Welcome to the biweekly electronic newsletter from the Bio-X Program at Stanford University for members of the Bio-X Corporate Forum. Please contact us if you would like to be added or removed from this distribution list, or if you have any questions about Bio-X or Stanford.

New Corporate Forum Liaison

Hanwei Li, Ph.D., is the newest member of Bio-X, and she is joining the team as the Corporate Forum Liaison. Her background includes professional experience in biotechnology, specifically in the field of antibodies and immunology, and research experience in tissue engineering and matrix remodeling for musculoskeletal diseases. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As the Corporate Forum Liaison, she will develop and manage corporate affiliate relations to Bio-X through collaborations with world-class Stanford researchers, and facilitate meetings with the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing. Through technical summits, seminars, and other events, these collaborations will foster essential foundations to support leading-edge discoveries.

Seed Grant Program

Seed Grants for Success, Stanford Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Program (IIP)

The Bio-X Interdisciplinary Initiatives Program represents a key Stanford initiative to address challenges in human health. The IIP awards approximately $3 million every other year in the form of two-year grants averaging about $150,000 each. From inception in 2000 through the fifth round in 2010, the program has provided critical early-stage funding to 113 interdisciplinary projects involving more than 293 faculty representing five Stanford schools and dozens of departments. Please save the date for our next Symposium on September 26, 2011 in the James H. Clark Center Auditorium at Stanford. Bio-X IIP grant awardees will give fifteen-minute presentations at the symposium. A poster session will be held during a post-symposium reception, where students involved in interdisciplinary research will present their work. Please see the list of speakers below under "Events".

To view the talks given at the Bio-X March 11, 2011 IIP Symposium please go to: http://bioxchannel.stanford.edu/groups/biox/wiki/1a9ac/IIP_Symposium__March_2011.html. The videos will work on both Windows and Mac operating systems with "typical" browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari). The Quicktime Player Plugin is required to view the video content. It can be downloaded at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/. The videos are delivered in a streaming format; therefore, playback quality may be affected by the internet speed of the user.

News

Stanford researchers show that there's more than one way to read - with implications for reading disorders - Bio-X Graduate Student Fellowship Funded Research
In a research paper appearing in last week's Neuron, neuroscientists from the Stanford Vision Imaging Science and Technology Lab demonstrate that one key to VWFA (Visual Word Form Area) function is its ability to recognize words through more than one visual pathway. The finding not only demonstrates the flexibility of the human visual system, but may also have implications for our understanding of dyslexia and other reading disorders.

Fingertip-size microscope has huge potential for studying the brain and its diseases, say Stanford researchers - Bio-X NeuroVentures CNC Program Funded Research
A readily portable miniature microscope weighing less than 2 grams and tiny enough to balance on your fingertip has been developed by Stanford University researchers. The scope is designed to see fluorescent markers, such as dyes, commonly used by medical and biological researchers studying the brains of mice. The new device has no moving parts that would require realignment if the scope gets jostled and, aside from the outer lens, it is sealed against dust, making it well suited for use outside the lab.

Does that hurt? Objective way to measure pain being developed at Stanford
Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a first step toward developing a diagnostic tool that could eliminate a major hurdle in pain medicine — the dependency on self-reporting to measure the presence or absence of pain. The new tool would use patterns of brain activity to give an objective physiologic assessment of whether someone is in pain.

Beachy to receive Keio science prize
The Keio Medical Science Prize from Keio University in Tokyo has been awarded to Philip Beachy, PhD, professor of biochemistry and of developmental biology. ... Beachy, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, is receiving the prize in recognition of his identification of “hedgehog,” a key molecule in development, and its medical applications.

"Raman's 'Effect' on Molecular Imaging" - publication in Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol 52
Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique that offers unsurpassed sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities to the field of molecular imaging. In the past, Raman spectroscopy had predominantly been used as an analytic tool for routine chemical analysis, but more recently, researchers have been able to harness its unique properties for imaging and spectral analysis of molecular interactions in cell populations and preclinical animal models. Additionally, researchers have already begun to translate this optical technique into a novel clinical diagnostic tool using various endoscopic strategies.

"Endothelial Cells Derived From Human iPSCS Increase Capillary Density and Improve Perfusion in A Mouse Model of Peripheral Arterial Disease" - publication in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Vol 31
Stem cell therapy for angiogenesis and vascular regeneration has been investigated using adult or embryonic stem cells. In the present study, we investigated the potential of endothelial cells (ECs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to promote the perfusion of ischemic tissue in a murine model of peripheral arterial disease.

"Antagonistic VEGF variants engineered to simultaneously bind to and inhibit VEGFR2 and {alpha}v{beta}3 integrin" - publication in PNAS, Vol 108 Iss 34
Significant cross-talk exists between receptors that mediate angiogenesis, such as VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2) and alpha(v)beta(3) integrin. Thus, agents that inhibit both receptors would have important therapeutic potential. Here, we used an antagonistic VEGF ligand as a molecular scaffold to engineer dual-specific proteins that bound to VEGFR2 and alpha(v)beta(3) integrin with antibody-like affinities and inhibited angiogenic processes in vitro and in vivo.

Events

Resources

To learn more about Bio-X or Stanford University, please contact Dr. Hanwei Li, the Corporate Forum Liaison of Bio-X, at 650-725-1523 or lhanwei1@stanford.edu, or Dr. Heideh Fattaey, the Executive Director of Bio-X Operations and Programs, at 650-799-1608 or hfattaey@stanford.edu.