Richard Jude Samulski is an American scientist and academic recognized for his pioneering work in gene therapy and adeno-associated virus vectors in the fields of molecular virology and pharmacology. Samulski is the former director of the UNC Gene Therapy Center and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Samulski earned his Ph. D. at the University of Florida in 1982 and his B. S. at Clemson University in 1976. He was President of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy in 2011, his contributions to scientific literature include 208 academic publications, 408 research items, broadly cited by their scholarly discipline with 3,158 patent citations and 17,140 scholarly citations. He co-founded biotechnology companies active in gene therapy and AAV commercialization, including AskBio, a biotechnology company focused on AAV gene therapy, NanoCor Therapeutics, Inc. Chatham Therapeutics, Inc. and Bamboo Therapeutics, spinoffs from Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. As of 2019, he is the director of the UNC School of Medicine Gene Therapy Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Samulski’s research has focused on the study of the human non-pathogenic parvovirus adeno-associated virus and its use in gene therapies. In the 1980s, as a graduate student, he pioneered the use of AAV as a vector for therapeutic genes. In 1984, he cloned the virus DNA into a bacterial plasmid; this lead to the recognition of the potential of AAV and formed the foundation for the two current FDA-approved AAV gene therapies. His work demonstrated AAV2 as a viral vector for gene therapy which led to the first U. S. Patent for inserting genes into AAV; this technique has been used in gene therapy clinical trials for cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease, the foundation for gene therapy research and development in the bioscience industry and academic institutions such as UNC. In 2016, Pfizer acquired his company, Bamboo Therapeutics, in 2014, Baxter International acquired Chatham Therapeutics and programs developed by AskBio. In 2008, Samulski was the first person to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award by the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, which recognized his lifetime of significant scientific contributions to the field of gene therapy.
He holds 44 patents and has been recognized as a co-inventor on other patents, all of which are related to gene delivery associated with adeno-associated virus vectors
Professor Carlos Caldas is a clinician scientist and Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge. He is the Chair of Cancer Medicine at the University of Cambridge, an Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital and Director of the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit. Professor Carlos Caldas graduated from the University of Lisbon Medical School before training in Internal Medicine in University of Texas Southwestern and Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, he moved to the Institute of Cancer Research, London to complete a research fellowship. Caldas' research focuses on the functional genomics of breast cancer. Caldas led the METABRIC study, analysing the genome and transcriptome of tumours from nearly 2,000 women and comparing this with long-term clinical information including survival and diagnosis; the METABRIC study concluded that breast cancer was at least ten different subtypes, characterised by distinct genomic drivers.
In 2019, the team published research showing the subtype a women's breast cancer is placed in could predict the likelihood of the tumour returning or metastasising over the next 20 years. Professor Caldas leads the Personalised Breast Cancer Programme in Cambridge, where woman diagnosed with breast cancer have a sample of their tumour and blood sent for DNA and RNA sequencing; the sequencing results help determine the best course of treatment for patients and can reveal if their tumour is developing resistance to treatment. Academy of Medical Sciences Fellow, 2004 European Academy of Cancer Sciences Fellow, 2010 EMBO member, 2015 European Society for Medical Oncology Hamilton Fairley Award, 2016
Scopulini is a tribe of the geometer moth family, with about 900 species in seven genera. The tribe was described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1845. Scopulini as a family name is an old synonym of the subfamily Sterrhinae; the tribe Scopulini is divided into seven genera, of which only Scopula and Problepsis have species in Europe. Scopulini Duponchel, 1845 Dithalama Meyrick, 1888 Isoplenodia Prout, 1932 Lipomelia Warren, 1893 Somatina Guenée, 1858 Zythos D. S. Fletcher, 1979 Problepsis Lederer, 1853 Scopula Schrank, 1802 The phylogenetics of Scopulini was described in detail in 2005 by Pasi Sihvonen. Hausmann, Axel The Geometrid Moths of Europe, 2. Sterrhinae. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2004, ISBN 87-88757-37-4 Abraham, D.. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 20: 65-77 Sihvonen, Pasi. "Phylogeny and classification of the Scopulini moths". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 143: 473–530. Doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00153.x. Lepiforum e. V. Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa Savela, Markku.
"Tribe Scopulini". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved May 31, 2019. Fauna Europaea
Weight Wins is a UK weight loss business which has developed and commercialised the concept of personal contracts for weight loss. The company has attracted attention from UK and international media for its'Pounds for Pounds' weight loss programme and for operating the first trial by the UK's National Health Service of a weight loss incentive programme; the diet rewards sector addresses the specific problem of obesity. As with many commercial diet plans, there is no good evidence it is cost-effective. Weight Wins' was first devised in 2007 following a UK-wide consumer survey; the initial scheme was developed and trialled as the'Pounds for Pounds' programme over a three-month period from September to December 2007, with a maximum weight loss target of 15 lbs. Obesity in the United Kingdom Dieting List of diets Weight Wins official website
Antonio Tozzi was an Italian opera composer. He was born at Italy, he studied with Padre Martini and became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna in 1761. His first opera Tigrane, was performed in Venice in 1762, his La morte di Dimone of 1763 was an early opera semiseria. In 1764 he was asked to work for the court in Brunswick. In 1774 he became Hofkapellmeister in Munich and his Orfeo ed Euridice was performed there in 1775. Shortly afterwards however a scandal involving the Countess von Törring-Seefeld caused him to flee the city and he returned to Venice; the following year he was in Spain, working in Madrid and Barcelona where he did a substantial part of his work leaving Spain for Italy in 1805. He died at Bologna. Stevenson, Robert and McClymonds, Marita P,'Erismena' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie ISBN 0-333-73432-7