Daily Business Report-April 24, 2018
Former Vice President Joe Biden addresses cancer conference. (Credit: Salk Institute)
Salk Institute Launches
Conquering Cancer Initiative
The Salk Institute on Friday launched a new initiative — Conquering Cancer— to harness specific and emerging scientific strategies to tackle the five deadliest cancers: pancreatic, ovarian, lung, brain (glioblastoma) and triple-negative breast.
The event opened with a panel discussion moderated by Salk Vice Board Chair Marna Whittington and including cancer experts and Salk faculty Ronald Evans, Diana Hargreaves, Susan Kaech, Geoffrey Wahl and director of the Cancer Center at the Salk Institute, Reuben Shaw.
The Salk Cancer Center aims to catalyze discovery beyond boundaries, redefining humanity’s fundamental understanding of cancer,” said Shaw. “We will leverage that new knowledge to develop therapeutics that transform how we treat cancer.”
The keynote address was delivered to the audience of 300 Salk donors, faculty and supporters by former Vice President Joe Biden, who led the White House Cancer Moonshot initiative. which resulted in more than 80 new actions and collaborations from the public and private sectors to speed progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.
“Cancer research comes with its own complex mazes to navigate,” said Biden. “That’s what this Institute has been so successful at for decades—at taking on the big challenges and delivering new breakthroughs. Salk is doing that again today with this new cancer initiative — to take some of the toughest-to-treat cancers: brain, ovarian, pancreatic, breast cancer and lung cancer.”
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Scientist Team Receive $1.3 Million Grant
to Develop Drugs to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease
A team of scientists from the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has been awarded a three-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to identify prototype drugs with the long-term goal of developing a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
The $1.3 million grant stems from a collaborative effort between Drs. Huaxi Xu, Michael Jackson and Eduard Sergienko, who have been working for the past two years on research funded by C4C and a grant from Stuart and Karen Tanz. The studies focus on a gene called TREM2, mutations of which are known to correlate with a significantly increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s.
With this NIH grant, the SBP team plans to identify prototype drugs that can bind to and modulate the activity of TREM2. The identified chemical compounds will be tested in cellular systems, to provide insight into the biology of TREM2 and its role in late-onset Alzheimer’s and to advance the long-term goal of developing a disease-modifying treatment.
“Alzheimer’s disease represents a huge unmet patient need,” said Kristiina Vuori, M.D., president of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. “There are no known cures and no disease modifying therapies ― yet. We are committed to help change that.”
Participating with Sanford Burnham Prebys in C4C are The Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, J. Craig Venter Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
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Three UC San Diego Professors Elected
to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected three professors of the University of California San Diego as new members. UC San Diego’s Darwin Berg, Marta Kutas and Ivan Schuller will join the academy’s class of 2018 that features 213 individuals in a wide range of disciplines and professions.
The university’s professors will be inducted along with the other new members at a ceremony in October in Cambridge, Mass.
- Darwin Berg, professor emeritus in the Division of Biological Sciences, has made many contributions to the understanding of synapse formation and nicotinic signaling in the brain.
- Marta Kutas, professor and chair of the Department of Cognitive Science, and adjunct professor of neurosciences, uses behavioral and electrophysiological techniques to study brain processes during language comprehension and meaning construction.
- Ivan Schuller, professor and solid state physicist in the Division of Physical Sciences, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Center for Advanced Nanoscience, is a high-technology expert known for creating the field of metallic superlattices and recognizing its impact on magnetism and superconductivity.
Click here for the full story
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Student Entrepreneurs to Compete in
USD’s Venture Vetting Competition
Student entrepreneurs from both the University of San Diego and Latin America will compete for cash to turn their ideas into reality at the seventh annual Venture Vetting (V2) Competition on Thursday. The event runs from 5 to 8:30 p.m. in USD’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.
Three finalist teams from USD and three from Mexico and Uruguay will pitch their bold ideas to a panel of investors and compete for a total of $30,000 in cash and in-kind support to fund their fledgling enterprises.
Finalist USD teams include Kingery, a jewelry and lifestyle brand inspired by the culture of motorcycles and surfing; Picket, an innovative lawnmower that makes lawn care quieter, cleaner and easier than ever; and Generations, a service platform allowing stay-at-home moms to build profitable businesses assisting homebound seniors.
Finalist Latin America teams include INT ID, a smart lock granting access to a digital wallet and Bitcoin currency; Therapsy, a service allowing people to receive online therapy; and Citycop, a social platform enabling neighbors to report and fight crime.
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SAIC Awarded $73 Million Task Order by SPAWAR
The U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) has awarded Science Applications International Corp. a task order to provide architecture and systems engineering support services to the Office of the Chief Engineer, the Fleet Readiness Directorate and various C4ISR programs and offices.
The task order has a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options, and a total contract value of more than $73 million if all options are exercised. The task order was awarded under the SeaPort-e contracting vehicle, and most of this work will be performed in San Diego.
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NAIOP to Stage Eighth Annual
University Challenge April 25
NAIOP San Diego, the commercial real estate development association, will host its eighth annual University Challenge on April 25.
Student teams from San Diego State University’s Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate, University of California, San Diego’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and University of San Diego’s Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate will compete head-to-head in a real estate competition to present the highest and best use for a proposed mix-use redevelopment site in San Diego.
Potential issues to be addressed may include financing, transit-oriented possibilities, sustainable development, traffic patterns, community impact and feasibility.
University Challenge entries will be judged by San Diego real estate leaders.
The event will be held at Paseo Del Mar, 12265 Camino Real, San Diego. 4:15 p.m. registration; 4:30 p.m. event; 7 p.m. reception. Cost is $20 for members, $40 for nonmembers and $10 for students.
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General Atomics Completes Testing
of its Orbital Test Bed Satellite
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced Monday that it has completed full system and “ready for launch” pre-flight testing of its Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite. OTB will launch as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Technology Program flight on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The OTB hosts multiple payloads on a single platform for on-orbit technology demonstration. Among the hosted payloads on OTB is NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Deep Space Atomic Clock, designed and built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which supports deep space navigation and exploration.
“The completion of system testing marks a significant milestone, allowing us to effectively “button up” the OTB satellite in anticipation of delivery to Cape Canaveral for launch into space,” said Scott Forney, president of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems “We believe OTB is a new paradigm in hosted payload satellite design and is paving the way to make space more affordable and accessible to customers looking to demonstrate and validate their technologies on-orbit.”
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Insurance Commissioner Renews Request
to Insurers to Offer Cannabis Industry Insurance
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has renewed his call for insurers to offer insurance products for California’s legalized cannabis industry in the wake of last week’s published reports that President Trump has abandoned Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ policy on federal law enforcement of cannabis. Jones said that, since the voters of California voted to legalize adult recreational use of cannabis in November 2016, he has worked to get insurers to offer insurance products to cover the insurance needs of the cannabis industry. Over 24 surplus lines insurers and the first admitted insurer are now offering insurance for various risks faced by the cannabis businesses in California.
