Michael J. Fox Foundation commits up to $5.75 million in funding for 2010 Critical Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research announced up to $5.75 million in total funding available under its three 2010 Critical Challenges.
Each year the Foundation tailors specific Challenges to advance one or more of its key research priorities in PD drug development: forging new strategies to define Parkinson’s disease and its progression, alter disease course, reduce symptoms and complications of treatment to increase quality of life, and develop pre-clinical and clinical research tools to broadly accelerate Parkinson’s research. Including the Critical Challenges announced today, the Foundation expects about $25 million of its total 2010 funding to drive research focused on these priorities.
Two of the 2010 Challenges aim to streamline field-wide efforts focused on alpha-synuclein and LRRK2, respectively, two leading genetic targets for PD drug development. The third Challenge will drive scientific collaborations that can speed progress by taking advantage of the unique repository of well-characterized biological samples collected through the Brain and Body Donation Program at the Arizona Parkinson’s Disease Consortium.
Alpha-synuclein Therapeutics seeks pre-clinical projects to accelerate therapeutic development of the PD-implicated gene alpha-synuclein, which many researchers believe holds potential to lead to a new treatment that could slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease (something no currently available treatment has been proven to do). Applicants should outline critical next steps to develop and optimize treatment strategies that can change levels of alpha-synuclein production in the brain, reduce alpha-synuclein toxicity, or break up Lewy bodies (clumps formed by the alpha-synuclein protein that are the pathological hallmark of PD). The Foundation will prioritize funding for applications that describe a clear path to the clinic.
Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers of LRRK2 Activity will drive efforts to develop drug-activity biomarkers that can improve outcomes from future clinical trials of treatments targeting the PD-implicated gene LRRK2. The Foundation will give preference to proposals seeking to verify and validate promising, pre-defined candidate LRRK2-associated biomarkers. This Challenge is part of MJFF’s integrated strategy to drive LRRK2 therapeutic development forward at every stage of the drug development pipeline in order to lay the groundwork for clear outcomes from future clinical trials testing LRRK2-associated drug candidates. This program has been made possible through the generous support of The Brin Wojcicki Foundation.
Novel Hypotheses in Parkinson’s Disease: Investigating Clinical Data and Human Tissue offers scientists around the globe the opportunity to collaborate with the Arizona Parkinson’s Disease Consortium (APDC). Funded investigators should propose drug development projects that can benefit from access to APDC’s exceptional bank of well-characterized biologics, postmortem tissue and associated clinical data. Applicants should outline their plans for experiments that will take maximum advantage of these resources to speed therapeutic development.
Critical Challenges complement the Foundation’s annually recurring Pipeline Programs, which provide opportunities for projects at various stages of development, ensuring that new ideas continue flowing into Parkinson’s research. Last September, MJFF announced $12 million in 2010 Pipeline Program funding.
Abbreviated timeline information on the 2010 Critical Challenges follows. Full details are available at www.michaeljfox.org/research.
Alpha-synuclein Therapeutics
Total available funding: $3 million
Deadline: 6 p.m. ET, Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Funding Anticipated: November 2010
Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers of LRRK2 Activity
Total available funding: $2 million
Deadline: 6 p.m. ET, Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Funding Anticipated: November 2010
Novel Hypotheses in PD: Investigating Clinical Data and Human Tissue
Total available funding: $750,000
Deadline: 6 p.m. ET, Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Funding Anticipated: November 2010
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to ensuring the development of better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda. MJFF has funded over $175 million in research to date.
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Pregnancy weight gain, especially in 1st Trimester, may increase a woman’s risk of gestational diabetes
Women who gain excessive weight during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, may increase their risk of developing diabetes later in their pregnancy, according to a study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research that appears online in the current issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Watch a video of the study author explaining her study: http://bit.ly/clLtlZ
The three-year study of 1,145 pregnant women from an ethnically diverse population found that women who gained more weight than is recommended by the Institute of Medicine had a 50 percent increased risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus, also known as GDM. The association between pregnancy weight gain and gestational diabetes risk was more pronounced among overweight and non-white women. The study included 345 pregnant women with gestational diabetes and 800 pregnant women without gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes is defined as glucose intolerance that typically occurs during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. It causes complications in as much as seven percent of pregnancies in the United States. It can lead to early delivery, C-sections and type 2 diabetes, and can increase the child’s risk of developing diabetes and obesity later in life.
This study is among the first to support a direct link between pregnancy weight gain and gestational diabetes risk. Previous research has shown that weight gain before pregnancy and being overweight or obese at the start of pregnancy are risk factors for gestational diabetes. This study was funded by the American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The study followed women members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California region and examined their overall rate of pregnancy weight gain up to the time of screening for gestational diabetes (typically between 24-28 gestational weeks), as well as the trimester-specific rates of weight gain compared to the Institute of Medicine’s 2009 guidelines for recommended pregnancy weight gain. Based on a woman’s pre-pregnancy body mass index, the IOM developed the 2009 guidelines for obstetricians to counsel pregnant women on suggested weight gain during pregnancy.
After adjusting for age at delivery, race/ethnicity, previous births, and pre-pregnancy body mass index, the risk of gestational diabetes increased with increasing rates of pregnancy weight gain. Women who exceeded the IOM guidelines for weight gain had a 50 percent increase in the risk of gestational diabetes compared to women who gained within or below the IOM recommendations.
“Health care providers should talk to their patients early in their pregnancy about the appropriate gestational weight gain, especially during the first trimester, and help women monitor their weight gain. Our research shows that weight gain in early pregnancy is a modifiable risk factor for gestational diabetes,” said the study’s lead author Monique Hedderson, PhD, a scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “Randomized studies are needed to determine the feasibility of this early intervention and the best methods to help women meet the IOM recommendations.”
Though the exact mechanism for how excessive weight gain may contribute to gestational diabetes is not known, researchers hypothesize that rapid weight gain early in pregnancy may result in an early increase in insulin resistance that leads to the “exhaustion” of the beta-cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin, which controls the level of glucose in the blood. This could reduce beta-cells’ capacity to secrete adequate levels of insulin to compensate for the insulin resistance induced by the progression of pregnancy and therefore lead to the development of gestational diabetes, researchers said.
A strength of the study is its representative and ethnically diverse population. However, some limitations should be considered. Pre-pregnancy weights were self-reported for most women. However, researchers have no reason to believe that the women who developed gestational diabetes would have misreported their pre-pregnancy weight more than control women and results were similar when looking at the sub-group of women who had a measured pre-pregnancy weight.
This study is part of ongoing research at Kaiser Permanente to understand, prevent and treat gestational diabetes. A recent published Kaiser Permanente study of 16,000 women in Hawaii found that more than 10 percent of women of Chinese and Korean heritage may be at risk for developing gestational diabetes. Another published Kaiser Permanente study of 10,000 mother-child pairs showed that treating gestational diabetes during pregnancy can break the link between gestational diabetes and childhood obesity. That study showed, for the first time, that by treating women with gestational diabetes, the child’s risk of becoming obese years later is significantly reduced.
The study follows other research at Kaiser Permanente regarding healthy weight gain during pregnancy. A recent published Kaiser Permanente study found that obese women who gain more than the recommended amount during pregnancy are much more likely to retain a portion of that weight one year after they give birth. Another published Kaiser Permanente study of 40,000 mother and baby pairs found that women who gained more than 40 pounds during their pregnancies were nearly twice as likely to have a heavy baby.
Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., is the senior investigator on this study. Erica P. Gunderson, PhD, also with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, is an investigator on this study.
Source: Kaiser Permanente
Allstate offers safety and insurance protection tips prior to Super Bowl
Fact: According to Hallmark Cards, Inc., the Super Bowl represents the No. 1 at-home party event of the year – even bigger than New Year’s Eve.
Super Bowl XLIV is hours away, and what will many Americans be doing? Hosting or attending a Super Bowl party! No one wants to spoil the fun of the big game, so Allstate Insurance Company is recommending tips to prepare and protect party hosts and guests getting ready for the big game.
Many party hosts don’t think about the liability risks that accompany a party. In some states, a host could be held liable if a guest is injured on his or her property. A host also may be liable if a guest has too much to drink and something happens. Fortunately, there are ways for hosts to protect themselves:
– Worried about a raucous guest falling and injuring himself in your home? Check your homeowners policy to make sure you have personal liability protection that provides adequate coverage for your home and assets. Liability protection provides coverage when others are injured or have sustained damage to their property for which you are responsible. If an accident in your home does happen, make sure the injured persons are comfortable and call for medical assistance if needed.
– What if that guest breaks your pricey antique vase in his fall – will your insurance replace it? Protect your home valuables – like fine art, collectibles or sporting equipment – with a scheduled personal property endorsement to your homeowners policy. Scheduled personal property provides protection for loss or damage to personal property items not always covered under traditional homeowners policies.
– Protect yourself and your guests. Provide non-alcoholic beverages to guests, and don’t let guests that have had too much to drink or drowsy guests drive home.
The party’s over, and your team won! Now, all you have to do is drive home and revel in your team’s victory. Unfortunately, drivers who are drowsy or have had too much to drink may be sharing the road with you and could make your happy drive home a dangerous one. Here are some tips to help protect your family when you’re traveling home after the big game:
Don’t drink and drive. If you know you will be drinking alcohol, use a designated driver or public transportation. Many cities even offer safe-ride-home programs.
If you spot an impaired driver on the highway, maintain a safe following distance and don’t attempt to pass.
Immediately report a suspected drunk driver by calling area law enforcement. Give police as much information (i.e., license plate number, make, model and color of vehicle, direction vehicle is traveling, physical description of driver) as possible.
Allow enough travel time, especially when traveling long distances. Drowsiness can reduce reaction time almost as much as drinking.
Don’t get behind the wheel when you are sleepy, and stop driving if you become sleepy while on the road.
Source: Allstate Insurance Company
FDA approves new treatment for Type 2 Diabetes
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victoza (liraglutide), a once-daily injection to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults.
Victoza is intended to help lower blood sugar levels along with diet, exercise, and selected other diabetes medicines. It is not recommended as initial therapy in patients who have not achieved adequate diabetes control on diet and exercise alone.
Insulin is a hormone that helps prevent sugar (glucose) from building up in the blood. People with type 2 diabetes have difficulty making and using insulin. Victoza is in a class of medicines known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists that help the pancreas make more insulin after eating a meal.
“Diabetes is a leading cause of death and disability, with more than 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually,” said Mary Parks, M.D., director, Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Controlling blood sugar levels is very important to preventing or reducing the long term complications of diabetes, and Victoza offers certain patients with type 2 diabetes a treatment option for controlling their blood glucose levels.”
In five clinical trials involving more than 3,900 people, pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) occurred more often in patients who took Victoza than in patients taking other diabetes medicines. Victoza should be stopped if there is severe abdominal pain, with or without nausea and vomiting, and should not be restarted if pancreatitis is confirmed by blood tests. Victoza should be used with caution in people with a history of pancreatitis.
The most common side effects observed with Victoza were headache, nausea, and diarrhea. Other side effects included allergic-like reactions such as hives.
Victoza was not associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events in people who were mainly at low risk for these events. FDA approved Victoza, however, with several post-marketing requirements under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) to ensure that the company will conduct studies to provide additional information on the safety of this product.
In addition to a cardiovascular safety study to specifically evaluate the cardiovascular safety of Victoza in a higher risk population, the company also is required to conduct a 5-year epidemiological study using a health claims database to evaluate thyroid and other cancer risks as well as risks for seriously low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia), pancreatitis, and allergic reactions. To specifically evaluate the risk of medullary thyroid cancer, the company is required to establish a cancer registry to monitor the rate of this type of cancer in the United States over the next 15 years.
In animal studies, Victoza caused tumors of the thyroid gland in rats and mice. Some of these tumors were cancers, which were significantly increased in rats who received excessive doses that were 8-times higher than what humans would receive.
It is not known if Victoza could cause thyroid tumors or a very rare type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid cancer in people. For this reason, Victoza should not be used as the first-line treatment for diabetes until additional studies are completed that support expanded use. Also, Victoza should not be used in people already at risk for medullary thyroid cancer, such as those who have medullary thyroid cancer in the family or those with a rare genetic condition known as Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2.
To ensure the safe and effective use of this product, Victoza was approved with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy consisting of a Medication Guide and a Communication Plan to help patients and providers understand the risks of Victoza and to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risk of acute pancreatitis and the potential risk of medullary thyroid cancer.
Victoza is manufactured by Novo Nordisk of Bagsvaerd, Denmark.
Questions and Answers: Safety Requirements for Victoza (liraglutide)
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
President Obama tasks former presidents Bush and Clinton with Fundraising for Haiti Recovery
Presidential Tag-Team Will Help Keep the World Focused on Haiti
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF today applauded the joint efforts of President Obama and Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in ensuring that the American response to the crisis in Haiti is sustained over the long-term.
“On behalf of Haiti’s children, we applaud the joint initiative of President Obama and Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to provide leadership, resources and visibility to the long term recovery effort,” said Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
“When the media spotlight fades from the initial disaster relief, UNICEF and its partners will still be on the ground, working to build Haiti back and this cannot be accomplished with out sustained support. Though we cannot undo the damage of Tuesday’s earthquake, we can decide to make Haiti’s children a priority and work to ensure their childhoods are not irrevocably destroyed by its aftermath.”
Efforts are underway to unload and deliver UNICEF emergency supplies and equipment that arrived in Port-au-Prince by plane in the early hours this morning. This first UNICEF shipment included water tanks, water purification tablets and rehydration salts. Clean water and sanitation are amongst the most important emergency relief needs following most emergencies, in particular to protect against the serious health risks posed by diarrheal infections and diseases.
Two more planes loaded with relief are planned for the weekend, carrying some 70 metric tons of tents, tarpaulin, and medicine.
Many of Haiti’s public buildings and utilities have been destroyed. There is severe damage to hospitals, schools and the city’s two seaports. This infrastructure damage has resulted in large scale displacement of people from their homes, into makeshift and overcrowded shelters.
As communications systems and infrastructure damaged by the earthquake that hit near Port au Prince on January 12 are slowly being repaired, precise information about the damage is still not available. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) some 3.5 million people are estimated to be in the areas affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks. Thousands are feared dead, many more injured and unknown numbers still buried under the rubble.
UNICEF efforts to assist with life-saving and recovery operations in Haiti will focus on clean water and sanitation, therapeutic food for infants and small children, medical supplies and temporary shelter.
To donate to the ongoing emergency relief efforts in Haiti and the Caribbean region, please visit: www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake or call 1-800-4UNICEF.
Source: U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Study: Era of rapid growth in biomedical research over
After a decade of remarkable growth, total annual funding for biomedical research in the U.S. has decelerated and may have even fallen when adjusted for inflation. That is the conclusion of a study today published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The era of rapid expansion in biomedical research funding that began in the 1990’s has ended,” said Ray Dorsey, M.D., a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center and lead author of the study. “Looking back at this period, one of the striking observations is that while research funding increased, the number of novel treatments entering the market remained steady. If research funding levels are to return to a phase of growth, we should examine funding priorities, particularly in health services research, and barriers to the development of new therapies.”
The authors compiled data from government sources, trade organizations, and industry financial reports to create a profile of biomedical research funding from 2003 to 2007. Over the five year period, annual research funding increased from $75.5 to $101.1 billion. Adjusted for inflation, funding grew by an average annual rate of 3.4% over the period. Using incomplete data, the authors estimated research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and industry for 2008 at $88.8 billion, which, when adjusted for inflation, represents a decrease in funding.
The study is a follow-up to a similar analysis published in 2005 by the same authors that showed that biomedical research funding from all sources had tripled in nominal value and doubled when adjusted for inflation between 1994 and 2003. The annual growth rate in funding over the period was more than twice as fast at 7.8%.
This deceleration in funding, if unchanged, has a significant potential impact for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and academic research institutions that rely on government and private funding. As has been noted in other reports, the flat-lining of federal funding for biomedical research in particular has a cascading effect on the national academic research enterprise, leading to scientists spending more of their time chasing funding, influencing career choices of new graduates, discouraging higher risk research, and curtailing the establishment of new scientific programs and construction of new research facilities.
The growth in research funding that began in the 1990s fueled a significant expansion in academic research and many universities became engines for economic growth in their communities. Consequently, the deceleration in research funding could have a profound effect on communities where academic research, health care, and biotechnology have become major economic players.
Approval of New Drugs and Devices Stagnant
While funding has generally increased over the period examined, this growth has not been accompanied by an increase in the number of new drug and device approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, the number of new molecular entities, essentially drugs that have not been marketed in the U.S. previously, approved by the FDA in 2003 was 21 and in 2008 was 17. Similar trends were observed for new biologics, as measured by biologic license applications, and devices, as measured by device pre-market application approvals.
“The relative lack of new therapeutic advances has been a decade-long problem that continues to persist despite previous large investments in research funding,” said Dorsey. “The current model is not working well if the desire is to approve new novel therapies to improve health. We need to modify incentives to reward risk and increase support for companies pursuing early stage and innovative research.”
Increasingly, the model for drug development has the pharmaceutical industry devoting a large portion of its spending for late-stage clinical trials as opposed to drug discovery research. The large pharmaceutical companies have largely abdicated the role of early stage research and development to smaller companies that often serve as the bridge between academic research and the market. These smaller companies, in turn, then develop relationships (either through partnerships or acquisitions) with larger companies once they have proven they have a viable product. However, these smaller firms, with limited resources and capital, face considerable risk and increasing pressures to generate promising results in short time frames from impatient markets. The model currently creates little incentive for investors to put capital into companies who are engaged in research that may be innovative, but has a higher risk of failure.
Biomedical vs. Health Services Research
The analysis also reveals that health services research represents a fraction of the nation’s $2 trillion in annual health care spending. This research – which is funded by foundations and federal agencies such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIH, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services – is intended to improve health care quality and access and control costs by examining the impact of financial, social, technological, and organizational factors on public health.
The study’s authors contend that, in the context of the ongoing national debate over how to control growth in health expenditures, which now exceed $2.3 trillion in the U.S., and impending legislation in Congress that will dramatically increase the number of people with health insurance, spending on health services research, which was $2.2 billion in 2008, is inadequate.
“We spend almost $5 for every $100 in national health expenditures on biomedical research, but we spend less than a dime on ensuring those treatments reach the right people and the right time,” said Dorsey. “Given the massive changes in health care that may occur in the very near future, we need to dedicate more resources to understanding the most effective and efficient ways of delivering care.”
Industry Funding Up, NIH Funding Shrinks
Industry – pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device firms – supplies the largest proportion of total research spending at 58%, followed by the federal government at 33%. Industry research and development funding increased by 25% between 2003 and 2007 with growth in research activity by medical device (59%) and biotechnology companies (41%) significantly outpacing pharmaceutical companies (14%).
The study found that funding from the National Institutes of Health – which is by far the single largest supporter of biomedical research – decreased by 12% between 2003 and 2008 when adjusted for inflation. Total federal funding for biomedical research increased by 0.7% over the period, that is in contrast to the period between 1994 and 2003 when federal research funding increased by 100%.
Additional authors include: Christopher Beck, Ph.D., Jason Reminick, Benjamin George, Zachary White-Stellato all with the University of Rochester; Jason de Roulet, M.D. with University Hospitals Case Medical Center; Joel Thompson, M.P.H. with the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and Hamilton Moses III, M.D. and Ashley Thai with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Moses is also with the Alerion Institute. The study was funded with support from the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health.
For more information about the initiative, visit: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2736
Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
U.S. Government rejoins worldwide consensus on reproductive health
Health and Development Groups Applaud Clinton Speech; Call for Action
A broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans applauded statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the United States unequivocally supports the worldwide consensus that achieving universal access to reproductive health is critical for individual health, family well-being, broader economic development and a healthy planet.
In a speech today at the State Department, Secretary Clinton declared the U.S. government’s renewed support and dedication to reaching the health and development goals laid out in the International Conference on Population Development and other related UN agreements, including the Millennium Development Goals.
The Secretary said that “women’s health is essential to the prosperity and health of all people,” and that the U.S. has rejoined with all governments to “make the access to reproductive healthcare a basic right.”
During the groundbreaking 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, 179 nations laid out an ambitious plan of action to improve health and achieve sustainable development by focusing on individual health needs and human rights, especially for women and girls.
Countries agreed to achieve universal access to reproductive health services by the year 2015, a target reaffirmed in the Millennium Development Goals. Reproductive health services include voluntary contraception that is affordable and safe, sex education programs to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and programs that improve maternal and child health.
“The United States was a major architect of the 1994 Cairo agreement, but U.S. funding for international family planning programs, a major component of reproductive health services, has fallen 23 percent in real dollars since its high in 1995,” said Suzanne Ehlers, Interim President of Population Action International. “Today’s statement by Secretary Clinton marks a return to U.S. leadership on international family planning.”
Investments in reproductive health programs have saved lives and delivered real results. In Mexico, the infant mortality rate fell by 70% between 1970 and 2005, as the use of modern contraceptives nearly doubled. Similar results have been seen in Bangladesh, Egypt, Thailand, and elsewhere.
Conversely, inadequate funding for reproductive health and family planning programs hold grave consequences for women and families. One woman dies needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth every minute of every day, and six million more suffer injury, illness or disability. Each year, between 70 to 80 million unintended pregnancies occur in the developing world.
To meet the unmet need for family planning and achieve the goal of achieving universal access to reproductive health, the coalition of non-profit organizations calls on the Obama Administration to:
– Ensure that the new Global Health Initiative retain a strong focus on interventions to prevent unintended pregnancy, promote women’s health and save women’s lives.
– Ensure that greater access to contraception and reproductive health care remains a high priority within any restructuring of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance program so that women, men and youth can access a comprehensive range of reproductive health services no matter where they are accessing care.
– Work with the U. S. Congress to fund international family planning programs at $1 billion, to reverse a decade of inadequate funding, and eliminate punitive legislative restrictions that continue to tie-up the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“Poll after poll has shown that a majority of Americans across the ideological divide support family planning programs and proven investments in women’s health,” said Tamara Kreinin, Executive Director of Women and Population at the United Nations Foundation. “I hope that Secretary Clinton’s speech is a signal to everyone that the U.S. government is done with political theater and instead will focus on the important work of saving lives.”
Source: CEDPA
National study finds Americans are hopeful for 2010 Decade after learning from past ten years
OfficeMax Survey Uncovers How Consumers Really Feel About Past and Future Decades
With one decade concluding and another on the horizon, Americans are gearing up for 2010 by learning from the past and making plans for a better decade ahead. According to a nationwide survey from OfficeMax® Incorporated Americans have high hopes for the approaching decade with clear plans for their personal lives and heightened focus on family and personal wellbeing while embracing change and opportunity. When referring to the 2010 decade, nearly four in ten (38%) Americans prefer to use the phrase “the twenty-tens” over other popular terms that include “the oh-tens” (16%), “the tens” (14%) and “the teens” (11%).
Moving forward, Americans predict that family, personal development and self-discovery will define the next ten years. Many believe they will spend more time with family (64%) and reconnect with old friends (42%). Others plan to nurture themselves by grabbing the reins on their health (62%) and finally creating a work-life balance (38%). Over half (57%) of Americans believe the next decade will be about discovering what’s most important in life, while others think they’ll laugh more than ever before (47%).
As Americans consider the advancements and transformations they hope to achieve during the next decade, it’s fitting that nearly three in ten people think “Changes” by David Bowie (28%) is the song title that best represents their outlook on the approaching decade. Others selected “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash (13%) to demonstrate their optimism while some shared their apprehension choosing “Help!” by the Beatles (16%) and “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (12%) to illustrate their future outlook.
Gearing up for the next decade, Americans plan to learn from the past and incorporate these lessons into the future. Demonstrating the importance of action in 2010, a large number of Americans selected the expressions – “action speaks louder than words” (73%) and “talk is cheap” (67%) – to illustrate what they learned over the past decade. Nearly seven in ten people selected “knowledge is power” (69%) and “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched” (67%) to describe their hopes for smarter, more calculated decisions in the future. With the touch economic times, personal finances were also top-of-mind for most Americans, which is perhaps why phrases like “a penny saved is a penny earned” (66%) and “money makes the world go round” (50%) are what many will use as a springboard for the new decade.
“Everyone has the chance to start fresh in 2010 with a new decade ahead of them, and we’re excited to learn through this national survey that consumers are ready to take the express train to a brighter, more prosperous future,” said Bob Thacker, SVP of Marketing & Advertising for OfficeMax. “At OfficeMax, we’re kicking off the year by celebrating positive achievements and helping people do their best work at home, the office, or on-the-go. It’s going to be a delightful decade as we focus more on what’s important and improve on the past ten years.”
The national survey of 1,000 consumers was conducted by Kelton Research in December 2009 using Random Digit Dialing of listed and unlisted phone numbers. Quotas were set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population ages 18 and over.
Sixth annual Farmers Insurance study ranks Most Secure Places to Live in the U.S.
Austin-Round Rock, Texas Tops All Large Metropolitan Areas
In this time of economic uncertainty, a safe and secure environment in which to live, work and raise a family has become an even greater priority to many Americans.
According to the sixth annual Most Secure U.S. Places to Live rankings from Farmers Insurance Group of Companies®, the central Texas area of Austin-Round Rock is the most secure U.S. community among large metropolitan areas (population of 500,000 or greater).
The Fargo (N.D.)-Moorhead (Minn.) area is the most secure mid-size U.S. city (population between 150,000 and 500,000), while the Lewiston (Idaho)-Clarkston (Wash.) area ranks as the most secure small town (population less than 150,000).
The rankings, compiled by database experts at www.bestplaces.net, took into consideration crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, terrorist threats, environmental hazards, life expectancy and job loss numbers in 379 U.S. municipalities. The study divided the communities into three groups: large metropolitan areas, mid-size cities and small towns.
“Farmers congratulates all of the communities ranking in the Farmers Most Secure Places to Live study. “In today’s fast-paced world, citizens look for a strong local government to make their communities secure, and especially desirable for individuals and families to live, work and grow,” noted Robert Woudstra, Farmers CEO.
“Since its founding in 1928, Farmers has been committed to improving the communities where its customers, agents and employees live and work. Improving safety, expanding educational opportunities, enhancing health and human services, encouraging civic participation and supporting the arts and culture help drive Farmers’ commitment,” Mr. Woudstra added.
The Austin-Round Rock area, which was 15th among large metropolitan areas in the 2008 Farmers study, is a center for technology and business and is attracting more and more pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Such Fortune 500 companies as Dell, Inc., Whole Foods Market and Freescale Semiconductor are headquartered there, with Austin serving as the state capital and home to the University of Texas. A high job growth rate and minimal housing depreciation contributed to its top rating in the study.
The Fargo-Moorhead area, ranked 14th among mid-size cities in 2008 and sixth in 2007, is a hub for healthcare, manufacturing and higher education. The area is home to three universities and several smaller, private colleges. Its No. 1 ranking in the 2009 Farmers study is largely due to a low unemployment rate, few violent crimes, minimal housing depreciation, high air quality and a long life expectancy among residents.
The Lewiston-Clarkston area, with a population of just under 59,000, jumped from sixth place among small towns in the 2008 Farmers study to the top spot in 2009. The area’s access to the Pacific Ocean through a network of river, rail and highway transportation facilities provides an excellent business climate for what is regarded as the most inland seaport in the Western U.S. It scored high in the study due to excellent job growth, low crime and minimal housing depreciation.
Here are the Farmers Insurance Group’s Most Secure U.S. Places to Live for 2009:
Large Metro Areas (500,000 or more residents)
1. Austin-Round Rock, Tex.
2. Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.
5. Rochester, N.Y.
6. Honolulu, Hawaii
7. Syracuse, N.Y.
8. El Paso, Tex.
9. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Me.
10. Nassau-Suffolk Counties, N.Y.
11. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.
12. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Tex.
13. Portland-Beaverton, Ore.-Vancouver, Wash.
14. New Haven-Milford, Conn.
15. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
16. Pittsburgh, Pa.
17. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
18. Colorado Springs, Colo.
19. Denver, Colo.
20. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Mid-Size Cities (150,000 – 500,000 residents)
1. Fargo, N.D.-Moorhead, Minn.
2. Olympia, Wash.
3. Sioux Falls, S.D.
4. Bellingham, Wash.
5. Rochester, Minn.
6. Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash.
7. Lynchburg, Va.
8. St. Cloud, Minn.
9. Duluth, Minn.-Superior, Wis.
10. Las Cruces, N.M.
11. Bremerton-Silverdale, Wash.
12. Killeen-Temple, Texas
13. Charlottesville, Va.
14. Provo-Orem, Utah
15. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.
16. Green Bay, Wis.
17. Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.
18. Boulder, Colo.
19. Yakima, Wash.
20. Yuma, Ariz.
Small Towns (Fewer than 150,000 residents)
1. Lewiston, Idaho-Clarkston, Wash.
2. State College, Pa.
3. Bismarck, N.D.
4. Logan, Utah
5. Ithaca, N.Y.
6. Wenatchee, Wash.
7. Corvallis, Ore.
8. Morgantown, W.Va.
9. Eau Claire, Wis.
10. Rapid City, S.D.
11. Midland, Tex.
12. Sioux City, Iowa
13. Harrisonburg, Va.
14. Billings, Mont.
15. Grand Forks, N.D.-Crookston, Minn.
16. Grand Junction, Colo.
17. Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Va.
18. Wausau, Wis.
19. Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Wash.
20. La Crosse, Wis.-Winona, Minn.
Source: Farmers Group, Inc.
Effort to regenerate injured spinal cords turns to a new model
For more than 400 years, scientists have studied the amazing regenerative power of salamanders, trying to understand how these creatures routinely repair injuries that would usually leave humans and other mammals paralyzed — or worse.
Now, fueled by a highly competitive National Institutes of Health Grand Opportunity grant of $2.4 million, a multi-institutional team of researchers associated with the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute’s Regeneration Project has begun creating genomic tools necessary to compare the extraordinary regenerative capacity of the Mexican axolotl salamander with established mouse models of human disease and injury.
Researchers want to find ways to tap unused human capacities to treat spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury and other neural conditions, according to Edward Scott, Ph.D., principal investigator for the GO grant and director of the McKnight Brain Institute’s Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
“The axolotl is the champion of vertebrate regeneration, with the ability to replace whole limbs and even parts of its central nervous system,” Scott said. “These salamanders use many of the same body systems and genes that we do, but they have superior ability to regenerate after major injuries. We think that studying them will tell us a lot about a patient’s natural regenerative capacities after spinal cord injury and nerve cell damage.”
The issue of what controls organ regeneration was named among the top 25 major questions facing scientists in the next quarter century by Science magazine in 2005, Scott said. With medical science continually adding years to the human lifespan, the importance of “rebuilding and restoring” old tissues and organs is growing. But science had to enter the 21st century to fully explore the use of the highly regenerative axolotl as a model for human disease.
“Only now have new genetic, molecular and cellular technologies as well as scientific knowledge of the salamander, mouse and human genomes and ‘regeneromes’ risen to a level where scientists can compare systemwide responses to injury,” according to Dennis A. Steindler, Ph.D., executive director of UF’s McKnight Brain Institute and a co-investigator on the grant.
“I am extremely hopeful with the discoveries being made in comparative regenerative biology that the questions surrounding cell and tissue regeneration in the human following injury or disease are going to be answered,” Steindler said. “It is going to take broad, multidisciplinary collaborations across a number of scientific fields, but we are making that happen. I think the GO grant shows that these efforts are recognized and valued on a national level.”
GO grants are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and are intended to support research with high short-term impact and a high likelihood of enabling growth and investment in biomedical research and health-care delivery.
“NIH Grand Opportunity grants support high-impact projects, which lay the foundation for whole new fields of investigation,” said Naomi Kleitman, Ph.D., repair and plasticity program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “This important model of regeneration is one of several being developed in organisms that can repair themselves, using genetics to find links to mammals. We’ll continue to watch the progress of these exciting studies to ensure that discoveries of genes that promote regeneration are one day applied to improving human health.”
The Regeneration Project is also supported by private foundations such as the Thomas H. Maren Foundation and the Jon L. and Beverly A. Thompson Research Endowment, the UF Office of the Vice President for Research, and an anonymous donor, Steindler said. Enhancing the discovery process are Regeneration Project research fellows — scientists who work across institutes and universities to advance discoveries in tissue and organ regeneration to the clinic.
Even without help, people are capable of a certain degree of regeneration. Humans can regrow fingertips and even more than half of their liver. But they cannot replace whole limbs and restoring parts of their brain and spinal cord is a daunting challenge.
“The axolotl is the highest, most complex organism that can still do this clever trick of completely reconstructing a whole body part in adulthood,” said Arlene Chiu, Ph.D., a scientific adviser for the Regeneration Project and director of New Research Initiatives at Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope. “I like to think of it in construction terms where we need both the materials such as bricks and beams and the architect’s plans. In regenerative medicine, can we learn where the biological blueprint resides, and understand the basis of restoring and reorganizing many different types of lost cells and tissues? Muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels all have to be reconstructed at the right time and in the right place, all in perfect coordination with the original biological master plan.
“It may sound like science fiction, but the reality is the salamander is able to do all of these things,” she said. “We are not so far removed that we can’t relate to them, learn from them and try to apply their secrets to improve our capacity to regenerate.”
As discoveries are made, more researchers will begin using the axolotl as a model for exploring regenerative techniques, according to S. Randal Voss, director of the Salamander Genome Project at the University of Kentucky.
“We’ve analyzed genes in common between the axolotl salamander and humans, and found out we share about 90 percent of our genes in a one-to-one sense,” Voss said. “It could be that small but important changes in the way these genes function in an injury environment affect the repair process, but somehow the salamander is able to use these genes for regeneration, while people are not.”
The team has already referenced human and mouse genes with axolotl counterparts.
“We started this with a list of genes in humans and mice that are involved in repair processes and matched them with their counterparts in the axolotl genome,” Scott said. “Ultimately, what makes the axolotl a great model for regeneration is that the model systems we are most familiar with — mice and humans — do not regenerate very well. By comparing how a mammal and a salamander respond to injuries, we can identify genes or proteins that we can now add back to the mammalian system to make it regenerate better.”
Source: University of Florida Health Science Center