September 2019

Recently the National Institutes of Health called on researchers to make the standards and practices for conducting early stage, or preclinical, medical research on animals more like those used for clinical trials. To facilitate this change, NIH will fund a nationwide preclinical trial platform designed to systematically and efficiently test novel treatments for acute ischemic stroke in rodents. Seven labs will work together, as part of the Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN), to employ rigorous, clinical research practices, like randomization and blinding, while assessing the effectiveness of six potential neuroprotective therapies in reducing ischemic brain injury. The funding estimate for the network is $4 million over three years.

Insilico Medicine has developed GENTRL, a new artificial intelligence system for drug discovery that dramatically accelerates the process from years to days. In the industry’s first successful experimental validation of such AI technology for drug discovery in cells and animals, Insilico successfully tested the technology by creating a series of entirely new molecules capable of combating disorders like fibrosis.

A mobile app supported system developed by an Indo-Australian team to help identify and better manage people at high risk of cardiovascular disease has been shown to be beneficial in a study conducted in rural communities in Indonesia. The application was developed in Australia and piloted in India. It is now being taken to other countries.

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad have developed a method to produce controlled-release oral tablets for treating fungal infections and kala azar. The tablets were found to release the drug Amphotericin B in a sustained and controlled manner over a period of 10 days.

Although the number of women being diagnosed and dying of ovarian cancer is declining, recurrence, drug resistance and mortality remain high for women with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, the most common form of epithelial ovarian cancer. A new study in the journal eLife by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers links changes in the gene for the protein focal adhesion kinase, or FAK, to the cancer's ability to survive chemotherapy.