NEWS
August 2008
Annual British Microcirculation Society Meeting Report
The Report from the Annual British Microcirculation Society Meeting held at King's College London April 2008. BSGT sponsored the 'Gene Therapy for Angiogenesis' symposium.
March 2008
BSGT adopts Human Gene Therapy as the official journal of the Society
The BSGT Executive has reached a formal agreement over adopting Human Gene Therapy as the Society's official journal. All members of BSGT will now have free access to Human Gene Therapy on line and Human Gene Therapy will publish BSGT abstracts from the annual conference.
The Editor in Chief, Jim Wilson, and his enthusiastic & efficient staff at Human Gene Therapy are determined to establish the journal as the leading international journal for gene therapy, seeking to develop a co-ordinated international board (including a European Editor) in order to promote and publish high quality research across the globe. BSGT hopes to play an active and key role in this development.
Working with Human Gene Therapy should provide BSGT with many opportunities to contribute more effectively to social and scientific progress in the field, notably by providing an opportunity for the BSGT voice to be heard on a broader platform. To make the most of this opportunity we are seeking to convene a dynamic 'Journal Working Party' that will seek to develop the interaction efficiently. Please email info@bsgt.org if you would like to be involved.
Jan 2008
Passing of Judah Folkman, MD
The death of Judah Folkman marks the passing of a leading light in tumour biology and therapy. He was the force that identified vascularisation as central to tumour growth, and inspired the concept of anti-vascular therapies as the Achilles' heel of cancer. In the 1970s when he first proposed controlling tumour growth using anti-vascular treatments he was met by disbelief and even ridicule by the scientific community, which was not able to accept such a leap of insight. Nevertheless Judah persevered and founded and directed the Vascular Biology Programme at the Childrens' Hospital in Boston. During his long and productive scientific and surgical career he was responsible for development of several new anti vascular drugs and treatment strategies, many in increasing use today. Some 1.2m people worldwide are now receiving anti-angiogenic therapies as a result of his work.
I was lucky enough to spend time with Judah recently in Japan. Amongst a wealth of insights and anecdotes he told me that he had been amused by premature reports of his death, including one at a meeting where he had actually been present in the audience. Phoning his wife to reassure her that he had not yet died, she mentioned receiving several condolence phone calls that she'd answered with 'well if he's dead it must be recent, because the toilet seat is still up'. He was a friendly, insightful and inspirational man, always at the controversial frontier of science and maintaining an enthusiasm to push into the unknown with the desire to benefit humanity. We extend our sincere condolences to his wife, family and his multitude of friends around the world at their sad loss.
Len Seymour, Jan 25th 2008.
Advanced therapies: public call for expressions of interest as Commission
appointees to the European Medicines Agency Committee for Advanced Therapies
The European Commission has published on 10/1/2008 a public call for expressions
of interest which relates to the appointment by the Commission of members and
alternates representing clinicians and patients' associations at the Committee
for Advanced Therapies of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). The public call
is available in all EU official languages:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/advtherapies/index.htm
Expressions of interest should be notified to Nicolas Rossignol at the European
Commission by e-mail to nicolas.rossignol@ec.europa.eu
.
The deadline for receipt of the notifications is 6.00 p.m. on Friday 14 March
2008.
The
Vector Directory commissioned by the Department of Health
Published: 30 October 2007
The Vector Directory details UK, EU and US suppliers of the vectors commonly
used in gene therapy, and gives guidance to researchers seeking to have vectors
manufactured for clinical trials. It is intended to help researchers bring the
advances in genetics more quickly to the patient's bedside.
Gendicine - World's first commercialised gene therapy medicine
for treatment of cancer.
View the (Windows Media Viewer) news clip or the
(Real Media) news clip - courtesy of ITN Source
BSGT and the Australasian Gene Therapy Society (AGTS) Exchange Programme
In September 2006 BSGT and AGTS ran a competition to identify a delegate who
would be funded to attend the AGTS Conference, to be held April 18th-20th 2007
in Canberra.
The competition was open to all BSGT members but priority was given to
applicants who intended to develop collaborations with Australasian scientists
and forge links between BSGT and AGTS.
The competition was won by Dr Suzy Buckley of the Royal Free and University
College Medical School who attended the AGTS conference and also took the
opportunity to spend time in the laboratory of her collaborator Dr David
Parsons working on transduction capability of the gp64 pseudotyped HIV vector.
To read Suzy's report of her trip please
click here.
A similar competition is being run for AGTS members.
If you have a relevant article, please email it to:
info@bsgt.org