Center for Nanomedicine receives grant from Hearst Foundations

by on February 1, 2012 at 7:35 am | 0 Comments
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Jamey Marth, Ph.D.

Dr. Jamey Marth

The Hearst Foundations recently awarded Sanford-Burnham with a grant to advance research in the Institute’s Center for Nanomedicine (CNM), led by Director Jamey Marth, Ph.D.

The CNM is a partnership between Sanford-Burnham and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) that combines world-class expertise in biology, engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics, and computational modeling to address fundamental biomedical problems. The Center seeks to discover effective diagnostics and treatments, and ultimately cures, for human diseases including cancer, diabetes, and various degenerative diseases.

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How fat and obesity cause diabetes

by on August 15, 2011 at 5:08 am | 3 Comments
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Overnutrition in many countries has led to epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. (Image by Peter Allen, UCSB)

Overnutrition in many countries has led to an epidemic of type 2 diabetes. (Image by Peter Allen, UCSB)

Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics tend to have one thing in common: obesity. Exactly how diet and obesity trigger diabetes has long been the subject of intense scientific research. A new study published online August 14 in Nature Medicine reveals a pathway that links high-fat diets to a sequence of molecular events responsible for the onset and severity of diabetes.

In studies spanning mice and humans, a research team at the Center for Nanomedicine, a collaboration between Sanford-Burnham and the University of California, Santa Barbara, discovered a pathway to disease that is activated in pancreatic beta cells, and then leads to metabolic defects in other organs and tissues, including the liver, muscle and adipose (fat). Together, this adds up to diabetes.

“We were initially surprised to learn how much the pancreatic beta cell contributes to the onset and severity of diabetes,” says Dr. Jamey Marth, director of the Center for Nanomedicine and senior author of the study. “The observation that beta cell malfunction significantly contributes to multiple disease signs, including insulin resistance, was unexpected. We noted, however, that studies from other laboratories published over the past few decades had alluded to this possibility.”

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A medical revolution

by on May 18, 2011 at 8:04 am | 1 comment
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Nanoparticles, like this micelle, may be the future of medicine. (Image by Peter Allen, UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering)

A syndicated article that recently appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, the Los Angeles Times and other outlets described several revolutionary technologies that will change medicine in the coming decade. In particular, the piece highlighted how new genomic technologies can personalize treatment to individual patients; how robotic surgery will help surgeons perform complex procedures on people thousands of miles away; and how new classes of diagnostic tests will allow physicians to discover diseases earlier, when they are most treatable.The article included insights from Dr. Ranjan Perera, associate professor at Sanford-Burnham’s Lake Nona campus, and Dr. Jamey Marth, who directs the U.C. Santa Barbara–Sanford-Burnham Center for Nanomedicine. Dr. Marth is particularly excited about nanomedicine’s potential to enhance both diagnosis and treatment:

“Today’s scientists work at the molecular and atomic level with nanoparticles, to harness these biomachines that detect and bind to diseased cells. The nanoparticle then fuses with that sick cell and delivers its cargo — drugs or imaging agents.”

Read ‘Revolution is at hand’ for breakthroughs in medicine.

Inner Space

by on January 13, 2011 at 9:33 am | 1 comment
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Most diseases begin on the cellular level,  so it only makes sense to address them on that level. One approach is to use nanotechnology–incredibly small devices that could detect a disease very early in its progression or precisely target treatments to the disease, leaving healthy tissue unscathed.  The UC Santa Barbara • Sanford-Burnham Center for Nanomedicine was founded to combine engineering, biology, chemistry and other disciplines to create just these sorts of devices. The Center uses cutting-edge research tools to achieve these goals, like the Allosphere, a three-story virtual reality facility where researchers can visualize anatomical structures down to the atomic level. Recently, the Center was highlighted by the online news site Noozhawk, which interviewed Center for Nanonmedicine director Dr. Jamey Marth.

“We are excited about new ways to diagnose diseases and get drugs to the right places,” Marth said. “These are all things that are needed to get a good control of and to develop the future of health care.”

Read more about the Center: UCSB’s Center for Nanomedicine Plants Seeds of Economic Development in Goleta Valley.

TEDx3: three days, three cities, three experiences

by on December 6, 2010 at 2:36 pm | 1 comment
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Dr. Devanjan Sikder speaking at TEDxOrlando on November 13, 2010 (Photo courtesy of the TEDxOrlando Team)

Dr. Devanjan Sikder speaking at TEDxOrlando (Photo courtesy of the TEDxOrlando Team)

Can’t get enough TED? Neither can we. All three of Sanford-Burnham’s home cities have recently hosted TEDx conferences. In October, Dr. Jamey Marth wowed Santa Barbara with the future of nanomedicine at TEDxAmericanRiviera. Last month, Dr. Devanjan Sikder talked obesity at the inaugural TEDxOrlando and I recently had the chance to attend TEDxSanDiego.

Like most participants (we were considered participants, not just an audience), I have long admired TED talks and jumped at the chance to see one in person. TED (short for Technology, Entertainment, Design) has become so popular that local TEDx spin-offs (where x = independently organized) are springing up everywhere. The TED formula for community building brings together people who are passionate about ideas that matter and creates a forum where people with big ideas can connect.

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Our TEDster on Nature, Nurture and Nanomedicine

by on October 22, 2010 at 10:10 am | 1 comment
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Earlier this week, the public had the chance to talk one-on-one with a renowned nanomedicine expert. Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Jamey Marth hosted the online chat as a follow-up to his talk at TEDxAmericanRivierain Santa Barbara, Calif. on 10-10-2010.Dr. Marth is the director of the Center for Nanomedicine, a partnership between Sanford-Burnham and UC Santa Barbara. He is working to develop nano-sized “smart devices” that diagnose, target, treat and cure disease before it can cause symptoms and spread. This technology could lead to revolutionary treatments for diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, to name a few.

The online chat attracted a record number of participants. The questions covered a range of topics within nanomedicine, showing a keen interest by the public in this fascinating field. For more info, you can read a transcript of the chat. Please join our mailing list if you are interested in hearing about future research chats.

Click below to watch Dr. Marth’s TEDx talk: “Nature, Nurture, and Nanomedicine”

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To the Power of TED

by on October 8, 2010 at 2:54 pm | 1 comment
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TED has earned a reputation as a meeting of the minds, where the brightest of the bright share their ideas with the curious, the cultured and the cool. Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Jamey Marth, director of the Center for Nanomedicine, a partnership with the University of California, Santa Barbara, will take his place on TED’s elite roster on October 10.

In case you’re not familiar with the TED phenomenon, it began as a convention showcasing speakers from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design. The 15-minute presentations, known as TED Talks, then took off on the web, reaching millions who could never have attended the convention. Topics range from “Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?” to “What Physics Taught Me About Marketing.” Talks have also included performances by world-class musicians and demonstrations of jaw-dropping technology.

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Congresswoman ‘Inspired’ by Center for Nanomedicine

by on September 2, 2010 at 3:07 pm | 1 comment
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Earlier this week, U.S. Congresswoman Lois Capps spent an afternoon touring the Center for Nanomedicine, Sanford-Burnham’s joint venture with the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

As Santa Barbara’s Daily Sound reports:

When asked why she came to see the center, Capps answered simply, “to be inspired.”

The Center for Nanomedicine, home to the laboratories of Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and Dr. Jamey Marth, focuses on the convergence of biology, nanotechnology and engineering, promising a new generation of solutions that address unmet needs in medicine and human health.

Read more about the Center and Rep. Capps’ visit in the Daily Sound.

Embracing Nanomedicine, Part 3

by on June 17, 2010 at 2:23 pm | 0 Comments
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One of the main reasons Drs. Erkki Ruoslahti and Jamey Marth set up labs at UC Santa Barbara was to take advantage of the university’s world-class expertise in engineering.“Because of my knowledge of homing peptides, engineers began approaching me about using this technology to help target nanoparticles,” says Dr. Ruoslahti. “I realized that molecular biology and chemistry have made great contributions to medicine, but we needed to do more. It was time to also focus on physics.”

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Embracing nanomedicine, part 1

by on June 15, 2010 at 2:11 pm | 4 Comments
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Jamey Marth, Ph.D.,who directs the joint Center for Nanomedicine established by Sanford-Burnham and UC Santa Barbara, began his career studying genes. In fact, he helped develop Cre-loxP technology, which is used by researchers worldwide to selectively remove genes to study their functions in specific cells and tissues at specific times. But over time, Dr. Marth realized that there was more to cells than what DNA, RNA and proteins were teaching us.

“We have been looking to genes to find the origins of disease,” says Dr. Marth, “but genomic variation has not explained the origins of many common grievous diseases, such as diabetes, autoimmune conditions and various neurodegenerative disorders.”

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