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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."
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发表于 2015-3-27 08:17
