Key To Improving Prognosis In Acute Heart Failure - Better Treatment Selection And Improved Therapies
Today, acute heart failure represents the most common reason for hospitalisation in the over-65 population. Although hospital care improves symptoms in the first 24 hours after admission in around 50% of these patients, acute heart failure events still remain associated with a more than 50% mortality and rehospitalisation rate at 6-12 months. "Indeed," says Professor Marco Metra from the Cardiology Department of the University of Brescia, Italy, "it is the very rapid onset of symptoms and the need for urgent therapy which characterise the condition."1,2
Sexual Health
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Stem Cell Scientists First To Be Awarded Victoria-California Collaborative Grants To Drive Stem Cell Research Forwards
research focused on cellular interactions in the male reproductive system and gave him excellent grounding in cell culture and molecular biological techniques. Since 2001, Dr Laslett has focused on elucidating the complex biology of human embryonic stem cells, and has examined methods for the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to renal progenitor cells. More recently he has compared human embryonic stem cells to human induced pluripotent stem cells. Dr Laslett"s research has been both nationally and internationally recognised for increasing the basic understanding of human embryonic stem cells. He leads an independent program as well as having significant national and international collaborations. In September 2007, Dr Laslett was elected as a Board Member and Director of the Australian Society of Medical Research (ASMR). Dr Laslett"s research is supported by the Australian Stem Cell Centre, the NHMRC and the NSW / Victorian Government Stem Cell Research Grant Program. Methods for detection and elimination of residual human embryonic stem cells in a differentiated cell product Monash University and Novocell Inc., San Diego The project will be led by Professor Ed Stanley and Professor Andrew Elefanty (Australia) and Dr Justine Cunningham (California). This project, to be led in Victoria by Professors Ed Stanley and Andrew Elefanty, takes an alternative scientific approach to focus on the question of safety of potential human embryonic stem cells based products. The aim of the project is to establish standardised tests to ensure the safety of human embryonic stem cell based products, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of human embryonic stem cell based therapies for insulin dependent diabetes. The project will develop accurate tests to measure teratoma (tumour) formation potential that will contribute to the essential safety data required for the transition of stem cell-based treatments for diabetes into the clinic. The Californian collaborators are led by Novocell Inc., a private company whose focus on stem cell engineering aims to develop insulin producing cells from human embryonic stem cells to treat insulin dependent diabetics. Contamination of a human embryonic stem cell-derived therapeutic cell product with undifferentiated cells and the ensuing risk of tumor formation is a major safety concern that has significant impact on the development and application of stem cell therapies. This project will develop a sensitive standardised teratoma test as well as a test for biomarkers that will allow for the earlier detection of teratomas. The project also aims to identify compounds that are toxic for human embryonic stem cells, but which spare more differentiated cells to eliminate residual human embryonic stem cells from the resulting cell products. Finally, these methods will come together in the production and testing of a human embryonic stem cell-based treatment for diabetes intended for clinical development. About Professor Ed Stanley Professor Ed Stanley is (with Professor Elefanty) Joint Laboratory Head of the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Laboratory of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories. Professor Stanley completed his PhD at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne before traveling to the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London to undertake post-doctoral studies. During this time he was awarded a Human Frontiers in Science Organization Fellowship and a CJ. Martin Fellowship. Following his stay in London, Professor Stanley returned to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research in Melbourne to continue his postdoctoral training in developmental biology. In 2000 he was appointed head of the gene targeting facility at WEHI. About Professor Andrew Elefanty Professor Andrew Elefanty is the Joint Laboratory Head of the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Laboratory of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories. Professor Elefanty trained as a physician in medical oncology and completed a PhD in leukaemogenesis under the supervision of Professor Suzanne Cory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in 1992. He was awarded an NHMRC Neil Hamilton Fairley travelling fellowship and a Roche travelling fellowship from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1993, taking up a position at the National Institute for Medical Research in London in the laboratory of Professor Frank Grosveld, studying aspects of blood cell development. He returned to the WEHI in 1995 as a Special Fellow, Head of the Developmental Haematopoiesis laboratory. The Embryonic Stem Cell differentiation Laboratory, headed jointly by Professor Andrew Elefanty and Professor Ed Stanley, moved to Monash University in 2002. The laboratory has focused on human embryonic stem cell differentiation along mesodermal (blood, endothelium and heart) and endodermal (pancreas) lineages. The group has made significant contributions to the field in the culture of human embryonic stem cells, and they have developed a robust system for the efficient differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, complemented by the development of a safe animal product free medium in which human embryonic stem cell differentiation can be reproducibly directed to different lineages by the inclusion of specific growth factors. The group has generated genetically modified human embryonic stem cells lines in which fluorescent reporters have been introduced into key gene loci that allow objective monitoring of in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells in a logical, step-wise fashion. A major goal of their work is to regulate human embryonic stem cell differentiation in order to understand human development, to generate tools for drug discovery, and eventually to provide a of cells for therapy. "Developmental Candidates" for Cell-Based Therapies for Parkinson"s Disease (PD) Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Monash University, Melbourne and Burnham Institute of Medical Research, La Jolla: The project will be led by Dr Clare Parish, Professor Colin Pouton (Australia) and Professor Evan Snyder (California). This project aims to identify the best candidates for cell-based therapies for Parkinson"s Disease using animal models. Parkinson"s Disease severely debilitates about two per cent of the US population and approximately 80,000 Australians. The disease results from the progressive loss of a population of cells in the brain (dopamine cells) that release the chemical dopamine that is important for regulating movement. There are currently no effective therapies for the treatment of Parkinson"s. The Californian collaborators have discovered that human neural stem cells (hNSCs) may exert a significant beneficial impact in predictive animal models of actual human Parkinson"s disease. While some of the hNSCs differentiate into replacement dopaminergic neurons, much of the therapeutic benefit derived from a stem cell action is due to what is called the "Chaperone Effect" - whereby hNSC-derived cells that do not become dopamine neurons contribute to the reversal of severe Parkinsonian symptoms. While the ultimate goal may someday be to replace dead dopamine neurons, the Chaperone Effect represents a more tractable near-term method of using cells to address this serious condition. However, many questions remain in the process of developing these cellular therapeutic candidates. This project aims to answer some of those questions by studying different methods and cells from which to create hNSCs, as well as what other supporting factors such as molecules contribute to this effect. The Victorian team has developed genetic methods for identifying specific precursors of dopaminergic neurons which allows these precursors to be purified for use in implantation experiments. Implantation of committed precursors may represent an improved or complementary approach to hNSC cell therapy of Parkinson"s disease. The Victorian team will examine whether early or late dopaminergic progenitors represent the best approach for cell therapy and will provide suitable cells to the Californian team for inclusion in cell therapy studies. About Dr Clare Parish Dr Clare Parish is a senior research officer at the Florey Neurosciences Institutes. Dr Parish received her Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours), and subsequently her PhD from Monash University. In 2003 she embarked on a 4-year postdoctoral research program at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden - renowned for its annual awarding of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. At Karolinska, Dr Parish studied stem cells biology and their application in Parkinson"s disease models. In 2007 she returned to the Florey Neurosciences Institutes to establish an independent research group. Dr Parish has been awarded a number of national and international awards and fellowships, including a NHMRC C.J. Martin Fellowship, a European Human Frontiers Science Program fellowship and a NHMRC Career Development Award. She has received a number of international, national and local philanthropic grants. Dr Parish is the author of 18 peer-reviewed publications and has written a number of book chapters and reviews related to stem cells and Parkinson"s Disease. About Professor Colin Pouton Professor Colin Pouton is Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology, Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, and Co-Director of Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Action, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS). Professor Pouton received his Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) from the University of Bath, and his PhD (in Pharmaceutical Science) from the University of London. He was previously Reader in Pharmaceutical Biology, and Head of the Pharmaceutics Group, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath. In 1995, he won the Pfizer Award for Pharmaceutical Science. Professor Pouton served as an electedPages: 1 [2] 3