The Hartwell Foundation funds early-stage biomedical research projects that specifically address children's diseases. Of the 12 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Awards given out this year, an impressive three went to scientists at the UCSD School of Medicine: Dr. Jack Bui, Dr. Pamela Itkin-Ansari, and Dr. Adriana Tremoulet. Each will receive $100,000 a year for three years to support direct research costs.
Dr. Bui studies cancer therapeutics for children. He is interested in the rare phenomenon of spontaneous remission in cancer patients, where a body's own immune system attacks and destroys invasive cells. Dr. Bui's team wants to discover how the body occasionally recognizes, isolates, and destroys cancer cells on its own. If they can pinpoint the smart genes that stimulate a child's own immune system, the process might be duplicated by physicians.
Dr. Itkin-Ansari's research is on Type-1 diabetes, which some 13,000 children in the US are diagnosed with each year. It is an auto-immune disease where the patient's own immune system begins to destroy normal pancreatic cells. Itkin-Ansari is working on a synthetic device to allow introduction of healthy cells into the body while shielding them from the negative autoimmune response. Best of all, such cells would not have to be a perfect tissue-match to the host and would not require the added use of immunosuppressive drugs. Dr. Itkin-Ansari has a dual appointment at UCSD and Sanford-Burnham (also in La Jolla), where she maintains her lab.
Kawasaki disease is the focus of Dr. Tremoulet's research. The disease involves the inflammation of blood vessels and is the primary cause of pediatric acquired heart diseases in the US. The problem for doctors is diagnosis: there is currently no test kit for the disease, which presents much like other more benign conditions. Dr. Tremoulet's study would identify the unique biomarkers of Kawasaki disease and create a standard test kit to diagnose it in the pediatrician's office.
UC San Diego has $75.6 Million in active NIH funding for cancer research projects and $37.3 Million for pediatric research.
If you are a bio medical research lab supply vendor, a San Diego area life science researcher, or UCSD purchasing agent, you should plan to attend the Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. San Diego Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™ Event. This life science laboratory product show and research networking event is held twice-annually on the UCSD campus. The event, now in its 18th year, is an excellent opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with life science and physical science researchers and to learn about up-to-date laboratory products, science supplies and analytical equipment. This San Diego Research community event will next be held on August 25, 2011.