July 1, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – In their recent publication in Cell Reports, a team of scientists, led by Xiling Shen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), has demonstrated the pivotal role of an enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), in facilitating ovarian cancer (OC) growth and metastasis in the omentum, a curtain of fatty tissue found in the abdominal cavity.
By Megan Bettilyon
Not all science leads to innovative outcomes – in fact, it’s rare when the day-to-day work of a wet-lab comes across something new. You can, however, stack the deck in your favor by encouraging yourself, and your team, to try something new. Push the boundaries of what is known and be willing to accept failure as a step toward success. You can choose to be innovative; you can choose to surround yourself with people who think differently. This is when the magic happens. This is where the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) recently found a way to change the game in how we can bring novel therapeutics to market faster, cheaper, and more effectively.
June 17, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – A collaborative team, including scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), has developed a novel, self-plugging microneedle for injecting therapeutics into the eyes, potentially solving one of the major challenges of treating eye diseases – accurate delivery of therapeutic drugs to the retina, while guarding against possible complications at the injection site.
June 9, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – Those who are habitually inclined to consume burgers, fries and soda may think twice about their dietary choices following scientists’ latest findings about high-fat, high-fructose diets.
As reported in their recent publication in Cell Metabolism, a collaborative team, led by Xiling Shen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), discovered that a high-fat diet can increase fructose metabolism in the small intestine, leading to release of a fructose-specific metabolite called glycerate into circulation. Circulating glycerate can subsequently cause damage of the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, increasing the risk of glucose tolerance disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
May 20, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation’s (TIBI’s) new facility in Woodland Hills has begun in earnest. Workers have installed new plumbing underneath the building and have reinforced the historic building’s 50-year-old structure. They’ve also laid down a new roof, replaced existing glass-front walls, and are working on new skylights and an elevator pit.
In order to minimize vibration in the facility’s second-floor laboratories, the second story was shored up with steel-beamed supports and framing for some of the internal walls have already gone up. In addition, the building’s electrical and heating/cooling/ventilation systems are being installed.
The remaining work will take an estimated time of six months to complete, at which time TIBI employees, along with much of their equipment and supplies, will move from their current West Los Angeles facility to Woodland Hills.
May 5, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – A patient’s tumor cell response to therapy is affected by many factors, including genetic alterations, tumor microenvironment, and intratumoral heterogeneity. This can make it extremely difficult to determine optimum treatment regimens, amidst the ever-increasing number of drug candidates and cancer therapies that have recently been developed. Added to these challenges is the limited timeframe in which treatment decisions must be made after diagnosis – frequently on the order of two weeks or less.
May 3, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – Just mentioning a ruptured Achilles tendon would make anyone wince. Tendon injuries are well known for their lengthy, difficult and often incomplete healing processes. Sudden or repetitive motion, experienced by athletes and factory workers, for example, increases the risk of tears or ruptures in the tendons; thirty percent of all people will have a tendon injury, with the risk being highest in women. What’s more, those who suffer from these injuries are more prone to further injuries at the site or never recover fully.
April 19, 2022
(LOS ANGELES) – There are myriad ways in which people can experience physical wounds – from minor scrapes and abrasions to the effects of surgery, critical injuries, burns and other major traumas. The healing process for these wounds can also vary among individuals and may be adversely affected by underlying health conditions such as vascular insufficiencies, diabetes, obesity and advanced age. In severe cases, abnormal wound healing processes can result in chronic wounds, a condition which can dramatically affect mobility, quality of life and healthcare costs.