the University withinMississippi, nationally, and globally.

Qualifications:

Candidates should have an earned doctorate in an appropriatearea in agriculture, natural resources, or a related field withcredentials and experience to qualify for the rank of professorwith tenure in a discipline within the Division. He/She mustdemonstrate a strong recognition of and commitment to Mississippisagricultural roots. The candidate must have a demonstratedability to work effectively with the academic, agricultural naturalresources and business communities, industry constituents, andfederal partners. A record of successful administrativeleadership and achievement, including the acquisition of public andprivate resources to develop and expand strong agriculturalprograms, is also required. Candidates should havesubstantial experience with a minimum of four years of significantadministrative experience. The successful candidate shouldhave a thorough familiarity and understanding of the land-grantsystem and the interrelationship between the teaching, research andextension programs. The candidate must possess the vision andexperience necessary to lead a complex organization in developingand enhancing its research mission in service to the state, region,and nation as a premier research leader. He/She must alsodemonstrate familiarity with the land-grant system and foster thedesire to promote excellence throughout the division and theuniversity.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary commensurate with education, experience; competitivebenefits.

Application Procedure:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a letter ofapplication that should include a statement of administrativephilosophy emphasizing their ability to foster effective academicprograms, expand research, and promote extension activities: anexpression of his/her commitment to growth of the divisionsprograms and student enrollment. Please include a completecurriculum vitae, including the names, addresses and phone/emailfor five references. Initial nominations and inquiries willbe kept confidential; references will be contacted only uponapproval by the candidate. Application review will beginDecember 1, 2020, and continue until a successful candidate isidentified. Nominations of outstanding potential candidatesare welcome.

Nomination applications and/or inquires should be sent to:

David R. Shaw, Provost and Executive Vice PresidentMississippi State UniversityOffice of the Provost and Executive Vice President3500 Lee Hall262 Lee Blvd.Mississippi State, MS 39762david.shaw@msstate.eduPhone: 662-325-3742

Mississippi State University is an equal opportunityinstitution. Discrimination in university employment, programs, oractivities based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy,religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation,genetic information, status as a U.S veteran, or any other statusprotected by applicable law is prohibited. Questions about equalopportunity programs or compliance should be directed to the Officeof Compliance and Integrity, 56 Morgan Avenue, P.O.6044,Mississippi State, MS 39762. (662) 325-5839.

Mississippi State University is an equal opportunityinstitution. Discrimination in university employment,programs, or activities based on race, color, ethnicity, sex,pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexualorientation, genetic information, status as a U.S veteran, or anyother status protected by applicable law is prohibited.Questions about equal opportunity programs or compliance should bedirected to the Office of Compliance and Integrity, 56 MorganAvenue, P.O.6044, Mississippi State, MS 39762. (662)325-5839.

Continue reading here:
Vice President, Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine job with Mississippi State University | 290163 - The Chronicle of Higher...

Merck Animal Health (known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada) and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) presented Gordon Atkins, D.V.M., with the Mentor of the Year Award at the AABP Annual Conference. This award, which is issued annually, recognizes an individual who has played a role in educating, supporting and advancing the careers of future bovine veterinarians.

Dr. Atkins has mentored countless students, inspiring them to pursue their interest in bovine medicine, said Justin Welsh, D.V.M., executive director, livestock technical services for Merck Animal Health. He cares about every student, goes the extra mile to help them achieve their goals and leaves a tremendous impact on their lives as well as the animals in their care.

Dr. Atkins grew up on a dairy farm in the Calgary, Canada area, received his D.V.M., with distinction, from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1973 and has been practicing veterinary medicine in the Calgary area since graduation. In 2008, Dr. Atkins joined the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) as senior instructor, clinical skills, and in 2015 was one of only a few faculty members to be given the inaugural designation of teaching professor.

Mentoring and teaching come easily to Dr. Atkins, as he simply leads by example: first one at the clinic in the morning, last one to leave, a constant professional, said Troy Drake, D.V.M., owner of HerdTrax Inc., Kathyrn, Alberta, who was hired by Dr. Atkins veterinary practice as a third-year veterinary student and subsequently an associate veterinarian. His contributions go well beyond bovine surgery and medicine. He has made his students, fellow veterinarians, the veterinary profession, cattle producers, and the entire livestock industry better off because of his passion for and mentorship within veterinary medicine.

Dr. Atkins has played a large role in the delivery of the universitys D.V.M. program, according to John Kastelic, D.V.M, Ph.D, professor and head, Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary. He has 300 to 400 hours of contact time spent with students annually for lectures and laboratories, said Kastelic. He draws on his decades of practice experience and huge library of photographs and videos to convey his message. He consistently receives extremely high rankings from veterinary students in teaching assessments.

Dr. Atkins has won many awards for his contributions to veterinary medicine, including the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association of the Year Award, Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award and a University of Calgary Union Teaching Excellence Award through nomination by veterinary students. Perhaps the most exceptional accolade is his personal commitment and dedication to each student, said Megan Dick, a student in the UCVM class of 2020.

Fellow student Rae-Leigh Pederzolli said Dr. Atkins is one of the most involved professors and mentors that a student could ask for, and that didnt stop after she left school. As a new graduate, I have called Dr. Atkins late at night and early in the morning only to hear happiness in his voice to hear from me while wondering what case was presented to me that day, said Pederzolli. I am grateful that he hasnt retired yet, but even then his phone will always be on.

Fred Gingrich II, D.V.M., executive director of AABP, added, Dr. Atkins is known by students and colleagues for his enthusiasm. He strives to ensure every student is grounded with practical knowledge and is confident in their skills. He is a most deserving candidate to join the long list of other Mentor of the Year recipients.

Dr. Atkins is an active member of numerous veterinary organizations, including AABP, where he served as president in 1992 and received the AABP Bovine Practitioner of the Year Award in 1988. He is an Honor Roll member of AABP and the 14th recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award, which was established in 2007.

About Merck Animal Health

For more than a century, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the worlds most challenging diseases. Merck Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals, Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an extensive suite of digitally connected identification, traceability and monitoring products. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals and the people who care for them. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit http://www.merck-animal-health.comor connect with us on LinkedIn,Facebookand Twitter at @MerckAH.

Originally posted here:
Merck Animal Health Honors Dr. Gordon Atkins as Mentor of the Year - Hoard's Dairyman

Dedication, hard work, and a commitment to positive workplace culture are among the top qualities the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) values in its accredited practices.

To that, Manheim Pike Veterinary Hospital in Lancaster, Penn., has been named the 2020 AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year. The practice was presented with the honor virtually during Connexity by AAHA, the associations annual conference, which was hosted online Oct. 1.

We were very impressed by the dedication to positive workplace culture at Manheim Pike Veterinary Hospital, says the associations deputy chief executive officer, Janice Trumpeter, DVM. At AAHA, we strongly believe in continuous improvement and development of healthy practice environments, in order to better serve patients and clients.

The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of accredited veterinary practice teams and celebrates ongoing advancements in veterinary medicine. Teams are evaluated based on their most recent accreditation score, mission and vision, practice team composition, continuing education (CE) and training, and community service.

Other finalists this year include:

The rest is here:
Penn. clinic named AAHA-Accredited Practice of the Year - VeterinaryPracticeNews.com

Parenting and veterinary medicine may not seem like they always go hand in hand. The demands of the job conflict with kids activities or, during the current pandemic, virtual schooling. But some practitioners have found they can make things work as long as they throw out the notion that there can be balance. Instead, they see the situation more as work-life integration with ebbs and flows.

During the session Having It All: Parenthood and Veterinary Medicine on Aug. 20 at the AVMA Virtual Convention 2020, parentsfrom stepparents to adoptive parents and everything in betweenalong with those without children talked about their needs, wants, and suggestions for making the professional and the personal come together in a workable manner.

Dr. Caitlin Davis Ashlock, a small animal practitioner in Frankfort, Indiana, is stepmom to a 7-year-old, Spencer. She also is expecting a son. Her philosophy about being a stepparent is that love is love, and there is never too much of it.

One other thing that helped me in my stepparent journey was talking to my husband about what his expectations of me in this role are, Dr. Ashlock said. Talking about expectations helped me to manage my own expectations and not feel like I wasnt doing enough.

Dr. Jon Hornback is an equine practitioner in Simpsonville, Kentucky, with two children. He and his wife found out they were having their first child when he was entering his internship.

Someone once told him, No one works 24 hours a day, so when youre home, make the most of it.

More celebration needs to be shared with those who have chosen not to be parents. Those of us who were parents were so overwhelmed and couldnt put it together. They were there to help us. It takes a village of parents and nonparents, and being a vet unites all of us.

Dr. Maggie Canning, session moderator, Having It All: Parenthood and Veterinary Medicine

Instead of being on his phone or watching TV by himself, he makes a point to spend time with his kids when hes home. Dr. Hornback even incorporates the kids into his work sometimes.

If theres an emergency, well all jump in the car and get dessert afterward, he said. Its something we like to do as a family.

Dr. Kayla Lichlyter, a small animal veterinarian in southern Indiana, was found to have endocrine issues a few weeks before her wedding. She and her husband, Josh, have two children: Asher, 2, and Adrienne, a newborn, who were both adopted. Becoming a mother helped her learn to say no and set boundaries for herself.

Even though vet med and being a vet is a huge passion of mine, and I love the work I do, at the end of the day, its a job, and theres more to life than that, Dr. Lichlyter said. Thats important to realize: I can want more to my life than just being a vet. Wanting more for your life beyond veterinary medicine doesnt make you a bad veterinarian. And if Im going the extra mile and have a few late nights at work, that doesnt make me a bad mom, either.

Dr. Carissa Norquest, an oncology specialist in Ohio, is married with no kids. She said a number of residents see starting a family as an inconvenience or threat to their career. Ive seen friends who have wanted a kid and waited to finish their PhD who are now struggling to conceive or are considering in vitro protocols because they put their career first, and they do not feel it was appropriately discussed in our career path, she said.

Had her colleagues known more at the beginning, they might have harvested their eggs or engaged in proactive family planning.

Planning early for our future is a topic that needs to be discussed more in veterinary medicine, she said. We need to be more open about this because the consequences are not reversible.

Dr. Brandon Thornberry, who practices in St. Louis, has a 10-month-old son, and his wife, Michelle, is a veterinarian, too. His father is also a veterinarian, so he uniquely understood the demands of the profession from a young age.

My dad was there for me growing up, but there were also times when his patients needed him more. Maybe the net result over my childhood was a balance, but from my perspective, a perfect 50-50 balance is not realistically achievable. That is OK, he said. Sometimes your family or your patients will demand more from you. Family is always my priority, but this profession and lifestyle I have chosen cannot always achieve a 50-50 balance.

Rather than being frustrated that I do not have a balance, I try to seek and advocate for good work-life integration, which means adopting a mindset that recognizes it is OK for work and home life to overlap at times, and work or home life may demand more from me, respectively, in different seasons of life.

Dr. Maggie Canning, one of the sessions moderators, said after having a cesarean section, which she hadnt planned for, she harbored guilt partly because she didnt have trust in her doctor. Now, she says, she has more empathy for first-time puppy owners asking how many times they can bathe their dog.

She encourages other veterinarian parents to join social media groups, such as the AVMAs Early Career Online Community on Facebook. She added, More celebration needs to be shared with those who have chosen not to be parents. Those of us who were parents were so overwhelmed and couldnt put it together. They were there to help us. It takes a village of parents and nonparents, and being a vet unites all of us.

The rest is here:
It takes a village for veterinarian parents to make it work - American Veterinary Medical Association

Fort Collins, Colorado The Veterinary Medicine Market is growing at a rapid pace and contributes significantly to the global economy in terms of turnover, growth rate, sales, market share and size. The Veterinary Medicine Market Report is a comprehensive research paper that provides readers with valuable information to understand the basics of the Veterinary Medicine Report. The report describes business strategies, market needs, dominant market players and a futuristic view of the market.

The report has been updated to reflect the most recent economic scenario and market size regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The report looks at the growth outlook as well as current and futuristic earnings expectations in a post-COVID scenario. The report also covers changing market trends and dynamics as a result of the pandemic and provides an accurate analysis of the impact of the crisis on the market as a whole.

Veterinary medicine market garnered a revenue of USD 30.5 billion in the year 2019 globally and has been foreseen to yield USD 51.4 billion by the year 2027 at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 5.6% over the forecast period.

Get a sample of the report @ https://reportsglobe.com/download-sample/?rid=85118

Industry Veterinary Medicine Study provides an in-depth analysis of key market drivers, opportunities, challenges and their impact on market performance. The report also highlights technological advancements and product developments that drive market needs.

The report contains a detailed analysis of the major players in the market, as well as their business overview, expansion plans and strategies. Key players explored in the report include:

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The report provides comprehensive data on the Veterinary Medicine market and its trends to help the reader formulate solutions to accelerate business growth. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the economic scenario of the market, as well as its benefits and limitations.

The Veterinary Medicine Market Report includes production chain analysis and value chain analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of the Veterinary Medicine market. The research consists of market analysis and detailed analysis of application segments, product types, market size, growth rates, and current and emerging industry trends.

Veterinary Medicine Market, By End-use (2016-2027)

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Veterinary Medicine Market, By Animal Type (2016-2027)

Veterinary Medicine Market, By Product (2016-2027)

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The market is geographically spread across several key geographic regions and the report includes regional analysis as well as production, consumption, revenue and market share in these regions for the 2020-2027 forecast period. Regions include North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

Radical Coverage of the Veterinary Medicine Market:

Key Questions Addressed in the Report:

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Veterinary Medicine Market Potential Growth, Size, Share, Demand and Analysis of Key Players Research Forecasts to 2027 - The Daily Chronicle

Sundays virtual Vet Med Open House will be like no other, according to UI Class of 2022 members JULIE KLEIN, a member of the event committee, and JI PARK, president of the UI chapter of Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment.

They took pen to paper to explain in this week's Town Hall.

***

Why is it that we are so quick to reject new information when it challenges our long-held beliefs? This question has taken center stage in 2020, a year when new evidence of the global COVID-19 pandemic and of our countrys systemic racism confronts our beliefs about the world almost daily.

Students at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine think stereotypes are part of the answer to this question. Stereotypes present stubborn barriers to learning new information. Thats why this year we are devoting our annual Open House to breaking down stereotypes and busting myths about all things animal- and Vet Med-related. Old dogs can indeed learn new tricks.

As renewed protests against racial injustice swept across the country, Open House organizers decided to take action to address the lack of diversity in their chosen profession. With leadership from the UI student chapter of Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment, we chose the theme of Myth Busting for the annual open house, which had to be moved online to comply with pandemic guidelines.

We are out to smash the stereotype that veterinarians only look a certain way. We want to show that anyone can become a veterinarian and find a rewarding career path suited to their interests.

Although the gender balance in the U.S. veterinary profession has shifted from overwhelmingly male throughout most of the 20th century to majority female for the first time in 2009 and about 70 percent female today the profession remains 90 percent White, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data in 2019.

Deeply ingrained stereotypes can be one of the hardest barriers to break down. The lack of underrepresented minority veterinarians to serve as role models reinforces the stereotype that people of color cant become veterinarians, thus the stereotype becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Our open-house website features interviews with more than 30 veterinary professionals from a variety of backgrounds working in diverse practice areas. We want to prove that a veterinary degree is one of the most versatile degrees. You can even hear from a second-career veterinarian who started as a police officer and went on to become the director of our colleges Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

More importantly, we want to empower children and prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds by showing them role models they can relate to, including veterinarians of color and veterinarians in the LGBTQ+ community.

The theme of breaking down stereotypes extends throughout our virtual open house. We invited all 40-plus student teams that normally host a booth at the in-person open house to develop myth-busting content related to their topic. We cant wait for you to explore the thought-provoking information about wildlife, breeds, diseases, veterinary careers and much more when our website goes live Sunday. (RSVP on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/325561818663612/).

Busting stereotypes challenging long-held beliefs opens hearts and minds to a whole world of opportunities and experiences that were previously unexplored. Taking in new information is fundamental to growing as a person as well as growing as a society. We hope our open house will expose you to new information about animals and a profession you thought you already knew. You might even come away with a different perspective.

***

Every Tuesday and some Thursdays in The News-Gazette, well turn over our Commentary page to community members and other experts with local ties. If you have interest in weighing in on a topic making news, contact Editor Jeff D'Alessio at 217-393-8249 or jdalessio@news-gazette.com.

Continued here:
Guest Commentary | 'We are out to smash the stereotype that veterinarians only look a certain way' - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

Friday, October 2, 2020

The kick-off event for the 2020 virtual Purdue Veterinary Conference featured an intriguing look at the life of service dogs. Held Tuesday, September 22, the Elanco Human-Animal Bond Lecture featured a Zoom presentation by Dr. Zenithson Ng, clinical associate professor of canine and feline primary care at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. The talk, which was open to the public, provided a unique glimpse into the life of a service dog and revealed ways people can help ensure the welfare of these animals.

A veterinarian who completed a combined American Board of Veterinary Practitioners residency and masters degree program in human-animal bond studies at Virginia Tech, Dr. Ng entitled his presentation, A Day in the Life of a Service Dog: A Welfare Perspective. He began by sharing a documentary clip comprised of interviews with several service dog owners. One person in the video described a time when he wanted to cross a street and urged his dog, Bryson, to move forward. Bryson, however, could sense there was an out of control car headed their way and stayed put to keep his owner out of the road. According to the owner, Bryson disobeyed me to protect me! The full documentary, titled Pick of the Litter, is available to stream on Netflix.

Dr. Ng went on to explain how dogs are chosen for this kind of life of service as soon as they are born. Since service dogs basically work 24 hours per day, seven days per week, careful time and consideration is given to making sure the dogs are up to the duties required in this role.

One particular group of people that can really benefit from service dogs is children with special needs. Dr. Ng gave a hypothetical example of a dog named Grace working as a service dog for a young boy named Mikey who is on the autism spectrum. Mikey has some atypical social tendencies and trouble self-regulating. Grace can be there for him to provide comfort and so he would always have someone trustworthy by his side. This scenario illustrates a fantastic situation in which both Mike and Grace get a beloved friend that loves them unconditionally.

Toward the end of the presentation, Dr. Ng gave another speculative example of a typical day for a service dog attached to a child with autism. There are a number of risks these dogs are subject to, such as obesity, as sometimes the children tend to overfeed them. Also, most often in the school setting, the dogs can experience sensory overload due to being surrounded by many children who want to pet them. Dr. Ng explained that in such situations, what helps most often is communication between the parents and teachers regarding the service dog, to ensure that the dog at school is taken care of like any other pet. Additionally, it is beneficial for teachers to treat the dog as if it were a fellow employee, because the dog is there to support the advancement of the childs education.

Along with dogs, there are many other animals that have been shown to form strong bonds with children who have special needs. A study published in 2013 by the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows children with autism who bonded with guinea pigs experienced a much larger increase in social behaviors compared to children who were given typical toys instead. Additionally, therapeutic horseback riding has been shown to help children cope with stress and relax.

Purdue Veterinary Medicine researchers in the OHAIRE lab, led by Dr. Maggie OHaire, as part of the Purdue University Center for the Human-Animal Bond, also continue to conduct collaborative studies aimed at understanding the effects of animal-assisted intervention for autism.

The Elanco Human-Animal Bond Lecture serves as one of the keynote lectures of the annual Purdue Veterinary Conference. Sponsored by an endowment from Elanco Animal Health, the lecture highlights the special bond between humans and animals.

Writer(s): Jonathan Martz, PVM Communications Intern | pvmnews@purdue.edu

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Human-Animal Bond Expert Shares How Service Dogs Do the World a Great Service - Purdue Veterinary News

Coinciding with World Rabies Day, Egypts Veterinary Medicine Directorate in the Red Sea signed an agreement on Monday with a local animal shelter to spay and neuter stray dogs in the area. The shelter in Hurghada has thus far fixed 1,547 dogs.

The shelter collects dogs from the streets, anesthetizes them, and sends them to a veterinary clinic affiliated with the shelter in preparation for sterilization.

After the surgery, the dogs are placed under observation for 24 hours before returning to the streets. Antibiotic injections are administered to ensure the surgery wounds heal quickly.

Numerous complaints have been filed by residents of Ras Gharib, a town located in the northernmost area of the Red Sea Governorate.

Residents are worried about the proliferation of stray dogs in the city, citing the threat stray dogs pose to their health and safety. They are calling for a similar sterilization campaign like that of Hurghada.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation reported 400,000 cases of dog bites in Egypt in 2017, up from 300,000 in 2014. 231 people died from animal bites in the past four years, mainly due to rabies.

According to a survey by Egypts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, there are more than 15 million stray dogs in Egypt.

Almost every neighborhood in the country is home to stray animals, who can usually be found rummaging through trash for leftover food or loping along city streets.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Red Sea veterinary authorities spay and neuter 1547 dogs in cooperation with local animal shelter - Egypt Independent

MADISON (WKOW) -- Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of World War II Veteran Sgt. Duane O. Cole and former State Representative Dr. Jacob (Doc) Hines.

A pair of orders from the governor say the United States flag and the Wisconsin state flag should be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, October 3, 2020.

Former State RepresentativeDr. Jacob (Doc) Hines passed away on March 3, 2020, at 92 years old.

Doc Hines was an pillar of his community, practicing veterinary medicine for 53 years, serving in the State Assembly, and contributing to countless organizations, boards, and his church, Evers said in a written statement. He was a dedicated public servant, and on behalf of the state of Wisconsin, I offer my condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.

Veteran of World War II, Marine Sgt. Duane O. Cole was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during an attempt to secure the island ofBetioin the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands.

His remains were found and excavated in 2014, then accounted for on Sept. 3, 2019. Recently Cole's remains have been returned to Wisconsin for burial.

After so many decades of without closure, my condolences and thoughts are with Sgt. Cole's family and community as they welcome him home to his final resting place, Evers said. On behalf of the state of Wisconsin, we are grateful for his service and sacrifice, and honor his memory.

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Gov. Tony Evers orders flags to half-staff for war vet and former state representative - WKOW

Prion disease, opioid withdrawal, and how the brain enables limb movement are three areas of biomedical research recently awarded grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), totaling $2.6 million in funding.

The CIHR Project Grant program chose projects led by Drs. Sabine Gilch, PhD, Tuan Trang, PhD, and Patrick Whelan, PhD, all researchers in the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM).

This is an outstanding achievement for UCVMs internationally renowned researchers and their research and training programs, says Dr. Baljit Singh, dean of UCVM. The proposals from UCVM achieved a 50 per cent success rate compared to the national average of around 17 per cent in this current competition. This further underscores UCVMs reputation as a unique research intensive veterinary medical faculty.

The federally funded grants are given to only the very highest calibre of human health-related scientific inquiry, so this trifecta of awards from a veterinary medicine faculty is a remarkable feat. Its an achievement made possible through close collaborations between UCVM and the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), where the project leads hold affiliations.

The CIHR Project Grant program is designed to support ideas that have the potential to advance knowledge, research, health care, health systems, and health outcomes. The following projects received funding for the next five years:

Sabine Gilch

The CIHR awarded Sabine Gilch, pictured above, left,funding for her work targeting cholesterol in the brain to counteract prion diseases.

Prion diseases are deadly and cannot be treated to date. They occur when normal brain proteins become infectious and change shape in a way that forms clumps, killing neurons, which eventually leads to progressive brain damage, says Gilch, an associate professor at UCVM and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Prion Disease Research.

The goal of our research is to understand the cause and consequences of increased cholesterol levels in brain cells that are infected with prions, and to use this knowledge for identifying new therapeutic targets for the treatment of prion diseases.

A well-known form of prion disease is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease), and the most common human form is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Gilch will investigate how high levels of cholesterol in prion-infected neurons affect transport mechanisms in the brain to better understand why brain cells die in the course of the disease.

She will also explore the use of an antiretroviral drug a type of medication that inhibits reproduction of specific types of viruses, including HIV. This particular drug, in addition to its antiretroviral action, reduces cholesterol in neurons, which Gilch sees as a potential treatment for prion disease.

Since we already have promising results with this drug, we are very excited to continue this line of research.

Tuan Trang

Tuan Trang, pictured above, centre, is an associate professor in the departments of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine in UCVM, and Physiology and Pharmacology in CSM, whose research aims to unravel the great paradox of pain. Trangs team was awarded funding to study the causes of opioid withdrawal in partnership with the team of Dr. Gerald Zamponi, senior associate dean (research) CSM and Canada Research Chair. Their grant application was the top-ranked submission on the CIHR Pharmacology and Toxicology Committee.

Opioid withdrawal is a significant medical problem and one of the main reasons for opioid reliance. It impacts many people attempting to limit or stop their opioid use, including those provided a prescription for chronic pain, says Trang.

Interventions that reduce withdrawal can break this cycle of opioid use;however, Trang says existing non-opioid drug options are limited and cause severe side effects, while at the same time, not treating the symptoms of withdrawal very effectively. His team will address the need to understand why opioid withdrawal occurs, and how to alleviate it. They recently discovered that immune cells (microglia) residing within the brain and spinal cord play an important role in opioid withdrawal.

Patrick Whelan

Patrick Whelan, pictured above, right,is a professor of neuroscience at UCVM and CSM, and the Frank LeBlanc chair in spinal cord injury research.He will examine the complex brain mechanisms that enable walking.

One of the major things we dont know is how we select the type of movement and under what conditions, says Whelan. My work strives to understand how the brain engages in motivated behaviours such as walking towards food or escaping from danger.

This is important, he says, since it has applications for people and animals with movement disorders. For example, for those suffering from Parkinsons Disease there is an urgent need for new therapeutic targets. Whelans research has identified dopamine areas within the brain that could be used in those with movement disorders to reverse gait abnormalities.

Sabine Gilchis an associate professor, Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, UCVM, adjunct associate professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, CSM, and a member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI).

Tuan Trang is an associate professor, Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, UCVM, and Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, CSM, and a member of Alberta Childrens Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) and HBI.

Patrick Whelan is professor and head, Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, UCVM, professor, departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Clinical Neurosciences, CSM, and a member of ACHRI, HBI and the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health.

The University of Calgarys multidisciplinaryEngineering Solutions for Health: Biomedical Engineeringresearch strategy drives solutions to our most pressing health challenges in disease and injury prevention, diagnosis, and treatments. Our biomedical engineering researchers make a significant impact in our communities by extending lives, improving quality of life, promoting independence, and continuously improving the health system.

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Trio of vet med researchers secures $2.6 million in national funding competition - UCalgary News

The University of Wisconsin-Madisons School of Veterinary Medicine has conducted research that provided new insights into creating an alternative and more widely inclusive seasonal influenza vaccine.

Under Marulasiddappa Suresh, a professor of Immunology in the School of Veterinary Medicine, a team was able to find a method of vaccination that would be able to fight multiple strains of influenza. This vaccination would not have to be administered every year, as the current vaccination is.

This new type of vaccine would utilize T-cells, white blood cells that are essential to the immune system, to protect against influenza. Sureshs team found a way to create T-cell immunity for multiple strains of influenza.

Flu viruses mutate frequently and change between geographic regions; This research is on the verge of developing a universal flu vaccine, Suresh said. This new, adaptable, vaccine will be able to fight many different strains of influenza by attacking a specific protein in the virus, one that is present across different strains.

This vaccination strategy is also being tested against tuberculosis, human respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19.

Vaccination with the T-cells, instead of with a live virus, makes receiving the vaccine much more widely accessible. Live virus vaccinations can be harmful to those who are pregnant and immunocompromised, but having a T-cell based vaccination would remedy this issue.

People who are pregnant or immunocompromised were not given the live virus vaccine due to risk of getting the virus. These demographics would now be able to receive a vaccination without this risk of further compromising their immune systems.

While this research is being conducted, UHS is administering flu vaccinations to students and employees on campus at Nielsen Tennis Stadium and the Nicholas Recreation Center. This vaccination is inactivated -- meaning there is no live virus in the vaccine -- and needs to be taken annually. Flu shots given by UHS are meant to protect you and those around you, the university says appointments can be made online through UHS.

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UW researches more effective and inclusive flu vaccine - Daily Cardinal

The New Guinea singing dog.

Courtesy of Brian Davis

A recent international study co-authored by a Texas A&M University professor discovered that the New Guinea singing dog, a population thought to be extinct in the wild, shares nearly its entire genetic identity with the New Guinea highland dog, a rarely seen wild population in the islands high-altitude, mountain regions.

According to Brian Davis, a co-senior author of the study and a research assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, this suggests that the two dog populations diverged within the past few decades and are essentially from the same population. Their work is published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science).

About 50 years ago, scientists brought a small number of singing dogs into captivity, and though there are more individuals living in zoos today, they are all descended from the initial founders, and have extremely low genetic diversity.

Because the captive group of singing dogs is severely inbred, this new information could support a conservation program with the potential to save the singing dogs and bring their population back from the brink of extinction.

The research project began in 2018, when James Mac MacIntyre, the head of the New Guinea Highland Wild Dog Foundation, led an expedition into the mountains to collect blood samples from highland dogs.

These samples were sent to Davis, who analyzed the highland dog DNA and compared samples collected from captive singing dogs, named for their unique vocalizations that resemble a wolf howl combined with a whale song.

We assessed about 200,000 genetic markers across the genome, Davis said. Once we sampled these markers, my colleague Heidi Parker at the National Institutes of Health, whos a fantastic canine geneticist, compared these markers with more than 1,500 other dogs.

We basically did an all-to-all comparison to find their place in the tree of life for dogs, he said. When we found out that the highland dogs were most similar to the singing dogs, we knew we had something.

Researchers found that the singing and highland dogs have highly similar genomes.

Courtesy of Brian Davis

He discovered that while all dogs in Oceania (the geographical region including Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands) descend from the same ancestral population, the singing and highland dogs have highly similar genomes. Additionally, the highland dogs do not appear significantly hybridized with any other population of dog, reinforcing their unique place in dog evolution.

In addition to advancing the knowledge of the singing dog population, this project also inspired many questions to fuel future studies.

Now were trying to understand the timing in which each Oceania population branched off, Davis said. Thats going to be the subject of some future work, especially when we get more samples. We also hope to understand where these dogs are along the domestication continuum.

Davis hopes that genetic material from the wild highland dog population can be used to improve genetic health among the captive singing dogs and rebuild their population.

Having a higher genetic diversity is essential to long-term survival, Davis said. The singing dogs in captivity are derived from only a small number of individuals and theyre very inbred. These highland wild dogs are the only dogs like them. The singing dogs may look similar to dogs like the dingo, but they have novel vocalizations and behaviors that no other dog has. Even the way that they walk is different.

While the effort to rebuild the singing dog population will take many years, Davis believes it is a worthwhile cause to preserve the unique species.

As an evolutionary biologist, I want to conserve everything that exists, Davis said. Its important that these animals be conserved and that we study them and understand their population. We need to appreciate the adaptations that theyve undergone that no other dog has, and potentially help protect them as the environment changes and they have to change with it.

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Discovery Provides Hope For Singing Dogs On Brink Of Extinction - Texas A&M University Today

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP), an interdisciplinary research group at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MITs research enterprise in Singapore, have been awarded Intra-CREATE grants from the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore to help support research on retinal biometrics for glaucoma progression and neural cell implantation therapy for spinal cord injuries. The grants are part of the NRFs initiative to bring together researchers from Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) partner institutions, in order to achieve greater impact from collaborative research efforts.

SMART CAMP was formed in 2019 to focus on ways to produce living cells as medicine delivered to humans to treat a range of illnesses and medical conditions, including tissue degenerative diseases, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Singapores well-established biopharmaceutical ecosystem brings with it a thriving research ecosystem that is supported by skilled talents and strong manufacturing capabilities. We are excited to collaborate with our partners in Singapore, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of experts from MIT and Singapore, for new research areas at SMART. In addition to our existing research on our three flagship projects, we hope to develop breakthroughs in manufacturing other cell therapy platforms that will enable better medical treatments and outcomes for society, says Krystyn Van Vliet, co-lead principal investigator at SMART CAMP, professor of materials science and engineering, and associate provost at MIT.

Understanding glaucoma progression for better-targeted treatments

Hosted by SMART CAMP, the first research project, Retinal Analytics via Machine learning aiding Physics (RAMP), brings together an interdisciplinary group of ophthalmologists, data scientists, and optical scientists from SMART, Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Duke-NUS Medical School, MIT, and National University of Singapore (NUS). The team will seek to establish first principles-founded and statistically confident models of glaucoma progression in patients. Through retinal biomechanics, the models will enable rapid and reliable forecast of the rate and trajectory of glaucoma progression, leading to better-targeted treatments.

Glaucoma, an eye condition often caused by stress-induced damage over time at the optic nerve head, accounts for 5.1 million of the estimated 38 million blind in the world and 40 percent of blindness in Singapore. Currently, health practitioners face challenges forecasting glaucoma progression and its treatment strategies due to the lack of research and technology that accurately establish the relationship between its properties, such as the elasticity of the retina and optic nerve heads, blood flow, intraocular pressure and, ultimately, damage to the optic nerve head.

The research is co-led by George Barbastathis, principal investigator at SMART CAMP and professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, and Aung Tin, executive director at SERI and professor at the Department of Ophthalmology at NUS. The team includes CAMP principal investigators Nicholas Fang, also a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT; Lisa Tucker-Kellogg, assistant professor with the Cancer and Stem Biology program at Duke-NUS; and Hanry Yu, professor of physiology with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS and CAMPs co-lead principal investigator.

We look forward to leveraging the ideas fostered in SMART CAMP to build data analytics and optical imaging capabilities for this pressing medical challenge of glaucoma prediction, says Barbastathis.

Cell transplantation to treat irreparable spinal cord injury

Engineering Scaffold-Mediated Neural Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury Treatment (ScaNCellS), the second research project, gathers an interdisciplinary group of engineers, cell biologists, and clinician scientists from SMART, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), NUS, IMCB A*STAR, A*STAR, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the University of Cambridge, and MIT. The team will seek to design a combined scaffold and neural cell implantation therapy for spinal cord injury treatment that is safe, efficacious, and reproducible, paving the way forward for similar neural cell therapies for other neurological disorders. The project, an intersection of engineering and health, will achieve its goals through an enhanced biological understanding of the regeneration process of nerve tissue and optimized engineering methods to prepare cells and biomaterials for treatment.

Spinal cord injury (SCI), affecting between 250,00 and 500,000 people yearly, is expected to incur higher societal costs as compared to other common conditions such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy. SCI can lead to temporary or permanent changes in spinal cord function, including numbness or paralysis. Currently, even with the best possible treatment, the injury generally results in some incurable impairment.

The research is co-led by Chew Sing Yian, principal investigator at SMART CAMP and associate professor of the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU, and Laurent David, professor at University of Lyon (France) and leader of the Polymers for Life Sciences group at CNRS Polymer Engineering Laboratory. The team includes CAMP principal investigators Ai Ye from Singapore University of Technology and Design; Jongyoon Han and Zhao Xuanhe, both professors at MIT; as well as Shi-Yan Ng and Jonathan Loh from Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR.

Chew says, Our earlier SMART and NTU scientific collaborations on progenitor cells in the central nervous system are now being extended to cell therapy translation. This helps us address SCI in a new way, and connect to the methods of quality analysis for cells developed in SMART CAMP.

Cell therapy, one of the fastest-growing areas of research, will provide patients with access to more options that will prevent and treat illnesses, some of which are currently incurable. Glaucoma and spinal cord injuries affect many. Our research will seek to plug current gaps and deliver valuable impact to cell therapy research and medical treatments for both conditions. With a good foundation to work on, we will be able to pave the way for future exciting research for further breakthroughs that will benefit the health-care industry and society, says Hanry Yu, co-lead principal investigator at SMART CAMP, professor of physiology with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS, and group leader of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at A*STAR.

The grants for both projects will commence on Oct. 1, with RAMP expected to run until Sept. 30, 2022, and ScaNCellS expected to run until Sept. 30, 2023.

SMART was. established by the MIT in partnership with the NRF in 2007. SMART is the first entity in the CREATE developed by NRF. SMART serves as an intellectual and innovation hub for research interactions between MIT and Singapore, undertaking cutting-edge research projects in areas of interest to both Singapore and MIT. SMART currently comprises an Innovation Centre and five interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs): Antimicrobial Resistance, CAMP, Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision, Future Urban Mobility, and Low Energy Electronic Systems.

CAMP is a SMART IRG launched in June 2019. It focuses on better ways to produce living cells as medicine, or cellular therapies, to provide more patients access to promising and approved therapies. The investigators at CAMP address two key bottlenecks facing the production of a range of potential cell therapies: critical quality attributes (CQA) and process analytic technologies (PAT). Leveraging deep collaborations within Singapore and MIT in the United States, CAMP invents and demonstrates CQA/PAT capabilities from stem to immune cells. Its work addresses ailments ranging from cancer to tissue degeneration, targeting adherent and suspended cells, with and without genetic engineering.

CAMP is the R&D core of a comprehensive national effort on cell therapy manufacturing in Singapore.

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SMART researchers receive Intra-CREATE grant for personalized medicine and cell therapy - MIT News

When people find out Azizi Seixas studies sleep, they sometimes ask him about their dreams. Thats not really his fieldbut he does have big dreams for his own research. By using technology to combine precision medicine with population-level research, he hopes to erase disparities and bring better health to all.

Growing up in inner-city Kingston, Jamaica, I was the have-nots, Seixas says. He learned early lessons about inequality andbeing raised by seven women in a three-bedroom homeresourcefulness. Today hes carried those lessons to New York Universitys Grossman School of Medicine, where hes an assistant professor of population health and psychiatry. In his lab, Seixas explores why certain groups such as racial and ethnic minorities have higher risks of chronic illnesses, the long-term consequences of those disparities, and how people can change their behavior to improve their health.

Sleep has been a kind of lens through which Seixas looks at these questions. For example, how are disparities in peoples sleep related to heart disease risk and other health effects? And how might doctors tailor sleep advice to individuals, along with their other recommendations?

Thats important because sleep plays an integral role in our health 24/7, not just the hours were in bed. Sleep is not just the act of unconsciousness, Seixas says. Besides keeping our bodies refreshed and running, sleep is important for consolidating things weve learned, and for cleansing our brains of protein gunk thats linked to Alzheimers disease.

Yet not everyone can get as much sleep as they need. He gives the example of a single mother who works two jobs. If he tells her she needs to sleep eight or nine hours a night, Shell look at me and scoff, Seixas says. And they have, to be quite honest.

Seixas imagines working with that single mom to figure out ways to offset her lost sleep using other health recommendations. Maybe dialing up her exercise can lower her risk of certain diseases, even while she continues squeezing in just six hours a night. If exercising more isnt feasible, maybe she can adjust her diet instead. The data to make this happen might come from wearable technologies that track the moms activities and biometrics, as well as artificial intelligence and machine-learning models that predict how changes to her behaviors will affect her health.

Scientists are still learning about the intricate ways our traits, behaviors, and risks may affect each other, so this scenario is still hypothetical. But one goal of Seixass research is to be able to personalize the advice a doctor gives a patient, rather than assuming that the same guidance is right for everybody. Seixas calls his philosophy precision and personalized population health. He thinks general guidelines for the public are important, too. But to fulfill what he calls his sacrosanct role in public health, he wants to find precisely the right way to help that single mother, or anyone else, stay healthy.

How is their nightly sleep related to their daily steps?

Some of his research hints that it might be possible. In a 2018 paper, he and his colleagues used machine learning to analyze survey data from more than 280,000 people about whether theyd had a stroke, as well as their age, sex, nightly sleep, and physical activity. The analysis showed which combinations of factors put people at higher or lower risk of strokes. In a similar 2017 paper, Seixas and others calculated which combinations of activity, sleep, stress, and body mass index were linked to the lowest diabetes risk in Black and white Americans.

The more health data he can include from a diverse range of people, the better the recommendations that might emerge from it. Among many other projects to help improve these datasets, Seixas is soon launching a study with funding from Merck that will focus on people with hypertension and diabetes. Seixas and his team created an app that will give participants higher-level analyses from the Fitbits or other health trackers they already use. For example, how is their nightly sleep related to their daily steps? The app will also automatically gather health-related news and articles that might interest the user. And, critically, it will tell users about clinical trials they can enroll in. We want to appeal to the greater good of individuals, Seixas says, tapping into peoples drive for altruism and volunteering to fight chronic health conditions.

Encouraging more people to enroll in clinical trialswhich include trials of behavioral changes, not just tests of new drugscould help researchers get better data on underrepresented groups. Seixas hopes it could also help the public to see science in a positive light. Especially now, he says, where you have political figures questioning whether or not science should be the bright force that it has always been.

Seixass ideas are especially timely during COVID-19, says Girardin Jean-Louis, a professor of population health and psychiatry at NYU Langone Health, who is Seixass mentor. During the pandemic, vulnerable communities are having an especially hard time accessing healthcare. His research is poised to address how various health issues plaguing underserved communities can be addressed adequately, Jean-Louis says.

Seixas hopes the questions he and his research group at NYU are asking will someday help to transform healthcare. We have very ambitious dreams and goals, he says.

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Big Dreams of Personalized Health - NEO.LIFE