Donata Vercelli, MD, has been appointed as a Regents Professor, a title awarded to full professors who have garnered the most distinguished accomplishments in research, teaching, scholarship or creative work. Dr. Vercelli, professor of cellular and molecular medicine, associate director of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, and a member of the BIO5 Institute, came to the UArizona College of Medicine Tucson in 1999.

I am delighted to join the Arizona Board of Regents in recognizing Dr. Vercellis extraordinary research in the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in the development of asthma and allergic diseases, said Michael D. Dake, MD, senior vice president for Health Sciences. Her investigations, which integrate basic and molecular epidemiologic approaches, have had a profound impact on the publics understanding of the development of asthma and allergic diseases.

A landmark study Dr. Vercelli co-authored, published in theNew England Journal of Medicine, showed that children growing up on Amish farms who were exposed to higher levels of microbial products were better protected from asthma than children with similar genetic backgrounds who were growing up on Hutterite farms with less microbial exposure.

Becoming a Regents Professor is a truly great honor because so many stars need to be aligned you need to have the enthusiastic support your colleagues, willing to identify and verbalize that je ne sais quoi that is supposed to set Regents Professors apart within a faculty with many excellent members; then you need the support of several international and national authorities in your field; and finally, all this needs to convince a demanding, multidisciplinary group of professors who send their recommendations to our president, said Dr. Vercelli. How can younotfeel humbled andask yourself, Why me?

Her research has led to several major prizes, grant funding totaling more than $40 million and national and international accolades. In 2010, she was elected to the Association of American Physicians. In 2018, she was elected secretary general of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum an international group that examines the scientific and clinical problems in allergy and related branches of medicine and immunology. In eight years she will become president of the Collegium.

I believe what is special about UArizona Health Sciences is that while pursuing our scientific dream to understand how the environment and microbes can protect from asthma and allergies we took the road less traveled and dared do experiments no one thought could work, said Dr. Vercelli. But they did work, and very, very well. I am convinced that being at UArizona Health Sciences has nurtured and strengthened my ability to think boldly and innovatively because at its best, this is what UArizona Health Sciences is about.

Dr. Vercelli received her medical degree from the University of Florence in 1978 and trained in immunology at Boston Childrens Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where she was assistant professor of pediatrics from 1991 to 1994. She followed that appointment at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, where she spent four years as director of the Molecular Immunoregulation Unit.

The title of Regents Professor is reserved for full professors whose exceptional achievements merit national and international distinction. Regents Professor appointments are limited to no more than 3% of the total number of the university's tenured and tenure-track faculty members.

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Dr. Donata Vercelli Appointed as Regents Professor | UArizona Health Sciences - University of Arizona

What: Precision Health Care for All: The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies Lecture

When: Tuesday, May 17, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Health Sciences Education Building, 475 N. 5th Street, Phoenix

Register here: https://events.trellis.arizona.edu/en/f44lNu67/5a3U3nDxV11

Note: Media who wish to attend should contact Margarita Bauz at mbauza@arizona.edu.

The recently announced University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies, known as CAMI, has garnered the support and involvement of more than 20 leaders in academic research, biomedical and health care industries, government organizations and corporations across the state.

The experts in their respective fields are members of the CAMI advisory committee, working in one of three targeted areas: Leadership and Organization; Program and Development; and Space, Design and Construction.

The University of Arizona Health Sciences has unique expertise in basic science, translational medicine and investigator-led clinical trials that will allow us to lead the nation in advanced immunotherapies research and the pursuit of innovative treatments, said Michael D. Dake, MD, senior vice president of the University of Arizona Health Sciences. Each of the advisory committee members are leaders in their respective fields, and their contributions will help ensure the success of the Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies.

The CAMI advisory committee members are:

Dr. Dake will give a presentation about CAMI as part of UArizona Health Sciences Tomorrow is Here Lecture Series on Tuesday, May 17, at the Phoenix Bioscience Core campus.

The presentation, Precision Health Care for All: The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies, will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Health Sciences Education Building, 475 N. 5th Street, Phoenix. Complimentary parking and refreshments will be provided, and online registration is required.

CAMI will serve as the anchor for an innovation district that aims to differentiate Phoenix from other emerging life sciences hubs, establishing the Phoenix Bioscience Core as a center of cell and gene therapy research, startup activity and corporate engagement. The centers location in Phoenix is expected to facilitate strong connections with partners such as Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the Mayo Clinic and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, while boosting the local economy in the process.

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New UArizona Health Sciences Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies in Phoenix Guided by Diverse Group of Experts | UArizona Health...

When we eat and then digest a meal, the nutrients and other useful components in the food are broken downor metabolizedand ultimately make their way to cells throughout the body. Each cell has its own power plant, called the mitochondria, which produces energy for the cells various processes as well as other tasks that help keep a cell healthy. By the time metabolites reach the cell, they are completely broken down and segregated from one another, so that each can play a role in specific functions that the mitochondria perform.

The process goes far beyond fueling power generation in the cell, according to Hongying Shen, PhD, assistant professor of cellular & molecular physiology at Yale School of Medicine and a member of Yales Systems Biology Institute. Mitochondria also house many other biochemical processes that are critical for cellular and organismal physiology, and that require trafficking in and out of all kinds of metabolites, including nucleotides, amino acids for protein, and lipids, she says.

In a study published May 5 in Nature Communications, Shen and her lab have identified the molecular machinery through which many of the metabolites reach inside the mitochondria.

They focus on the human SLC25 carrier family, the largest protein family responsible for metabolite translocation across the mitochondrial membrane. Each of the 53 transporters has a distinct assignment. They are structurally, sequence-wise, very similar to each other, says Shen, but they have this amazing specificity. One is dedicated to a certain type of nutrients, the other dedicated to other metabolites or nutrients. So there seems to be a very tight regulation in terms of specificity to recognize metabolites being transported.

This new knowledge may open the door to potential regulation of what enters the cell, with the goal of preventing or mitigating disease.

We are particularly interested in human diseases affecting the brain that include psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative disorders, Shen explains. In fact, there have been de novo mutations in the gene SLC25A39 that have been implicated in autism. And also, A39 has been recently implicated in Parkinsons disease where oxidative stress was proposed as a pathological mechanism. In addition, according to Shen, the antioxidant metabolite glutathione, whose delivery route her lab also identified, may be of great interest to scientists studying cancer.

One day in the future, it is conceivable that biomarkers could associate conditions such as neurodegeneration with the metabolic processes that Shens lab is studying. That, she says, could lead to new treatments for disease. Then we can perhaps change our metabolism by diet and by nutrition and all kinds of methods to intervene with that. If we were able to discover these processes and identify the metabolites, can we use dietary intervention to slow the disease onset or disease progression? There's a long way to go [before we might accomplish that], but it's something.

The new study appears to lay a sound foundation for future work. Shen is encouraged that a different research team, working independently and from a different direction, recently produced similar conclusions about the mitochondrial glutathione transporter.

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The Molecular Machinery That Delivers Metabolites to Mitochondria - Yale School of Medicine

SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Hitachi High-Tech Corporation ("Hitachi High-Tech") has entered into a strategic partnership (the Partnership) with Invivoscribe, Inc. ("Invivoscribe"),

a global provider of blood cancer testing kits and services, by undertaking a minority investment-based, third-party allotment of shares. The Partnership aims to accelerate the molecular diagnostics and precision medicine businesses of both companies by combining Invivoscribe's technology, assay and bioinformatics development, global clinical testing, and international regulatory expertise with Hitachi High-Tech's core expertise in measurement and analysis systems technologies.

Invivoscribe is a privately-held,California-based life science corporation with seven wholly-owned subsidiaries in five countries, including clinical laboratories in four countries. Invivoscribe is engaged in three core business functions: 1) testing servicesfor blood cancers, 2) global sales and distribution of test kits and licensing bioinformatics software, and 3) the development and commercialization of companion diagnostics to support pharmaceutical approval of new oncology treatments.

Hitachi High-Tech'sAnalytical & Medical Solutions Business aims to support emerging businesses in the life science and healthcare industries while building out its own in vitro diagnostics (IVD) business. This Partnership is part of Hitachi High Tech's growth strategy of strengthening this molecular diagnostics business, whose mission is to contribute to the early detection and treatment of cancer, and discover newdrugs,by providing molecular cancer diagnostics to all people, thereby realizing a healthy and secure society.

Through this strategic partnership, Hitachi High-Tech aims to cooperate across development, manufacturing, sales and testing services, while developing systems that provide solutions that better address the on-site needs of cancer diagnosis and monitoring throughout the course of treatment.

"Invivoscribe is excited at the synergistic opportunities, combining our core expertise in global standardization of tests and bioinformatics, our clinical lab services, and our processes for developing custom companion diagnostics from analytical/clinical validations through international regulatory approvals and commercialization, with Hitachi's expertise in instrumentation development and manufacturing,"said Jeffrey Miller, CEO and founder of Invivoscribe. "Hitachi manufactures and distributes in vitro diagnostic instruments that we currently use to standardize testing for the international community; we are looking forward to further deepening our Partnership so we can advance precision medicine worldwide."

"Hitachi High-Tech has been strengthening its molecular diagnosis business centered on genetic testing. By combining Invivoscribe's testing service business with our equipment business, we aim to build a unique business model and provide a wide range of services to medical professionals," said Yoshimitsu Takagi, Vice President and Executive Officer, and General Manager, Analytical & Medical Solution Business Group of Hitachi High-Tech.

About Invivoscribe

Invivoscribe has been Improving Lives with Precision Diagnostics for more than twenty-five years, advancing the field of precision medicine by developing and selling standardized reagents, tests, and bioinformatics tools to more than 700 customers in 160 countries. Invivoscribe also has a significant impact on global health working with pharmaceutical companies to accelerate approvals of new drugs and treatments by supporting international clinical trials, developing, commercializing companion diagnostics, and providing expertise in both regulatory and laboratory services. With its proven ability to provide global access to distributable reagents, kits, and controls, as well as clinical trial services through our international clinical lab subsidiaries (LabPMM), Invivoscribe has demonstrated it is an ideal partner. For additional information please visit: http://www.invivoscribe.com or contact Invivoscribe at: customerservice@invivoscribe.com.

About Hitachi High-Tech

Hitachi High-Tech, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is engaged in activities in a broad range of fields, including manufacture and sales of clinical analyzers, biotechnology products, and analytical instruments, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and analysis equipment. and providing high value-added solutions in fields of social & industrial infrastructures and mobility, etc. The company's consolidated revenues for FY 2021 were approximately JPY 576.8 billion [USD 5.1 billion]. For further information, visit http://www.hitachi-hightech.com/global/

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SOURCE Invivoscribe, Inc

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Hitachi High-Tech and Invivoscribe partner to advance molecular diagnostics and precision medicine - Longview News-Journal

For many of us today, death will not be the end. We dont mean that in a metaphysical sense and this isnt a weirdly calm preamble to announcing the onset of a zombie apocalypse were talking about organ donation. Thanks to this life-saving procedure, a good number of us may literally still be pumping iron, posing and, um, pooping, long after we die.

But as smart as our scientists are, there are some parts of the body that just dont donate well. While organs like kidneys or livers can be put on ice for hours to slow damage from lack of oxygen, tissue from the central nervous system becomes non-viable in less than four minutes after death. And frustratingly, exactly why this happens, and whether its reversible, has not been well understood. Until now.

We were able to wake up photoreceptor cells in the human macula, which is the part of the retina responsible for our central vision and our ability to see fine detail and color, explained Fatima Abbas, a postdoctoral researcher at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, in a statement. In eyes obtained up to five hours after an organ donors death, these cells responded to bright light, colored lights, and even very dim flashes of light.

Abbas is lead author of a new study, published this week in the journal Nature, aimed at figuring out how neurons die and potential ways to revive them. Using human retinas as a model for the central nervous system, the team made a series of discoveries that will, they write, enabl[e] transformative studies in the human central nervous system, rais[e] questions about the irreversibility of neuronal cell death, and provid[e] new avenues for visual rehabilitation.

While the researchers were indeed able to revive the photoreceptor cells, initially at least, things didnt look good. Until now, it hasnt been possible to get the cells in all of the different layers of the central retina to communicate with each other the way they normally do in a living retina, explained study co-author Anne Hanneken, a retinal surgeon, and Scripps Research Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.

The reason, they realized, was oxygen deprivation. So they set about finding a way to overcome the damage caused by lack of oxygen, with study co-author and fellow Moran Eye Center scientist Frans Vinberg designing a special transportation unit that could restore oxygenation and other nutrients to eyes taken from organ donors within 20 minutes of death.

That wasnt the only invention Vinberg brought to the experiment. He also came up with a device that could stimulate these retinas to produce electrical activity, and measure the output. Thanks to this technique, the team were able to break another barrier: the first-ever recording of a b wave signal from the central retina of postmortem human eyes.

In living eyes, b waves are a type of electrical signal associated with the health of the inner layers of the retina so to have been able to stimulate them in postmortem eyes is really important. It means that the layers of the macula were communicating again, just like they do when were alive, to help us see.

We were able to make the retinal cells talk to each other, the way they do in the living eye to mediate human vision, Vinberg explained. Past studies have restored very limited electrical activity in organ donor eyes, but this has never been achieved in the macula, and never to the extent we have now demonstrated.

It may be a small result the macula is only about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter, after all but it has huge implications. As it stands, death is a state partially defined by neuron death, which so far has proven irreversible. If neurons can in fact be restored to living quality, perhaps it will force us to once again reconsider what counts as dead and maybe well see the Grim Reaper staved off even longer than weve already managed.

Of course, even if that is where this discovery leads eventually, there are more pressing matters at hand as anybody who wears glasses can attest. And the team are confident their results will have big advantages for the future of vision research too: Going forward, well be able to use this approach to develop treatments to improve vision and light signaling in eyes with macular diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, Hanneken pointed out.

The slew of new results hint at a way for future researchers to study neurodegenerative diseases throughout the body, not just in the eyes, but its importance for vision research cant be overstated. The study has already broken ground for its revival of b waves, and the team suspect theyve also discovered the mechanism responsible for rate-limiting the speed of human central vision; the techniques also open the door to developing visual therapies on working human eyes, saving researchers the ethical concerns of using non-human primates (and even more so for human primates) or the scientific problems that come with using lab mice (who have no macula.)

All they need now is more eyes.

The scientific community can now study human vision in ways that just arent possible with laboratory animals, said Vinberg. We hope this will motivate organ donor societies, organ donors, and eye banks by helping them understand the exciting new possibilities this type of research offers.

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Scientists Bring Life To Eyes That Died Five Hours Earlier - IFLScience

Aviadobio Ltd

AviadoBio Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board

Includes prominent international scientific and clinical pioneers across neurodegeneration research, neurosurgical drug delivery and neurological gene therapy

SAB will provide expert insight and guidance as the Company progresses its pipeline of gene therapies targeting devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as Frontotemporal Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

London, UK, May 12, 2022 AviadoBio, a pioneering, pre-clinical stage, gene therapy company focused on developing and delivering transformative medicines for people with neurodegenerative disorders, announces that it has established a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprising world-leading experts in neurodegenerative diseases, neurosurgical drug delivery and gene therapy development.

The newly formed SAB will provide expert guidance to AviadoBio on its current and future research and development strategy, which involves the progression of its lead program in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) into the clinic, advancing the Companys preclinical pipeline, including for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and building out the Companys nervous system targeted delivery platforms.

The SAB will be led by Co-founder Prof. Chris Shaw, who currently serves as Chief Scientific and Clinical Advisor and developed AviadoBios technology in his laboratory at Kings College London, with the support of the UK Dementia Research Institute. Chris is a world-renowned Neurologist and Neuroscientist, who brings a deep understanding of brain architecture and disease pathogenesis and is driven by a career-long goal of delivering effective treatments to his patients.

Lisa Deschamps, CEO of AviadoBio, said: "Attracting such an esteemed and diverse group of neurodegenerative disease, neurosurgery and gene therapy experts to the AviadoBio team is a testament to the strength of our differentiated approach. Each member of the SAB brings unrivalled scientific expertise and in-depth knowledge that will be particularly invaluable as we progress our lead program for FTD into the clinic later this year.

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Professor Chris Shaw, commented: I am delighted to Chair AviadoBios Scientific Advisory Board, which includes world-leading experts in their respective fields. The first therapies we are developing address unmet needs of people affected by FTD and ALS. These are devastating diseases with no approved treatments, and I look forward to working with the Board to advise the AviadoBio team in their drive to develop novel therapies capable of transforming the lives of patients and families.

The AviadoBio SAB members are as follows:

Professor Chris Shaw MBChB, MD, Co-founder AviadoBio and Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics, Kings College London, UK

Professor Krystof Bankiewicz MD, PhD, Tenured Professor, Vice Chair of Research, Director, Brain Health and Performance Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery

Professor Don Cleveland PhD, Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Ludwig Cancer Research, University of California, San Diego, USA

Professor Jonathan Rohrer MBBS, PhD, Professor of Neurology, UCL, London, UK

Professor Steven Gill MD, Chief Medical Officer, Neurochase Ltd and Hon. Professor of Neurosurgery, University of Bristol, UK

Professor Merit Cudkowicz MD, MSc, Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Chief, Neurology Service, Massachusetts General Hospital Director, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tenured Professor, Vice Chair of Research, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Department of Neurological Surgery

Assistant Professor Heather Gray-Edwards DVM, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology at UMMS, member of the Horae Gene Therapy Center

Professor Christian Haass PhD, Professor of Biochemistry Ludwig-Maximilians, University Munich, Germany

Omar Khwaja MD PhD, Chief Medical Officer, VectivBio AG

ENDS

About AviadoBio

At AviadoBio, our mission is to transform the lives of people living with neurodegenerative disorders by developing and delivering transformative gene therapies for diseases including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Companys technology is based on pioneering research from Kings College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute. AviadoBios unique platform combines next-generation gene therapy design with deep neuroscience expertise and a novel neuroanatomy-led approach to drug delivery. AviadoBios investors include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Monograph Capital, Advent Life Sciences, EQT Lifesciences, Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), F-Prime Capital, Johnson & Johnson Innovation JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), and LifeArc.

The company is developing AVB-101 for patients with FTD-GRN. AVB-101 is an investigational AAV gene therapy designed to slow or stop disease progression by delivering a functional copy of the GRN gene throughout the central nervous system to restore progranulin levels.

For more information, please visit http://www.aviadobio.com and follow us at Twitter @AviadoBio and LinkedIn AviadoBio.

About Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and FTD with GRN mutations (FTD-GRN)

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is of the second most common form of dementia in people under the age of 65 after Alzheimers disease. It affects 50,000 to 60,000 patients in the U.S. and over 100,000 in the E.U. Approximately one third of FTD cases are familial and linked to autosomal dominant mutations in three genes including the granulin gene (GRN) and FTD-GRN represents 5-10% of all patients with FTD. Progressive degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain is characteristic of FTD, and is associated with progressive decline of behaviour, decision-making, language and emotion, typically leading to death within 7-10 years of diagnosis. There are currently no approved treatments to stop or slow the progression of FTD or FTD-GRN.

Contact:

For media enquiries:

Consilium Strategic CommunicationsChris Gardner, Angela Gray, Sukaina Virji+44 (0) 20 3709 5700AviadoBio@consilium-comms.com

References:

Boxer AL. Miller BL. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2005;19 Suppl 1:S3-6

Hogan DB, et al. Can J Neurol Sci. 2016;43 Suppl 1:S96-S109

Olney NT, et al. Neurol Clin. 2017;35(2): 339374

Greaves CV, et al. J Neurol. 2019;266(8):20752086

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AviadoBio Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board - Yahoo Finance UK

OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PrecisionLife Limited, a global techbio company using its deep insights into disease biology and patient stratification to drive precision medicine in chronic diseases, is pleased to announce a partnership with Sano Genetics, a genetic research platform enabling patients to participate in ethical research projects, to advance understanding of the long-term effects of coronavirus infection (long COVID).

The project will include analysis of Sano Genetics data from 3,000 UK adults suffering from long COVID symptoms using PrecisionLifes proprietary combinatorial analytics platform to identify risk-factors and potential drug targets.

It is estimated that 5-30% of Covid patients will go on to have long-term complications and, with over 500M people worldwide confirmed as having been infected, the need for better diagnostics and treatments is large.

PrecisionLifes combinatorial analytics platform is uniquely able to identify the drivers of complex disease biology at an unprecedented level of resolution. This new study aims to advance researchers understanding of why some people, even those with mild original COVID infections, are at risk of developing debilitating long COVID symptoms, and discover novel drug targets and drug repositioning candidates with associated patient stratification biomarkers that could lead to new treatments to help long COVID sufferers.

Under the agreement, Sano Genetics will provide access to its long COVID patient population dataset to PrecisionLife for analysis. Sanos research participants always remain in full control of their data and can select which research programmes they want to take part in on a case-by-case basis. In 2021 Sano Genetics received support via UK Government funding body Innovate UK to anonymously gather genomic DNA data and patient reported outcomes from 3,000 UK adults suffering from long COVID symptoms. One of the key goals of the study is to ensure that the population demographics of the UK are reflected in the data so that the research outcomes are both accurate and representative.

Early in the pandemic, PrecisionLife delivered world leading insights into COVID-19, being the first to identify 68 genes that were associated with serious disease and hospitalization in COVID-19 patients1, and confirming the predicted severe disease risk factors in a clinical dataset2. Since then, over 70% of these gene targets have been independently validated by other research projects around the world. In addition, PrecisionLife revealed opportunities for 29 approved drugs to be repurposed as COVID-19 treatments targeting the associated genes, 13 of which are being evaluated in clinical trials with COVID-19 patients.

Dr Patrick Short, CEO and co-founder of Sano Genetics, said: Learning to live with COVID and manage its health consequences has long term public health and economic implications. An estimated 1.7 million people in the UK have reported experiences of long COVID, with symptoms lasting longer than four weeks.

Understanding how our genetics influence our response to COVID-19 is key to better protecting vulnerable people and developing effective treatments. PrecisionLifes analysis of Sano Genetics data will enable this deep biological understanding.

Dr Steve Gardner, CEO of PrecisionLife, said: Long COVID is a major public health issue. Most sufferers have no clear path for engaging with the healthcare system, as diagnosis is uncertain and the complex symptoms and causes of the disease are not yet fully understood. In our 2020 study, we noted a range of cardiovascular, immunological, and neurological changes in COVID-19 patients and want to understand whether these are transient or permanent.

We are confident that this study into the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, working in partnership with Sano Genetics, will deliver valuable insights to enable a better understanding of long COVID vulnerabilities and ultimately ensure that personalized treatments are directed towards those patients that need them most.

Access images HERE

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About PrecisionLife

PrecisionLife is changing the way the world looks at predicting, preventing, and treating chronic diseases. Its proven, scalable, and unique AI and combinatorial analysis platforms generate more insights from patient data than anyone else on the planet to understand the drivers of disease biology and stratify patients at an unprecedented level of resolution.

Understanding disease biology better uniquely enables PrecisionLife to power patient-focused precision drug discovery and predict and prevent chronic diseases to transform outcomes in healthcare, delivering a new age of better, more personalized therapy options to improve health, for everyone.

PrecisionLife is a private company headquartered near Oxford, UK and operations in Aalborg and Copenhagen, Denmark, Warsaw, Poland and Cambridge, MA, USA.

For more information see http://www.precisionlife.com

Follow us on LinkedIn (precisionlifeAI) and Twitter (@precisionlifeAI)

About Sano Genetics

Based in Cambridge, UK, Sano Genetics was founded in 2017 by three students of genomics: Charlotte Guzzo (COO), Patrick Short (CEO) and William Jones (CTO). It helps accelerate precision medicine research by finding people who wish to contribute to studies and helping them do so effortlessly and on their terms. Its platform adopts innovations widespread in other sectors, such as user-friendly digital interfaces, dynamic individualised feedback and an emphasis on privacy, packaged as an end-to-end service that lets people power global studies from their own homes.

Sano is a member of the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, led by researchers from the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine, the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and will share de-identified data with this international group of scientists. Sano Genetics has been awarded 133,000 by Innovate UK to offer Long COVID patients free DNA testing kits they can use at home.

For more information see http://www.sanogenetics.com

Follow us on LinkedIn (Sano Genetics) and Twitter (@sanogenetics)

1 Taylor, K., Das, S., Pearson, M., Kozubek, J., Pawlowski, M., Jensen, C.E., Skowron, Z., Mller, G.L., Strivens, M. and Gardner, S. (2020). Analysis of genetic host response risk factors in severe COVID-19 patients. medRxiv. 10.1101/2020.06.17.20134015

2 Combinatorial Analysis of Phenotypic and Clinical Risk Factors Associated with Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients. Frontiers in Digital Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2021.660809 (July 2021)

Excerpt from:
Biotech Partnership to Accelerate Understanding of Genetics of Long Covid and Help Identify New Treatments - Business Wire

Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D., a cellular and molecular pharmacologist and biologist and the vice chancellor for science policy and strategy at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), was chosen by the membership of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to serve as the organizations president-elect. Yamamotos term begins immediately, and he will serve as president-elect for one year, followed by one year as AAAS president and then one year as immediate past-president.

During the annual election, held April 7-21, 2022, AAAS members also elected two new members of the AAAS Board of Directors: Susan Rosenberg, Ph.D., the Ben F. Love Chair in Cancer Research at the Baylor College of Medicine, and Jane Maienschein, Ph.D., University Professor and director of the Center for Biology and Society at Arizona State University. Rosenberg and Maienscheins terms also begin immediately, and each will serve for four years on the Board.

Im excited for AAAS to benefit from the expertise of Keith, Susan and Jane as the organizations newest president-elect and Board members. Their perspectives will be instrumental as AAAS continues its essential work to advance science and serve society, said Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D., chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of theSciencefamily of journals.

Susan Amara, Ph.D., chair of the AAAS Board of Directors, added: I look forward to collaborating with Keith, Susan and Jane as they join the AAAS Board of Directors. The diversity of disciplines and backgrounds they represent echoes the diversity of AAAS membership and will be invaluable as we work together in service of the associations mission.

Outreach to promote scientific literacy and an appreciation for using evidence to understand and solve the worlds problems is not just for scientists. It's for everyone, Yamamoto shared. This is one key area he believes AAAS must continue to promote.

He recounted his early experiences with public outreach while pursuing his Ph.D. in biochemical sciences at Princeton University under his thesis adviser, Bruce Alberts who later became editor-in-chief of Science. Alberts brought area high schoolers onto campus to learn more about science and recruited assistant professors and students, including Yamamoto, to create experiments to share how science can be interesting and fun and important a rewarding experience for all involved.

But when Alberts sought to expand the program, he received pushback. Alberts was told he should be working in the lab. Undeterred, he persisted in his efforts.

The experience, Yamamoto said, Convinced me that scientists have responsibilities that go beyond their work in their laboratories to do things that advance the scientific enterprise.

In his candidacy statement distributed to AAAS Membership in advance of the annual election, he also identified two other priorities for AAAS.

First, AAAS can promote policies and practices that ensure a diverse, equitable and inclusive scientific enterprise. Science is a global enterprise thats going to move forward best if its practiced by a diverse workforce that approaches scientific problems from different perspectives and points of view, Yamamoto said.

Second, AAAS can focus on building a continuum from fundamental discovery to societal impact, so that scientists can visualize the real effects of their work on societal issues, and in so doing, may alter the work we do, or the ways we do it, he said.

Because of the breadth and scope of its transdisciplinary, international membership, AAAS should be a leading voice in these conversations, now more than ever, Yamamoto noted.

Keith will contribute significant experience in science policy to AAAS, both at the federal and state levels, said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. He brings a deep knowledge of biology and the transdisciplinary push toward precision medicine. He understands the many roles that scientists play in society. And he is committed to advancing diversity in science.

Yamamoto brings to AAAS a significant background in science policy. He became UCSFs first vice chancellor for science policy and strategy in 2015, but he has held a range of leadership roles there since joining the institution as a faculty member in 1976. In addition to his groundbreaking research on signaling and transcriptional regulation by nuclear receptors, Yamamoto has served as chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, vice dean for research in the School of Medicine and vice chancellor for research.

Outside of UCSF, he co-chairs the Science & Technology Action Committee (along with Parikh and others), which brings together nonprofit, academic, foundation and corporate leaders to encourage U.S. investments in science and technology research, development, and education.

A member of AAAS since 1977, he was elected as Fellow of AAAS in 2002 recognized for his scientifically or socially distinguished efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications. He has served two terms on the AAAS Committee on Nominations and has participated in several AAAS forums and roundtables for science and public policy.

Newly elected members of the AAAS Board of Directors Susan Rosenberg and Jane Maienschein bring a wealth of scientific expertise to the governing body, which is responsible for the affairs of the association.

Rosenbergs research at the Baylor College of Medicine focuses on molecular mechanisms of genome instability in evolution, antibiotic resistance, and cancer. Rosenberg served as a Council Delegate for the AAAS Section on Biological Sciences and has conducted extensive work on the AAAS Governance Modernization Working Group. She was elevated to the rank of AAAS Fellow in 2010.

In addition to serving as a University Professor of History of Science at ASU, Maienschein leads the universitys Center for Biology and Society, which promotesresearch, education and engagementrelated to the study of the life sciences and their interconnections with society. She also serves as a Fellow and runs the history program at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Maienschein has served as Chair and Council Delegate for the AAAS Section on History and Philosophy of Science, as well as Chair of the Section on Societal Impacts on Science and Engineering. She has also served on the History Committee for the 150th year-anniversary and on the Program Committee. She joined the ranks of AAAS Fellows in 1996.

Maienschein noted that her scientist father gave her a AAAS gift membership in 1976, and she has remained a lifelong member, committed to the vision and values. Instead of advocating for science in a vacuum, AAAS promotes science for the benefit of all people, emphasizing education and communication, and recognizing that science exists in a complex and messy society and often has to deal with uncertainty. As AAAS approaches its 175th anniversary, I look forward to helping launch the next 175, she said.

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Maine has the highest COVID case rate in the country. This isnt a headline from the height of the delta variant surge this winter. This is a BDN headlinefrom Wednesday, when the state reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases.

The sad truth about the COVID pandemic is that it is not over.That means we need to continue with the precautions that have been shown to reduce the transmission of the virus and to lessen the severity of an infection if you do test positive for COVID. That means getting vaccinatedand boosted. People over 50 and those who are immunocompromised as eligible for a third booster shot. It also means wearing a maskin crowded indoor settingsand gathering outdoors as much as possible.

Maine has had the highest case rate in the country for nearly a week. On Sunday, Maine reported 407 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was by far the highest of any state in the country. Vermont followed with 395 and Rhode Island had 385 cases per 100,000 residents. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have much higher case rates than these states.

The small bit of good news is that Maines case rate hasdroppedfrom the 421 cases per 100,000 that the CDC reported on Friday.

Case numbers nationally are likely an undercountas many people now use at-home tests, which are not reported to state medical agencies.

There has also been an increase COVID hospitalizationsin the state. On Monday, there were 209 Mainersinfected with the virus in hospitals across the state. Last week was the first time hospitalizations surpassed 200since February. Hospitalizations in Maine peaked at 436 in January, during the omicron surge.

Mondays hospitalizations were up from 143 just 10 days earlier, a 46 percent increase.

Because of the nations highest case rate and rising hospitalizations, masks are once again recommendedwhen indoors in halfof the states counties, including Penobscot and Cumberland. Bangor public schools again began requiring masksfor students, staff and visitors on Monday.

We realize that these numbers and warnings are tiring and, frankly, depressing. But, as we continue to learn to live with COVID, heeding public health warningsis one of the best protections we have.

Ignoring the warnings will not make the virus go away, Eric J. Topol is a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, wrote in a recent columnpublished by the BDN. It keeps getting fitter and more transmissible, while our human qualities of fatigue and complacency feed right into the viruss remarkable opportunism.

We are all tired of COVID, and the restrictions and uncertainty that it brings. But, as Topol writes, that fatigue and complacency makes all of us vulnerable to the virus. The precautions that we should all be familiar with masking, gathering outside and getting vaccinated are still essential to reversing the worrying COVID trends.

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Precautions still warranted as COVID hasn't gone away - Bangor Daily News