Lifeboat Foundation

Dr. Steven Gazal, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is on a mission to answer a perplexing question: Why, despite millions of years of evolution, do humans still suffer from diseases?

As part of an international research team, Gazal has made a groundbreaking discovery. They’ve become the first to accurately pinpoint specific base pairs in the human genome that have remained unaltered throughout millions of years of mammalian evolution. These base pairs play a significant role in human disease. Their findings were published in a special Zoonomia edition of the journal Science.

Gazal and his team analyzed the genomes of 240 mammals, including humans, zooming in with unprecedented resolution to compare DNA.

Scientists have reconstructed the oral microbiomes from dozens of ancient humans, revealing previously undiscovered genes.

Scientists reconstructed the oral microbiomes from dozens of ancient humans, revealing extinct genes.

We’re currently working with companies that develop software and tools that make surgery smarter and safer while they empower surgeons and providers to improve patient outcomes, enhance operational efficiency and increase profitability with data-driven surgery using AI, automation and operating room analytics. This is where analytic components such as data lakes and warehouses are already making a difference in healthcare. We’ve seen them capable of powering millions of facts and patient records at a time. Tied to expertise, these tools allow data-informed decisions for measurable improvements in clinical, financial and operational aspects.

For instance, we’ve helped design and develop surgical applications to improve operating room efficiency, tele-surgery, data lake construction and surgical analytics. Clients come back with feedback on our skills and technical experience, feeling supported by the flexibility and technical boost we give their teams.

Collaboration between technology outsourcing companies and healthcare providers can result in considerable optimization, including improved patient care and maximized processes. Tech providers can strive for the perfect collaborative balance with the above key conversations while boosting robust ecosystems, shared platforms and data.

Research published in Nature Communications today, has shown that techniques initially developed for astronomy and ecology can be used to study the microenvironment of solid tumors.

Led by Peter Mac’s 2020 Lea Medal winner Dr. Anna Trigos and Yuzhou Feng, the study looked at patient tumor samples from prostate, colon and breast cancers and identified novel cancer subtypes, new patterns associated with patient survival, and was able to predict which patients were likely to develop metastasis first.

These exciting results have generated significant interest from medical oncologists, pathologists and immunologists.

A recent study published in Nature Neuroscience indicates that, contrary to common belief, the immune cells of the brain, known as microglia, are not all the same. Researchers found that a unique microglial subset with unique features and function is important for establishing proper cognitive functions in mice. Evidence for such microglial subsets exists also for the human brain, opening exciting new possibilities for novel therapies.

An international collaboration led by researchers from University of Helsinki, Karolinska Institutet and University of Seville characterized ARG1⁺ microglia, a subset of microglial cells, that produces the enzyme called arginase-1 (ARG1). Using advanced imaging techniques, the team found that ARG1⁺ microglia are abundant during development and less prevalent in adult animals. Strikingly, these ARG1⁺ microglia are located in specific brain areas important for cognitive functions such as learning, thinking and memory.

“Cognition and memory are crucial components of what makes us human, and microglia are necessary for proper brain development and function. Cognitive decline is a common feature of neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and depression,” says Dr. Vassilis Stratoulias, senior researcher at the University of Helsinki and lead author of the study.

Immune checkpoint blockade therapies have been revolutionary in the treatment of some cancer types, emerging as one of the most promising treatments for diseases such as melanoma, colon cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

While in some cases checkpoint blockade therapies elicit a strong immune response that clears tumors, checkpoint inhibitors do not work for all tumor types or all patients. Moreover, some patients who do experience an initial benefit from these therapies see their cancers recur. Only a small minority of patients treated with checkpoint blockade therapies see lasting benefits. Researchers have developed various combination therapy strategies to overcome resistance to checkpoint blockade therapies, with the STING pathway emerging as one of the most attractive lines of inquiry.

In a study published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, a team of MIT researchers engineered a therapeutic cancer vaccine capable of restoring STING signaling and eliminating the majority of tumors in mouse models of colon cancer and melanoma, with minimal side effects. The vaccine also inhibited metastasis in a breast cancer mouse model and prevented the recurrence of tumors in cured mice.

Every skin flake, hair follicle, eyelash, and spit drop cast from your body contains instructions written in a chemical code, one that is unique to you.

According to a new study, technology has advanced to the point that it’s now possible to sift scraps of human DNA out of the air, water, or soil and decipher personal details about the individuals who dropped them.

As useful as this might seem, the study’s authors warn society might not be prepared for the consequences.

After being at the helm for over a decade of internet juggernaut Google, former CEO Eric Schmidt has switched gears and one of his latest activities is being an advocate for the fast-growing US bioeconomy, which is valued at over $1T. During his keynote at the 2022 SynBioBeta conference in Oakland, CA last year, he passed along advice for the next generation of biotechnologists, detailing what is needed from different stakeholders to fulfill the potential of the global bioeconomy to solve the world’s biggest problems. I caught up with Schmidt again recently, a year since his talk, to see what progress has been made. You can see the full Q&A here.

I think it’s time.

The cerebellum, a major part of the hindbrain in all vertebrates, is important for motor coordination, language acquisition, and regulating social and emotional behaviors. A study led by Dr. Roy Sillitoe, professor of Pathology and Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital, shows two distinct types of cerebellar neurons differentially regulate motor and non-motor behaviors during development and in adulthood.

The study, published in Nature Communications, provides the first in vivo evidence supporting the critical role of a specific subset of excitatory glutamatergic neurons in acquiring motor and sensory/emotional behaviors. Further, it shows that neurons present in different regions of the cerebellum contribute differently to motor versus non-motor behaviors during development and in adulthood.

The cerebellar nuclei are present in the deepest layer of the cerebellum. These nuclei are encased by an outer highly convoluted sheet of tissue called the cerebellar cortex, which contains most of the other types of neurons in the cerebellum. The cerebellar cortex receives information from most parts of the body and other brain regions. These inputs are integrated by many types of cerebellar neurons and the deep-set cerebellar nuclei—the sole output structures in the cerebellum—then send those signals to the other parts of the brain.