Mar 28, 2019 | Commercialization, Immunology, Microbiome, News Roundup
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
Polsky Center’s Life Science Launchpad partners with faculty to launch startups
The Launchpad bridges the gap between academic research and entrepreneurship by forming hands-on partnerships with life sciences researchers who seek to convert their research products into business ventures. Cathryn Nagler and Eugene Chang featured. (Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation)
How the microbiome could be the key to new cancer treatments
The effectiveness of drugs that help the immune system fight cancer cells appears to depend on bacteria in the gut. (Smithsonian magazine)
Training cells to attack
Groundbreaking CAR T-cell therapy engineers cells to target tumors. Michael Bishop featured. (Chicago Health)
How to reduce the chances of being hospitalized for Crohn’s disease
Take these steps to lessen the risk of complications from the inflammatory bowel disease. David Rubin featured. (U.S. News and World Report)
Real innovation is going to be centered on how we collect, standardize, and harmonize data
Bridging the gap between clinical care and research means creating two-way collaboration, and improving the way in which data is collected, organized, shared. Sam Volchenboum featured. (Outsourcing-Pharma.com)
Feb 27, 2019 | News Roundup
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
Germs in your gut are talking to your brain. Scientists want to know what they’re saying.
The body’s microbial community may influence the brain and behavior, perhaps even playing a role in dementia, autism and other disorders. Sam Sisodia featured. (New York Times)
At the Forefront Live: Head and neck cancer
Medical oncologist Alexander T. Pearson and nurse navigator Patricia Heinlen discuss head and neck cancer, including the HPV vaccine and how new treatment approaches are tailored to each patient’s cancer type, making treatments more effective while reducing side effects. (UChicago Medicine)
Teaching our immune system how to fight cancer
UChicago researchers work to make the next leap in cancer immunotherapy, in which the immune system is stimulated to fight cancer. (UChicago News)
‘Cultured’: A look at how foods can help the microbes inside us thrive
A surge in microbiome research over the past two decades has revealed microbes do much more than simply digest food. They can mediate weight gain, fight off infection, and even alter our mood. (NPR)
Microbiome research will accelerate the biotechnology industry
Humans have relied on the ocean for millennia as a source of food and materials for tools. Now, we rely on the ocean as a source of genes that we can harness to increase food stocks and use as medicine for cancer and other diseases. (Forbes)
Jan 29, 2019 | News Roundup
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
Gut bacteria protects against food allergies
New research from UChicago’s Cathryn Nagler shows that healthy infants have intestinal bacteria that prevent the development of food allergies. (Discover magazine)
Looking for links between the gut microbiome and eye disease
UChicago researcher Dimitra Skondra is studying possible connections between the gut microbiome and eye disease like age-related macular degeneration. (The Forefront)
What is ulcerative colitis and how can I treat it?
The chronic condition can be debilitating, but treatments are expanding and improving. David Rubin featured. (US News & World Report)
Our pets: The key to the obesity crisis?
Even animals that aren’t eating too much or exercising too little are getting fat. If we can figure out why, we may have the key to our own obesity crisis – and how to stop it. (BBC Future)
Antibacterial stuff is giving dust drug resistance
An antimicrobial chemical called triclosan is abundant in dust—and linked to changes in its genetic makeup, according to a new study. The result is dust with organisms that could cause an antibiotic-resistant infection. (Futurity)
Jan 2, 2019 | News Roundup
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
UChicago researchers broaden impact by bringing scientific discoveries to market
Taking biomedical discoveries from bench to startup to bedside. Cover story for the Fall 2018 issue of Medicine on the Midway alumni magazine. (The Forefront)
Neuroscientist receives $2.32 million grant to study the role of the microbiome in Alzheimer’s disease
UChicago’s Sangram Sisodia has received a grant for $2,322,876 over three years from philanthropic foundation Good Ventures to support research on Alzheimer’s disease. (The Forefront)
To battle cancer, first understand the immune system
For years, cancer treatment has largely involved one of three options—surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. In recent years, immunotherapy has entered the playing field. Tom Gajewski featured. (Science Friday)
Immigrating to the US? Get ready for a new microbiome
Moving to the U.S. can seriously mess with immigrants’ microbiomes, according to a new study that tracked the digestive health of refugees coming to Minnesota from Southeast Asia. (NPR)
How to make software algorithms for health care fair and equal for everyone
Machine-learning algorithms help organizations analyze large amounts of data to improve decision-making. But, what happens when the data being analyzed reflects historical bias against vulnerable populations? UChicago’s Marshall Chin is working to ensure equity across all areas of the healthcare system, including data analysis. (The Forefront)
Nov 30, 2018 | Food Allergies, Microbiome, News Roundup
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
Researchers find promise in new treatment for food allergies
UChicago is part of clinical trial that doctors hope will lead to an FDA-approved medication for people with peanut allergy. Christina Ciaccio featured. (UChicago News)
Save the germs
With modern medicine killing off whole categories of bacteria and viruses—including benign ones that promote health—Jack Gilbert and colleagues propose a way to preserve microbes that may rescue us one day. (The New York Times)
How might the appendix play a key role in Parkinson’s disease?
Those who have their appendixes removed in young adulthood run a nearly 20 percent lower risk of developing the neurodegenerative disorder decades later or not at all, study finds. (Scientific American)
Polsky Center’s Innovation Fund renamed to honor George P. Shultz
The decision to rename the Innovation Fund was the result of a $10 million gift to the Fund from University trustee and Booth alumna Mary A. Tolan, MBA ’92. (Polsky Center)
Jeffrey Hubbell named to National Academy of Medicine
Research by Hubbell—who co-founded UChicago food allergy startup ClostraBio—has led to tools and treatments, including nanoparticle vaccines and drug delivery systems, that combat diseases ranging from influenza and type 1 diabetes to tuberculosis and cancer. (UChicago News)
Oct 31, 2018 | Immunology, Microbiome, News Roundup, Research
A selection of health news from the University of Chicago and around the globe curated just for you.
Three UChicago Scientists Earn NIH Grants to Pursue Innovative Research
Three UChicago scientists—including Jun Huang, who studies the immune system and its role in treating infectious diseases and cancer—each have been awarded $1.5 million grants over five years from the National Institutes of Health in support of their innovative, high-impact biomedical research. (UChicago News)
Noah’s Ark for Microbes
A team of researchers, including Jack Gilbert, is calling for the creation of a global microbiota vault to protect the long-term health of humanity. (Science)
These 19 MassChallenge Startups Just Won $1.65M
Nineteen early-stage startups, including Oxalo Therapeutics, won a total of $1.65 million at Wednesday night’s MassChallenge awards ceremony. (BostInno)
Polsky Opens its High-Profile Accelerator to Alumni Startups
UChicago’s New Venture Challenge, ranked among the top accelerator programs in the country, is launching an alumni track as part of its annual startup competition. (American Inno)
Meet the Carousing, Harmonica-Playing Texan Who Just Won a Nobel for his Cancer Breakthrough
This year, the Nobel Prize was awarded to James Allison, PhD—a colleague, friend, and “The Checkpoints” bandmate of Tom Gajewski—for research that laid the groundwork for the development of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies. (WIRED)
