Member Spotlight: United Therapeutics Corporation
By Martine Rothblatt, PhD, Chairman and CEO of United Therapeutics Corporation.
Founded in 1996, United Therapeutics Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of unique products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening conditions. We have four approved products on the market today and we are not stopping there! From the United States to Europe to the Asia Pacific, we are proud of our multicultural business environment where employees can collaborate with people all over the world. As a group, we are relentless in our pursuit of “medicines for life”® and continue our research into treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension, cancer, and some of the world’s most complicated viral illnesses.
We are proud to partner with Research!America to promote better medical advancements, biomedical research, and overall greater global health initiatives. We have seen first-hand how tireless research and dedication to a cause can change the lives of thousands of patients and their loved ones. We began our story by conducting extensive research on a treatment for a deadly disease so rare, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), that other medical companies had abandoned any pursuits for treatments or a cure. Continue reading →
Member spotlight: Texas Biomedical Research Institute
By Robert Gracy, PhD, CEO of Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Now in its eighth decade of existence, the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, has a mission “to improve the health of our global community through innovative biomedical research.” Texas Biomed has a breadth and depth of scientific inquiry coupled with an unparalleled collection of research resources, which in combination provides its researchers unique capabilities. Texas Biomed also views partnering with Research!America – a strong advocate for growing our country’s investment in biomedical funding – as retaining an effective ally in maintaining and eventually strengthening the backbone of our country’s preeminent position in the biomedical research field.
In the Department of Genetics, researchers are examining the genes related to complex diseases such as cardiovascular illness, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, macular degeneration, behavioral and psychiatric disorders, arthritis and osteoporosis – hoping to ultimately provide the foundation of knowledge that can lead to better treatment of these devastating illnesses and to personalize care according to the genetic profile of each patient. Continue reading →
Member spotlight: the Association for Psychological Science
By Alan G. Kraut, Executive Director of the Association for Psychological Science
In the minds of many people, there is a separation between biomedical research and behavioral research. But that separation is artificial. Behavior is at the core of many health problems. Six out of 10 of the leading causes of premature death, including heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, are linked in part to genetic influences but also to controllable behaviors like physical inactivity, poor diet and smoking.
Our 25,000 members are scientists and educators at the nation’s universities and colleges, conducting federally funded basic and applied, theoretical, and clinical research. They look at such things as the connections between emotion, stress, and biology and the impact of stress on health; they look at ways to manage debilitating chronic conditions such as diabetes and arthritis as well as depression and other mental disorders; they look at how genes and the environment influence behavioral traits such as aggression and anxiety; and they address the behavioral aspects of smoking and drug and alcohol abuse.
Just as there exists a layered understanding, from basic to applied, of how molecules affect brain cancer, there is a similar spectrum for behavioral research. Continue reading →
2014 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is accepting nominations for the 2014 Lurie Prize in the Biomedical Sciences, an annual award recognizing outstanding achievement by a young scientist in biomedical research.
The Prize? $100,000, made possible by a generous gift from Ann Lurie, FNIH Board Member, distinguished philanthropist and president of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation.
A few things to remember if you want to apply: the nominator must be a member of an accredited educational and/or scientific institution; the candidate must be 52 or younger on January 1, 2014; all nomination materials must be in English; and no self-nominations are allowed.
The awardee will be selected by a jury of six distinguished biomedical researchers, chaired by Solomon H. Snyder, MD, Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology & Psychiatry of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Last year’s winner was Ruslan M. Medzhitov, PhD, the David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator for discoveries related to the immune system. The innate immune system that Medzhitov studies rapidly mobilizes a response to infection and, together with the adaptive immune system, is crucial to protecting human health.
Deadline to submit nominations is October 1, 2013, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
If you have any questions, email lurieprizeinfo@fnih.org.