Top Stories

Arthur Brody with Dr. John Reed
Remembering Arthur Brody,...

Sanford-Burnham is mourning the passing of friend and trustee Arthur Brody, a visionary man who...

Huricha Baigude, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study
It’s a trap! New laboratory...

Dr. Tariq Rana and colleagues developed a new method called miR-TRAP to allow scientists to better...

Glioblastoma multiforme (bright ring at right), as seen by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Teaming up to tackle brain...

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute joins a team led by the Translational Genomics Research...

Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham’s president and director of the Institute’s NCI-designated Cancer Center (Photo by Nadia Borowski Scott)
Op-ed: How California’s...

Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured here) and Sherry Lansing co-author a U-T San Diego op-ed...

Meet a cancer researcher: Michiko Fukuda

by on May 16, 2012 at 9:17 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
Fukuda_archive

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Michiko Fukuda, Ph.D., professor in our NCI-designated Cancer Center.

Read More

Remembering Arthur Brody, visionary friend

by on May 11, 2012 at 9:00 am | 1 comment
Full Article
Arthur Brody with Dr. John Reed

Arthur Brody with Dr. John Reed

Sanford-Burnham is mourning the passing of friend, supporter, and trustee Arthur Brody, a visionary man who believed in the power of scientific research to cure disease.

“The entire Sanford-Burnham community of faculty, staff, trustees and donors is saddened by this loss,” said CEO John Reed, M.D., Ph.D.

A highly respected philanthropist and president of the Sophie & Arthur Brody Foundation, Mr. Brody contributed generously to the Institute over the course of 20 years. More specifically, he supported the lab of Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., director of our Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research Center; the Stem Cell Research Center; and prostate cancer research. He also invested in young scientists through gifts to the Fishman Fund, and by serving on the Fishman Fund Advisory Board.

“As researchers, we are acutely aware of the importance of philanthropic support, particularly in these difficult times in which there is a downturn in NIH funding,” Dr. Lipton said. “It takes a visionary person like Art Brody to realize the long-term value, both financially and in lives saved, of an investment in medical research. We are fortunate to have known him both as a close friend and as a supporter. He will be truly missed.”

Read More

Meet a cancer researcher: Jochen Maurer

by on May 11, 2012 at 6:48 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
Dr. Maurer with Sanford-Burnham co-founder Lillian Fishman

Dr. Maurer with Sanford-Burnham co-founder Lillian Fishman

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Jochen Maurer, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Robert Oshima, Ph.D, professor in our NCI-designated Cancer Center.

Read More

And the Cancer Center Pilot Project Program grants go to…

by on May 10, 2012 at 9:40 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
Two research teams, including Dr. Ranjan Perera (left) and Dr. Steven Smith (right), were awarded Pilot Project Program grants from Sanford-Burnham's NCI-designated Cancer Center

Two research teams, including Dr. Ranjan Perera (left) and Dr. Steven Smith (right), were awarded Pilot Project Program grants from Sanford-Burnham's NCI-designated Cancer Center

As part of its Pilot Project Program, Sanford-Burnham’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center received and reviewed 10 applications for funding this year. Applications for these grants, designed to kick-start new collaborative projects, were submitted by scientists from all of the Institute’s research centers and they were reviewed by a panel of senior faculty members, including adjunct faculty, scientific advisory board (SAB) members, and external experts.

More than 20 researchers and experts participated in this year’s peer-review process to select the winners of the grants. The applications and the respective reviews were then discussed by a panel, which ranked the grants and determined the winners.

On May 1, the two grants of $75,000 each were awarded to:

Read More

It’s a trap! New laboratory technique captures microRNA targets

by on May 9, 2012 at 9:43 am | 3 Comments
Full Article
Huricha Baigude, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study

Huricha Baigude, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study

Human cells are thought to produce thousands of different microRNAs (miRNAs)—small pieces of genetic material that help determine which genes are turned on or off at a given time. miRNAs are an important part of normal cellular function, but they can also contribute to human disease—some are elevated in certain tumors, for example, where they promote cell survival. But to better understand how miRNAs influence health and disease, researchers first need to know which miRNAs are acting upon which genes—a big challenge considering their sheer number and the fact that each single miRNA can regulate hundreds of target genes. Enter miR-TRAP, a new easy-to-use method to directly identify miRNA targets in cells. This technique, developed by Tariq Rana, Ph.D., professor and program director at Sanford-Burnham, and his team, was first revealed in a paper published May 8 by the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

“This method could be widely used to discover miRNA targets in any number of disease models, under physiological conditions,” Rana said. “miR-TRAP will help bridge a gap in the RNA field, allowing researchers to better understand diseases like cancer and target their genetic underpinnings to develop new diagnostics and therapeutics. This will become especially important as new high-throughput RNA sequencing technologies increase the numbers of known miRNAs and their targets.”

Read More

Breathing new life into old medicines

by on May 8, 2012 at 10:24 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
High-throughput drug screening platforms in Sanford-Burnham's Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics will be used to screen existing drugs for new applications.

High-throughput drug screening platforms in Sanford-Burnham's Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics will be used to screen existing drugs for new applications.

Discovering and developing new treatments for disease is a challenging, time-consuming, and expensive endeavor. For every drug that eventually makes it to the pharmacy, hundreds of compounds fail to deliver results and millions of dollars are spent without a direct return on investment. However, in these economically challenging times, existing drugs and compounds—whether in development, already on the market, or even ones that have failed clinical trials due to lack of efficacy—are being re-examined by pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. The goal of this approach—called drug repurposing— is to find potential new uses for these drugs.

Read More

Meet a cancer researcher: Hongbo Pang

by on May 4, 2012 at 6:43 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
Hongbo Pang, Ph.D.

Hongbo Pang, Ph.D.

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Hongbo Pang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D.

Read More

Teaming up to tackle brain tumors

by on May 3, 2012 at 10:19 am | 2 Comments
Full Article
Glioblastoma multiforme (bright ring at right), as seen by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Glioblastoma multiforme (bright ring at right), as seen by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

We are pleased to announce our role in a new multidisciplinary study aimed at finding novel brain cancer therapies. The team, led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), includes Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), and the Intellectual Property & Science division of Thomson Reuters.

A $4.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will fund the five-year search to find new ways of treating glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer. Primary brain tumors are among the top 10 causes of cancer death in the U.S., and more than 80,000 Americans have primary malignant brain tumors.

Read More

Meet a cancer researcher: William Stallcup

by on May 1, 2012 at 11:04 am | 0 Comments
Full Article
Weon-Kyoo You, Karolina Kucharova, and Zhigang She, postdoctoral researchers in Dr. Stallcup's laboratory

Weon-Kyoo You, Karolina Kucharova, and Zhigang She, postdoctoral researchers in Dr. Stallcup's laboratory

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet William Stallcup, Ph.D. a professor in Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-designated Cancer Center who has been with the Institute since 1984. He explains what are, in his opinion, the biggest financial challenges currently facing cancer research:

Read More

Dutch Consul-General visits Sanford-Burnham at Lake Nona

by on April 30, 2012 at 11:30 am | 1 comment
Full Article
Darrin Kuystermans operating the biorector to produce proteins from cells

Darrin Kuystermans operating the biorector to produce proteins from cells

By Darrin Kuystermans

It’s always a pleasure to get the opportunity to highlight Sanford-Burnham’s research to visitors coming to the Institute. I’m from the Netherlands and on April 18 I had the special honor of giving the Dutch Consul-General, Ambassador Simone Filippini, a tour of our facilities at Lake Nona. The Ambassador was touring Orlando’s Medical City to learn about the region’s emerging biomedical cluster and opportunities to grow the United States-Netherlands trade and investment in the biomedical/biotechnology sector.

Ambassador Filippini is no stranger to Florida and its economy, being based at the Dutch Consulate in Miami, which is in charge of several southern U.S. states in addition to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands. The Consul-General can have a great impact on stimulating inter-country business development, especially since the U.S. and the Netherlands share so many common values, history, and a commitment to innovation.

Read More

Debunking two myths about California’s Proposition 29

by on April 26, 2012 at 2:04 pm | 1 comment
Full Article
CCRA

The goal of Proposition 29 (the California Cancer Research Act) is to provide funding for cancer research in California by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. We’d like to take this opportunity to clarify two myths that opponents, including Big Tobacco, are spreading about this initiative:

Read More

Op-ed: How California’s Prop 29 will boost state’s economy

by on April 26, 2012 at 1:23 pm | 2 Comments
Full Article
Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham’s president and director of the Institute’s NCI-designated Cancer Center (Photo by Nadia Borowski Scott)

Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D. (pictured here) and Sherry Lansing co-author a U-T San Diego op-ed piece in support of Proposition 29, the California Cancer Research Act.

In today’s issue of U-T San Diego, Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., Sanford-Burnham’s president and director of our National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, and Sherry Lansing, chair of the University of California Board of Regents, former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer, co-authored an op-ed piece that explains exactly how passage of Proposition 29, the California Cancer Research Act, would both save lives and benefit the state’s economy.

They wrote:

In addition to saving lives and lowering health care costs, passage of Prop 29 will help stimulate the state’s economy by creating and saving jobs in California. The biotechnology industry has been a shining example of stability and growth in our state over the past several decades, and is an area we should be turning to now to help our state recover from economic decline.

Today, California is home to several of the most vibrant life-science research clusters in the world, including 10 of the country’s 66 NCI-designated cancer centers (more than any other state in the nation). The San Francisco Bay Area boasts the oldest and largest biomedical cluster in California and is a world leader in biotechnology. San Diego is known for its biopharmaceutical and medical diagnostics companies, while Orange County has a reputation for medical device inventions and Los Angeles is the place for cutting-edge cancer research and patient care.

As of 2009, the biotechnology industry employed nearly 270,000 Californians. And that number jumps to more than 783,000 jobs when we include everyone employed in academic research, biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, laboratory services and other supporting industries.

Read More

Florida Department of Health and Sanford-Burnham to kick off collaborative research program

by on April 25, 2012 at 1:30 pm | 0 Comments
Full Article
The Collaborative Research Grant program will provide Florida scientists with access to our screening center

The Collaborative Research Grant program will provide Florida scientists with access to our screening center

Last week was a great one for medical researchers across the state of Florida. The state legislature and governor approved funding for the Collaborative Research Grant program between the Florida Department of Health and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Starting in July, the program will provide scientists at universities and non-profit institutes throughout Florida with access to Sanford-Burnham scientists and our state-of-the-art technologies for drug discovery. This includes access to the Institute’s Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics.

Together with the Florida Department of Health, Sanford-Burnham will develop a competitive grant program, based on peer-review that will provide funds for collaborative projects between Florida-based research scientists and Sanford-Burnham’s fully operational, state-of-the-art drug discovery technology center based at Lake Nona.

Read More

Warren Buffett and the PSA test

by on April 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm | 0 Comments
Full Article
Businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett was recently diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. (Photo by Mark Hirschey)

Businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett was recently diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. (Photo by Mark Hirschey)

Earlier this week, billionaire businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett revealed that he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. He credited the good fortune of catching the cancer early—while it’s still very much treatable—to regular PSA testing.

The PSA test measures levels of prostate-specific antigen, a protein produced by the prostate gland, in the blood. Men normally have low PSA levels in their blood, but prostate cancer can increase it, making PSA a useful tumor marker.

How does the test detect PSA? The underlying technology is known as the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), a widely used research and diagnostic tool first invented at Stockholm University in 1971 by Dr. Peter Perlmann and Dr. Eva Engvall, who has been a faculty member at Sanford-Burnham since 1979.

Read More

Meet a cancer researcher: Guy Salvesen

by on April 20, 2012 at 8:56 am | 1 comment
Full Article
Guy Salvesen, Ph.D.

Guy Salvesen, Ph.D.

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Guy Salvesen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Apoptosis & Cell Death Program in Sanford-Burnham’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center.

Read More

« Older Posts