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Replies to post #246859 on Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)
Could have the late Dr. Andrew Parsa also been on the fast track to quickly learning re: PS Targeting ?
This becomes a little shocking. Now, Dr. Wolchok has been working with platforms from the late (both young..) Dr. Philip Thorpe / Dr. Andrew Parsa.
All 3 reports contain this lead-in: “The Kelsoe, Haynes, and Thorpe laboratories are developing immunogen formulations that trigger B cells normally tolerant to the desired Envelope epitopes and regions... Philip Thorpe is determining the role of lipid binding of anti-HIV antibodies and anti-phosphatidylserine(PS) autoantibodies to protection from HIV infection.”
HAYNES CAVD ANNUAL REPORT, SUBMITTED 9/1/07
“With Norm Letvin, a protection trial is being planned to determine if anti-PS antibodies can prevent infection or early viral destruction of the immune system in acute SIV infection.”
HAYNES CAVD PROGRESS REPORT, SUBMITTED 2/1/08
“We have completed the first protection trial to determine if anti-beta-2-glycoprotein-1 antibodies can prevent infection or early viral destruction of the immune system in acute SIV infection.”
HAYNES CAVD ANNUAL REPORT, SUBMITTED 9/22/08. “We have completed the first protection trial to determine if anti-beta-2-glycoprotein-1 antibodies can prevent infection or early viral destruction of the immune system in acute SIV infection and these pathogenic anti-lipid antibodies do not prevent HIV-1 and SIV infection in vitro and do not protect against SIV-1 infection in vivo. The team has recently found that non-pathogenic anti-lipid antibodies that do not require beta-2-glycoprotein-1 for lipid binding do prevent HIV-1 and SHIVSF162P3 (and all R5 HIVs tested) from infecting PBMC in vitro, and a prototype of non-pathogenic anti-lipid antibodies will be studied in vivo for the ability to protect against R5 SHIV infection.”
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsgs.aspx?subjectid=37332&msgnum=2007&batchsize=10&batchtype=Next
July 1, 2007 (JazzB..post)
Post # of 250299
HIV, PS & CD4+ T cells, Letvin / Haynes / McMichael / Thorpe / Gates / CHAVI etc.
I expect Thorpe / Haynes / McMichael to discuss/publish info on exposed PS and the role it plays facilitating viral pathogenesis, and how blocking PS may be an important part of successful vaccines & therapy.
enjoy,
j
Nat Rev Immunol. 2006 Dec
Progress and obstacles in the development of an AIDS vaccine.
Letvin NL Dec 2006.
Division of Viral Pathogenesis, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
abstract:
Recent experimental observations suggest approaches to immunization that might finally result in at least a partially effective vaccine against infection with HIV-1.
In particular, advances in our understanding of the contribution of vaccine-elicited cellular immunity to protecting memory CD4(+) T cells from virus-mediated destruction provide rational strategies for the development of this vaccine.
This is therefore an ideal time to review our current understanding of HIV-1 and its control by the immune system, as well as the remaining problems that must be solved to facilitate the development of an effective vaccine against AIDS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17124514&;...
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=20896207
June 13, 2012
Harvard Medical School professor Norman L. Letvin ’71, who was renowned as one of the scientific community’s leaders in the quest to develop an AIDS vaccine, was remembered after his death last month for not only his groundbreaking research but also his welcoming demeanor, musical gifts, and devotion to family.
Letvin, a pioneer in the use of non-human primates in AIDS vaccine research, died of pancreatic cancer on May 28 at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was 62.
After graduating summa cum laude from Harvard, Letvin earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975. While completing post-graduate training at the University of Pennsylvania, Letvin married Marion Stein ’71, a fellow doctor. The two returned to Boston, where Letvin completed his senior residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.
In the early 1980s, Letvin discovered simian immunodeficiency virus, a virus similar to HIV that causes an AIDS-like illness in monkeys. That momentous finding led to a workable way for scientists to test HIV vaccines.
From 1994 until his death, he served as chief of the Division of Viral Pathogenesis at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He also edited the AIDS section of Science for 13 years.
Those who knew Letvin remembered his stunning intuition as a scientist.
“I think he just had a natural talent for asking the right questions in science,” his wife Marion said. “He knew how to set up experiments in a way that whatever the results were, the data would be useful.”
Though his laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess was at the forefront of vital AIDS research, Letvin did not foster a tense working environment, colleagues recalled.
“His door was always open. He made everyone feel that he was extremely approachable,” said Wendy W. Yeh, a Medical School professor who worked in Letvin’s lab.
According to Igor J. Koralnik, another colleague, a popular joke in the laboratory was that even though Letvin did not own a cellphone, he remained in touch with everybody through his open-door policy.
“You’d pop in and he'd be very busy correcting papers or grants, but he would always be open—you'd never have to make appointments,” Koralnik remembered.
Letvin’s stringent editing of papers written by his lab team came to be known as “Letvinization” by the staff. Medical School professor Sampa Santra recalled that Letvin would ask his team to submit triple-spaced papers with wide margins to leave room for his extensive comments.
“He was clearly a very good writer,” said Mohammed Asmal ’95, a Medical School instructor. “And when it came time to write papers or grants, it was great to have timely feedback from him. He had a wonderful way of just being able to sit down and read through everyone’s grants and papers, which was no small feat because his lab had so many people.”
Andrew J. McMichael, a professor at Oxford University who collaborated on AIDS research with Letvin, recalled the sense of humor that he brought to his lab.
“That always helped meetings along—it helped when things were difficult and when things were going well as well,” McMichael said.
Letvin’s brilliance was not confined to the realm of science. He was first clarinetist at his high school and at Interlochen Arts Camp, which he attended for three years, according to Marion. Though his musical prowess garnered him acceptances at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute of Music, he chose to attend Harvard, where he won the Harvard Concerto Contest in 1969 and played in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, whose alumni organization he later led.
While he was in medical school, he served as a music tutor in Eliot House.
His passion for music continued throughout his life.
“When the alarm went off in the morning, it didn’t matter where it was in the music—he would name it after listening to a bar and he’d turn it off,” his wife remembered. “Then I’d turn it on again to see if he was right, and he always was.”
According to Koralnik, Letvin was discreet about his performances because he didn’t want his colleagues to feel obliged to listen to him.
When co-workers did see him play, however, they were amazed by his skill.
“He would be a totally transformed person onstage,” Santra said. “You wouldn’t believe he did anything other than music.”
A fan of high art of all sorts, Letvin also enjoyed attended Ontario’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival annually.
“He was a voracious reader and he read very quickly,” Marion Letvin said. “He was an insomniac, so he’d be up all night reading. He was known for recommending books to people.”
Letvin was also known for his care for his wife and children.
“They were a very, very closely knit family,” McMichael said. “He drew strength and support from them and gave them tremendous support. He was a family man, and I feel that it was a very important part of his character.”
According to his daughter Elizabeth M. Letvin ’13, he achieved a healthy balance between his work and his family life.
“My siblings and I were all very lucky, and we all know it,” she said.
Letvin is survived by his wife and children, Andrea, Rebecca, Adam, and Elizabeth, three of whom attended Harvard College.
A private funeral service was held on May 29, and a memorial service will take place in the fall. Donations can be made to the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra or Interlochen Arts Camp.
—Staff writer Petey E. Menz can be reached at menz@college.harvard.edu.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/6/13/letvin-obituary-research-music/
Now we have a few immunotherapy researchers where many years were taken and cut short, en route to some historic paradigm shifts in medical treatment they would be part of changing Big Pharma legacy ways. Along with the late Dr. Phil Thorpe and Dr. Andrew Parsa... we can include Dr. Alan Escher:
Alan P. Escher, Ph.D.
Dr. Alan Escher received his BSc magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut and PhD from Cornell University. Dr. Escher was previously Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Transplant Immunology Research at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, where he and his colleagues started to develop pro-apoptotic DNA vaccination for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. His laboratory was among the first to report the beneficial effects of DNA vaccination for type 1 diabetes in 1999. Later, his team successfully translated the technology to prevention of skin allograft rejection as proof-of-concept for application to organ transplantation. In 2009, he began his transition from the academic setting. He co-founded SEKRIS Biomedical to translate apoptotic DNA immunotherapy for treatment of inflammatory disorders. As Executive Vice President of Technology Development, he continued to strengthen the patent portfolio. While his presence will be sorely missed, Dr. Escher’s legacy will continue through continued development of his work and realization of his vision to control unwanted inflammation with the ADI technology.
http://sekrisbiomedical.com/alan-escher/
Many paths are taken from here but James Carlson was the CEO of PRACs and JDC Development, LLC - and he recruited Kevin Soiseth who ended up as a QA leader for NDSU’s Center for Biopharmaceutical Research and Production in 2011 and 12, but only up till December 2012.
The shortest path to partnerships sometimes is the simplest but at one time many years ago.... some decided to complicate matters and carved a much longer path right through the center of Fargo.
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Could have the late Dr. Andrew Parsa also been on the fast track to quickly learning re: PS Targeting ?
This becomes a little shocking. Now, Dr. Wolchok has been working with platforms from the late (both young..) Dr. Philip Thorpe / Dr. Andrew Parsa.
David Barker:
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Finally, this contribution marks the end of my term as Tumor
Section chair. It has truly been a privilege to work with each
member of the executive committee during the past two years, and
I would like to thank each one (especially Andy Parsa) for all their help, and their time away from practice and family.
..
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See "Alliance A071101" trial PI: Andy Parsa...
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Andy Parsa was scheduled as guest speaker at this event....
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http://tumorsection.tendenciapp.com/media/files/files/ecbc5994/TumorSectSpringNews2015.pdf
Oct 11, 2015
From the Chair
Frederick G. Barker II, MD, FAANS
Fellow Members: As all Tumor Section members know, Andy Parsa, MD, PhD, FAANS, the next chair of our section, died unexpectedly early in the morning of Monday, April 13. He would have started his term as chair in just three weeks.
When I heard the news later that morning, in the midst of a busy clinic, I stopped for quite a while to think about the many ways in which things would be changed without Andy. The weeks and months since that Monday have filled in the outlines of that picture. Andy was one of his generation’s leading tumor neurosurgeons. His fundamentally irreparable loss has left many gaps for us to try to fill. From the standpoint of the section, our bylaws gave no guidance as to the leadership succession in case of an officer vacancy due to death, resignation or disability. Past Chair Fred Lang, MD, FAANS, and I sought the advice of our Advisory Board and our parent organizations, formulated a plan which was ratified by the Executive Committee at AANS in May. Steve Kalkanis, MD, FAANS, who was elected to serve as Andy’s successor as secretary-treasurer, has now started that term of service, which will be shortened to a year, during which I will continue to serve as Chair. At AANS 2016, Dr. Kalkanis will become chair for a two-year term. His secretary-treasurer will be chosen by election this fall. Going forward, our section bylaws will be modified by bylaws chair, Jason Heth, MD, FAANS, to prescribe an orderly leadership succession plan for any unexpected vacancy in an officer position.
Andy had an amazing number of ongoing roles in tumor neurosurgery and in neurosurgery more broadly as well. At the section’s 11th Satellite Meeting this spring in Washington, D.C., with virtually no notice, many section members stepped up in his absence. Manish Aghi, MD, PhD, FAANS, took over as presiding officer for the meeting; Jim Markert, MD, FAANS, gave a much appreciated talk on regulatory matters in surgical clinical trials; and Mike Vogelbaum, MD, PhD, FAANS, took over Andy’s sunrise “meet-the-professor” session on becoming involved in clinical trials directed toward young neurosurgeons. Andy was the leader of our section’s update course at AANS; Mitch Berger, MD, FAANS, assumed that role this spring. In 2016 this course will be split into a morning session on gliomas and metastases, led by Dr. Berger and Nader Sanai, MD, FAANS; a complementary afternoon course on extra-axial, pediatric and spine tumors will be led by Michael Link and Dr. Aghi. Andy was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurosurgery; Randy Jensen, MD, PhD, FAANS, and myself have been chosen to serve in his stead. Andy was the PI of a multicenter, randomized phase II protocol of a heat shock protein vaccine for recurrent malignant glioma, run through the NCI-funded Alliance cancer cooperative group; Alliance leadership has selected Ian Parney, MD, PhD, FAANS, and Orin Bloch, MD, to serve as co-PIs of this important ongoing trial. At the time of writing, his successor as Chair of Neurosurgery at Northwestern has not yet been named.
Although Andy had over 300 publications, a SPORE project, an active clinical practice and a major neurosurgical department, his most important professional roles – the ways in which he was most unique – are harder to list. He was a mentor to countless residents and medical students during his years on staff at Northwestern and University of California San Francisco, helping his trainees to become better clinicians, researchers and residents and acting as a tireless booster of their subsequent careers. In 2010 he won the Mentor of the Year award from UCSF School of Medicine. He was a wonderful host, and national meetings in San Francisco always included a pre-meeting party at his beautiful home overlooking the city from the slope of Mt. Sutro. Andy never tired of predicting how much more fun the section’s receptions would be when he was chair, and I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t true.
Both inside and outside the profession Andy was a tenacious and valuable friend. I recognized this the moment I heard of his death: my first instinct was to wish I could call him and ask him for advice. At his memorial service in Chicago’s Standard Club, of which Dr. Aghi and I and many other Section members attended, a large ballroom was full to overflowing with people who had come from across the country to remember Andy. Speaker after speaker took the podium to talk about friendships going back to residency, to medical school, to college, to high school; teammates from Yale soccer remembered his unique work ethic; friends from high school (he was captain of both track and soccer) remembered him as being like another member of their family. Jeff Bruce, MD, FAANS, gave a heartfelt talk about Andy as a resident at Columbia, a talk that Isabelle Germano, MD, FAANS, told me was among the most moving she had heard at the Northwestern memorial earlier that week. Isaac Yang, MD, FAANS, described the privilege of being trained by Andy. Northwestern colleagues spoke of his interactions with all at his new hospital, how impressive it was to see him handle the head of the hospital and the night security guard with the same respect and dignity. A close family member left the stage without speaking, his grief momentarily too deep for words.
Andy left a young family: his wife Charlotte Shum, MD, a hand surgeon at Northwestern, and three young children, twins Julia and Micheline and their younger brother Ismail. His family requested that memorial contributions be directed to an education fund for his children (Dr. Aghi can provide details). His closest professional family, of course, is us, his fellow tumor neurosurgeons. His main goal as section chair, as he told me many times in the last two years, was to establish a financial foundation for the Section to fund its own research fellowship. Toward that end we have established an Honor-Your-Mentor fund in Andy’s name at NREF (www.nref. org), which is open for contributions from section members in his honor and to which the section will be contributing. In my mind, I think his advice to us might be this: work harder, work faster and stay close to what is important in your work. And even more so, stay close to friends and family. I will miss him.
Released: October 11th, 2015 10:23 PM
Author: Frederick Barker
http://tumorsection.org/news/from-the-chair/
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