The Cambridge Healthtech Institute's 9th Annual Conference on Blood Safety

This article summarises, and provides a personal commentary on, the Cambridge HealthTech Institute's Conference on Blood Safety in February 2003. Most of the converging areas which contribute to this field were amply covered at the conference by speakers of a high calibre and international standing.     

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Conference on Lab-on-a-Chip and Microarrays. 22-24 January 2001, Zurich, Switzerland

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Conference on Lab-on-a-Chip and Microarray technology covered the latest advances in this technology and applications in life sciences. Highlights of the meetings are reported briefly with emphasis on applications in genomics, drug discovery and molecular diagnostics. There was an emphasis on microfluidics because of the wide applications in laboratory and drug discovery. The lab-on-a-chip provides the facilities of a complete laboratory in a hand-held miniature device. Several microarray systems have been used for hybridisation and detection techniques. Oligonucleotide scanning arrays provide a versatile tool for the analysis of nucleic acid interactions and provide a platform for improving the array-based methods for investigation of antisense therapeutics. A method for analysing combinatorial DNA arrays using oligonucleotide-modified gold nanoparticle probes and a conventional scanner has considerable potential in molecular diagnostics. Various applications of microarray technology for high-throughput screening in drug discovery and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) analysis were discussed. Protein chips have important applications in proteomics. With the considerable amount of data generated by the different technologies using microarrays, it is obvious that the reading of the information and its interpretation and management through the use of bioinformatics is essential. Various techniques for data analysis were presented. Biochip and microarray technology has an essential role to play in the evolving trends in healthcare, which integrate diagnosis with prevention/treatment and emphasise personalised medicines.     

The Future of Cancer Diagnostics: Next Generation Molecular Technologies - Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Inaugural Conference

Cambridge Health Tech Institute's first conference on 'The Future of Cancer Diagnostics: Next Generation Molecular Technologies' covered the following areas: regulatory requirements regarding the validation of new cancer diagnostics; how such validation processes might be suitably implemented from laboratory to clinical pipeline to the bedside; translational strategies, such as proteomics or methylation patterns; and novel biomarkers in oncology. Overall in this golden age of cancer research, the aims and objectives of the meeting were to explore how the implementation of new diagnostic strategies could be facilitated. This meeting examined various topics, including 'Early cancer detection', 'Differential diagnosis', 'Prognostic markers and therapy selection' and 'Circulating tumor cells'. The talks and sessions of the meeting are summarized in this report, with particular focus on preclinical and clinical therapies.     

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Conference on human genetic variation. 16-18 October 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

A major goal of pharmacogenomics is to identify the human genetic variation that influences susceptibility to complex diseases. Recently, theoretical statistical analyses have suggested that genes for complex diseases may be found by linkage disequilibrium (i.e., association). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) susceptibility alleles for common diseases can occur at high frequencies in various populations and, thus, have a major impact on morbidity and mortality. To be successful, SNP mapping studies require successful teamwork, integrating clinicians, epidemiologists, molecular genetics experts, laboratory automation engineers, bioinformatics and database experts. New statistical methods are also developing rapidly and promise to further increase the power of these studies. A recent conference on human genetic variation provided an opportunity for experts in all of these disciplines to exchange ideas. At present, great technological challenges need to be overcome in order to increase the throughput greatly while lowering cost and still maintaining high accuracy for SNP genotyping. Although this approach is relatively new (at least on the scale now being contemplated), the large payoffs anticipated to accrue from the successful mapping of SNPs in disease genes has led the area to be very strongly supported by both public and private funding sources. The potential payoff for improving disease diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy, with better avoidance of adverse events based on SNP associations, is providing a tremendous incentive to move this effort forward at an ever-accelerating pace.     

Cambridge Healthtech Institute Signal Transduction Conference: targets for effective therapeutics

The Cambridge Healthtech Institute Signal Transduction Conference covered three major topics over 2 days: the discovery of new signalling targets, improved technology to dissect out signal transduction pathways and the effects of small molecules on those pathways, and progress in the discovery and development of signalling modulators. There was a particular emphasis placed on the biology of protein kinases and industry efforts to develop efficacious and safe inhibitors for this target class. Of note, kinase inhibitors for therapeutic indications other than oncology, including those directed against inflammation, allergy and metabolic disorders, have reached or have nearly completed clinical testing. Other signalling targets presented included tyrosine phosphatases, intracellular and membrane-bound channels, and G-protein-coupled receptors. This article will briefly summarise the newer technologies and signalling targets but will primarily focus on the presentations covering drug discovery and development.     

Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Third Annual Anti-inflammatories: Small Molecules Meeting, April 17(th) - 18(th) 2012, San Diego, USA

The Third Annual Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) sponsored meeting of Anti-inflammatories: Small Molecules was held in San Diego from the 17th to the 18th of April 2012. It comprised of approximately 70 attendees from both large and small pharma and academic institutes from around the world. The meeting drew on the wide ranging application of targeting drugs which have anti-inflammatory activity and which modulate the immune response in a number of human diseases. These included rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and asthma, multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and multiple myeloma (MM). Data was presented supporting all stages of drug discovery from target identification and validation through to lead identification and optimization and both early and late stage clinical development. A keynote address by Paul Garside (Institute of Infection, Immunology and Inflammation, University of Glasgow) was devoted to investigating components of immune response biology in real time in vivo and the potential of this rapidly developing field to dissect biological mechanism at a cellular level. This report contains selected highlights from the meeting and concludes with some perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing drug discovery and development.     

SMI's 2nd Annual Superbugs and Superdrugs Conference: innovations in anti-infectives

The emergence of the 'Superbugs', resistant bacterial pathogens, is being aggressively met by the anti-infective community, both academia and industry, with an assortment of classical and novel approaches to control these resistant pathogens. The launch of improved quinolones (gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin), the launch of a new class of protein synthesis inhibitors (oxazolidinones; linezolid) and the ushering-in of the applied genomics age, all offer hope for the future control of resistant bacteria. The seemingly imminent development and completion of the first lipopeptide, daptomycin, offers great hope for the control of Gram-positive resistant pathogens. The first cationic peptide, IB-367, designed to combat the niche medical need of mucositis and the development of a specific antistaphylococcal glycopeptide. BI-397, all will precede the first wave of genomic-targets-based drug candidates, as the antimicrobial genomics effort remains in the target identification and validation stages of early discovery.     

IACM 2nd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine

The International Association for Cannabis as Medicine 2nd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine focused on new clinical research with cannabis and single cannabinoids (Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, CT-3) and on animal research with possible therapeutic implications. The meeting brought together basic researchers, clinicians and physicians to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and experience in this field. Even a talk by a patient with multiple sclerosis was included in a workshop on neurology. Current clinical research with cannabinoids focuses mainly on chronic pain and neurological disorders adding to accepted indications such as anorexia in AIDS-wasting and antiemetic effects in cancer chemotherapy. First results are promising and larger studies are underway or have recently been completed and are awaiting publication. New basic research opens further areas of possible uses for modulators of the endogenous cannabinoid system, including osteoporosis, cancer and inflammation. A workshop on psychiatry focused on effects of cannabis use on onset, incidence and the course of schizophrenia. Basic and clinical research shows that adolescents might be more vulnerable than adults to possible psychiatric effects of cannabinoids. It was concluded that possible side effects of cannabinoids should be taken into account but do not preclude a legitimate medical use.     

IACM 2nd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine

The International Association for Cannabis as Medicine 2nd Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine focused on new clinical research with cannabis and single cannabinoids (Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, CT-3) and on animal research with possible therapeutic implications. The meeting brought together basic researchers, clinicians and physicians to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and experience in this field. Even a talk by a patient with multiple sclerosis was included in a workshop on neurology. Current clinical research with cannabinoids focuses mainly on chronic pain and neurological disorders adding to accepted indications such as anorexia in AIDS-wasting and antiemetic effects in cancer chemotherapy. First results are promising and larger studies are underway or have recently been completed and are awaiting publication. New basic research opens further areas of possible uses for modulators of the endogenous cannabinoid system, including osteoporosis, cancer and inflammation. A workshop on psychiatry focused on effects of cannabis use on onset, incidence and the course of schizophrenia. Basic and clinical research shows that adolescents might be more vulnerable than adults to possible psychiatric effects of cannabinoids. It was concluded that possible side effects of cannabinoids should be taken into account but do not preclude a legitimate medical use.     

The 2nd Annual Irish Drug Delivery Network Conference with UK and Ireland Controlled Release Society: advancing drug delivery

This meeting was part funded by Science Foundation Ireland and by the University College Dublin Seed-Funding program, and was an opportunity for the Irish Drug Delivery Network to invite selected internationally-recognized scientists from across Europe onto a program, together with some of its own principal investigators. The meeting was co-promoted by the UK and Ireland Controlled Release Society. Topics included fluorescent dyes for stability testing of proteins, engineering of nano-containers, peptide-polymer conjugates, designing novel biomaterials, oral liquid-emulsion drug delivery systems, barrier modulation for drug delivery to the eye using siRNA, cell-specific targeting in the lungs, hot-melt extrusion and modified cyclodextrins for delivery of siRNA. The conference was attended by 85 researchers and the Irish Drug Delivery Network co-chairs were Caitriona O'Driscoll (University College Cork) and David Brayden (University College Dublin).