Dr. Kristin Anderson, a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Philip Greenberg’s lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has received the Ann and Sol Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award of $75,000 for one year from the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance. The funding will support Anderson’s research in developing strategies to improve the ability of the immune system’s T cells to kill ovarian cancer. Anderson…
A research team led by Jessica A. Hamerman, PhD, at Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), has discovered a unique type of cell and its association with a life-threatening complication of viral and autoimmune diseases. The team’s discovery, published in the journal Science, could lead to new treatments for a deadly form of inflammation in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis…
Nearly two years after he took office, US President Donald Trump has a White House science adviser in place. The Senate confirmed meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier for the job in a voice vote on 2 January. Droegemeier, an expert in extreme weather, will lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is the first non-physicist to head the…
Scientists at UW Medicine’s Institute for Protein Design have created a new protein that mimics the action of a key immune regulatory protein, interleukin 2 (IL-2). IL-2 is a potent anticancer drug and an effective treatment for autoimmune disease, but its toxic side effects have limited its clinical usefulness. In a paper in the Jan. 10 issue of the journal Nature, the researchers report using…
Microsoft is seeking new research partners to join its T-cell Antigen Map project — an ongoing effort to map the human immune system. The project launched one year ago, when Microsoft partnered with Adaptive Biotechnologies, a Seattle-based biotech company. Under the partnership, researchers at Microsoft are using artificial intelligence to help analyze Adaptive Biotechnologies’ high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics data on T-cell and B-cell receptors,…
Nerve agents are a class of organophosphorus compounds (OPs) that blocks communication between nerves and organs. Because of their acute neurotoxicity, it is extremely difficult to rescue the victims after exposure. Numerous efforts have been devoted to search for an effective prophylactic nerve agent bioscavenger to prevent the deleterious effects of these compounds. However, low scavenging efficiency, unfavorable pharmacokinetics, and…
For 30 years, scientists have been trying to unleash the promise of Interleukin-2 (IL-2), a powerful protein that fights cancer but is highly toxic. Researchers at the University of Washington may finally have done it, and they’re launching a startup to make a commercial version. The breakthrough is described in a paper published in the journal Nature by researchers at the Institute for…
Hormonal changes influence the composition of vaginal flora, which is directly related to the health of an individual. Transgender men prescribed testosterone experience a vaginal hormone composition that differs from cisgender women. To the author’s knowledge, there are no clinical studies evaluating the influence that testosterone administration has on the vaginal microbiome. Vaginal swabs were self-collected by a cohort of…
Former Juno Therapeutics executives Hans Bishop and Steve Harr have launched Sana Biotechnology, a startup focused on cell therapy, gene therapy and gene editing. Backed by ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering and F-Prime Capital Partners, the new company is notable not just for its experienced leadership team, but also the amount of funding it is looking to raise out of the…
Angie Karalis Johnson has a dream that a cure for the progressive eye disease known as age-related macular degeneration will one day happen because of research advances at UW Medicine. To help realize this dream, Karalis Johnson has made a significant donation to the UW Medicine Eye Institute to establish the new Karalis Johnson Retina Center. The Karalis Johnson Retina…
