(Press-News.org) Michelson Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) and Human Immunome Project (HIP) have awarded Dr. Siyuan Ding (Washington University in St. Louis), Dr. Claire Otero (Weill Cornell Medicine), and Dr. Dennis Schaefer-Babajew (Rockefeller University) the Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants, the organizations announced today.
The $150,000 research grants are awarded annually to support early-career scientists advancing human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research for major global diseases.
“Understanding and harnessing the human immune system is the next frontier in biomedicine. Already, breakthrough research in immunology has led to therapies that treat disease, improve human health, and save lives,” said Dr. Gary K. Michelson, founder, and co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies. “Catalytic and flexible philanthropic support helps to fund our brightest young minds to develop high-risk, high-impact science and enable future breakthroughs.”
The three recipients were selected by a distinguished committee of internationally recognized scientists and represent the next generation of innovators in human immunology and vaccine research. Their proposals were chosen based on their novelty and potential impact to accelerate vaccine design and delivery for major diseases.
“We are thrilled to support these researchers as they work on new and cutting-edge approaches to combat deadly and debilitating diseases,” said Dr. Hans Keirstead, CEO of the Human Immunome Project. “The Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants are uniquely positioned to advance the field of immunology by supporting the sector’s emerging leaders. I am eager to watch their progress and see the outcomes of their award-winning research.”
Dr. Ding, Dr. Otero, and Dr. Schaefer-Babajew are the sixth class of Michelson Prize laureates and will be honored at a virtual award ceremony in collaboration with the Keystone Symposia to be announced later in the year.
Meet the 2023 Michelson Prize: Next Generation Grants Winners
Dr. Siyuan Ding is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis. His proposal, “Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of rotavirus-ETEC dual vaccines,” seeks to develop a combined vaccine for rotavirus and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), the leading viral and bacterial agents of diarrhea in infants. With infectious diarrhea a leading cause of death among children, killing more each day than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined, Dr. Ding’s research could have a profound impact on child mortality.
Dr. Claire Otero is a Postdoctoral Associate in Pediatrics in the Permar Lab at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her proposal, “Viral Fc receptors as vaccine antigens for prevention of congenital CMV,” aims to overcome one of the key challenges in creating an effective vaccine for cytomegalovirus (CMV) by blocking this important immune evasion mechanism through vaccination to improve antiviral Fc-mediated immunity. CMV is a common disease that can prove deadly for those with weakened immune systems and this research can prove central to increasing protection against congenital CMV.
Dr. Dennis Schaefer-Babajew is an Instructor at Clinical Investigation in the Nussenzweig Lab at The Rockefeller University. Dr. Schaefer-Babajew’s proposal, “Antibody feedback regulation of adaptive immunity to cognate antigen,” will explore the impact of pre-existing antibodies on subsequent B cell responses. This research is poised to have major implications for our understanding of adaptive immunity against infections and for vaccine design.
***
About the Michelson Medical Research Foundation: Founded by Dr. Gary K. Michelson in 1995, the Michelson Medical Research Foundation accelerates solutions to global health challenges by fostering high-risk, high-reward approaches that disrupt the status quo to make innovative ideas a reality. Through convergent collaboration among engineers, scientists, and physicians, the foundation helps rapidly move bold concepts and technologies from the laboratory into clinics and communities around the world. Michelson Medical Research Foundation is a division of Michelson Philanthropies. For more information, visit: www.michelsonmedicalresearch.org
About the Human Immunome Project: The Human Immunome Project (HIP) is a global NGO that generates diverse immunological datasets at scale and builds publicly available AI models of the immune system to accelerate medical research and drug discovery, decrease healthcare costs, and most importantly, improve health for all. HIP operates globally and is a registered US nonprofit organization.
Contact:
Kathryn Dunn, k.dunn@Michelsonphilanthropies.org, 781-738-0730
Liza Kane-Hartnett, media@immunomeproject.org
END
Since more than a decade it has been possible for physicists to accurately measure the location of individual atoms to a precision of smaller than one thousandth of a millimeter using a special type of microscope. However, this method has so far only provided the x and y coordinates. Information on the vertical position of the atom – i.e., the distance between the atom and the microscope objective – is lacking. A new method has now been developed that can determine all three spatial coordinates of an atom with one single image. This method – developed by the University of Bonn and University of Bristol ...
CLEVELAND – New Cleveland Clinic-led research points to sildenafil (Viagra) as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The study provides evidence from computational models, insurance claims data and observations from brain cells in Alzheimer’s patients.
Sildenafil is the main component of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction (Viagra) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (Revatio).
“Our findings provide further weight to re-purposing this existing FDA-approved drug as a novel treatment for Alzheimer’s, which is in great need of new therapies,” ...
Antarctic researchers hitched a lift on a cruise ship, and recommend this eco-friendly, collaborative approach to remote ocean science.
####
Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000348
Article Title: New methods of undertaking marine science in Antarctica using tourism vessels
Contact: Matthew Mulrennan; matt@kolossal.org
Author Countries: Canada, United States
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...
March 5, 2024, Mountain View, CA – The moon lander Odysseus, known as Odie, touched down on the Moon's surface on February 22, becoming the first time the U.S. has landed on the Moon in more than 50 years and the first commercial moon lander to successfully land on the Moon. Along with its science payload, the spacecraft also brought along a fusion of art and space exploration, SETI Institute's Artist in Residence (SETI AIR), Felipe Pérez Santiago's Earthling Project, a collection of global musical compositions representing Earth's cultural ...
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology researchers Jonathan Sweedler, a professor of chemistry, and Fan Lam, a professor of bioengineering, outlined how spatial omics technologies can reveal the molecular intricacy of the brain at different scales.
Their research appeared this month in Nature Methods.
The researchers and their colleagues used a biochemical imaging framework integrated with deep learning to create 3D molecular maps with cell specificity to better understand how the brain functions in health and disease. Their research is supported by a $3 million grant from ...
WHAT:
A weekly injection of semaglutide was safe and reduced the amount of fat in the liver by 31% in people with HIV and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), according to a presentation today at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Denver. This is the first clinical trial of semaglutide for MASLD in people with HIV. The research was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted in the United States and Brazil by ACTG, a global clinical trials network focused on HIV and other infectious diseases. ...
The Lancet: Experts warn about the overmedicalisation of menopause and call for a new approach to how society views menopause and supports women as they age
Menopause is a life stage for half the world’s population and is generally depicted in a negative way. However, women’s experiences of menopause are unique and vary hugely.
The Lancet 2024 Series on menopause argues that an over-simplified narrative of menopause as a health problem to be solved by replacing hormones is not based on evidence and deflects attention from the need for substantial societal shifts in how menopause, and midlife/older women in general, are viewed and treated around the world.
The ...
A new review paper from authors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and collaborators concludes that menopause does not uniformly elevate the risk of depression and other mental health conditions.
Menopause has long been thought to cause psychological distress, but a new review suggests that this is not always the case. The review, written by experts from Brigham Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, and international collaborators, is the third in a series of menopause-themed papers published in The ...
1. A research team consisting of NIMS and the Tokyo Institute of Technology has identified materials capable of catalyzing the conversion of ortho-hydrogen to para-hydrogen. These catalysts should be essential to the spread of mass-transportation/storage of liquid hydrogen.
2. Hydrogen is becoming widely accepted as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels. Its liquefaction (at temperatures below -253°C under pressures higher than one atmosphere) can dramatically reduce its volume, making it suitable for transportation and storage. Hydrogen molecules (H2)—each composed of two hydrogen atoms—exist in two isomeric forms: ortho- and para-H2. Under normal conditions, ...
Retirement is a major transition that can have a significant impact on a person’s life.
For some, retirement evokes thoughts of slowing down, relaxing, and enjoying more of what life has to offer. For others, ending a regular work schedule can create stress and uncertainties about being able to pay necessary bills and maintain adequate medical care.
A new study by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health examines how retirement affects mental health and related inpatient mental health care among female workers in China, ...
