Gladstone Institutes

UCSF QBI and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Announce Breakthrough Research Findings in the Molecular Understanding of Autism

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Monday, December 4, 2023

The Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), today reported new breakthrough research findings in the understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Key Points: 
  • The Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), today reported new breakthrough research findings in the understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • Belinda Wang, MD, Ph.D., Rasika Vartak, Ph.D., Fima Zaltsman, Ph.D., and Zun Zar Chi Naing, Ph.D. are co-first authors of the manuscript.
  • Their findings provide unprecedented insights into the molecular mechanisms of a subset of individuals with ASD who carry specific genetic mutations, serving as a new platform for desperately needed therapeutics development.
  • QBI’s convergent biological systems approach that formed the basis of this study can be applied to virtually any disease area.

L'ORÉAL USA ANNOUNCES 2023 FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE AWARDEES, MARKING 20-YEAR COMMITMENT TO WOMEN IN STEM

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Monday, November 13, 2023

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, L'Oréal USA announced the recipients of its 2023 For Women in Science (FWIS) Fellowship program, which grants awards annually to five female postdoctoral scientists to support their research endeavors. This year marks L'Oréal USA's 20th anniversary of helping to advance women in STEM fields through its FWIS program, which has provided more than $5 million in grants to support the work of innovative women scientists.

Key Points: 
  • "L'Oréal USA is proud to recognize this 20th Anniversary milestone of the For Women in Science program.
  • The L'Oréal USA FWIS philanthropic program embodies L'Oréal's fundamental belief in the indispensable connection between science and women.
  • The L'Oréal USA program includes a requirement to ensure recipients are committed to serving as role models for younger generations.
  • For more information about the L'Oréal USA 2023 For Women in Science Fellows or to apply for the L'Oréal For Women in Science 2024 program, please visit: loreal.com/en/usa/pages/group/fwis/ .

A Quarter Century of Disease-Focused Neuroscience

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Tuesday, October 3, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A quarter century ago, in September 1998, Gladstone Institutes launched the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease. In 2023, it brought together investigators and alumni to celebrate the institute's 25th anniversary, reflect on landmark scientific achievements, and look ahead at the future of disease-focused neuroscience.

Key Points: 
  • SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A quarter century ago, in September 1998, Gladstone Institutes launched the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.
  • In 2023, it brought together investigators and alumni to celebrate the institute's 25th anniversary, reflect on landmark scientific achievements, and look ahead at the future of disease-focused neuroscience.
  • As populations around the world are living longer, aging-related neurodegenerative disorders have been rising in prevalence at an unprecedented pace.
  • These landmark discoveries, and many others, were presented on September 15, 2023, as part of the symposium "Disease-Focused Neuroscience: From Discovery to Translation."

UCSF QBI, University College London, and Mount Sinai Identify Shared Molecular Mechanisms Across SARS-CoV-2 Variants that Allow Virus to Thrive Despite Vaccination

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Thursday, September 21, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, Sept. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a study published online in CELL today, scientists at UCSF QBI, University College London and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported breakthrough findings on convergent evolutionary mechanisms shared by COVID-19 variants, allowing them to overcome both adaptive and innate immune system barriers. In the paper titled, SARS-CoV-2 Variants Evolve Convergent Strategies to Remodel the Host Response, scientists carried out an unprecedented, systematic comparative study using the most infectious COVID-19 variants, namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron to identify specific viral mutations responsible for hijacking a common host pathway, thereby leading to increased transmissibility, infectivity and survival. Specifically, they discovered a convergence in potent suppression of interferon-stimulated genes through several viral proteins, including Orf6 and Orf9b, which serve as innate immune antagonist proteins capable of blocking innate host immune response.

Key Points: 
  • The award, which included a $200,000 prize, is intended to provide support for his vision for progress against pandemic threats.
  • “Unfortunately, we continue to see new mutations and strains of SARS-CoV-2 despite innovations in new vaccines,” said Dr. Krogan, who founded the QBI Coronavirus Research Group (QCRG).
  • This finding is consistent with our investigation of early SARS-CoV-2 variants where certain viral proteins were highly expressed in infected cells which helped the virus infect our cells.
  • Their analysis pinpointed cellular pathways that are similarly modulated across variants during infection and represent putative targets for pan-coronavirus antivirals.

Lego-Like Gene Editing Tool Lets Researchers Improve Cancer Immunotherapy

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Thursday, September 14, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In recent years, scientists have used gene modification technologies to reprogram immune cells into therapeutics that can attack cancers. But such immunotherapies don't work for all patients or all cancer types, and screening through every possible combination of genetic changes that might improve these reprogrammed immune cells is a daunting and slow task.

Key Points: 
  • When a T cell recognizes a cancer cell as foreign, through a receptor on its surface, it targets the cancer cell for destruction.
  • The technology combines multiple genes into long stretches of DNA for use in a CRISPR gene editing platform.
  • An easy-to-read DNA barcode on each ModPoKI-generated set of genes let them track which gene combination led to improved T cells.
  • "In the lab, the ModPoKI sequence with BATF and TFAP4 made CAR T cells show potential to improve anti-tumor activity," says Marson.

Breaking Down the Science of the Blood-Brain Barrier

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Friday, September 1, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For decades, many scientists have described the blood-brain barrier—a tight network of cells that separates the brain from the blood—as a nearly impenetrable border wall. But Andrew C. Yang, PhD, who is joining Gladstone Institutes as an assistant investigator, thinks there's more to it than that. He likens the blood-brain barrier to a family home.

Key Points: 
  • "I think we'll come to appreciate that, similarly, the blood-brain barrier maintains a dynamic and sophisticated dialogue with other parts of the body."
  • His research could inform the design of new drugs that can efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier, a current impediment to treating many brain conditions.
  • At the time Yang was completing his graduate studies, it remained difficult to identify individual proteins crossing the blood-brain barrier.
  • At Gladstone, Yang is looking forward to collaborating with researchers across neuroscience, immunology, and data science as he tackles the large questions of how the blood-brain barrier relates to disease.

How Unique Immune Cells Can Recognize--and Destroy--Tumors

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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gamma delta T cells, a special type of cell in the immune system, are incredibly effective at recognizing and killing cancer cells. Cancer patients with higher levels of these T cells in their tumors tend to fare better than those with lower levels. But scientists have struggled to understand exactly how gamma delta T cells can recognize cancerous cells, and how new cancer therapies may be able to take advantage of these powerful immune cells.

Key Points: 
  • New study explains how understudied cells in the immune system, called gamma delta T cells, can target cancer cells for destruction
    SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gamma delta T cells, a special type of cell in the immune system, are incredibly effective at recognizing and killing cancer cells.
  • But scientists have struggled to understand exactly how gamma delta T cells can recognize cancerous cells, and how new cancer therapies may be able to take advantage of these powerful immune cells.
  • Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco have pinpointed conditions that enable gamma delta T cells to identify cancer cells.
  • "In healthy cells, butyrophilin is invisible to gamma delta T cells, so that T cells don't start killing them," explains Mamedov.

The Best Thing Since Sliced Tissue

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Thursday, August 17, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine a few roughly cut slices of bread on a plate. With just those slices, could you picture, in fine detail, the loaf they came from?

Key Points: 
  • This approach, published in the journal Nature Methods, could allow for much deeper understanding of biological tissue samples.
  • This statistical approach harnesses data from the 2D tissue slices and, in the first layer, fits the warped 2D slice onto a 3D model of the tissue.
  • During this process, the GPSA model fills in the spaces between slices with predictions of gene or protein expression for every point throughout the tissue, ultimately generating a 3D "atlas" of the tissue.
  • In addition, when applied to slices taken from the same tissue at different points in time, GPSA can generate atlases that predict how every location within the tissue changes over time.

Appia Bio Expands Leadership Team With Sylvaine Cases, Ph.D. Appointed Chief Business Officer and Alex Babayan, Ph.D. as Vice President, Head of Regulatory Affairs

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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

LOS ANGELES, June 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Appia Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered invariant natural killer T (CAR-NKT) cell therapies from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for patients with cancer, today announced the appointments of Sylvaine Cases, Ph.D. as chief business officer (CBO) and Alex Babayan, Ph.D. as vice president, head of regulatory affairs.

Key Points: 
  • "We are delighted to have Sylvaine and Alex join the Appia Bio team.
  • Sylvaine is a thoughtful business executive with deep understanding of our industry from both sides of the table.
  • Alex brings long-term considered insight based on his broad global regulatory affairs experience in cell therapy.
  • Dr. Babayan joins Appia Bio from Instil Bio where he was vice president and head of regulatory affairs.

The 2023 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize Awarded to Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

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Tuesday, June 27, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, PhD, was announced today as the recipient of the 2023 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize by Gladstone Institutes. Zernicka-Goetz is a professor of mammalian development and stem cell biology in the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, as well as the Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

Key Points: 
  • SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, PhD, was announced today as the recipient of the 2023 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize by Gladstone Institutes.
  • Established in 2015 by a generous gift from the Hiro and Betty Ogawa family, the Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize honors scientists conducting groundbreaking work in translational regenerative medicine using reprogrammed cells.
  • "I am deeply honored to receive the Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize for my work," Zernicka-Goetz says.
  • Zernicka-Goetz was selected for the 2023 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize by an independent committee of international stem cell experts from a highly competitive pool of nominees.