[attach]472755[/attach]Area scientists aim to cure hepatitis B over next three years
Scientists tackling hepatitis B
Four scientists and 16 of their staff and laboratory researchers have joined the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute in Buckingham, with the goal of developing breakthrough therapies for hepatitis B within the next three years. From left: Scientists Ying-Hsiu Su, Jinhong Chang, Timothy Block and Ju Tao Guo.
Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2015 5:30 pm | Updated: 8:03 pm, Thu Mar 26, 2015.
By Crissa Shoemaker DeBree For the BCT
More than a dozen scientists and researchers have joined the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute in Bucks County with the goal of finding a cure for hepatitis B or breakthrough therapies to treat the virus within three years.
“In the 12 years that I have been a member of the foundation’s board of directors, I have never been more optimistic that a cure is within reach," Joel Rosen, chairman of the Hepatitis B Foundation's board of directors, said in a statement. "It’s an exciting time for everyone involved.”
The new group includes institute president and longtime volunteer Timothy Block, as well as three other scientists who have dedicated themselves to finding new ways to treat the disease that chronically infects an estimated 240 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
"We're interested in looking for a cure," said Block, a resident of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. "Hepatitis C has been cured. We are now using the concept of a cure for the first time in hepatitis B. That's our goal — a cure for hepatitis B and for liver cancer."
The disease, which can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer, is caused by sharing needles, blood-to-blood contact or unprotected sex with an infected person, according to the foundation's website, hepb.org. Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, appetite loss, nausea and vomiting, although 69 percent of those infected have no symptoms. While it can affect anyone, people of Asian descent are at higher risk.
Joining Block are Bucks County scientists Jinhong Chang of Chalfont, Ju Tao Guo of Lansdale and Ying-Hsiu Su of Audubon, as well as 16 of their staff members and laboratory researchers. All come from Drexel University, where Block was a professor of microbiology and immunology at the school's College of Medicine.
Their addition nearly triples the research capacity of the Blumberg Institute, which is the research arm of the Hepatitis B Foundation. Both the foundation and the institute are in the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Buckingham.
"The Blumberg Institute is fortunate to have attracted Tim Block and his colleagues, positioning the nonprofit institute to maintain its world-class stature in hepatitis research," virologist Tom Shenk, a Princeton University professor and member of the foundation's board of directors, said in a statement.
The group will build on recent developments in hepatitis B research — including some developed by Blumberg Institute scientists — to work on new treatments for the disease. Those breakthroughs include new screening methods to search for effective drugs, new hepatitis B treatments that seek to shut down the virus, a new biomarker that helps detect liver cancer, and a drug that has shown promising results in killing liver cancer cells in animal studies.
Block and his wife, Joan, along with friends Paul and Janine Witte, co-founded the Hepatitis B Foundation in 1991. It's the only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. Joan Block, a registered nurse, is the foundation's executive director.
In 2003, the foundation formed the Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research, which has become home to the largest group of nonprofit scientists working on treatments and a cure for hepatitis B and liver cancer. It was renamed in 2013 to honor Blumberg, a Bucks County scientist who won the Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery — announced 50 years ago this month in a medical journal — of the hepatitis B virus. Blumberg was a founder of the institute and worked there until his death in 2011.
"Dr. Blumberg anticipated all of this," Block said. "He knew what we were trying to do scientifically. He, of course, anticipated a lot of the results that we're seeing. He wouldn't have guessed the business success. I don't think he ever thought about hepatitis B (research) as actually being an attractive investment."
Rising awareness of the disease — and the fact that it's a leading cause of liver cancer — has led to increased funding for research, Block said.
The biotechnology center, where much of the work is dedicated to researching liver diseases, last year received a $4.7 million federal grant to fund an expansion of the facility. And the Blumberg Institute is close to completing a $3 million campaign that will help pay for the expanding research staff, Block said. More researchers are expected to join the institute in the coming months, he said.
"There's a lot more interest nationally and internationally in hepatitis B," Block said. "There's money interest. The business community has declared hepatitis B a priority. The nation is declaring hepatitis B a priority. A lot of sun is shining on us at the moment."
Baruch S. Blumberg Institute Recruits World-Class Hepatitis B Scientists
‘All-star’ researchers intend to develop breakthrough therapies for the viral liver infection within 3 years
HepB United
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (March 2015) – The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute (www.blumberginstitute.org) has recruited a new team of nationally renowned scientists to focus exclusively on research to develop a cure for hepatitis B, a move that nearly triples its research capacity and has created the largest concentration of nonprofit scientists focusing solely on hepatitis B and liver cancer in the United States.
Four principal scientists – Drs. Timothy Block, Jinhong Chang, Ju Tao Guo and Ying-Hsiu Su – and 16 of their staff members and laboratory researchers joined the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute full-time on March 1. Establishing this first-rate scientific team of leading hepatitis B researchers lays the groundwork to support an aggressive plan to develop breakthrough therapies to combat the virus within the next three years.
“By bringing leading researchers in the field together at its headquarters, the Hepatitis B Foundation, through its research arm, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, is able to concentrate their joint efforts to finding new treatments and, ultimately, a cure,” said Joel Rosen, Chairman of the Foundation’s board. “In the twelve years that I have been a member of the foundation’s board of directors, I have never been more optimistic that a cure is within reach. It’s an exciting time for everyone involved.”
The researchers will build upon recent discoveries that have accelerated the momentum for developing a cure for hepatitis B and liver cancer. Those breakthroughs include the development of new screening methods to search for effective drugs, new ways to treat hepatitis B using different approaches to shut down the virus, a new blood biomarker that aids in the early detection of liver cancer, and a promising drug that selectively kills liver cancer cells in animal studies.
“This is an incredibly exciting time in hepatitis B research, with the field poised to develop a cure. The Blumberg Institute is fortunate to have attracted Tim Block and his colleagues, positioning the nonprofit institute to maintain its world-class stature in hepatitis research,” said Dr. Tom Shenk, one of the nation’s leading virologists, a professor at Princeton University, and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Block co-founded the Hepatitis B Foundation and is the president of the Blumberg Institute. For years, he has donated his time to both nonprofit entities, working full-time as a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Drexel University College of Medicine, where he was Director of the Drexel Institute for Biotechnology and Virology Research. He has left that post in order to dedicate all of his time and focus to the work of the Blumberg Institute.
“The years that we all have spent working towards a cure for hepatitis B have laid the groundwork for this final phase,” said Block. “We are committing everything we have, every resource at our disposal, to developing the therapies that will improve the lives of the millions of people worldwide who live with the hepatitis B virus every day, as well as the risk of dying prematurely from its most fatal consequence, liver cancer.”
With promising drugs in the research pipeline, the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Blumberg Institute have begun exploring relationships with companies that can take those discoveries from the lab to the clinic, where they can benefit people worldwide.
“The fact that Dr. Tim Block and other world-class scientists have chosen to join the Blumberg Institute in its drive to find a cure for hepatitis B speaks volumes about the Institute’s cutting-edge science and potential to impact global health,” said Wayne Yetter, former president and CEO of the multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis U.S. and a recent addition to the Hepatitis B Foundation’s Board of Directors.
In addition to the exciting implications for the world of science and medicine, the new jobs created at the Blumberg Institute are a welcome boost to the local and regional economy of Bucks County and southeast Pennsylvania.
"The Blumberg Institute's recruitment of four world-class scientists and their staff, including Dr. Timothy Block, is great news for this community,” said Bucks County state Sen. Charles McIlhinney, a longtime supporter of the organization. “The Blumberg Institute, which manages and is located at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, has been responsible for breakthrough discoveries coupled with spectacular jobs and company creation, right here in Bucks County. This is the kind of growth we need.”
About the Hepatitis B Foundation: Headquartered in Doylestown, Pa., the Hepatitis B Foundation was founded in 1991 and is the only national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. To learn more, visit www.hepb.org.
About the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute: The Hepatitis B Foundation established an independent, nonprofit research institute in 2003 in order to conduct discovery research and nurture translational biotechnology in an environment conducive to interaction, collaboration and focus. The research center was renamed in 2013 to honor Baruch S. Blumberg, the man who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the hepatitis B virus. To learn more, visit www.blumberginstitute.org.
About the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center: The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center of Bucks County offers state-of-the-art laboratory and office space to nonprofit research companies and biotech companies. Created by a partnership between the Hepatitis B Foundation and Delaware Valley College, and managed by the Blumberg Institute, the Center was funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The facility opened in 2006 in a formerly abandoned warehouse and has since grown to encompass 110,000 square feet on a 10-acre campus. To learn more, visit www.pabiotechbc.org.
hbf 口号:All-star’ researchers intend to develop breakthrough therapies for the viral liver infection within 3 years
不是治愈,是breakthrough,
我也甩一下洋文 作者: HBVCURER 时间: 2015-4-7 23:24
本帖最后由 HBVCURER 于 2015-4-7 23:26 编辑
Block教授是业内著名的也是典型的美式“大忽悠”,他从前所发表的文章和所做的演讲无时不深刻体现着这一点 眼下搞得这个All-star team和3-year plan更是把这一特质发挥的淋漓尽致。
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst,我想无论是患者还是从业人员,都应该抱有这种心态。与大家共勉!作者: x321 时间: 2015-4-8 01:16
原来是这样作者: StephenW 时间: 2015-4-8 02:34
本帖最后由 StephenW 于 2015-4-8 16:06 编辑
HBF成立于1991年,由 Tim Block博士,他的妻子 Joan ,保罗和珍妮维特。
HBF是唯一和最古老一个致力于乙肝研究和病人的非盈利性组织。
他们的口号一直是“希望一个治愈” (Hope for a Cure).
HBF受益很多人,包括本论坛和我个人.
只是在过去12个月,Dr Block预测治愈HBV.作者: 战天斗hbv 时间: 2015-4-8 05:17