This post is sponsored by the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum. The table is set for jaw-dropping growth in the genomics/personalized medicine/precision medicine space. Pick your favorite news item. Is it the presidents new plan? The big investments out of JP Morgan? Or, most recently, the breakthrough decision by the FDA around 23andMe and other genetic testing kits? Its not about whether personalized medicine has arrived. Its here. Now its about not getting lost in the hype and focusing on what matters. Thats why weve assembled a strong cast of clinicians and innovators at the MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Forum on March 10-11 in Chicago who will keep us on track and explain how to maximize the potential of personalized medicine. MedCitys Meghana Keshavan will lead a discussion exploring not only what the next milestones are for the industry but also where the biggest opportunities are and what areas of personalized medicine need the most support. Join us in Chicago and youll hear from the following panelists: New funding and fresh attention bring new opportunities. The worst-case scenario for precision medicine is for investors, entrepreneurs and other healthcare leaders to squander it by getting lost amidst the hype and euphoria. Our panel … Continue reading →

Researchers from Yale University have found new evidence for a link between obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder and aperathological gambling, perhaps due to genetic factors. Building off of previous research that suggested a link between addictive behavior and pathological gambling, this study is part of an ongoing effort to further classify gambling addiction on an impulse-to-compulsion spectrum. The central question of the debate is: To what extent do pathological gamblers have impulse-control problems as opposed to a compulsion to gamble? This study adds evidence that there is an element of compulsive behavior for some pathological gamblers. We were trying to understand the relation between pathological gambling and other disorders, said Yale professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine and the papers senior author Marc Potenza. There has been some debate in the literature about how best to consider pathological gambling whether it might fall along the impulsive-compulsive spectrum or be thought of as an addiction without the drug. The researchers performed a twin study, using the Vietnam Era Twin Registry a compiled list of male twin veterans of the Vietnam War to study both genetic explanations of pathological gambling and its connection with latent obsessive-compulsive behavior. Twin studies allow researchers … Continue reading →

Figure 1. Stem CellRecruiting Hydrogels Based on Self-Assembling Peptides The Materials for Biomaterials session Best Contribution Award presented by Steve Zinkle goes to Yongmee Jung, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, for the oral presentation Self-assembling peptide nanofiber coupled with neuropeptide substance P for stem cell recruitment. As a winner of the above Materials Today Asia Contribution Award, Yongmee Jung and Soo Hyun Kim discuss their work with us. Stem cellbased therapy in regenerative medicine may be one of the best approaches for wound healing and tissue regeneration. Many studies have shown that the trophic effects of transplanted stem cells enhance the treatment of lung, liver, and skin injuries, as well as myocardial infarction [1]. However, although stem cell transplantationincluding cell isolation and cell culture in vitroresults in a good prognosis, there are some limitations, such as high cost, invasiveness, the shortage of cell sources, and the risk of tumorigenesis [2]. To overcome these limitations, technologies for recruiting endogenous stem cells to the site of injury may provide another promising approach, mimicking in situ tissue regeneration by the bodys own wound healing process. Unlike cell-based therapies, this strategy does not need outside cell sources or in vitro cell manipulation. Host … Continue reading →

Kyoto University Hospital says it will open a center to conduct clinical studies on induced pluripotent stem cell therapies in 2019 year. Officials said the 30-bed ward will test the efficacy and safety of the therapies on volunteer patients. The hospital aims to break ground at the site next February and complete construction by September 2019. As an iPS cell research hub, we hope to apply (the cells) to groundbreaking therapies and make developments in the field of drug discovery, the hospital said in a statement Monday. Ongoing research on iPS cells at Kyoto University includes turning the cells into dopamine-releasing neurons for transplant into patients with Parkinsons disease, and creating a formulation of platelets that helps blood to clot. Professor Shinya Yamanaka, who shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in medicine, leads the existing iPS cell research center at Kyoto University. View original post here: Kyoto University Hospital to open iPS cell therapy center in 2019 … Continue reading →