A gift of $1.5 million will help add additional expertise in a lung cancer research project at the B.C. Cancer Foundation, it was announced Wednesday. Dr. Stephen Lam, who leads the project, was also named the new chair of the Lung Cancer Screening Project, in addition to his role as the chair of the Provincial Lung Tumour Group. The project…
Dr. Evgeniy Panzhinskiy is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. James Johnson at the University of British Columbia. Originally from Khabarovk, Russia, Dr. Panzhinskiy studied the molecular mechanisms of obesity-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle during his PhD in Dr. Sreejayan Nair’s lab at the University of Wyoming. We sat down with Dr. Panzhinskiy to talk to him…
As the U.S. border tightens for both political and bureaucratic reasons, the federal government is launching a new stream of its temporary foreign worker program to entice highly skilled workers to come to Canada. The program’s new “Global Talent” pilot stream was announced Thursday morning in Toronto by Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, and Patty Hajdu,…
My first attempt at publishing a paper was a breeze. A collaborator was asked to contribute to a special issue and offered me the opportunity to lead the paper. I was a PhD student at the time, and spent two months visiting her lab overseas and writing. By the end of my visit, I’d carved out a draft that I…
A new study at the University of British Columbia has produced a “definitive debunking” of a controversial procedure that surgically widens neck veins as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. Dr. Anthony Traboulsee has released the results of a $5.5-million clinical trial he believes will deliver the final death blow to so-called liberation therapy. For years, MS patients have been travelling around…
ABSTRACT: A mild and selective photocatalytic C-H 18F-fluorination reaction has been developed that provides direct access to 18F-fluorinated aminoacids. The biodistribution and uptake of three 18F-labeled leucine analogues via LAT1 mediated transport in several cancer cell lines is reported. Positron emission tomography imaging of mice bearing PC3 (prostate) or U87 (glioma) xenografts using 5-[18F]-fluorohomoleucine showed high tumor uptake and excellent…
Do Americans hate science? They certainly seem to hate it more than they used to, as they rage against experts in every field. This is more than a traditional American distaste for eggheads and intellectuals. Americans, increasingly, are acting (and voting) on myths and misinformation about science, and placing themselves at significant risk. In Texas, for example, “personal-belief exemptions” among…
A private biotechnology company developing state-of-the-art lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology for messenger RNA (mRNA), announced today publication of data demonstrating that mRNA encoding a broadly neutralizing antibody delivered in an Acuitas LNP carrier protects humanized mice from HIV-1 challenge. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, Acuitas’ scientists and academic researchers lead by Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, a professor…
ABSTRACT: CDC-like kinase phosphorylation of serine/arginine-rich proteins is central to RNA splicing reactions. Yet, the genomic network of CDC-like kinase-dependent RNA processing events remains poorly defined. Here, we explore the connectivity of genomic CDC-like kinase splicing functions by applying graduated, short-exposure, pharmacological CDC-like kinase inhibition using a novel small molecule (T3) with very high potency, selectivity, and cell-based stability. Using…
B.C.’s innovation-driven biotech leaders are stepping on to the world stage and generating $14.4 billion a year in economic effect in the process. Vancouver-based Stemcell Technologies, for example, has emerged as a global presence with customer support and distribution hubs in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia, and annual revenues reportedly topping $150 million. But as impressive as that figure sounds — and…
