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Ventana Medical Systems teams with Bayer on cancer test
01/17/2012 | Phoenix Business Journal | Angela Gonzales
Tucson-based Ventana Medical Systems Inc. announced today it is collaborating with Bayer Pharma AG to develop a diagnostic test for a new biological cancer therapy. This test marks another step toward personalized medicine in cancer treatment. The molecular test is expected to identify patients most likely to benefit from Bayer’s drug, called an antibody-drug conjugate, or ADC.
With concerted effort, Tucson can become next mini-Silicon Valley (op-ed)
01/11/2012 | Arizona Daily Star | Fernando Martinez
In the midst of all the difficulties that the U.S. economy is going through, Silicon Valley stands out as the exception. In Santa Clara or Palo Alto, Calif., incomes are almost twice the national median and poverty is 50 percent lower. Well-paid jobs abound and often remain vacant because of a lack of qualified applicants. Two years ago, when I became the director of Bio5, the University of Arizona’s interdisciplinary institute for the life sciences, my goal was to help transform Tucson and surrounding communities into a mini-Silicon Valley.
3 area hospital groups lead way in cancer tumor collection project
01/11/2012 | Indianapolis Star | Shari Rudavsky
Cancer patients at three Indianapolis-area hospital systems are helping unlock the secrets to preventing, diagnosing and treating the disease. Franciscan St. Francis Health, Community Health Network and St. Vincent Health announced Tuesday they are participating in the national Cancer Genome Atlas project to collect tumor samples from more than 10,000 cancer patients across the country.
EHRs, Genomics Power Personalized Cancer Treatments
01/10/2012 | InformationWeek | Neil Versel
Computer maker Dell is putting the infrastructure in place to support electronic health records (EHR) and genomics on the journey from episodic care to coordinated care to personalized medicine. Dell announced in November that it was making a $4 million donation of cloud space and services to support a project at the Translational Genomics Research Institute aimed at applying personalized medicine to pediatric cancer care. The company also has assembled partnerships with EHR vendors and large healthcare providers to promote EHR adoption.
Lab offers mobile science projects to area schools
01/09/2012 | Yuma Sun | Sarah Womer
Thanks to a grant from the Helios Foundation, science teachers in Yuma can have science labs and teacher resources in their classroom at no cost to their school. The University of Arizona Jr. Biotech Project resource center is housed in Arizona Western College’s AS building program. Equipment and supplies are transported on demand to junior high and high school classrooms.