University of Cape Town announces Dr. Michael Hayden’s honorary degree
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Michael Hayden on his recently awarded degree of Doctor of Science in Medicine (DSc(Med)) (honoris causa) by the University of Cape Town. Read more: https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2024-02-20-uct-to-confer-honorary-doctorates-on-six-remarkable-individuals This award is in recognition of his contribution to biomedical research and inspirational leadership as a clinician-scientist, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. Michael has been the recipient of numerous […]
Dr. Bruce Verchere, recipient of the Diabetes Canada 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award
Congratulations to Dr. Bruce Verchere, recipient of the Diabetes Canada 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. Announcement: https://twitter.com/DiabetesCanada/status/1716862360084754802 DIABETES CANADA AND CIHR-INMD EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER PARTNERSHIP AWARD LECTURE & LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD LECTURE Thank you for those who joined us at Vascular 2023 on October 26th to hear Dr. Verchere’s inspiring lecture about diabetes research. Vascular 2023 […]
Dr. Michael Kobor appointed as Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging (ELCHA) Inaugural Director
Michael S. Kobor, PhD Edwin S.H. Leong UBC Chair in Healthy Aging – a UBC President’s Excellence ChairCanada Research Chair in Social EpigeneticsProfessor, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Faculty of Medicine Dr. Michael Kobor is a renowned biomedical researcher studying how our social environments and life experiences get “under the skin” through biological embedding to […]
Simpson Lab paper in Nature’s Gene Therapy
Read the new paper from the Simpson lab in Nature’s Gene Therapy: Human MiniPromoters for ocular-rAAV expression in ON bipolar, cone, corneal, endothelial, Müller glial, and PAX6 cells, here: https://rdcu.be/ceDDL
New antivirus options from UBC IT
As of 2020 July, UBC IT has mandated a changeover in cyber security/anti malware software. Here is what you need to know: Your on-site desktop computers that log in with CMMT network credentials will be handled by CMMT IT Your UBC-owned laptops will need you to do the following – Uninstall SOPHOS (see section below) […]
Leadership Update: Bruce Verchere appointed Director, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
Dear Colleagues, It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Dr. Bruce Verchere as the Director of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT). Dr. Verchere is a highly accomplished researcher and Professor in the Departments of Pathology and […]
Huntington drug successfully lowers levels of disease-causing protein
An international clinical trial has found that a new drug for Huntington disease is safe, and that treatment with the drug successfully lowers levels of the abnormal protein that causes the debilitating disease in patients. In the study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from UBC and their colleagues have demonstrated […]
Huntingtin Lowering Strategies for Disease Modification in Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease is caused by an abnormally expanded CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene, which confers a predominant toxic gain of function in the mutant huntingtin (mHTT) protein. There are currently no disease-modifying therapies available, but approaches that target proximally in disease pathogenesis hold great promise. These include DNA-targeting techniques such as zinc-finger proteins, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, […]
Trainee Spotlight: Jeffy Rajan
Kudos to Jeffy Rajan, recipient of a 2019 Brain, Behaviour and Development (BB&D) Trainee Boost Award. Jeffy hangs out in the Goldowitz Lab and her project is “Impact of motor learning performance in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)”. “I am very grateful to be the recipient of the BB&D Trainee Boost Award in recognition of a […]
Lowering levels of mutant protein that causes Huntington disease can restore cognitive function in mice
Lowering levels of mutant protein that causes Huntington disease can restore cognitive function in mice
Strict eating schedule can lower huntington disease protein in mice
Strict eating schedule can lower Huntington disease protein in mice
BC and UK partnership to tackle rare diseases through genomics
Vancouver, BC — A new partnership pilot project between Genome British Columbia (Genome BC) and Genomics England will focus on improving the diagnosis of rare diseases in children while furthering the discovery of new, novel diseases in BC and around the world. More than 80 per cent of the 7000 known rare diseases are genetic […]
‘Phenomenal’ trial results may lead to a treatment for Huntington’s disease, experts say
via the Washington Post: The discovery of a drug that may treat the fatal disease known as Huntington’s is being hailed as “historic” by Louise Vetter, president and CEO of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, and “phenomenal” and “fantastically promising” by Huntington’s researchers, including the woman who discovered the genetic mutation that causes the disease. “I’m […]
Ionis Antisense Oligonuleotide Drug IONIS-HTTRX is Safe and Decreases Levels of Toxic Huntington’s Disease Protein in Cerebrospinal Fluid.
In a statement released today, Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced study results demonstrating for the first time that their drug (IONIS-HTTRX) lowered levels of the abnormal protein causing Huntington’s disease in cerebrospinal fluid, and that this approach was safe and well tolerated in humans. Link: http://ir.ionispharma.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ionis-pharmaceuticals-licenses-ionis-htt-rx-partner-following The IONIS-HTTRx Study: The IONIS-HTTRX trial enrolled 46 patients with […]
Potential Breakthrough for Huntington’s Disease
Lancet, Neurology paper released “Neurofilament light protein in blood as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease: a retrospective cohort analysis”. Authors: Lauren M Byrne, MRes, Filipe B Rodrigues, MD, Prof Kaj Blennow, PhD, Prof Alexandra Durr, PhD, Prof Blair R Leavitt, PhD, Prof Raymund A C Roos, PhD, Rachael I Scahill, PhD, Prof […]
Pope embraces Huntington’s afflicted in bid to end stigma
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/pope-embraces-huntington-s-afflicted-in-bid-to-end-stigma-1.3418951 VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis embraced weeping mothers, fathers and children with Huntington’s Disease on Thursday as he sought to remove the stigma of an incurable genetic disorder that causes such devastating physical and psychiatric effects that its sufferers are often shunned and abandoned. One by one, Francis blessed and greeted each of the […]
BC Children’s Hospital researchers & UBC students create their own e-textbook and new software platform
Undergraduate students in Dr. Wyeth Wasserman’s cancer genetics class had a unique assignment: to write their own e-textbook for their course. “Textbooks cost too much and students should have high quality, free materials,” says Dr. Wasserman, who led the project. He is executive director of BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, professor in the Department of […]
Dr. Michael S. Kobor appointed as the Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development
Congratulations to Dr. Michael S. Kobor Dr. Michael S. Kobor has been appointed as the Sunny Hill BC Leadership Chair in Child Development. The Chair has a $6-million endowment that will support research on understanding how early life experiences affect gene expression to influence children’s health and development. Dr. Kobor seeks to understand why some […]
October 6, 2016 – Dr. Michael Hayden inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
October 7th, 2016 Vancouver, B.C. [October 6, 2016] Dr. Michael Hayden, Killam Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, will be inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He joins five other outstanding doctors whose outstanding contributions to health have made […]
June 22, 2016 – Is Huntington’s Disease More Common than We Thought?
June 22, 2016 – More people may have the potential to develop Huntington’s disease than previously thought, according to a study published in the June 22, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. But the increase comes in the percentage of people who have a lower risk of […]
A handful of British Columbians are helping test a new “gene silencing” drug designed to halt production of a toxic protein that causes brain wasting in Huntington Disease.
October 21st, 2015 A handful of British Columbians are helping test a new “gene silencing” drug designed to halt production of a toxic protein that causes brain wasting in Huntington Disease. A clinical trial now underway to prove the safety of the experimental drug ISIS-HTT will include 36 patients with very early symptoms of the […]