| |
|
September
1, 2004 |
| |
| If
you are unable to view these articles or access the links,
please visit the ASBMT Web Site at
www.asbmt.org to read this
issue. To be removed from this distribution list, please see
instructions at bottom. |
| |
 |
Top
Stories |
| |
|
|
|
Legislation and Regulation |
| |
|
|
|
Clinical
Research |
| |
|
|
|
Pharmaceutical
News |
| |
|
|
|
Association
News |
| |
|
|
|
Calendar |
| |
|
|
|
Job &
Fellowship Connections |
|
|
|
|
|
Monthly Journal |
|
|
|
|
|
eNews
Archives |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tandem BMT Meetings
Feb 10 - 14, 2005
Keystone, Colorado |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| What is
the policy on the use of nurse practitioners at your transplant center?
Take this three-question multiple-choice poll. We’ll let you know the
results next month. |
|
 |
|
|
|
(Note: Your answers to his interactive poll are anonymous.)
|
|
|
Last
Month's Poll Results
What will the stem cell transplant field look like
when the cicada join us again in 17 years? The
majority of readers said that by the year 2021:
• Component cell therapy based on adult stem cells
will be the treatment of choice for degenerative
neurological, cardiovascular and bone disorders.
However, the majority of readers said they disagreed
with the statements that:
• Allotransplants will be performed safely across HLA
barriers.
• The mechanisms of GvHD will be separated from GvL.
Allotransplants will be performed largely to take
advantage of the latter, and there will be no
clinically significant GvHD.
• Conventional allotransplants will rarely be employed
and will largely be replaced by specific anti-cancer
immune effector cells.
• Autotransplants will be replaced by combinations of
non-myeloablative drugs targeting specific steps in
signal transduction pathways. |
|
|
|
Calendar |
• September
International Conference on Advances Against Aspergillosis
Sept. 9-11
Grand Hyatt San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Advances in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Treatment: The Changing
Role of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
National Marrow Donor Program/Center for International Blood and
Marrow Transplant Research/Medical College of Wisconsin
Sept. 10
CME Audioconference
6th Annual Conference on Transplant Contracting, Cost
Containment and Reimbursement
Center for Business Intelligence (CBI),
with American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT)
Sept. 20-21
Allerton Crowne Plaza
Chicago, Illinois
Safeguarding Adult and Pediatric Stem Cell Donors: Basic
Science, Clinical, and Ethical Issues
Yale University and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
with the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT)
Sept. 21-22
Sheraton National Hotel
Arlington, Virginia
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Fungal Infection in the Oncology Patient: Update on Diagnosis
and Therapy
Sept. 23
Holiday Inn Independence
Cleveland, Ohio
Ninth Biennial National Symposium on Hematopoietic Cell
Transplantation
Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Stanford
University
Sept. 30-Oct. 2
Fairchild Auditorium
Stanford, California
• October
American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)
30th Annual Meeting
Oct. 1-6
San Antonio Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas
4th Annual Conference on Mesenchymal and Nonhematopoietic
Stem Cells
American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT),
with the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
Oct. 14-16
Wyndham Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
International Cytokine Society (ICS)
and International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (ISICR)
Cytokines in Cancer and Immunity
Oct. 21-25
San Juan, Puerto Rico
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
57th Annual Meeting
Oct. 23-26
Baltimore, Maryland
American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)
54th Annual Meeting
Oct. 26-30
Toronto, Ontario
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
17th Annual Council Meeting
Oct. 29-31
Hilton Minneapolis Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota
• November
European Society of Gene Therapy (ESGT)
12th Annual Meeting
Nov. 4-7
Tampere, Finland
• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
46th Annual Meeting
Dec. 4-7
San Diego, California
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
44th Annual Meeting
Dec. 4-8
Washington, D.C
2005
• February
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Tandem BMT Meetings
Feb. 10-14
Keystone Resort
Keystone, Colorado
• March
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
and Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST)
9th Annual Winter Symposium
March 16-20
Fairmont Banff Springs
Banff, Alberta
2006
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 15-19
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Top
Stories |
| |
Deleting an enzyme improves efficiency of stem cell transplants
By inhibiting or deleting enzyme CD26, found on the surface
of stem cells, researchers at Indiana University were able to
increase the efficiency of stem cell transplants in mice.
Scientists hope to enhance the ability of hematopoietic stem
cells to move to the bone marrow, improving their effectiveness
in transplantation.
 |
|
|
University of Arkansas receives $18 million
for myeloma research
The Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the
University of Arkansas has received a grant of nearly $18
million from the National Cancer Institute. The grant, to be
distributed over a five-year period, will fund a stem-cell
research program for multiple myeloma.
|
| |
Britain grants license to clone human
embryos
Researchers at Newcastle University have received a license
from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority to clone
human embryos to create stem cells. The scientists plan to
duplicate early-stage embryos and extract stem cells to develop
potential treatments for degenerative diseases, including
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
|
| |
|
 A
Word from President Armand Keating, M.D.
Have you ever strolled or cruised Wacker Drive in
Chicago? It’s a fascinating, extraordinary street of urban
shops, offices and skyscrapers.
I’ve long admired the vitality and architecture of
downtown Chicago, which locals call “The Loop” because of
the elevated rapid transit tracks that encircle it. Among
the curiosities of Wacker Drive are its street addresses
that run North-South and East-West because it makes
a 90-degree turn, following the course of the Chicago
River as it bends around the central business district.
Even more remarkable is Wacker Drive’s two levels. At
street and sidewalk level there’s hardly a hint of a
“Lower Wacker Drive” just beneath your feet – a parallel
subterranean world of cars, trucks, buses, intersections,
stop lights, parking meters and office building entrances.
ASBMT, in a sense, has its own Lower Wacker Drive – a
parallel beehive of activity that’s frequently out of
sight for many physicians and investigator members. While
we’re very busy treating patients, conducting studies,
publishing our journal, holding scientific meetings and
addressing the myriad issues of our field, there is a
“special interest group” of transplant center
administrative directors who are addressing their unique
issues, supporting one another and supporting our patient
care.
Examples?
• The administrative directors have an Internet-based
“listserv” for sharing ideas and seeking answers to
problems. A few days ago, one of the administrators
broadcast a query to centers across the country about
policies on nurse practitioners administering conscious
sedation for bone marrow biopsy. Questions about staffing
patterns and job descriptions are common topics for the
listserv.
• Last month, the administrative directors published their
first Networking Directory. It’s a guide to members
who are willing to share their professional expertise in
budgeting, cost containment, coding, marketing,
accreditation and 33 other cross-indexed topics of BMT
facility management.
• The administrative directors hold a two-day annual
conference that is an adjunct to the Tandem BMT Meetings.
Open to anyone registered for the meetings, the sessions
this past February included presentations on topics
ranging from case management to contracting and data
benchmarking to fundraising. Their conference at the 2005
meetings in Keystone will be on Feb. 11 and 12.
• There is a representative of the administrative
directors special interest group on most ASBMT committees.
They were especially key to the committee that developed
the BMT standardized Request for Information (RFI).
• When a delegation of our Society’s leaders met with
representatives of about a dozen payer companies this
summer to discuss reimbursement issues, the chair of the
administrative directors special interest group, Peggy
Appel, was a vital, contributing member of the team.
Your transplant center is definitely at a disadvantage if
your administrative staff aren’t enrolled in, indeed
active members of, this special interest group within our
Society. There’s a wealth of talent, expertise and
already-invented wheels available to them. The price of
admission is embarrassingly low: the $125 annual dues.
(For a membership application, contact Marmie Kiva at
marmiekiva@asbmt.org.)
In Chicago, it’s mostly the locals who know about Lower
Wacker Drive. Typical visitors have no reason to suspect
the world of activity under their feet. In ASBMT, there’s
every reason why members should get to know the activities
of the transplant center administrators, not far below the
surface of our Society.
- Cheers, Armand |
|
|
|
|
Legislation and Regulation |
| |
Campaign to support stem cell research in California raises
$12 million
Supporters of Proposition 71, which will appear on the
California state ballot on Nov. 2, have pledged more than $12
million. The proposition, intended to provide state funds of
$300 million a year for 10 years to fund stem cell cloning for
research purposes only, has been endorsed by the International
Society for Stem Cell Research.
|
|
|
|
Clinical
Research |
| |
Synthetic molecule causes stem cells to differentiate into
bone cells
A synthetic molecule called purmorphamine causes bone marrow
progenitor cells to different into bone cells by activating a
signaling pathway called hedgehog. Hedgehog signaling is
involved in the development of many different cell types,
meaning the discovery may help researchers find ways to treat
neurodegenerative diseases as well.
The pancreas may contain beta cell-producing stem cells
Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered
potential stem cells in the pancreas of mice that are capable of
making insulin-producing beta cells. This study, published in
the online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology,
indicates that these cells also produce neurons.
Patients with heart disease sign up for stem cell injection
study
Twenty four patients across the United States are taking
part in a study testing the effectiveness of stem cell
injections to treat heart disease. Stem cells taken from the
patient’s blood will be injected into the heart muscle via a
catheter, and doctors hope they will create new blood vessels to
resupply the heart with oxygen.
Stem cell transplant from sister cures woman’s rheumatoid
arthritis
A transplant of stem cells from a healthy woman to her
sister, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, appears to have
cured the disease, according to the journal Arthritis and
Rheumatism. Nine months after transplantation, the woman,
who had arthritis in 38 joints, was free of rheumatoid nodules.
|
|
|
|
Pharmaceutical News |
|
|
StemCells Inc. receives patent for human neural stem cell
cultures
StemCells Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif., has received a patent
covering composition of matter claims for the human neural stem
cell. The patent covers human neural stem cell cultures derived
from any source, including embryonic, fetal, neonatal or adult
tissue.
|
|
|
|
Association
News |
|
|
|
Hurricane Charley shakes up BMT centers in Florida
The hurricane packing 105 mph winds hammered the BMT unit at
Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in Orlando. Other BMT
facilities across the state, not directly in the storm’s path,
escaped without major incident
Registration is open for 2005 Tandem BMT Meetings
Go online for early registration rates for the 2005 Tandem BMT
Meetings to be held Feb. 10-14 at the Keystone Conference Center
in Keystone, Colo. Early registration deadline is Oct. 18.
Tandem BMT Meetings abstract deadline is Oct. 18
The deadline for online submission of abstracts for the 2005
Tandem BMT Meetings is Oct. 18. Scientific program time slots
have been set aside for oral presentation of about 60 accepted
abstracts, as determined by the Abstract Review Committees.
Other abstracts will be presented in two poster sessions.
40 travel grants available for 2005 Tandem BMT Meetings
The ASBMT Executive Committee has announced 40 travel grants of
$1,000 each for young investigators (not more than five years in
the BMT field) submitting abstracts to the 2005 Tandem BMT
Meetings next February.
BBMT features review on graft versus lymphoma effects
This month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation presents “A Perspective on Graft versus
Lymphoma Effects: a Clinical Review, Policy Proposals and
Immunobiology.” The author is Andrew Paul Grigg, MBBS, FRACP,
RCRPA of Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia.
Directory of BMT training programs compiled
In recent months ASBMT has compiled the first-ever directory of
transplant centers that have training programs for BMT fellows.
The list is available for inspection. If you have a training
program and it isn’t on the list, please contact
marmiekiva@asbmt.org.
Administrative directors publish networking directory
The BMT Center Administrative Directors special interest group
(SIG), a component within ASBMT, has published a Networking
Directory – a guide listing its members who are willing to
share professional expertise on budgeting, cost containment,
coding, marketing, accreditation and 33 other cross-indexed
topics pertaining to BMT facility management. The directory is a
benefit of membership in the SIG. For membership information,
contact the ASBMT Executive Office at
info@asbmt.org.
New member discounts for conference on contracting and
reimbursement
The 6th annual Conference on Transplant Contracting, Cost
Containment and Reimbursement is scheduled for Sept. 20-21 in
Chicago. The annual conference is co-sponsored by ASBMT and
produced by the Center for Business Intelligence. New special
discounts have been announced for ASBMT members, especially on
multiple registrations from the same transplant center: $400
discount on a single registration; $600 discount on the second
registration; and $800 discount on the third registration.
Donor safety, ethics, clinical standards are on conference
agenda
Safety, risks, ethics and clinical standards for adult and
pediatric allogeneic donors of stem cells will be addressed
Sept. 21-22 in Arlington, Va. The conference is sponsored by the
NHLBI, with support from ASBMT.
4th Mesenchymal and Nonhematopoietic Stem Cells Conference in
October
Today is the abstract deadline for the conference on mesenchymal
stem cell biology, stem cell plasticity and cell therapy for
cardiac, pulmonary and neurologic diseases, Oct. 14-15, in New
Orleans. ASBMT is a co-sponsor.
CME audioconference offers update on stem cell therapy for NHL
Dr. James Armitage will present recent data on therapies for
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, focusing on when and how hematopoietic
cell transplantation is now integrated into management of the
disease. The one-hour live audioconference on Sept. 10 will
address patient selection, expected outcomes of autologous and
allogeneic transplantation, and the use of transplantation in
combination with other therapies. The program is sponsored by
the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), Center for
International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) and
the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Deadline for Stem Cell Research Foundation grants is Oct. 19
Grant awards of up to $50,000 per year for two years are
available from the Stem Cell Research Foundation. The
application deadline is Oct. 19.
New investigators eligible for $5,000 editorial awards
Each year ASBMT presents two editorial awards to new
investigators published in Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation, the Society’s monthly peer-reviewed
journal. The awards recognize the best basic science and the
best clinical research articles.
|
| |
| |
|
