Diamonds, Digital Health, and Drug Development: Optimizing Combinatorial Nanomedicine

The field of nanomedicine has already seen substantial progress in the clinic, with multiple formulations being evaluated through clinical studies. From poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and cyclodextrin-based drug-delivery platforms to metallic nanoparticles for photothermal treatment and imaging, nanotechnology has enabled versatile strategies to treat and to diagnose a wide range of disorders. However, as the field as a whole pushes forward, barriers that have always challenged conventional drug development have already started to impact nanomedicine translation. These include exorbitant costs, substantial time to development, and the uncertainty of achieving major improvements in efficacy or safety. Of note, there has been, until recent advances, a virtual inability to identify optimal drug doses either as monotherapies or components of combination therapy. In this Nano Focus, we assess how the impact of nanotechnology in the clinic can be optimized through systematically designed combinatorial nanotherapy. In addition, we provide a clinical perspective on how a recently unveiled technology platform can substantially alter the landscape of combinatorial nanomedicine, drug development, as well as conventional drug development

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Congratulations to The 2015 JALA Ten!

10.1177/2211068214561829Journal of Laboratory Automation20164-6

Biomedical applications of nanodiamonds: From drug-delivery to diagnostics

Advances in nanotechnology have great potential to address many unmet clinical and biomedical needs. Nanodiamonds, as a class of carbon nanoparticles with unique properties, may be useful towards a versatile range of biomedical applications from drug delivery to diagnostics. This review describes how these properties of nanodiamonds facilitate their application in different fields of biomedicine, including delivery of chemotherapy drugs, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and biosensors. Additionally, clinical potential of nanodiamonds, with studies in both preclinical and clinical stages, is also reviewed here, highlighting the translational potential of nanodiamonds in biomedical research

Diamonds, Digital Health, and Drug Development: Optimizing Combinatorial Nanomedicine.

The field of nanomedicine has already seen substantial progress in the clinic, with multiple formulations being evaluated through clinical studies. From poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and cyclodextrin-based drug-delivery platforms to metallic nanoparticles for photothermal treatment and imaging, nanotechnology has enabled versatile strategies to treat and to diagnose a wide range of disorders. However, as the field as a whole pushes forward, barriers that have always challenged conventional drug development have already started to impact nanomedicine translation. These include exorbitant costs, substantial time to development, and the uncertainty of achieving major improvements in efficacy or safety. Of note, there has been, until recent advances, a virtual inability to identify optimal drug doses either as monotherapies or components of combination therapy. In this Nano Focus, we assess how the impact of nanotechnology in the clinic can be optimized through systematically designed combinatorial nanotherapy. In addition, we provide a clinical perspective on how a recently unveiled technology platform can substantially alter the landscape of combinatorial nanomedicine, drug development, as well as conventional drug development

Capitalizing on Synthetic Lethality of MYC to Treat Cancer in the Digital Age

10.1016/j.tips.2020.11.014Trends in Pharmacological Sciences423166-18

EPIGENETICS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA.

10.1186/s40169-019-0230-08113