Dr. Greg Foltz and Accium Biosciences announce a major new initiative to define the absorption, distribution, and bioactivity of chemotherapeutic drugs for individual brain tumor patients prior to initiating treatment. Current chemotherapeutic treatment strategies target patient populations as homogenous groups and base dosage on body surface area or mass. This “one size fits all” approach does not take into account individual patient characteristics that can affect the bioavailability and bioactivity of a given drug, potentially decreasing the effectiveness of treatment. According to Dr. Foltz, “physicians need better predictive tools to optimize brain tumor treatment in the individual patient. By defining individual variation of drug bioavailability and bioactivity, we can better optimize therapy to deliver the right drug to the right patient at the right dose”. For more information about the upcoming clinical trial, please contact:

info@pnwbta.org

Dr. Foltz was recently interviewed by PBS News Hour national health correspondent Susan Dentzer regarding the use of the Allen Brain Atlas in brain cancer research. Dr. Foltz has an ongoing collaboration with the Allen Institute for Brain Science to create a comprehensive gene map of human glioma. To access a text of this interview, or download the audio or video file, click:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec06/brain_11-29.html

Leroy Hood MD PhD, President and co-founder of the Institute for Systems Biology, discusses P4 Medicine and the future of personalized medicine.

http://everettneurologicalcenter.org/Leroy%20Hood%20Event.htm

See the program for this event:

http://everettneurologicalcenter.org/It%20Takes%20a%20Community
%20to%20Fight%20Cancer.htm

Read about the launch of the Allen Brain Atlas and its potential impact on brain cancer research.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1539657,00.html

Other news article highlighting the launch of the Allen Brain Atlas:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003275752_brain26m.html

The PNWBTA focus on patient-centered research and therapy is highlighted in this series of articles about brain cancer treatment at Swedish Medical Center.

Read more

Brain cancer research at Swedish Medical Center and the Institute for Systems Biology is featured in Innovations magazine:

http://marketing.appliedbiosystems.com/mk/get/
INNOVATIONS03APRIL2007_CUSTOMER_PROFILE#reverse

And is cited in Science Magazine article “Advances in Genomics”:

http://www.sciencemag.org/products/gen_021105.dtl

The Seattle City Club forum "Of Mice & Men: Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain" with panel discussion featuring Allan Jones PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Elaine Jones, Chief Operating Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and Greg Foltz MD, neurosurgeon at Swedish Medical Center and director of the PNWBTA.

http://www.tvw.org/MediaPlayer/Archived/WME.cfm?EVNum=2006100130&TYPE=V