Containing Ebola means we must care for the caregivers

September 5, 2014 Comments (1) Blog

by Joe Runge, UNeMed | Sept. 5, 2014

Dr. Rick Sacra, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a missionary with SIM, contracted Ebola while volunteering at the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. His wife, Debbie, explained that he was not “someone who can stand back when there is a need that he can take care of.”

Ebola virus infects a cell

This digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph depicts numerous filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from a chronically-infected VERO E6 cell (yellow-green).
(Photo: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

That need was not treating patients with Ebola, but caring for pregnant women in the shattered and overwhelmed Liberian healthcare system. By doing that, Dr. Sacra was indirectly contributing to the containment of the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, and to the health and safety of everyone.

It is hard to get volunteers to treat such a deadly disease, especially in such an under-resourced part of the world. The risk is deadlier when basic protective equipment like gloves and gowns are in short supply. It is, however, the doctors, nurses and volunteers who contain the epidemic. To stop the disease, they risk their lives.

What are we to do when the people protecting us from Ebola are infected?

Dr. Sacra has paid a terrible price for his part in containing the disease. Mercifully, his chances of surviving the infection are dramatically better. He will receive proper care in one of the four places in the United States qualified to treat him safely—the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

It is cruel that most caregivers and patients afflicted with Ebola are not afforded the best possible care. It is also cruel that so many caregivers do not get the benefit of UNMC’s advanced Biocontainment Facility. It is, however, a privilege to take care of Dr. Sacra, and help him fight off this deadly infection.

His transport to UNMC does carry risk, but only to the people in direct contact with him: The brave air crew and emergency personnel that brought him to UNMC, and the dedicated staff of the Biocontainment Facility that will care for him. Even with state of the art protection, the personal risk to all of them is still very real.

Ebola is scary, but the risk to Omaha is not from Dr. Sacra. It is from an uncontained epidemic a continent away.

I am proud to be part of an institution that, in a very public way, is helping to contain the crisis. Bringing Dr. Sacra to Omaha makes everyone safer by reassuring caregivers that we will not turn our backs when they can be safely cared for.

Welcome to Omaha, Dr. Sacra. We will have you back in Massachusetts in no time.

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UNeMed shareholder meeting outlines tech transfer success in 2014

August 8, 2014 Comments (2) News

by Charlie Litton, UNeMed

OMAHA, Neb. (August 7, 2014)—Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center are among the most inventive in the country, according to information provided to an exclusive audience of administrators, faculty and staff during UNeMed Corporation’s shareholder meeting Tuesday evening at TD Ameritrade Park’s Skybox Lounge.

Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.

University of Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold addresses guests of the UNeMed Corp. Shareholder Meeting on Aug. 5, 2014, at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. (Photo: Charlie Litton/UNeMed)

The meeting featured brief remarks from UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., who outlined his support for commercialization efforts. He was followed by Michael Dixon, PhD, the president and CEO at UNeMed—the technology transfer and commercialization arm of UNMC.

Dr. Dixon called UNMC researchers an “inventive group,” citing the most recent data from the Association of University Technology Managers, which shows UNMC’s 7.48 inventions for every $10 million spent was fifth in the nation.

“We are definitely on the national radar screen,” said Dr. Gold, referring to a national poll that predictably showed people most often associated the University of Nebraska with football. The second thing they connected to Nebraska was healthcare, according to Dr. Gold.

Dr. Dixon also noted that 75 UNMC technologies are currently under license, with 39 helping improve lives as products on the market.

Improving the “human condition” is a key component of Dr. Gold’s vision for UNMC research. He told an estimated crowd of 80 that research doesn’t end after publishing a paper in an academic journal or when a grant expires.

“The research is done when a human life is changed,” Gold said.

He added: “It’s the people in this room that carry out the final step, that take it from the laboratory into the realm of reality, so it changes the lives of patients today and tomorrow and for generations and generations to come.”

The UNMC Chancellor is the lone shareholder, serving as proxy for Nebraska’s University Technology Development Corporation, which owns UNeMed.

Dr. Dixon reported $1.17 million in total revenue during the previous fiscal year. He said it was comparable to Northwestern University before a successful licensing deal netted the Chicago-based Big Ten Conference member more than $2.3 billion with the development of Lyrica, an anti-seizure medication.

DMitry Oleynikov, M.D., (left) and Michael Dixon, PhD

UNMC researcher and surgeon Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., (left) and UNeMed president and CEO Michael Dixon, PhD, during the UNeMed shareholder meeting. (Photo: Charlie Litton/UNeMed)

“That’s why we’re going to keep taking at-bats,” Dixon said. “Because it takes just one swing for a home run.”

Dr. Dixon presented several other “core metrics” highlighting UNeMed activities throughout fiscal 2014, including:

  • 78 new inventions disclosed
  • 315 material transfer agreements
  • 93 confidential disclosure agreements
  • 16 patents issued
  • 14 licensing agreements

UNeMed has also focused on expanding its international footprint. In the last two years, UNeMed signed licensing agreements with companies in six different countries.

D.J. Thayer and Bo Han, M.D., PhD

D.J. Thayer (left), the Director of International and Domestic Affairs for UNeMed and UNMC, chats with Bo Han, M.D., PhD, who will serve in China as a business development specialist for UNeMed Health Consulting-Shanghai (UHCS). (Photo: Charlie Litton/UNeMed)

To lead the growing international efforts, Dr. Dixon announced the addition of D.J. Thayer, who joined UNMC and UNeMed in early July as the director of international and domestic affairs. Thayer, President of infoUSA Inc. for 10 years, will lead UNMC’s international activities, particularly as it establishes operations in China. And new agreements in China are currently under negotiation, Dr. Dixon said.

He also highlighted recent fund-raising efforts for local startup companies that were built on UNMC innovations. In the last three years, UNMC entrepreneurs have raised more than $10 million in a burgeoning Omaha startup environment that CNN Money rated No. 3 in the country.

Dr. Gold concluded his remarks with the idea that research funding was not a gift, but a necessary investment for greater prosperity and health.

“It’s an investment that will convert this intellectual property—and all of your hard work in your research labs—into the future cures and the ways we prevent disease in our country and in our community,” he said.

 

 

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The next big thing: Biomechanics and your smartphone

July 31, 2014 Comments (1) Blog

by Joe Runge, UNeMed | July 31, 2014

In the future, your smartphone will be able to detect your elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease, years before any conventional test reveals similar risks.

Athletes will get clear answers before returning to play after a concussion. Patients suffering from respiratory disorders will get advanced warnings of breathing difficulty. .

Biomechanics at UNeMed
Technology under development at Dr. Nick Stergiou’s biomechanics facility at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
• Chaotic Music for Exercise: Chaotic or fractal music is created by varying the length between beats using non-linear or chaotic algorithms. Dr. Stergiou’s laboratory published results showing that when patients performed physical activity in time with music that had the beats changed to become chaotic then those patients showed significant improvement in gait stability. UNeMed is currently seeking a partner to develop a chaotic music application for smartphones that utilizes Dr. Stergiou’s custom algorithms. The application will generate chaotic music, determine a user’s gait stability, and work to rehabilitate gait stability by prompting a user to move in time with the chaotic music.
• Gait Analysis for Fall Risk: Gait analysis is an established field for analyzing disorders in how patients walk. Gait has enormous potential as a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative, cardiopulmonary and other disorders. Dr. Stergiou’s laboratory invented an ultra-lite, wireless gait analysis device and custom analytics to measure when gait biorhythms are pathologic. UNeMed seeks a partner willing to fund a study to test the gait analysis platform for fall detection in two settings: the fall clinic at a regional hospital and at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Gerontology department. The system will enable a hospital-based service that can objectively measure fall risk for any patient so that they are released to the appropriate level of care.
• Postural Stability for Concussion Recovery: Postural stability is the ubiquitous micro corrections healthy people make when the stand – minute changes in a person’s center of balance. Dr. Stergiou published results showing that biomechanical analysis of postural stability reliably detects when football players receive and recover from concussions. Postural stability shows further potential to develop additional products that analyze patients for traumatic brain injury or other neurocognitive diseases. UNeMed seeks a partner to stand up a stoftware as a service company to deliver analysis of postural stability in hospitals, sports clinics, as well as professional and amateur sports teams.

The future will be made possible by biomechanics. It is next big thing in medical diagnostics

Even the most elementary functions of your body involve the coordination of incredibly complex systems. Just walking and breathing combine a sophisticated control of muscles, nerves, circulation and other systems.

When one of those systems is in the early stage of disease, it effects biomechanics. Your gait, balance or breathing changes.

The effect is invisible without complex computer analysis, which makes biomechanics a big-data problem. The future is here due to the convergence of many technologies.

Improved sensors make it possible to accurately measure biomechanics using simple things like pedometers or cell phone cameras. More powerful computing makes it possible to analyze biomechanics with complex algorithms. The internet allows a remote sensor, like the accelerometer on your smartphone, to measure your walking and upload it to a remote server for sophisticated analysis.

Biomechanics can detect a disease in its earliest stages, before patients are otherwise symptomatic. It utilizes existing and inexpensive equipment off the shelf or already in your pocket. More than 100 peer reviewed studies have demonstrated biomechanical analysis can detect early stage diseases—neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, pulmonary and traumatic brain injury—and biomechanical analysis will become even more sensitive and specific.

Biomechanics is everything the healthcare system needs right now. A data center, connected to thousands of smartphones that measures steps, breaths and heartbeats looks for otherwise invisible changes in those biorhythms consistent with disease.

If those changes are present then the user receives a warning or his doctor receives an alert. Biomechanics allows for extreme early diagnosis or real-time improved monitoring of diseases.

Biomechanical analysis is 21st century healthcare: internet enabled and personalized for your smartphone. It diagnoses, stages and manages a variety of diseases inexpensively, accurately and using the existing infrastructure of the internet.

 

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Biomechanics is topic of Aug. 12 Omaha Science Café

July 29, 2014 Comments (1) News

Will focus on how biomechanics can treat, prevent movement-related disorders

by Lisa Spellman, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (July 29, 2014)—Biomechanics and how it is used to improve clinical practice is the focus of the next Omaha Science Café at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.

Sara A. Myers, PhD, an assistant professor in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation and assistant director of the Biomechanics Research Building at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is the featured speaker.

The mission of the Biomechanics Research Building is to provide a new understanding of the dynamic aspects of human movement via multidisciplinary approaches.

Dr. Myers’ research focuses on improving quality of life in individuals with various movement disorders, such as older individuals and those with peripheral arterial disease.

She has received research funding from several foundations and societies, including a prestigious pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

A native of Hampton, Neb., Dr. Myers currently resides in Omaha with her husband Matt and their three children.

Science Cafés involve a face-to-face conversation with a scientist about current science topics. They are open to everyone (21 and older), and take place in casual settings like pubs and coffeehouses. Each meeting is organized around an interesting topic of conversation. A scientist gives a brief presentation followed by a question and answer period.

Pizza will be provided by The Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures for the first 50 people. For more information about Science Cafes, go to www.unmc.edu/sciencecafe. Podcasts of previous Science Cafes also are available on the website or available for download on iTunes at here.

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu and follow us on social media.

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UNMC researchers receive $10 million grant to study antibiotic resistance

July 24, 2014 Comments (0) News

by Vicky Cerino, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (July 24, 2014)—Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have received a five-year grant for $10 million to continue work on a project to fight the growing threat of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

MRSA, a bacterium resistant to many antibiotics, is a big problem in hospitals and can cause wound infections to more invasive diseases. In 2011, about 721,800 health-care associated infections occurred in 648,000 hospital patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 75,000 patients died during their hospitalizations.

Ken Bayles, PhD, principal investigator of the program project grant, said he and his team are working on four projects first funded in 2009 by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Projects will focus on biofilms produced by Staphylococcus aureus and understanding their role in causing infections of artificial devices. Biofilm is a natural biologic material that grows on surfaces — like the plaque on teeth before brushing.

“Biofilm can affect any manmade device that is implanted into our bodies,” Dr. Bayles said. “With more and more people getting implanted devices, including stents, pacemakers, catheters, orthopedic devices like knee and hip replacements, all are targets for staph infections.”

It is estimated that the rate of infection of implanted devices is between 1 and 5 percent. He said infections happen in medical devices usually through contamination of the surgical wound.

“Getting rid of biofilm associated with implanted devices is difficult because biofilm bacteria are resistant to the antibiotics used to treat infections,” Dr. Bayles said.

If antibiotics don’t work, the device will need to be removed, followed by extensive antibiotic treatment, and then replacement with a new device. It’s traumatic for the patient and adds a significant burden to health care costs, he said.

Three of the projects will be conducted at UNMC and include Dr. Bayles, Paul Fey, PhD, and Tammy Kielian, PhD The fourth project will be headed by Alex Horswill, PhD, at the University of Iowa.

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu and follow us on social media.

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UNMC, UNL receive $1.4 million U.S. Army grant to continue work in robotic surgery

July 22, 2014 Comments (0) News

by Vicky Cerino, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (July 22, 2014)—The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Army to continue work on robotic telesurgery research.

UNMC and UNL researchers have been working since 2008 with the U.S. Army’s Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program to develop miniature robotic technology to enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures for members of the military injured on the battlefield.

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Dr. Oleynikov

“The Army is very interested in delivering care to injured warfighters or other personnel in remote areas,” said Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery and the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology at UNMC. “Right now the biggest thing that they have in their basket is to get the soldier out of the battlefield on a helicopter to where they can get care within the one hour. The idea behind the robots is to begin lifesaving measures on soldiers who can’t be transported out immediately.”

He said the mini robots have the capability to provide basic diagnosis and triage of internal injuries in war zones and other military environments. The robot can be inserted into the patient and be controlled by a surgeon in a remote location. The device would transmit live video images so surgeons could identify the trauma and serve as a “remote first responder.”

Dr. Oleynikov is the principal investigator of the grant and Shane Farritor, PhD, UNL professor of mechanical and materials engineering, is co-investigator of the grant.

The surgery would be done via a tiny incision, through the mouth or another natural orifice, Dr. Oleynikov said, by surgeons far away. The person injured would be in a war zone or in a remote area where medical facilities aren’t immediately available.

“With the grant we’ll continue the successful work we’ve been doing,” Dr. Oleynikov said. “I think the grant and working with the Department of Defense is important. We’re doing some very exciting work as expertise in this surgery isn’t all that common.”

He said the technology ultimately may be applied in civilian settings and rural environments.

Dr. Farritor said he is excited about collaborating with UNMC. “We really think these robots can have a significant effect on health care and the way surgery is performed. We hope to do a clinical trial next year.”

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu and follow us on social media.

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UNMC, UCSF $10 million dementia care grant to bring online respite to caregivers

July 1, 2014 Comments (0) News

by Vicky Cerino, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2014)—The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have been awarded a $10 million grant from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to create a new web-based model of dementia care. It will provide around the clock consultations for patients and their families, online education and, for some patients, remote monitoring with smart phones and home sensors.

The Dementia Care Ecosystem will not replace clinicians, but rather bring educational resources developed over the past decade by UCSF’s Memory and Aging Center (MAC) to patients and their families, while enabling clinicians to monitor their patients from afar.

Dr. Bonasera

Dr. Bonasera

Steve Bonasera, M.D., PhD, associate professor of geriatrics at UNMC and co-investigator of the grant, said the project has the potential to give patients with Alzheimer’s disease, their families and care partners, advice and expertise no matter where they live or their income.

“We hope to show that by providing comprehensive, personally tailored services, we can keep everyone healthier, happier, and decrease time spent in hospitals,” said Dr. Bonasera, who did his fellowship at UCSF. “I think the interventions in this trial will keep people with dementia at home longer, and at the same time lower family and caregiver stress.”

Beginning this fall, 2,100 patients, all diagnosed with varying stages of dementia, will be enrolled through San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, UCSF Medical Center and the UCSF MAC clinics and Chinatown Clinics, as well as UNMC and other organizations in Nebraska serving the elderly.

Each patient will have a navigator, who will check in by telephone or with a personal visit, as well as be monitored through an Internet dashboard, created with the help of Salesforce. Navigators will be people without a formal medical degree who will be supervised closely by nurses, social workers and pharmacists with expertise in dementia care.

The navigators will triage calls, making sure that patients see nurses and doctors when necessary and helping with other things that don’t require medical expertise, such as a hazardous situation in the home that could cause the patient to fall. Meanwhile, patients and their families will be able to get training online to help make financial plans and work through tough medical decisions before their loved ones have reached a crisis stage.

“Our ecosystem will have wisdom and experience continuously piped in every day to caregivers who are overwhelmed,” said Bruce Miller, M.D., director of the MAC, who holds the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professorship in Neurology at UCSF. “Typically, these people have a hard time getting through to anyone in the medical system.”

Researchers hope to create a virtual care system that is supportive enough to protect the mental and physical health of caregivers, who tend to neglect their own needs. If caregivers learn to cope better, patients may be able to remain at home longer before moving into assisted living.

Last year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, about 15.5 million people in the United States were caring for friends and family members with dementia. Nearly 60 percent said the work was highly stressful and more than a third reported symptoms of depression.

Some patients in the study will use smart phones and electronic wristbands to record activity levels, count the number of steps they take and measure how far they range from home. And a small number will have sensors placed inside their homes to detect behavior changes that could signal the onset of a health problem, like being up all night, staying in bed all day or going to the bathroom more times than usual.

The system also will monitor the drugs that patients take and flag high risk and inappropriate medications that can send patients with certain forms of dementia to the emergency room.

Initial projections are that the improved caregiver support, more continuous access to medical help and medication management will reduce emergency room visits by a half, cut hospitalizations by almost a third and delay the move into a nursing home by six months. This is projected to save $4.3 million over the three years of the grant.

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Symposium marks 10 years of UNMC-China collaboration

June 13, 2014 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Neb. (June 12, 2014)—Officials and researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center highlighted recent and ongoing research Thursday while commemorating 10 years of UNMC-China collaborations during the Asia Pacific Rim Development Program’s fifth annual Joint Research Symposium, an international biomedical research forum held Thursday at the Durham Research Center.

Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., greets attendees during opening remarks at the Asia Pacific Rim Development Program’s fifth annual Joint Research Symposium at the Durham Research Center in Omaha.

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., opened a full day of seminars and presentations with brief remarks to illustrate the value of UNMC-China research collaboration. UNMC has a four-part mission, he said, that is equal parts education, research, quality clinical care and community engagement.

“This symposium underscores all parts of this mission,” he said.

He added that research doesn’t end when results are published, when a grant ends or when funding runs out. “Research is completed when it changes some human life,” he said.

Le Kang, PhD

The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Le Kang, PhD, discusses the value of UNMC-China research during the fifth annual Joint Research Symposium on June 12, 2014.

Dr. Gold was followed by remarks from Le Kang, PhD, the director-general of the Institute of Zoology and president of the Beijing Institutes of Life Sciences, which are part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kang was presented with an admiralty in “The Great Navy of the State of Nebraska,” a fictional position used by the governor’s office since 1931 to honor esteemed guests and citizens of a landlocked state.

Dr. Kang presented UNMC with a gift of a four-panel mural depicting traditional Chinese artistic paintings of a plum blossom, an orchid, a bamboo blossom and a chrysanthemum. Known as the “four gentlemen,” the four plants symbolize strength, humility, moral character and resilience. In Chinese culture, presenting them as gift is a significant demonstration of friendship.

The remainder of the symposium featured UNMC and Chinese research partners presenting and discussing their most recent findings in areas including cell-death mechanisms, schizophrenia, the Epstein-Barr virus, and stem cells.

Four Gentlemen

This four-panel mural of traditional Chinese art was a gift to UNMC from Le Kang, PhD, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Known as the “four gentlemen,” the four depicted plants symbolize strength, humility, moral character and resilience.

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Symposium helps bridge gap between academia and industry

June 11, 2014 Comments (0) Blog, News

Industry leaders seek to improve collaborations

By Agnes Lenagh, UNeMed

OMAHA, Neb. (June 11, 2014)—Industry-academia collaboration was the overarching theme of the First Annual Biopharmaceutical Research and Development Symposium.

Eager researchers and leading biopharmaceutical industry scientists talked about ways to strengthen our relationships in a two-day symposium hosted by the UNMC College of Pharmacy. The aim was to improve dialogue and research collaborations between industry and academia.

In addition to the presentations, the symposium also facilitated roundtable discussions with faculty, postdoctoral scientists and graduate students. Speakers and attendees exchanged valuable tips to improve techniques, and shared new methodologies.

During the first roundtable discussion industry leaders discussed how to increase visibility and enable collaborations with industry partners: Invaluable advice that highlighted what industry wants.

    • Industry personnel said they often identify opportunities by scanning the literature for tools they need and reading information offered by technology transfer offices like UNeMed. A company frequently reaches out to academia to find the appropriate equipment, ideal technique, correct animal model, or even expertise on a subject.
    • In order to work together, academic research has to fit and match the research done by the potential industry collaborator.

Gangadhar Sunkara, PhD, executive director of the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, made the comparison to a lock and key, where academia has to have the right key to open the door and collaborate with industry.

  • Industry representatives also said they use connections in academia, including former classmates and contacts made at networking events. They use these relations in academia to better understand what we do and how to best take advantage of the available resources.

During the symposium, speakers offered two important pieces of advice to researchers: flaunt it and speak at the same level.

First, as a researcher, if you have it, flaunt it. When speaking to industry professionals, let them know that you are the director of whatever division or facility. Industry wants top-notch people, and they appreciate knowing who’s in charge of which resources.

Second, don’t talk over their heads. Stick to using vocabulary, terminology and concepts that are at their level. Be sure to find a common ground so everyone can be on the same page and the important details aren’t lost in translation.

Companies present included Gilead Sciences, AbbVie, Novartis, Bend Research, FreeThink Technologies, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Biopharmaceutical and Drug Delivery Consulting, Biogen Idec, Genzyme Sanofi Corporation, and Celerion.

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Grant will fund drug candidate simulations for next-gen cancer treatments

June 2, 2014 Comments (0) News

by Charlie Litton, UNeMed

OMAHA, Neb. (May 28, 2014)—Researchers and resources from three university campuses will join forces on a $250,000 proof-of-concept grant from the Nebraska Research Initiative, and use complex computer simulations to identify top drug candidates that could lead to the next generation of pancreatic and ovarian cancer treatments.

Surinder Batra, PhD, professor and chairman of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Molecular Biology, is now on the verge of proving the potential of a molecule he originally discovered more than a decade ago—a gene called pancreatic differentiation factor 2, or PD2. New funding will use supercomputer simulations that researchers hope will demonstrate the potential power of PD2 against cancer.

Surinder Batra, PhD

In 1997, Surinder Batra, PhD, discovered PD2, a biomarker for pancreatic and other cancers. Now, supercomputer simulations could help make PD2 an effective weapon against the deadliest cancers.

PD2 is involved in the growth of stem cells, but becomes a problem if it gives cancer cells the same set of growth instructions. Cancer cells that express high levels of PD2 act like stem cells, growing tumors that can resist most forms of treatment.

“It has a lot of potential, this molecule,” said Dr. Batra, a two-time UNMC Distinguished Scientist and the 2012 Scientist Laureate. “It is in many cancers, not only pancreatic stem cells.”

Nick Palermo, a computer expert with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will try unlocking PD2’s power with the supercomputer at the Peter Kiewit Institute’s Holland Computing Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Palermo will build a computer model of PD2, and then simulate its interaction with millions of other known molecules. Renowned UNMC drug development researcher and College of Pharmacy professor Jonathan Vennerstrom, PhD, will also collaborate on the project.

“In general, the strength of the university is when people from different disciplines can work together,” said James Linder, M.D., interim president of the University of Nebraska and president of the University Technology Development Corporation.

Grant funding for the PD2 project will also increase the supercomputer’s “horsepower”—a legacy improvement that will benefit future projects. UNeMed, the technology transfer office at UNMC, has already received interest from drug discovery companies that want to collaborate on other new drugs using the same process.

“If this project works,” said Joe Runge, UNeMed’s director of business development, “then we can take discoveries about diseases and translate them to medicines—all within the University system.”

Even if the perfect fit to PD2 doesn’t appear to exist naturally, Palermo can combine elements of the best matches to custom-build potential candidates.

“I think this is a matter of time and effort,” Palermo said, “and we will get it done. And have a good product.”

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New yardsticks needed to create new ideas

May 19, 2014 Comments (1) Blog

By Charlie Litton, UNeMed | May 19, 2014

Imagine drawing up plans for the Empire State Building before anyone ever thought to invent structural steel or something that resembles an elevator.

It’s almost nonsensical.Phillips screw head and driver

There are ideas so groundbreaking that there aren’t even good ways to measure or test them. Or sometimes the tools that could make them work don’t even exist, like a Phillips head screw without its driver. The inventor often has to build a better yardstick and create new tools before they can even start working on the actual big idea.

Think about that for a minute.

Try inventing something when there is nothing in the known world that can prove the invention works.

The inventor must innovate to innovate.

In biomedical research, it sometimes requires that researchers essentially invent a new animal, like Anna, an adorably scruffy mutt famously engineered by researchers at Johns Hopkins in pursuit of an effective treatment for blue baby syndrome.

Researchers at UNMC don’t have a portrait of a loveable dog gracing any prominent walls like Anna does at the Johns Hopkins library. But we might one day see in rich oil paints the swirling hues of a sheep that helped improve kidney dialysis.

One way to improve dialysis is not with the machines that scrub blood of toxins normally removed by healthy kidneys. Rather, by improving the point of entry and exit as the machine pumps the dirty blood out and cleaned blood back in.

Currently, the best point of entry involves creating a portal, or fistula, between an artery and vein in the patient’s arm, usually in the wrist. Called an arteriovenous or AV fistula, the procedure is a medical marvel that significantly lowers the risk of death and improves the quality of life for people with failing kidneys. Like a wall socket provides regular access to a home’s electrical system, the AV fistula provides quick and easy access to the human vascular system.

And like any modern marvel, AV fistulas are a complex and imperfect solution, even when performed by an expert team of surgeons and support staff. In the best circumstances, they are difficult to create, fail in half of the patients who need them most, and almost always develop complications at one point or another.

A better, more reliable way to create AV fistulas seems like a good idea.

We have a surgeon here who thinks he has one. He worked it out, submitted his plan, and we’ve even had a few companies raise an eyebrow or two.

This is where I usually get a little excited.

But the old warhorses that have been around the block a few times tell me that I need to stow the pompoms and dial back the cheerleading.

The problem is understandable. When it comes time to show that an improvement like a new AV fistula could work, a researcher must first prove that it works on living tissue. The bigger problem is that no one in the world, as far as we know, has ever made an AV fistula work in anything other than a human. There just is no good analog to the human vascular system.

So the people with the development money in their back pocket tell us: “Yeah, looks great kid. But show me that it works in an animal model before I cut you a check.”

That’s setting the bar a little high.

It’s like saying, “You want to launch satellites into low-earth orbit? Sure, just land a probe on Ganymede first. Then we’ll talk.”

Jupiter's largest moon, GanymedeBefore our guy could even begin designing a better AV fistula procedure, he needed to invent a way to test it, which would involve the world’s first successful AV fistula on something other than a human.

But that is a story for another time.

For now, the larger point is that innovation takes more than just a great idea. An idea doesn’t even pack the suitcase for the long journey of development.

The idea seems to be the easy part.

The taller task is proving that the idea can work, a far more complex chore than merely collecting data. Failing that, an idea or a concept is just something to put on a shelf.

But the right test or tool that proves an idea can work? That’s something you hang from a wall.

 

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Innovate to Innovate: A new breed of dog needed for blue babies

May 8, 2014 Comments (2) Blog

by Joe Runge, UNeMed | May 8, 2014

Anna

Anna

Babies born with congenital heart defects rarely survived childhood. Today, 85 percent of babies born with congenital heart defects survive to adulthood. That happened because surgeons learned how to reconstruct a baby’s heart through a series of unimaginably complex surgical procedures.

How those surgical procedures came to be is more complex than the surgery itself. The miracles produced in a few hundred years of modern science embolden audacious questions:

  • Can we reprogram a patient’s cells to attack his tumor?
  • Can we assess an individual patient’s risk for disease by looking at her DNA?
  • Can we reconstruct a baby’s defective heart?

What emboldens the question is the possibility of answer. The currency of innovation is the new and powerful ways that researchers can test their ideas but the most innovative questions are the most challenging to test. If no one has ever thought to ask the question then there is likely no known way to test it.

Medical researchers not only invent a new way to treat a disease but also a new a way to find out if it works. Before you can innovate, you have to innovate.

For example, a team from Johns Hopkins invented one of the first procedures to alleviate congenital heart defects in the 1940’s. The procedure bypasses the baby’s beating heart by cutting major arteries and reconnecting them to major veins.

To learn how to do the procedure, the team invented a way to surgically create congenital heart defects in dogs. Then they invented a way to surgically relieve the defect. It took years and hundreds of failures.

The first dog in which the team successfully created and then treated the defect was named Anna. Her portrait hangs at library at Johns Hopkins—an honor usually reserved for the human faculty.

The currency of innovation is the impossibly elusive data needed to actually answer the question. To reconstruct the baby’s heart first you must reconstruct a dog’s heart. To reconstruct the dog’s heart, you must first create an accurate model of the baby’s defect that you seek to correct.

To even ask the audacious question you need access to the problem, expert knowledge to understand it, and a creative approach to treat it. To answer your question you need the tools to test your idea. The more audacious the question, the more innovation is needed to bring about the answer.

That answer may require a genetically modified mouse that is susceptible to human tumors; it may be a national database of DNA sequences from thousands of patients with a disease; or it may be a little dog named Anna, and her improbable creation.

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UNMC, UNL make history by testing mini-robots in ‘space’

May 7, 2014 Comments (0) News

by Vicky Cerino, UNMC

HOUSTON (May 5, 2014)—For more than 10 years, inventors at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have spent countless hours building, testing, perfecting and patenting miniature surgical robots.

The robots were developed for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with the hope that flight surgeons can one day perform emergency surgery in space.

The next step called for testing the mini-robots in a simulated space environment.

This was accomplished in late April when Anton Simorov, M.D., UNMC surgery fellow, and UNL engineering students, Kearney Lackas, Walter Bircher and Tom Frederick, donned flight suits and took off from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

During two parabolic flights, the UNMC-UNL experienced 80 parabolic maneuvers that create a weightless environment in a modified 727 jet. The jet, at 24,000 feet, climbed 45 degrees to 34,000 feet. The pilots then perform a “push over” maneuver to create zero gravity or weightlessness for 20-30 seconds.

Dr. Simorov practiced surgical techniques — grasping, pulling, and cutting — during the weightless time periods, while engineering students monitored equipment.

“We accomplished our experiment goals. We collected a lot of data which will take several weeks to process and analyze,” Dr. Simorov said. “This will allow us to further our experiments. It was a great, unforgettable experience.”

The flight was the result of a 2013 visit by NASA officials to learn about university research with potential applications in space, said Marsha Morien, executive director of the UNMC Center for Advanced Surgical Technology. “The NASA visitors saw the project and said it was ready for flight testing,” Morien said. “Getting this flight is amazing. It’s highly competitive.”

Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., a co-inventor of the mini-robots, said the flight was a big step.

“We’re very excited. We’ve always felt it was a good idea to take a surgical platform, miniaturize it and use it in places you can’t have a hospital,” said Dr. Oleynikov, director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery and the Center for Advanced Surgical Technology at UNMC. “It’s a natural extension of that concept to use it in space, on the battlefield and in other remote areas.”

Shane Farritor, PhD, UNL professor of mechanical and materials engineering, said the flight represents a key milestone in the surgical robot program. “It was a great learning experience for the students to successfully deploy a complex field system and operate it in a unique environment,” said Dr. Farritor, co-inventor of the mini-robots. “It really moved the research forward. We have more to do, but I really like where we are.”

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu and follow us on social media.

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Biopharmaceutical symposium is June 5-6

May 7, 2014 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Neb. (May 7, 2014)—In a step to improve dialogue, research collaboration and student learning objectives, UNMC’s College of Pharmacy is sponsoring a Biopharmaceutical Research and Development Symposium in June that will bring together leading academic researchers with biopharmaceutical industry scientists for two days of seminars, round-table discussions and networking opportunities.

Planned topics of discussion include the drug development and approval process, redefining the interface between industry and academia, enabling oral drug delivery technologies and new modalities in biopharma. Guest speakers include representatives from Novartis, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb, Merck, Biogen, Abbott Labs, Gilead Sciences, Bend Research, Celerion Corporation and Genzyme Corporation.

The symposium is free to all UNMC faculty and students, and registration for non-UNMC attendees is $150, which includes a lunch and snack on both days.

The symposium is planned for June 5-6 at the Michael F. Sorrell Center on 42nd and Emile Streets.

To register or view a complete list of events, times and speakers, visit https://www.unmc.edu/pharmacy/brds.htm.

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Make Nebraska No. 1, vote UNeMed in ‘Buzz of BIO’

April 15, 2014 Comments (0) Blog, News

OMAHA, Neb. (April 15, 2014)—Help UNeMed put Nebraska’s biomedical innovation community at center stage of the world’s largest biotech conference by voting for UNeMed in the “Buzz of BIO” competition.

BuzzofBIOLogoVisit https://convention.bio.org/buzzofbio/voting.aspx and select UNeMed in the “Technologies of Tomorrow” category (companies are listed alphabetically). Anyone can vote, so spread the word and vote UNeMed to help put Nebraska on the map. Voting for UNeMed is a unique opportunity to promote UNMC technologies to potential partners and investors around the globe.

Voting closes April 22.

UNeMed is participating in the Buzz of BIO for the 2014 BIO International Convention (BIO), the world’s premiere biotechnology convention, which will be held this year on June 23-26 in San Diego, Calif.

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Dixon testifies for University of Nebraska at House committee

April 9, 2014 Comments (0) News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 9, 2014)—Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Tuesday morning, UNeMed Corporation President and CEO Michael Dixon urged lawmakers to consider the potential impact to academic research commercialization efforts before drafting legislation aimed at stopping patent assertion entities.

Nebraska U.S. Rep. Lee Terry (left) chats with UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon following a Commerce, Trade and Manufacturing Subcommittee hearing April 8, 2014. Dixon testified for the committee hearing which is chaired by Terry.

Nebraska U.S. Rep. Lee Terry (left) chats with UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon following a Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee hearing April 8, 2014. Dixon testified for the committee hearing, which is chaired by Terry.

“Any action must preserve patent rights,” Dixon told the committee, which is chaired by Nebraska U.S. Rep. Lee Terry.

Terry called the hearing to examine the issue of patent demand letters, a common practice abused by some patent assertion entities, or PAEs. Everyone who spoke during the hearing unanimously decried the deceptive practice, citing as the principle problems: The general lack of clear details in demand letters, a lack of federal guidelines and no clear definition of local or state jurisdiction.

Terry said he and the committee wanted to hear from expert witnesses as the committee contemplates drafting a bill that would “itemize or prescribe what should be in a demand letter.”

Unscrupulous PAEs, commonly called “patent trolls,” build a stockpile of patents by purchasing them from inventors and other intellectual property owners. The patent trolls then pursue claims of infringement against all manner of businesses, often targeting small or new businesses because they are too scared, too inexperienced or just can’t afford to defend themselves.

Removing the vague demand letter from their toolbox would be a major blow to patent trolls, said Dixon, president at UNeMed, the technology commercialization office for the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“Reduce the ambiguity of demand letters,” Dixon said, “and you’ll reduce the power of patent trolls.”

Sent by the thousands to small businesses, vague demand letters threaten legal action for patent infringement. The letters often do not refer to a specific patent or even how the business infringed a patent, which leads some businesses to pay for a license just to avoid the greater expense of lawyer fees.

“This bottom-feeder model is premised on the idea that they don’t have to be specific,” said Jason Schultz, an associate professor of clinical law at New York University who also testified before the committee. “…just pay to get it out of the way, which so many are doing.”

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