The CIRM Grant Will Support Stem Cell Training and Research for the Institute’s PhD Students, Postdoctoral Fellows and Clinical Fellows
Investigator(s):
The Lundquist Institute
LOS ANGELES (September 24, 2021) — The Lundquist Institute (TLI) announced that it has received a generous $5 million, 5-year grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) that will allow its PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and clinical fellows to pursue careers in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
Convalescent plasma from blood donors who have recovered from COVID-19 does not prevent disease in acutely ill, high-risk patients with COVID-19.
Investigator(s):
Kabir Yadav, MDCM, MS, MSHS, FACEP
LOS ANGELES — The Lundquist Institute announced that, in a new study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine, its Investigators and research colleagues at other institutions have found that passive immunization by infusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma is not a viable strategy to reduce the severity of illness. Plasma from recovered patients who have already developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 is often the most readily available source of antibodies early in epidemics or emerging infections.
Investigator(s):
The Lundquist Institute
LOS ANGELES — BioLabs LA at The Lundquist Institute, a co-working and incubator facility for high-potential bioscience start-ups, has reached 100% capacity ahead of schedule. This critical milestone demonstrates the strong demand for entrepreneurial startup opportunities in the bioscience sphere in Los Angeles.
Paper in Nature Genetics: Genome-wide Meta-Analysis Shows That Research into Different Ancestries Leads to Better Results and Better Care
Investigator(s):
Jerome I Rotter, MD
LOS ANGELES — Today The Lundquist Institute announced that its investigators contributed data from several studies, including data on Hispanics, African-Americans and East Asians, to the international MAGIC collaboration, composed of more than 400 global academics, who conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis led by the University of Exeter. Now published in Nature Genetics, their findings demonstrate that expanding research into different ancestries yields more and better results, as well as ultimately benefitting global patient care.
Yan Group’s Research Shows That Motile Cilia Are Key to Oocyte Pickup in the Fallopian Tube
Investigator(s):
Wei Yan, MD, PhD
Unlike the normal Fallopian tube (left), the "cilia-less" Fallopian tube fails to pick up ovulated eggs, leading to female infertility (right). Art by Tingting Xie.
LOS ANGELES — Today, The Lundquist Institute announced that Wei Yan, MD, PhD, and his research group have solved a longstanding mystery and scientific debate about the mechanism underlying the gamete and embryo transport within the Fallopian tube. Using a mouse model where the animals lacked motile cilia in the oviduct, Dr.
Dr. Ibrahim’s start-up Vitalex Biosciences is manufacturing humanized monoclonal antibodies that would stem the spread of this fatal disease
Investigator(s):
Ashraf Ibrahim, PhD
LOS ANGELES — The Lundquist Institute today announced that one of its spinoff start-up companies, Vitalex Biosciences, founded by researcher Dr. Ashraf Ibrahim, is producing an antibody that stems the spread of mucormycosis, a deadly fungal infection with an overall mortality rate of 50% and higher. Mucormycosis is an emerging infection caused by exposure to mucor, a mold commonly found in soil, plants, manure, and decaying fruits and vegetables.
COVID Research Supports The Institute’s Core Mission to Save Lives and Empower Healthcare Equity
Investigator(s):
Eric Daar, MD, Loren Miller, MD, MPH, Michael Yeaman, PhD
LOS ANGELES, CA — April 27, 2021 — Investigators at The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a leading clinical research center on life-saving vaccines and treatments, have been among the first and foremost to respond against COVID-19. Since March 2020, The Lundquist Institute has led or participated in eight COVID-19 clinical studies and the results of this research have changed the world. This timely and vigorous response was due to the number of early cases and extreme COVID-19 infection surges in south-central Los Angeles.
Matthew Budoff, MD, Will Present the Analyses at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Preventive Cardiology 2021
Investigator(s):
Matthew Budoff, MD
LOS ANGELES (April 17, 2021) — Today, The Lundquist Institute announced that Matthew Budoff, MD, Director of Cardiovascular CT at the Institute and Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will present further analyses from the Effect of Icosapent Ethyl on Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Patients with Elevated Triglycerides on Statin Therapy: EVAPORATE Trial as Late- Breaking Science at European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Preventive Cardiology 2021, the Annual Congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology.
For Critically Ill Patients with Advanced Medical Illnesses and Poor Prognoses, Overuse of Invasive ICU Treatment May Prolong Suffering
Investigator(s):
Dong Chang, MD
LOS ANGELES (April 13, 2021) — The Lundquist Institute (TLI) Investigator Dong W. Chang, MD, and his colleagues’ study on critically ill patients and ICU treatments was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study – “Evaluation of Time-Limited Trials Among Critically Ill Patients with Advanced Medical Illnesses and Reduction of Nonbeneficial ICU Treatments” – found that training physicians to communicate with family members of critically ill patients using a structured approach, which promotes shared decision-making, improved the quality of family meetings.
Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute To Develop Formulation
-Agreement advances evolution of synthetic lung surfactants to treat respiratory distress Syndrome in premature infants in Low- and Middle-Income Countries-
Investigator(s):
Frans Walther, MD, PhD, FAAP
LOS ANGELES — The Lundquist Institute (TLI) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) executed a license agreement for TLI intellectual property covering a synthetic lung surfactant formulation to be developed for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) for premature infants in Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMIC). TLI already maintains patents on this invention in the United States, Canada and Europe.