April 2009
The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute provides this news brief for civic, corporate, political and scientific leaders to update you on the progress of the life sciences initiative in the Kansas City area. To unsubscribe, please contact Sharon Newman at 816-753-7700.
KCALSI Annual Dinner
Thanks to all who sponsored KCALSI’s 2008 Annual Dinner. From the Walter Bryant Trio to Dr. Frank Douglas’s keynote speech, How to Exploit a Black Swan Event in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, the event was a huge success. Dr. Bill Duncan recapped the past year and introduced KCALSI’s new president, Dr. Dan Getman. More than 600 people attended the event emceed by KCALSI Chairman of the Board Irv Hockaday. Platinum Sponsors included Bayer Animal Health and Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.
For more information on the event, including a video, photographs and a complete listing of sponsors, visit the Annual Dinner section on the KCALSI website.
Animal Health Firm Opens New Office in KC
Brakke Consulting, the largest management consulting firm serving the animal health and nutrition industries, will open a new office in Lenexa, Kan. Brakke has worked closely with the KC Animal Health Corridor initiative for the past two years.
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KC Area High School to Offer New Animal Sciences Program
The Olathe School District and Kansas State University will collaborate to offer a special, hands-on animal sciences program to Olathe high school students this fall. The curriculum combines science course work with extended learning experiences through the KC Animal Health Corridor. Students will have the opportunity to work alongside K-State researchers and industry leaders. The program will also introduce students to the broad range of career choices in the animal sciences industry.
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KU Med Center Receives $450,000 for Breast Cancer Research
Susan G. Koman for the Cure announced a $450,000 grant for breast cancer research at the University of Kansas Medical Center . The funds will support development of a method for delivering chemotherapy in small doses called “nonparticles.” This delivery system could drastically improve the effectiveness of cancer drugs while decreasing the side effects of chemotherapy.
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Stowers Institute Announces New CEO
David Chao will become president July 1, 2009 and on July 1, 2010 also assume CEO responsibilities of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.. Chao will succeed William Neaves, the institute’s founding top executive, who will become President Emeritus during the transition. Chao currently leads the institute’s effort to commercialize its research as executive vice president. Chao will take over July 1, 2010.
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Human Trial of Leukemia Drug Starts
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals LLC in Lawrence, Kan. has initiated human trials of a drug candidate to treat leukemia. The trial should take about a year. The drug is designed to block abnormal protein that causes overproduction of white blood cells in the body.
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CyDex Puts Patents Up for Sale
CyDex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Lenexa, Kan. will have IpAuctions, Inc. action its patent application for a taste-masking formulation used in Zoloft. Also up for sale is the company’s patent for reducing the incidence of pain upon injection with Propofol.
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William Jewell College Receives $190,000 for Life Sciences Research
Congress passed $190,000 for life sciences research at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. The funding will advance research specifically in the areas of coronary artery disease, brain and colon cancer, protein folding disorders and microbial infections.
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Partnership Would Advance Animal Health Research, Commercialization
KCALSI is working to create an agreement with Denver-based Morris Animal Foundation to allow companies in the KC Animal Health Corridor greater access to research that could lead to new products. Morris will finance about 200 research projects in the next three years and has a network of roughly 1,200 researchers around the globe studying wildlife, large animals and pets.
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KU Graduate Student Investigates Anti-Cancer Drug Therapy
Natalie Ciaccio, a doctoral student researcher in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kansas, is spearheading the first group in the world to isolate ATF5 or “activating transcription factor 5.” In doing so, Ciaccio could change the current treatment options and outcomes for those with brain tumors.
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Vitamin D Dietary Standards may be Revised Based on MU Study
University of Missouri nutritional sciences researcher, Catherine Peterson, has found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with inflammation, a negative response of the immune system, in healthy women. Peterson’s work may explain the vitamin’s role in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The findings also support that dietary reference intake for vitamin D should be increased from 200-400 IU to 1,000 IU a day.
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MU Vet Oncologists Advance Cancer Drugs
As more pet owners seek cancer treatments, veterinarians are gaining more insight into the progression and treatment of cancers in humans. Faculty members at the University of Missouri participated in the National Cancer Institute’s first Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium and discovered the proper dosage of TNF-(alpha) that may be effective in treating bone cancer in both dogs and children.
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UMKC School of Dentistry Appoints New Dean
Marsha Pyle, D.D.S., M.Ed is the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s new dean of dentistry. Dr. Pyle is currently the vice dean of the School of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
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SCF Technologies, LLC and CritiTech, Inc. Announce NIH/NCI Grant
SCF Technologies, LLC was awarded a SBIR Phase I grant from the NIH /NCI to demonstrate the capability of safely drying and sterilizing drugs in their dispensing containers in a single process. If successful, this approach will lead to simpler processing of injectable drugs that would increase safety and lower production costs. SCF Technologies will conduct this project at CritiTech, Inc in Lawrence, Kansas.
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