January 2016 Issue of The Translational Scientist

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Telling stories from across the translational spectrum

A galaxy-mapping statistical model suggests that star-shaped astrocytes are repelled by Alzheimer’s plaques

Holding back the “guardian of the genome” opens the gates to more efficient transdifferentiation

Could cell-based synthetic circuits make pills and ointments a thing of the past for chronic disease?

Data from a large-scale trial suggest that screening cuts ovarian cancer mortality rates by 25 percent – but some remain skeptical

CRISPR has brought gene editing into the mainstream – but where should we draw the line?

Autocrine-based screening has identified a more selective anti-diabetic drug candidate

Researchers at MIT have programmed induced pluripotent stem cells to form rudimentary livers, complete with different tissues, by engineering expression of GATA6.

Better understanding of human biology presents us with an opportunity to combat disease on two fronts – targeting individual variation on one hand and universal mechanisms on the other.

In the pharma industry of the future, only the strongest companies will survive – and that means those with the most successful collaborations.

We need better tools for assessing new medicines – and to develop them, we must work together.

Our understanding of the mechanisms that trigger Alzheimer’s disease is growing fast, but many secrets still lurk in the shadowy recesses of the brain.

As a neurologist, Bradley Hyman has seen first-hand the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on patients and their families.

Michela Gallagher was studying aging in lab rats when an unusual finding launched her on a translational journey that now sees her poised to initiate a Phase III trial of a drug to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.

When Ewan McNay was eight years old, he decided that he wanted to do two things: live forever and find out how the brain works.

The combination of genomic profiling and high-tech targeted drug delivery is opening up a new front in the fight against cancer.

From hardcore peptide biochemist to translational scientist, it’s been an unconventional journey for Jennifer Van Eyk, Director of the Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

Could the lab rat be heading for retirement? A new breed of in vitro tissues and organs are being engineered to replace animal models – and the developers aim to make them accessible to all.

Now I have a lab of my own, I’ve found that the best research comes from finding the right collaborators.

In some ways, we biomedical engineers are really just control freaks. By designing our own small world in a dish, we can stage manage every aspect and push the boundaries in a way that’s not always possible in an animal model.

Robert Coffin tells the bench-to-bedside story of how the first FDA-approved oncolytic virotherapy, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), was translated from a colleague’s cold sore to a potential global game changer.

Whether you are a scientist working on a new intervention or a policy-maker trying to solve major public health problems, social and cultural factors are crucial pieces of the puzzle – ignore them at your peril. Here, I explain how social science can help.

Sitting Down With… Jennifer Grandis, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Associate Vice Chancellor – Clinical and Translational Research, University of California, San Francisco, USA.