- Robust Response Sustained through Two Years of Treatment with Zygel in Patients from Phase 2 FAB-C Trial -

- Top Line Results of Pivotal CONNECT-FX Trial Expected Late in the Second Quarter of 2020 -

DEVON, Pa., May 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYNE), the leader in innovative pharmaceutically-produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare and near-rare neuropsychiatric disorders, today announced the availability of a poster describing 116-week (two-year) data from the Phase 2 FAB-C (Treatment of Fragile X Syndrome Anxiety and Behavioral Challenges with CBD) trial of Zygel (CBD transdermal gel; ZYN002) in pediatric and adolescent patients with Fragile X syndrome (FXS). The data in the poster show that the statistically significant improvements from baseline that were observed at week 12 were sustained in each subscale score of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist for Fragile X (ABC-CFXS) through two years for patients who participated in the open label extension.

The poster entitled Cannabidiol Transdermal Gel for the Treatment of Fragile X Syndrome: Post Hoc Analysis and Pattern of Efficacy on Domains of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community for FXS (ABC-CFXS) Through 116 Weeks of Treatment is available at the 2020 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Science Highlights Virtual Session. The Virtual Session is online at http://www.aan.com/2020science. A copy of the poster is also available on the Zynerba corporate website at http://zynerba.com/publications/.

Its very exciting to see that the observed early benefits of Zygel appear to be sustained for over two years in patients who enrolled in the open label extension of FAB-C; these data suggest the potential for a sustained and measurable benefit for those patients who experience an early response, said Zynerbas Chief Medical Officer, Joseph M. Palumbo, MD, FAPA, MACPsych. Its also reassuring to see these responses in the context of a strong tolerability profile. We look forward to the results of our pivotal CONNECT-FX study in children and adolescents with FXS late this quarter.

Open Label Phase 2 FAB-C Trial Background

The 12-week treatment results of the Phase 2 FAB-C trial were initially announced in September 2017. These data were published in the August 2nd, 2019 online edition of Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. (Press release)

Twenty patients aged 6 to 17 years of age with Fragile X as confirmed by molecular documentation of FMR1 full mutation were enrolled in the open label FAB-C study. Zygel was added on to other medications being administered. At the completion of the 12-week study (Period 1), patients could enter an extension study (Period 2).

Thirteen patients who completed the Period 1 rolled into Period 2. One patient who withdrew during Period 2 for reasons unrelated to safety or efficacy had no efficacy data post week 12 and therefore was not included in the analyses. Ten patients exceeded two years of therapy.

Sustained Improvement in Core FXS Behaviors over Two Years of Treatment with Zygel

Statistically significant improvements from baseline were observed at week 12 in all six subscale scores of the ABC-CFXS in Period 1 and these statistically significant improvements were sustained through two years in subjects who entered Period 2. The persistence of effect over the two-year period is as follows.

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b30a11af-12db-4428-9a7d-5b857a5ed25f

In addition, statistically significant improvements from baseline were observed at week 12 in the total score and all five subscale scores of ADAMS and these statistically significant improvements persisted to two years.

Responder Analysis

Zynerba performed responder analyses for patients achieving at least a 25% and 50% improvement from baseline for each subscale of the ABC-CFXS.

Maximal 25% responder rates for each ABC-CFXS domain at any visit in patients who completed Period 1 ranged from 72.2% to 83.3% and emerged by week 8 for all domains. Most patients who entered Period 2 met criteria for response at weeks 12 (66.7%) and 116 (80%).

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f21f88b-08af-47f8-b7da-af5223a2c0bf

Maximal 50% responder rates for each ABC-CFXS domain at any visit ranged from 50.0% to 77.8% in patients who completed Period 1 and were observed at week 8 for all domains except stereotypy. Among patients who entered Period 2, 50% responder rates ranged from 50% to 83.3% at week 12. At week 116, the range of 50.0% responder rates was observed to be descriptively higher, ranging from 60% to 100% across the six ABC-CFXS domains.

An infographic accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a90b7fe1-1a26-4a3d-a12e-145546369a66

Evidence of Global, Multi-domain, and Sustained Reduction in Behavioral Symptom Burden

Radar charts were created to visualize the proportional effect of Zygel across the six ABC-CFXS subscales. The boundaries of the polygon at screening and endpoint allow visualization of change across all domains cross-sectionally and over time. These radar charts suggest global and sustained reductions in severity with Zygel treatment in patients who entered Period 2.

Tolerability of Zygel over Two Years of Treatment

Zygel was well tolerated in the FAB-C trial over two years. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) any event occurring during a trial period whether unrelated or related to study drug - are common in children and expected over a two-year period. Of the 66 TEAEs reported in 19 patients, all were either mild (85%) or moderate (15%), and 91% were determined to be unrelated to treatment. No treatment-related TEAEs occurred in more than one patient. Only one serious adverse event (constipation) was reported over two years of treatment and was not related to treatment.

The authors of the poster concluded that:

About Fragile X Syndrome (FXS)Fragile X syndrome is a rare genetic developmental disability that is the leading known cause of both inherited intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, affecting 1 in 3,600 to 4,000 males and 1 in 4,000 to 6,000 females. It is the most common inherited intellectual disability in males and a significant cause of intellectual disability in females, and the leading genetic cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). FXS is caused by a mutation in the Fragile X Mental Retardation gene (FMR1) located on the X chromosome and leads to dysregulation of the endocannabinoid pathway including the reduction in endogenous cannabinoids (2-AG and anandamide). The disorder negatively affects synaptic function, plasticity and neuronal connections, and results in a spectrum of intellectual disabilities and behavioral symptoms, such as social avoidance and irritability.In the US, there are about 71,000 patients suffering with FXS.

About Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Zynerba Pharmaceuticals is the leader in pharmaceutically-produced transdermal cannabinoid therapies for rare and near-rare neuropsychiatric disorders. We are committed to improving the lives of patients and their families living with severe, chronic health conditions including Fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, and a heterogeneous group of rare and ultra-rare epilepsies known as developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. Learn more at http://www.zynerba.com and follow us on Twitter at @ZynerbaPharma.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may, in some cases, use terms such as predicts, believes, potential, proposed, continue, estimates, anticipates, expects, plans, intends, may, could, might, will, should or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the Companys current expectations. Managements expectations and, therefore, any forward-looking statements in this press release could also be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to a number of other factors, including the following: the Companys cash and cash equivalents may not be sufficient to support its operating plan for as long as anticipated; the Companys ability to obtain additional funding to support its clinical development programs; the results, cost and timing of the Companys clinical development programs, including any delays to such clinical trials relating to enrollment or site initiation; clinical results for the Companys product candidates may not be replicated or continue to occur in additional trials and may not otherwise support further development in a specified indication or at all; actions or advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and foreign regulatory agencies may affect the design, initiation, timing, continuation and/or progress of clinical trials or result in the need for additional clinical trials; the Companys ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for its product candidates, and the labeling under any such approval; the Companys reliance on third parties to assist in conducting pre-clinical and clinical trials for its product candidates; delays, interruptions or failures in the manufacture and supply of the Companys product candidates the Companys ability to commercialize its product candidates; the size and growth potential of the markets for the Companys product candidates, and the Companys ability to service those markets; the Companys ability to develop sales and marketing capabilities, whether alone or with potential future collaborators; the rate and degree of market acceptance of the Companys product candidates; the Companys expectations regarding its ability to obtain and adequately maintain sufficient intellectual property protection for its product candidates; the timing and outcome of current and future legal proceedings; and the extent to which health epidemics and other outbreaks of communicable diseases, including COVID-19, could disrupt our operations or adversely affect our business and financial conditions. This list is not exhaustive and these and other risks are described in the Companys periodic reports, including the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission and available atwww.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements that the Company makes in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

Zynerba ContactWilliam Roberts, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate CommunicationsZynerba Pharmaceuticals484.581.7489robertsw@zynerba.com

Media contactMolly DevlinEvoke KYNE215.928.2199Molly.Devlin@evokegroup.com

Mean Percentage of Improvements from Baseline in ABC-CFXS Subscale Scores, Patients Who Entered Period 2

Mean Percentage of Improvements from Baseline in ABC-CFXS Subscale Scores, Patients Who Entered Period 2

Proportion of Patients with a 25% Improvement from Baseline ABC-CFXS Subscales for (A) Patients Who Completed Period 1 and (B) Patients Who Entered Period 2

Proportion of Patients with a 25% Improvement from Baseline ABC-CFXS Subscales for (A) Patients Who Completed Period 1 and (B) Patients Who Entered Period 2

Proportion of Patients with a 50% Improvement from Baseline ABC-CFXS Subscales for (A) Patients Who Completed Period 1 and (B) Patients Who Entered Period 2

Proportion of Patients with a 50% Improvement from Baseline ABC-CFXS Subscales for (A) Patients Who Completed Period 1 and (B) Patients Who Entered Period 2

Original post:
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Announces New Two-Year Data from Open Label Extension of the Phase 2 FAB-C Trial in Patients with Fragile X at 2020 American...

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alector, Inc.(Nasdaq: ALEC), a clinical- stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, today announced business highlights and financial results for the first quarter endedMarch 31, 2020.

At Alector we are committed to developing transformative treatments for neurodegeneration. We believe that our mission could benefit millions of patients and families affected by neurodegenerative diseases, and even with the current COVID-19 health crisis, we remain focused on advancing our portfolio of immuno-neurology programs, said Arnon Rosenthal, Ph.D., Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Alector. Our COVID-19 task force and the entire Alector team continues to focus on initiating a pivotal Phase 3 study of AL001 in FTD-GRN patients and a Phase 2 study of AL002 in Alzheimers disease patients in 2020.

Business Highlights

COVID-19 Response

Alector is actively monitoring the evolving impact of COVID-19 on its operations and clinical trials, with a primary focus on the health and safety of employees, clinical trial participants, and clinical trial site teams. The Company is complying with regulatory, institutional, and governmental guidance for conducting its business worldwide. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it could impact Alectors programs in the future. The Company is also continuing with its efforts to complete enrollment across ongoing clinical trials. Currently, certain clinical trial sites have delayed enrollment of new patients and paused clinical trial visits across clinical development programs. Alector is aware that some participants in ongoing trials have not been able to receive scheduled doses on time due to site closures or various state and local shelter-in-place directives. However, the Company is continuing to collect data from all existing clinical trial participants enrolled to date.

The Company remains on track with previously stated guidance to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 study of AL001 in FTD-GRN patients in 2020. Alector also intends to initiate a Phase 2 study of AL002 in Alzheimers disease patients in 2020. Ongoing activities for AL003, AL101, and AL014 programs are continuing as planned. The Company believes that its cash and investments as of March 31, 2020 will be sufficient to fund its anticipated operations through 2022.

Progranulin Portfolio: AL001, AL101

Alzheimers Disease Portfolio: AL002, AL003, AL014

Immuno-oncology Portfolio

First Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Revenue.Collaboration revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 was$7.2 millioncompared to$5.6 millionfor the same period in 2019. This increase was primarily due to an increase in expenses for the AL002 and AL003 programs compared to the same period last year.

R&D Expenses.Total research and development expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 were$34.6 millioncompared to$20.6 millionfor the same period in 2019. This increase was driven by an increase in personnel-related expenses as headcount grew to support the advancement of the clinical and pre-clinical programs. Additionally, expenses increased due to timing of manufacturing runs and continued progression through clinical trials for several programs. Expenses for AL014 increased as well as for other early stage programs as investment in research and clinical pipeline continues.

G&A Expenses.Total general and administrative expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 were$14.6 millioncompared to$5.8 millionfor the same period in 2019. This increase was primarily due to an increase in personnel-related expenses due to increased headcount to support the advancement of the clinical and pre-clinical programs and an increase in legal costs associated with our ongoing arbitration proceedings for certain intellectual property matters.

Net Loss.For the quarter ended March 31, 2020,Alectorreported a net loss of$40.0 million, compared to a net loss of$18.6 millionfor the same period in 2019.

Cash Position.Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were$548.5 millionas ofMarch 31, 2020.

AboutAlector

Alectoris a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Immuno-neurology targets immune dysfunction as a root cause of multiple pathologies that are drivers of degenerative brain disorders.Alectoris developing a broad portfolio of programs designed to functionally repair genetic mutations that cause dysfunction of the brains immune system and enable the rejuvenated immune cells to counteract emerging brain pathologies. The Companys product candidates are supported by biomarkers and target genetically defined patient populations in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimers disease.Alectoris headquartered inSouthSan Francisco, California. For additional information, please visitwww.alector.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from current expectations and beliefs, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties related to market conditions and satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the proposed offering, and other risks and uncertainties related to the offering,Alectorand its business as set forth in Alectors Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) onMarch 24, 2020, as well as the other documents Alector files from time to time with the SEC. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results forAlectorto differ materially from those contained in Alectors forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, andAlectorspecifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Source: Alector, Inc.

Contacts

Media:1ABDan Budwick, 973-271-6085dan@1abmedia.com

or

Investors:Alector, Inc.ir@alector.com

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Alector Reports 2020 First Quarter Financial Results and Business Highlights - GlobeNewswire

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 5

Amid the extended lockdown, eminent neurologist Dr Sushil Razdan has said continued isolation is testing the stress-coping mechanism of people and it could lead to an increase in the psychological disorders in Jammu and Kashmir, already affected by decades of violence.

Razdan, who receives a large number of psychiatric patients, especially from the trouble-torn Kashmir valley, said the fear of unknown and the fear of future was affecting individuals as their normal lives had been disrupted.

Talking to The Tribune, Razdan, one of the leading neurologists in the country, said: I receive many calls from people who express their fears about the present situation and how it is impacting them. The loss of work and income is a major concern as they see no end to the present situation.

The UT was put under the lockdown on March 23 like the rest of the country. Since the lockdown, Razdan is providing medical consultation to patients via telephone daily from 10 am to 5 pm but he said it a difficult situation.

We cannot see our patients face to face. But we have managed to create a good interactive system. I speak to patients on the phone. We do as much work as possible so that they dont suffer, the neurologist said.

Expressing concern over the continued closure of the OPDs, Razdan said, The fight against the coronavirus has led to the neglect of patients suffering from normal diseases and emergencies. The shutdown was important but now regular work should start in hospitals.

Visit link:
Fear of unknown affecting people, says neurologist - The Tribune

Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center.

Physicians in China are reporting what they believe is the first case of COVID-19 initially presenting as acute Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). The patient was a 61-year-old woman returning home from Wuhan during the pandemic.

"GBS is an autoimmune neuropathy, which could be triggered by various infections," corresponding author Sheng Chen, MD, PhD, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China, told Medscape Medical News.

However, "Our single case report only suggests a possible association between GBS and SARS-CoV-2 infection. It may or may not have a causal relationship," Chen noted.

The case study was published online April 1 in Lancet Neurology.

The female patient returned from Wuhan on January 19 but denied having any fever, cough, chest pain, or diarrhea. She presented on January 23 with acute weakness in both legs and severe fatigue that progressed.

At presentation, temperature was normal, oxygen saturation was 99% on room air, and the patient's respiratory rate was 16 breaths per minute. She was not tested for SARS-CoV-2 at that point.

A neurologic examination revealed symmetric weakness (Medical Research Council grade 4/5) and areflexia in both legs and feet. The patient's symptoms had progressed 3 days after admission, and testing revealed decreased sensation to light touch and pinprick.

Admission laboratory test results indicated a low lymphocyte count and thrombocytopenia. Results of nerve conduction studies performed on day 5 of hospitalization were consistent with demyelinating neuropathy.

She was diagnosed with GBS and given intravenous immunoglobulin. On day 8, she developed a dry cough and fever, and a chest CT showed ground-glass opacities in both lungs. At this point, she was tested for SARS-CoV-2, and the results were positive.

The patient was immediately transferred to an isolation room and received supportive care and antiviral drugs. Her condition improved gradually, and her lymphocyte and thrombocyte counts were normalon day 20.

At discharge on day 30, she had normal muscle strength in both arms and legs, and tendon reflexes in both legs and feet had returned. Her respiratory symptoms had resolved as well. A second SARS-CoV-2 test was negative.

Two relatives of the patient who had been with her during her hospital stay also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were isolated and treated.

All of the hospital staff that cared for the patient, including two neurologists and six nurses, tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Given the temporal association, SARS-CoV-2 infection could be responsible for the development of GBS in this patient, the investigators note. They add that the onset of GBS symptoms overlapped with the period of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

"Hence Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 might follow the pattern of a parainfectious profile, instead of the classic postinfectious profile, as reported in Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with Zika virus," the researchers write.

"More cases with epidemiological data are necessary to support a causal relationship" between SARS-CoV-2 infection and GBS, said Chen.

"However, we still suggest physicians who encounter an acute GBS patient from a pandemic area protect themselves carefully and test [for the] virus on admission. If the result is positive, the patient needs to be isolated," Chen said.

Lancet Neurol. Published online April 1, 2020. Full text

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First Case of COVID-19 Presenting as Guillain-Barr Reported - Medscape

Compared to the general population, patients with newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS)/clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) are more likely to have impaired cognitive function, a study in Neurology suggests. The study also found that being black and Hispanic, not having a university degree, and having a relatively low household income are predictors of cognitive performance.

A total of 1174 adults with MS/CIS (mean age, 40.7 years) who were enrolled in the MS Sunshine Study were included in this analysis. The researchers administered the oral Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) during a structured in-person assessment to identify cognitive impairment in incident cases of MS/CIS (n=554) and matched controls (n=620). Additionally, verbal fluency was also determined. A multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association between SDMT scores and race/ethnicity and MS. Multivariable analyses were adjusted for age at time of interview, sex, education, and household income.

Across all racial/ethnic groups, patients with MS/CIS had significantly lower mean SDMT scores compared to controls (52.2 vs 58.3, respectively; P <.0001). The multivariable linear regression analyses, independent predictors of lower oral SDMT scores included being black (,5.97; P <0.0001) or Hispanic (,3.06; P <0.0001), having MS (,6.04; P <.0001), lower educational attainment (high school, trade school, or less: ,5.02; P <.0001), and having a household income $65,000 (,5.02; P =.0007). The researchers observed no interaction between MS case status and race/ethnicity on SDMT scores.

The authors note that these analyses may have been limited by the inclusion of only participants from California and the lack of ethnic diversity among the black and Hispanic participants.

The investigators suggest that in addition to optimizing disease-modifying treatments to slow cognitive decline in patients with MS, interventions aimed at improving cognition may also be beneficial. From a societal perspective, improving opportunities for higher educational attainment and higher incomes for black and Hispanic participants in the United States would likely reduce racial/ethnic disparities in cognitive performance.

Disclosure: Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors disclosures.

Reference

Amezcua L, Smith JB, Gonzales EG, Haraszti S, Langer-Gould A. Race, ethnicity, and cognition in persons newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis [published online March 9, 2020]. Neurology. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000009210

View post:
Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis More Likely to Have Impaired Cognitive Performance - Neurology Advisor

NETANYA, Israel, April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Theranica Bioelectronics (Theranica), a bio-medical technology company developing advanced electroceuticals for migraine and other pain conditions, announced today that Frontiers In Neurology Journal published an article demonstrating that incorporating Remote ElectricalNeuromodulation (REN)treatment into usual care of migraine has the potential to reduce reliance on acute pharmacological medications.

"This study signals a potentially significant shift in how we approach the acute treatment of migraine," said lead author Michael Marmura,MD, HeadacheSpecialist at the ThomasJefferson UniversityHospital in Philadelphia. "Adding REN as an alternative to traditional migraine treatments opens the door to new long-term treatment strategies. What is most promising is the fact that so many patients in the study chose REN without being specifically prompted, and experienced treatment outcomes similar or slightly better than their usual care."

In a cohort of 117 patients who were given the option of using REN in addition to or instead of their usual care treatments, such as triptans or over-the-counter (OTC) medications, 89.7% used REN exclusively, without medications. When REN was not available, only 15.4% chose to avoid medications in all their reported migraine attacks. The patients who used REN exclusively reported similar treatment outcomes to their usual (pharmacological) care. The article concludes that "Incorporating REN into usual care may have a positive impact on migraine management by reducing the reliance on acute medications."

"When patients experience debilitating migraine symptoms, they are looking for effective relief," said Dr. Morris Levin, chief of the headache medicine division and director of the Headache Center at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, who served as the chairman of the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee of the study. "Traditionally we've had only a limited number of useful acute migraine treatments, many of which have side effects. REN is a welcome option, due to its apparent safety and almost nonexistent adverse effects. In addition, the risk of medication overuse, often a limiting factor with acute medications, should not be an issue when using a drug free therapy such as REN."

The device used in the study was Theranica's FDA-authorized prescribed therapeutic wearable, Nerivio. The device deploys REN to activate the body's native Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) mechanism to treat pain and accompanying migraine symptoms. Nerivio, which was recently named one of TIME's best inventions of 2019, is available in the US with a valid prescription. It is also accessible via online telemedicine portals Coveor UpScript, which provide physician consultations and home delivery.

About Theranica

Theranica Bio-Electronicsis dedicated to creating effective, safe, affordable, low-side effect electroceuticals for idiopathic pain conditions.The company's award-winning flagship product,Nerivio, is thefirst FDA-authorized smartphone-controlled prescription wearable device for acute migraine treatment.Setting the foundation of an effective first-line therapeutic alternative to pharmacological options within the migraine industry, Theranicais expanding its proprietary technology to offer additional solutions for other pain conditions.

Learn more by visiting our website,www.theranica.comand following us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Media Contact: Ellie Hanson Finn Partners ellie.hanson@finnpartners.com +1-929-222-8006

Theranica Contact: Ronen Jashekronenj@theranica.com+972-72-390-9750

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Frontiers in Neurology Publishes Study Evaluating Remote Electrical Neuromodulation (REN) As Viable Alternative to Drugs for Acute Migraine - P&T...

Campus News

UBNOW STAFF

Five UB faculty members have been named SUNY Distinguished Professors,the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system.

M. Laura Feltri, Jo Freudenheim, Amit Goyal, Elad Levy and Stephen Tiffany were appointed to the distinguished professor ranks by the SUNY Board of Trustees at its meeting on March 17.

The rank of distinguished professor is an order above full professorship and has three co-equal designations: distinguished professor, distinguished service professor and distinguished teaching professor.

The five were all named distinguished professors in recognition of their international prominence and distinguished reputations within their chosen fields. According to SUNY, this distinction is attained through significant contributions to the research literature or through artistic performance or achievement in the case of the arts. The candidates work must be of such character that the individuals presence will tend to elevate the standards of scholarship of colleagues both within and beyond these persons academic fields.

UB is tremendously proud that five of our most distinguished faculty members have been appointed to SUNYs highest rank, said A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. This distinction recognizes that UB faculty are among the best in the world and have a transformative impact through their sustained research and scholarship contributions.

UBs newest SUNY Distinguished Professors:

M. Laura Feltri, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry

Feltri, professor of biochemistry and neurology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and acting director of the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute, is an internationally renowned expert and pioneer in the study of myelin diseases in the nervous system. She conducts research on Schwann cells and disorders that affect the peripheral or central nervous systems, like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, multiple sclerosis or Krabbe leukodystrophy.

With the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students she has mentored, Feltri has made numerous seminal discoveries in her field, including developing the first mutagenesis tool for studying Schwann cell development and the signals that regulate myelination. In collaboration with Lawrence Wrabetz, she pioneered the use of transgenic animal to model neurological diseases and develop new therapies.

An internationally recognized leader in the biology of nervous system myelination, her fundamental research is contributing to the development of novel therapies for neurological disorders.

Feltri serves as chair of the Cellular and Molecular Biology of Glia National Institutes of Health study session, as a board member of scientific organizations and on the editorial board of various journals.

Jo Freudenheim, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health

Freudenheim, UB Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, is an internationally renowned expert in cancer epidemiology. She has conducted seminal research to understand factors that influence risk for cancer, particularly breast cancer, including the role of diet, alcohol and the physical environment. She uses a variety of methodologically rigorous approaches (e.g., molecular epidemiology) to examine carcinogenesis, from the molecular level to the individual and population levels.

Her research has been funded for more than 25 years by the NIH and other federal funding agencies. She has authored more than 275 peer-reviewed publications in national and international high-impact journals, where they have helped shape the field of chronic disease epidemiology.

A frequent reviewer for such entities as the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, she also has contributed to the field by serving as a mentor to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and in her role as director of a cancer epidemiology training program.

Amit Goyal, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Materials Science

An internationally recognized materials scientist, Goyal is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor and founding director of UBs RENEW Institute. In 2018, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for groundbreaking scientific advances and technological innovations enabling the worldwide commercialization of high-temperature superconductors. He is also a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, with 87 issued patents and additional patents pending.

Goyal joined UB in 2015 to direct RENEW, an institute that harnesses the expertise of more than 100 faculty in seven UB schools and colleges to explore solutions to globally pressing energy and environmental problems, as well as the social and economic issues connecting them. His leadership has placed UB at the forefront of efforts to reduce water and air pollution, and find innovative, clean ways to produce, transmit and store energy.

In 2019, he was awarded the UB Presidents Medal that recognizes outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.

The author or co-author of more than 350 technical publications and co-editor of six books, Goyal was ranked by Thompson-Reuters Essential Science Indicators as the most cited author worldwide in the field of high-temperature superconductivity from 1999-2009. He is a fellow of eight professional societies: the American Association for Advancement of Science, the Materials Research Society, the American Physical Society, the World Innovation Foundation, the American Society of Metals, the Institute of Physics, the American Ceramic Society and the World Technology Network. He serves on several scientific advisory boards and on several National Academy review panels.

Elad I. Levy, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery

Levy, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the Jacobs School, is an internationally renowned expert in stroke and cerebrovascular neurosurgery, and a major contributor to the service of organized neurosurgery. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers in this field, Levy has published extensively and developed new technology and approaches that have been instrumental in helping treat people around the world with previously incurable cerebrovascular disorders.

A member and fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, Levy has achieved additional national and international prominence as one of 100 members of the American Academy of Neurosurgery and one of 12 members of the American Board of Neurosurgery.

He serves as secretary of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery.

Stephen Tiffany, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Psychology

The Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Psychology, Tiffany is world-renowned expert on the study of addictions, developing theoretical models that have shaped the way experts in the field conceptualize the relationship between craving and addictive behavior.

Actively involved in numerous clinical studies many of which focus on nicotine Tiffany conducts empirical research with people and animal models using a combination of controlled experimentation and more translational work. He provided a dominant theoretical perspective on craving and its relationship to drug use with his 1990 Psychological Review paper that outlined a cognitive model of craving now referred to as the Tiffany model.

An extraordinarily productive and prolific researcher, Tiffany has more than 100 publications in highly prestigious journals and has received multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and the NIH.

He has served as a standing member of three different NIH review panels and on the editorial boards of multiple journals.

A UB faculty member since 2007, Tiffany served as chair of the Department of Psychology from 2011-18.

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Five named SUNY Distinguished Professors - UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo Reporter

Carl Bergstrom is an infectious disease expert who's been thinking about the relationship between biology and social systems. One central theme in his work is information: How it flows and how it spreads.

At the University of Washington, where he lectures, he developed an online course called "calling bull----" to help students use critical reasoning to see through false health information.Off the back of the syllabus' popularity, Bergstrom and his colleague Jevin West wrote a book filledwithadviceabouthow mainstream audiences can use statistics and other data science tools to question hyped-up products and conspiracy theories that are pervasive on our social media feeds today.

There are a lot of information gaps when it comes to the COVID-19 virus. And Bergstrom is one of the scientists desperately trying to fill those gaps.

He says that early on, some of the information coming out of China felt like misinformation because it was coming from political opponents of the Chinese government, but it turned out to be "partially right." Since then, he's been noting and occasionally debunking various conspiracy theories and rumors, such as the idea that the coronavirus was a Chinese bioweapon -- and, in China, that it's a U.S. bioweapon -- and false stories of catastrophes at American hospitals. On Twitter, he also called out a neurologist, Scott Mintzer, for a "panic inducing" thread about a health system in Seattle, which was based on a second-hand account from an unnamed doctor.

Bergstrom also says that there's been plenty of anticipation of a respiratory viral pandemic like COVID-19, but he does not blame the slow response in the U.S. entirely on the current government. Rather, he notes it's politically challenging to fund pandemic preparedness without a clear and present threat.

"There was a denial and refusal to act that lost us some time, and that's part of what happened. But we also didn't have the resources in place to respond to a pandemic in terms of our coordination structure," Bergstrom said. "There's a 'not on my watchism,' which involves a choice between doing a politically unpopular thing to provide funding for pandemic preparedness that might not come, or avoid doing that and slash whatever is there. These are perceived as once-in-a-century catastrophes."

He argues that the government must play a central role in planning and responding to such catastrophes, and that advocates of small-government philosophy should understand this kind of planning is akin to raising a military.

"There are some collective action problems that even the Chicago-school economists acknowledge will not be adequately solved by the market," he says. "No one expects us to raise a powerful standing army based on private market forces (and) we consider that a central role of the government to provide national defense. Pandemic preparedness is the same."

He also suggests that current lockdowns may need to last past the summer in some areas, unless we can increase testing capacity.

"My personal feeling is that we either have a long lockdown ahead of us, or we'll get testing capacity way up."

Here's a transcript of the interview, edited for length and clarity:

FARR: Given that you track how information spreads, both true and false, where and when did you see the first groups really start to sound the alarm on this?

BERGSTROM: Interestingly, we saw some loud voices early on coming from organized campaigns from political opponents of the Chinese government. There was both a lot of hyperbole but also some truth to what they were sharing. It was feeling like misinformation at the time, but turned out to be partially right. By mid-January, I was having a lot of conversations with others in the infectious disease community, but we didn't yet have diagnosed community transmission. By February, we knew it was a real problem.

FARR: What are some of the most concerning and prevalent hoaxes or false rumors that you're seeing? Can you share your top five?

CARL BERGSTROM: There's the idea that this virus is a Chinese bioweapon. Often (I've seen) a very quickly retracted paper referenced that claimed to have found big pieces of the HIV genome in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. That was debunked within 48 hours.Interestingly, a Chinese colleague told me that in China there is a very widely spread rumor on social media that it is a U.S. bioweapon, but I do not have documentation of this. There has been a lot of talk about the SO2 levels over Wuhan, linking it purportedly to the mass incineration of bodies. There is all the 5G stuff, but I haven't even gone down that rabbit hole. And there idea that Bill Gates is somehow involved, in creating and spreading the virus, not fighting it.

Finally, there were a rash of false second-hand narratives of catastrophes at hospitals. Some are spread by well known, credentialed people. I debunked one of those from the prominent neurologist on March 15th (The neurologist Scott Mintzer deleted an alarmist post after Bergstrom pointed out flaws with a second-hand account).

FARR: As a biologist, when did you first start to personally become concerned about COVID-19?

BERGSTROM: We have a mailing list for many of us professionals in the infectious disease world. You'll see clusters of disease every so often, which we'll share. In this case, we were concerned but the the information from China in those first months wasn't great. The bottom line is that by the time things got bad in Wuhan, infectious disease professionals knew that given the size of the city and the frequent travel to the rest of the world, it would get out. We didn't know if it would turn pandemic, because there have been cases where we've stamped out little fires as they emerge.

FARR: Could we have acted much sooner in the U.S., say in late January when the picture started to become more clear about how serious of a threat this was?

BERGSTROM: There was a denial and refusal to act that lost us some time, and that's part of what happened. But we also didn't have the resources in place to respond to a pandemic in terms of our coordination structure. There was definitely planning and investment that could have been done. I was most active in these sorts of discussions in the Bush years. During that period, there was a big debate about the role of government in public health and a reluctance to invest too heavily in pandemic planning. But I argued that there are some things the government has to provide. For me, that would include the research and surveillance tools, but also the infrastructure you need for rapid vaccine production.

FARR: So the government is really responsible, and not the private sector...

BERGSTROM: I'm not saying that the government should provide pandemic planning because I want a welfare state. There are some collective action problems that even the Chicago-school economists acknowledge will not be adequately solved by the market. No one expects us to raise a powerful standing army based on private market forces (and) we consider that a central role of the government to provide national defense. Pandemic preparedness is the same.

FARR: How come we were so unprepared for this, especially when it comes to having insufficient supplies of masks and personal protective equipment?

BERGSTROM: There's a 'not on my watchism,' which involves a choice between doing a politically unpopular thing to provide funding for pandemic preparedness that might not come, or avoid doing that and slash whatever is there. These are perceived as once-in-a-century catastrophes.

FARR: You've been researching pandemics throughout your career. Did you have a fear around respiratory viruses in particular?

BERGSTROM: I don't know why people don't talk more about the potential for a GI (gastrointestinal) pandemic. It's something I'm going to be asking about. I have also researched pox viruses. Monkeypox, with a few mutations, could become quite a bad thing. But it's these respiratory ones we keep seeing again and again. The story of the past twenty years has been SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and all of these smaller outbreaks, and any one of them could have flared into a disaster. It made sense to expect that something like this COVID-19 pandemic could happen.

FARR: I've read some articles pointing to folks like Bill Gates who seemed to have seen this coming. Were they prescient, or just following the data?

BERGSTROM: Well, we had a pandemic 11 years ago (with H1N1). And there are others going back further in time. People forget the severity of the 1957 flu pandemic. There really isn't an excuse to be caught unprepared, but there's certainly no excuse going forward.

FARR: Now that we're here and we're in this, do we have some tough choices to make? Do you suspect that citizens are going to be asked to make tradeoffs when it comes to privacy and civil liberties? In China, you saw temperature checks of passers-by and at buildings, and other invasive surveillance measures.

BERGSTROM: Without widespread testing, even those measures won't be effective. My personal feeling is that we either have a long lockdown ahead of us, or we'll get testing capacity way up. With temperature checks, I suspect you'd miss a lot of asymptomatic cases so I'm really in two minds about it.

But another consideration is that we already allow ourselves to be tracked in unimaginable ways so that companies can sell ads. If it came to it, we might be asked to consider whether we'd be willing to be tracked via some surveillance measures to go back to work. I might opt in because I'm a public health professional with a secure job, but I completely understand why others wouldn't. And I don't think you can impose (surveillance systems) on people in the U.S.

FARR: You've tweeted about the IMHE model, which shows projections of the spread of COVID-19, assuming full social distancing. You've also shared some reservations with these predictions. Can you elaborate?

BERGSTROM: If you believe that model, things are looking pretty good in states like Washington State by mid-May. But this is all predicated on us being successful at turning the curve around. If we do manage to get reasonable testing going and we keep following the social distancing guidelines, these models suggest life could return to normal come the summer. But if we fall short in either of those things, then we're going to be looking at some harder choices about whether we let a lot of people get infected or consider a longer lockdown.

FARR: Do we have the political will to consider the longer quarantine?

BERGSTROM: I really have no idea. In this pandemic, we don't currently have pharmaceutical measures in place, like a proven treatment. What we do have is traditional public health. We have work stoppages, stay at home orders, travel restrictions. And we also have misinformation that undercuts the trust of scientists and other authorities. There's a political pressure that is building up on our policymakers. I do hope people will do everything they can to get us on the right trajectory, but I also want us to be aware and planning for all possible outcomes.

WATCH: Bill Gates believes schools could reopen in the fall

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Biologist Carl Bergstrom on coronavirus, misinformation and why we weren't prepared - CNBC

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alector, Inc. (ALEC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to AL101 for the treatment of patients with progranulin gene mutations causative of frontotemporal dementia (FTD-GRN). AL101, the companys second product candidate designed to restore progranulin levels in the brain, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers.

There is a clear and validated connection between progranulin expression in the brain and certain neurodegenerative disorders like FTD, Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease. At Alector, we are pioneering the development of therapies targeting the progranulin pathway, with two product candidates being tested in clinical trials, said Robert King, Ph.D., chief development officer at Alector. AL101 is the second product candidate from our progranulin program to receive Fast Track designation from the FDA, underscoring the need for new treatment options for these patients. We look forward to working with the agency to advance AL101 as quickly as possible.

Fast Track designation is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of therapies for serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. Programs with Fast Track designation may benefit from early and frequent communications with the FDA, potential priority review, and additionally a rolling submission of the marketing application.

About AL101AL101 is Alector's wholly-owned human monoclonal antibody and second product designed to restore levels of progranulin in the central nervous system. Progranulin is a regulator of immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders. Mutations that moderately reduce the expression levels of progranulin have been shown to increase the risk of developing Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease, and increased progranulin levels have been demonstrated to be protective for these diseases in animal models.

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AL101 has the potential to be developed for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease. AL101 received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia in July 2019 and Fast Track designation in February 2020.

About AlectorAlector is a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering immuno-neurology, a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Immuno-neurology targets immune dysfunction as a root cause of multiple pathologies that are drivers of degenerative brain disorders. Alector is developing a broad portfolio of programs designed to functionally repair genetic mutations that cause dysfunction of the brains immune system and enable the rejuvenated immune cells to counteract emerging brain pathologies. The Companys product candidates are supported by biomarkers and target genetically defined patient populations in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimers disease. Alector is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit http://www.alector.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the ability and timing for the closing of the public offering of common stock. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from current expectations and beliefs, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties related to market conditions and satisfaction of customary closing conditions related to the proposed offering, and other risks and uncertainties related to the offering, Alector and its business as set forth in Alectors registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on January 29, 2020 and the preliminary prospectus included therein, as well as the other documents Alector files from time to time with the SEC, including Alectors most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 12, 2019. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results for Alector to differ materially from those contained in Alectors forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Alector specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Source: Alector, Inc.

Contacts

Media:1ABDan Budwick, 973-271-6085dan@1abmedia.comorInvestors:Alector, Inc.ir@alector.com

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Alector Announces FDA Fast Track Designation Granted to AL101 for the Treatment of Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia - Yahoo Finance

Neurologic conditionsassociated with HIV remain major contributors to morbidity and mortality, and are increasingly recognizedin the aging population of individuals living with HIV who are receiving long-standingcombination antiretroviral therapy (cART).

Neurologic complications are common among individuals who are not receiving treatment for HIV as a result of immunosuppression caused by the infection, but are also widely reported after establishing a treatment regimen. Although the advent of ART, and particularly cART, have successfully reduced the risk for progression of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), these therapies are not effective in all patients, and thus allow for the development of neurocognitive dysfunction.2 In addition, during the early stages of infection, HIV can readily enter the central nervous system (CNS), where a persistent reservoir of HIV infection and inflammation serves to re-infect healthy cells to produce symptoms of HAND, despite therapy.1,2 And finally, drug toxicity from cART may also contribute to the development of HAND.1,2

The Evolution of HAND

The majority of patients diagnosed with HIVare on continuing ART, which is widely recognized to offer a much extended lifeexpectancy to approximately the lifespan of people without HIV; however, asmany as one-half of patients also have neurocognitive dysfunction.1,3Prior to the ART era, HIV-associated dementia, the most severe form of HAND,was common in patients with AIDS and was generally irreversible, noted Deanna Saylor, MD, MHS, director of theHopkins Global Neurology Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine inBaltimore, Maryland. In the ART era, the overallprevalence of HAND is unchanged, but we have seen a dramatic shift from themost severe forms to milder forms of HAND such as asymptomatic neurocognitiveimpairment and mild neurocognitive disorder. HAND is no longer a relentlesslyprogressive disease, she said.

Further, Justin C McArthur, MBBS, MPH, director of the department of neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and founding director the of the Johns Hopkins/National Institute of Mental Health Research Center for Novel Therapeutics of HIV-associated Cognitive Disorders in Baltimore, Maryland, has observed that as many as 50% of the current population living with HIV is now aged >50 years, and living with the infection as a long-term condition, putting them at risk for a potentially milder form of a combination of HIV- and age-related cognitive impairment. Because of the potency of antiretrovirals and the strategies to treat everyone as early as possible, the spectrum of HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction has really shifted from what could be a severe disease with frank dementia and neurologic depth to a much milder type of disorder that is really analogous to [mild cognitive impairment] outside the disease spectrum,he said.

DrMcArthur coauthored a 2019 study by Dastgheyb et al4 thatdistinguished 4 phenotypes of neurocognitive dysfunction, including verbalfluency, executive function, learning and recall, and motor function. Thissmall study of 38 women helps to illuminate that HAND is not stereotypic fromone individual to another, he observed, and contains variations which may beexplainable by where the virus is in the brain or by other inherentcharacteristics of the patient, such as traumatic brain injury of acceleratedvascular disease.

HIV Reservoir in the Brain

Oneof the ongoing challenges to effective treatment of HAND is the discovery thatthe brain may serve as a reservoir for HIV replication, even when systemicviral suppression has been achieved.2,5 We know that HIV DNA can beisolated from the spinal fluid, even in individuals who are on antiretroviralsand it suggests that there is still perhaps a small but still quite importantreservoir of HIV within the central nervous system, Dr McArthur pointed out,which explains how a recurrent reseeding of infection from the brain can keepthe virus alive despite effective therapy.

Monocyte Activation

Itnow appears that a core driver for the development of HAND is cellularactivation of monocytes, macrophages, and microglia in the brain. High levelsof monocyte activation have been reported in patients with long-standing HIVmanaged by cART. The COBRA study of 134 PLHIV on cART and 79 non-HIV-infectedcontrols reported plasma markers showing high levels of monocyte activation,inflammation, and intestinal damage in the HIV cohort that were all predictiveof mortality and morbidity in treated HIV patients. At the same time, systemicT-cell activation in HIV did not have predictive value.6,7

Monocytes are cells that circulate in the blood and occasionally are found in the , but we think most of the reservoir in the brain and in the meninges are actually in tissue macrophages and in the microglia, Dr McArthur explained. These are cells that tend not to migrate. They dont move around like monocytes, they just sit there, but they can potentially induce or spread infection to other cells that are moving past them. As the mobile cells continue to travel, the infection is reintroduced into the spinal fluid, lymphatic circulation, and back into the blood, he added.

Areas for Future Research

Newavenues of research that aim to explore potential eradication of the virus byfirst eliminating the CNS reservoir are needed, Dr Saylor noted, as well as thedevelopment of treatments that fully normalize systemic and CNSinflammation.Current ART regimens reduce but do not normalize systemicand CNS inflammation, and we believe many of the non-infectious complicationsof chronic HIV infection are related to persistent low levels of inflammation,including stroke, dementia and other systemic complications, she said. Moreover,she pointed to the need for new more effective treatments to improve existingHIV-associated cognitive impairment.

DrMcArthur also highlighted that the dynamics of how the virus is produced andeliminated in specific cell types such as macrophages and microglia is quitedifferent than in the major cellular target in the body, the T-lymphocyte. Weneed to understand much more about the viral dynamics in the central nervoussystem, he said.

References

1. Saylor D, Dickens AM, Sacktor N, et al. HIV-associated neurocognitive disorderpathogenesis and prospects for treatment. Nat Rev Neurol. 2016;12(4):234-48.

2. D Saylor. Neurologic Complications of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection.

Continuum (Minneap Minn)2018;24:1397-1421.

3. Nightengale S, Winston A, Letendre S, et al. Controversies in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Lancet Neurol. 2014;13:1139-1151.

4. Dastgheyb RM, Sacktor N, Franklin D, et al. Cognitive Trajectory Phenotypes in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients.J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2019;82:6170.

5. Wong ME, Jaworowski A, Hearps AC. The HIV Reservoir in Monocytes and Macrophages Front Immunol. 2019;10:1435. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.01435

6. Booiman T, Wit FW, Maurer I, et al. High Cellular Monocyte Activation in People Living With Human Immunodeficiency Virus on Combination Antiretroviral Therapy and Lifestyle-Matched Controls Is Associated With Greater Inflammation in Cerebrospinal Fluid. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2017;4:ofx108.

7. Wright EJ, Thakur KT, Bearden D, Birbeck GL. Global developments in HIV neurology. Handb Clin Neurol. 2018;152:265-287.

Excerpt from:
Neurocognitive Conditions Among People Living With HIV - Infectious Disease Advisor

Chicago, United States: The global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Market is expected to surge at a steady CAGR in the coming years, states the latest Report Hive Research. The publication offers an insightful take on the historical data of the market and the milestones it has achieved. The report also includes an assessment of current market trends and dynamics, which helps in mapping the trajectory of the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market. Analysts have used Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis to explain the various elements of the market in absolute detail. Furthermore, it also studies the socio-economic factors, political changes, and environmental norms that are likely to affect the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market.

The Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market study published in the report is in a chapter-wise format to ease of the readability and complexity of the data covered. Each chapter is further categorized into its respective segments containing well-structured data. The competitive scenario displayed includes major market player details such as, company profile, end-user demand, import/export volume, sales data, etc. The report also covers the business strategies applied by different players, which will be a great addition for smart business decisions.

Get a Sample PDF Report: https://www.reporthive.com/request_sample/2258380

Top Key players cited in the report:

StrykerMedtronicJohnson and JohnsonTerumoPenumbraBoston ScientificAbbott LaboratoriesMerit Medical SystemsMicroport Scientific

The report on Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market provides qualitative as well as quantitative analysis in terms of market dynamics, competition scenarios, opportunity analysis, market growth, industrial chain, etc. In this study, 2019 has been considered as the base year and 2020 to 2026 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices.

The research report is committed to giving its readers an unbiased point of view of the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market. Thus, along with statistics, it includes opinions and recommendation of market experts. This allows the readers to acquire a holistic view of the global market and the segments therein. The research report includes the study of the market segments on the basis of type, application, and region. This helps in identifying segment-specific drivers, restraints, threats, and opportunities.

The scope of the Report:The research report on the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market is a comprehensive publication that aims to identify the financial outlook of the market. For the same reason it offers a detailed understanding of the competitive landscape. It studies some of the leading players, their management styles, their research and development statuses, and their expansion strategies.

The report also includes product portfolios and the list of products in the pipeline. It includes a through explanation of the cutting-edging technologies and investments being made to upgrade the existing ones.

Global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Market: Competitive RivalryThe chapter on company profiles studies the various companies operating in the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market. It evaluates the financial outlooks of these companies, their research and development statuses, and their expansion strategies for the coming years. Analysts have also provided a detailed list of the strategic initiatives taken by the Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market participants in the past few years to remain ahead of the competition.

Global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Market: Regional Segments

The chapter on regional segmentation details the regional aspects of the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market. This chapter explains the regulatory framework that is likely to impact the overall market. It highlights the political scenario in the market and the anticipates its influence on the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market.

Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Segmentation by Product

Cerebral Thrombectomy DevicesCarotid Artery Stenting (CAS) SystemCerebral Aneurysm and AVM Endovascular Embolization SystemsIntracranial Stent SystemsFlow Diverter for Aneurysm

Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Segmentation by Application

HospitalClinic

Get Customized PDF template of this report: https://www.reporthive.com/request_customization/2258380

Strategic Points Covered in TOC:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product scope, market risk, market overview, and market opportunities of the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices market

Chapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices marketwhich consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the products

Chapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and sales

Chapter 4: Presenting global Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices marketby regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected period

Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions

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About Us:Report Hive Research delivers strategic market research reports, statistical survey, and Industry analysis and forecast data on products and services, markets and companies. Our clientele ranges mix of United States Business Leaders, Government Organizations, SMEs, Individual and Start-ups, Management Consulting Firms, and Universities etc. Our library of 600,000+ market reports covers industries like Chemical, Healthcare, IT, Telecom, Semiconductor, etc. in the USA, Europe Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific. We help in business decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, sales and revenue, technology trends, competitive analysis, product portfolio and application analysis etc.

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Neurovascular or Interventional Neurology Devices Market Business Opportunities, Current Trends and Growth Forecasts by 2025 | Stryker, Medtronic,...

Have you ever wondered how animals look or hunt for food? The simple response is they just follow their instincts, but what are the mechanisms behind their bodys response to look for food, and keep looking until they are satisfied? What is behind the neurology of motivation?

Previous research has found that environmental gustatory cues would provide information about the type and quality of available food, but only internal nutrient levels would ultimately suppress the circuits to the neurology of motivation. An international team of researchers led by the scientists from the Technical University of Munich set up various experiments involving the common fruit fly to determine which sensory cues are prioritized to influence a mammalian animals behaviour and internal motivation.

Both hungry and fed flies were tethered to a spherical treadmill and exposed to an odour source as a repeated stimulus. The activity of the flies was recorded at various intervals such as pre- and post-stimulus and then categorized into levels of motivation.

The researchers found two sets of behaviours during odour stimulation. Upon exposure, the flies sped up to almost double their average speed and suppressed turning behaviour to head straighter. This suggested that they were tracking the odour stimulus and had increased motivation. When the stimulation was terminated, the flies significantly reduced their speed and almost stopped before regaining the average speed. They also increased their turning behaviour, which was attributed to them searching for the initial odour stimulus.

Over the span of 10 repeated trials, the researchers further identified an evolution in the flies behaviour. The acceleration in speed upon stimulus onset had gradually increased and turning behaviour was more efficiently suppressed. In the end, the data provided insight into the flies neurology of motivation as the behaviour to track food was significantly intensified over the course of the experiment.

In addition, the researchers conducted experiments to investigate any changes in the flies behaviour induced by their hunger state. Flies were not intrigued or motivated to track odours when they were fed. However, those who were starved for 24 and 48 hours almost doubled their speed as well as tracking time when exposed to the odour stimulus. This demonstrated that starvation time was correlated with both tracking speed and time. The longer the flies were starved, the longer and faster they pursued the food odour.

The results published in CellPress identified two neurotransmitters that were key to the neurology of motivation in mammals: norepinephrine and octopamine. By taking advantage of the smaller and simpler structure in a fly brains neural network, the researchers found it easier to sift and identify specific neurons and their function. The presence of octopamine led to flies immediately slowing down or even stopping their odour tracking, whereas the presence of dopamine significantly increased their tracking speed and consequently, motivation.

The conclusions drawn from the study identified the circuit significant to the neurology of motivation that influenced the flies behaviour based on a need- and state-dependent manner. As similar neurotransmitters and circuits exist in the human mammalian brain, the hope of the study was to further understand mechanisms and one day, understand and treat human conditions such as addiction.

Written by Stephanie Tsang

References:

Sayin, Sercan, et al. A Neural Circuit Arbitrates between Persistence and Withdrawal in Hungry Drosophila.Neuron, vol. 104, no. 3, 27 Aug. 2019, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.07.028.

Battenberg, Andreas. The Secret of Motivation.EurekAlert!, 26 Sept. 2019, http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/tuom-tso092619.php.

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Exploring the neurology of motivation - Medical News Bulletin

Specialty practices who are members of IPN Solutions can leverage technology, services, and informatics to drive higher-quality and lower-cost care in their community. Some of the programs and technology platforms offered through IPN Solutions include:

In this dynamic GPO environment, our customers have an abundance of choices with how they support their patient care model. At IPN Solutions, our goal is to provide the tools specialty practices need to elevate their business, maintain operational efficiency, and support value-based care models that rely on patient satisfaction and engagement, Brian Ansay, President Specialty Physician Group Purchasing, AmerisourceBergen. Now with IPN Solutions, existing members and those that join us will have direct access to a dedicated team support structure, including strategic account managers, directors, and administrators who will assist with maximizing operational efficiencies and contract opportunities, as well as integrating solutions into their practices.

For more than 20 years, IPN supported physicians in their mission to provide better patient care through contract pricing on pharmaceuticals and clinical and operational education. IPN Solutions will now provide that same support, but with augmented and wrap-around technology, programs and service offerings. IPN Solutions supports neurology, rheumatology, ophthalmology, retina, gastroenterology, dermatology, and urology practices. Visit http://www.ipnonline.com for more information on IPN Solutions.

About IPN Solutions

A company of AmerisourceBergen, IPN Solutions is a national specialty network that provides GPO drug contracting, educational programming, practice solutions and services, and advocacy support to neurology, rheumatology, ophthalmology, retina, gastroenterology, dermatology, and urology practices. Created for physicians and healthcare professionals, IPN has developed relationships with drug manufacturers and service providers to help reduce costs to providers. IPN members enjoy GPO contracting on pharmaceuticals, diagnostic testing, surgical equipment, and medical equipment. As a member of IPN, specialty practices can share in the networks purchasing power, while remaining an independent and autonomous entity. Learn more at ipnonline.com.

About AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen provides pharmaceutical products, value-driving services, and business solutions that improve access to care. Tens of thousands of healthcare providers, veterinary practices and livestock producers trust us as their partner in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Global manufacturers depend on us for services that drive commercial success for their products. Through our daily work and powered by our 21,000 associates we are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #10 on the Fortune 500, with more than $160 billion in annual revenue. The company is headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa. and has a presence in 50+ countries. Learn more at amerisourcebergen.com.

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IPN Solutions Launches with New Portfolio of Programs and Technology Platforms - BioSpace

Headache and migraine ratings were reduced by approximately50% after use of medical cannabis, and these reductions were greater in mencompared with women, according to study results published in The Journal of Pain. Although there wasevidence for the development of tolerance to cannabiss effects on headache,there was no evidence for medication overuse headache.

Even though cannabis is commonly used to alleviate headache and migraine, sparse research exists on its effectiveness. The current study was designed to evaluate if cannabis inhalation decreases ratings for migraine and headache and to assess how sex, cannabis type (flower vs concentrate), cannabidiol (CBD), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or dose may contribute to these changes and to any evidence of tolerance to effects. Investigators obtained study data from Strainprint, a medical cannabis mobile application allowing patients to track symptoms before and after use of different cannabis strains and doses. They used models to analyze data from 12,293 sessions of 1306 medical cannabis users tracking headache treatment and from 7441 sessions of 653 medical cannabis users tracking migraine treatment.

When researchers examined changes by sex, men reported significantly more sessions with headache reduction compared with women (90.9% vs 89.1%, respectively; 2(1)=10.87;P=.001). Also, women reported significantly more sessions with headache exacerbation (ie, worsening symptoms) compared with men (2.9% vs 1.8%, respectively; 2(1)=16.28;P<.001). Researchers did not determine any sex differences for the percentage of sessions with no change in severity of headache (women, 8.1% vs men, 7.4%; 2(1)=2.03;P=.15). For migraines, they observed no significant differences between men and women in symptom reduction (87.3% vs 88.6%, respectively; 2(1)=2.47,P=.12) or exacerbation (2.9% vs 3.2%, respectively; 2(1)=0.62;P=.43), but significantly more men reported no change in migraine severity (9.9% vs 8.2%, respectively; 2(1)=5.5;P=.02).

The use of a concentrate was associated with greaterreductions in headache ratings compared with the use of flower (=0.0902;P<.001), and there were no maineffects in any of the models associated with CBD concentration, THCconcentration, or dose. Investigators found evidence of tolerance, indicated bylater headache episodes associated with a lesser symptom decrease compared withearlier episodes (=0.130.05;P=.01).

Despite the study limitations, which included possiblesampling bias and the lack of a placebo control group, the study investigatorsconcluded that medical cannabis can reduce migraine and headache ratings byapproximately 50%. Although evidence shows that regular use may producetolerance, cannabis does not lead to the medication overuse headache thatis associated with other conventional treatments, meaning that use of cannabisdoes not make headaches or migraines worse over time. Future double-blind,placebo controlled clinical trials are warranted and will help to rule outplacebo effects and provide a more controlled examination of dose, type ofcannabis, THC, CBD, and THC CBD interactions.

Reference

Cuttler C, Spradlin A, Cleveland MJ, Craft RM.Short- and long-term effects of cannabis on headache and migraine[published online November 9, 2019].J Pain. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2019.11.001

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Headache and Migraine: Short- and Long-Term Effects of Medical Cannabis - Neurology Advisor

Twenty-seven years ago Barb Butler was involved in a car crash that left her in a coma for 21 days. She has been dealing with a traumatic brain injury ever since.

I had to learn to walk [again], I had to learn to read, Butler said.

In September, Butler joined the Enrich program at the University of Regina a relatively new program providing rehabilitation to those with Parkinsons disease and other neurological conditions.

Enrich gives clients the chance to be active, through tasked-oriented movement activities. Things like reaching and grasping, handwriting, walking and stepping up and downstairs.

In general day-to-day activities, I would often be afraid I was going to fall and now I dont even think about it anymore because my balance has improved that much, Butler said.

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Cameron Mang is an assistant professor in Kinesiology and Health Studies at the U of R and the founder of Enrich.

I definitely felt there was a need for this type of work here and I was really excited to see how interested the community was, Mang said.

The results have been fascinating, he said.

Weve seen improvements in walking functions and endurance, some strength improvements and some balance improvements, Mang explained.

A lot of people just comment they feel the social interaction really helps them in their lives as well.

The Enrich program began in the fall and has 11 members.

Allan Johnson has been attending since it started. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease three years, but has been dealing with symptoms for about 20 years.

My biggest accomplishment is I have been able to write or actually print legibly in block capitals for the first time in quite a few years, Johnson said.

I have exercises stretching to do with my hands that allow me to build dexterity and get a little more control over them.

Enrich runs twice a week at the U of Rs fitness centre. For more information visit their website.

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2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Neurological program at the U or R giving participants a new sense of hope - Global News

CAMBRIDGE,Mass., May 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc.(Nasdaq: FULC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the lives of patients with genetically defined rare diseases, today announced multiple presentations at the 2020 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Science Highlights Virtual Platform.AANs annual meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19 and the virtual platform allows for all accepted oral and poster presentations to be presented.The materials linked below willbe available for approximately10 months.

We are pleased by the breadth of losmapimod data selected for presentation, which highlights the progress weve made to develop a treatment for patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and our approach to treating the root cause of genetically defined rare diseases, saidDiego Cadavid, M.D., Fulcrums senior vice president, clinical development. In particular, we have identified a set of stable DUX4-regulated gene transcripts that provide a pharmacodynamic biomarker endpoint to measure the treatment effect of losmapimod in FSHD. Additionally, in collaboration with AMRA Medical, we have created a standardized whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol to evaluate skeletal muscle composition in FSHD patients. I would like to thank the patients and their families who have participated in our trials, and who inspire us every day.

2020 AAN Virtual Platform Presentation and Poster Details

Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Losmapimod in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD): Safety, Tolerability, and Target Engagement

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/2192

Design of a Phase 2, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, 48-Week, Parallel-Group Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Losmapimod in Treating Subjects with Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD): ReDUX4

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/2193

Development of an Optimized Timed Up and Go (oTUG) for Measurement of Changes in Mobility Impairment in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) Clinical Trials

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/1638

A Biomarker of DUX4 Activity to Evaluate losmapimod Treatment Effect in FSHD Phase 2 Trials

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/2196

An In-Home Study of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) Patients using Contactless Wireless Sensing and Machine Learning

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/1721

Development and Evaluation of a Whole-body MRI Imaging Protocol and Analysis Algorithms to Measure Changes in Skeletal Muscle in FSHD

https://cslide-us.ctimeetingtech.com/aan2020/attendee/eposter/poster/2176

About FSHDFSHD is characterized by progressive skeletal muscle loss that initially causes weakness in muscles in the face, shoulders, arms, and trunk, and progresses to weakness throughout the lower body. Skeletal muscle weakness results in significant physical limitations, including an inability to smile and difficulty using arms for activities, with many patients ultimately becoming dependent upon the use of a wheelchair for daily mobility.

FSHD is caused by mis-expression of DUX4 in skeletal muscle, resulting in the presence of DUX4 proteins that are toxic to muscle tissue. Normally, DUX4-driven gene expression is limited to early embryonic development, after which time the DUX4 gene is silenced. In people with FSHD, the DUX4 gene is turned on as a result of a genetic mutation. The result is death of muscle and its replacement by fat, leading to skeletal muscle weakness and progressive disability. There are no approved therapies for FSHD, one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy, with an estimated patient population of 16,000 to 38,000 in the United States alone.

About Losmapimod Losmapimod is a selective p38/ mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor that was exclusively in-licensed from GSK by Fulcrum Therapeutics following Fulcrums discovery of the role of p38/ inhibitors in the reduction of DUX4 expression and an extensive review of known compounds. Utilizing its internal product engine, Fulcrum discovered that inhibition of p38/ reduced expression of the DUX4 gene in muscle cells derived from patients with FSHD. Although losmapimod has never previously been explored in muscular dystrophies, it has been evaluated in more than 3,500 subjects in clinical trials across multiple other indications, including in several Phase 2 trials and a Phase 3 trial. No safety signals were attributed to losmapimod in any of these trials. Fulcrum is currently conducting Phase 2 trials investigating the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of losmapimod to treat the root cause of FSHD.

About Fulcrum TherapeuticsFulcrum Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the lives of patients with genetically defined rare diseases in areas of high unmet medical need. Fulcrums proprietary product engine identifies drug targets which can modulate gene expression to treat the known root cause of gene mis-expression. The company has advanced losmapimod to Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and has completed extensive pre-clinical research for FTX-6058 for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

Please visit http://www.fulcrumtx.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the development status of the Companys product candidates. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, including statements regarding the Companys strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, potential, predict, project, should, target, will, would and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with Fulcrums ability to obtain and maintain necessary approvals from the FDA and other regulatory authorities; continue to advance its product candidates in clinical trials; replicate in later clinical trials positive results found in preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials of losmapimod and its other product candidates; advance the development of its product candidates under the timelines it anticipates in current and future clinical trials; obtain, maintain or protect intellectual property rights related to its product candidates; manage expenses; and raise the substantial additional capital needed to achieve its business objectives. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause the Companys actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the Risk Factors section, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors, in the Companys most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Companys views as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing the Companys views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Companys views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

Contact:

Investors: Christi Waarich Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications617-651-8664cwaarich@fulcrumtx.com

Stephanie Ascher Stern Investor Relations, Inc.stephanie.ascher@sternir.com 212-362-1200

Media: Kaitlin GallagherBerry & Company Public Relationskgallagher@berrypr.com212-253-8881

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Fulcrum Therapeutics Announces Multiple Presentations at the 2020 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Science Highlights Virtual Platform -...

Becker's Healthcare named the following organizations to the 2019 edition of its list "100 hospitals and health systems with great neurosurgery and spine programs."

The organizations featured on this year's list have extensive neurosurgery and spine programs, providing treatment and cutting edge research into brain and spine disorders. Many hospitals and health systems featured have earned top honors for medical excellence, outcomes and patient experience in their spine and brain surgery departments.

To develop this list, the Becker's Healthcare editorial team examined national rankings and awards for neurosurgery and spine care. The editorial team examined U.S. News & World Report national rankings for neurology and neurosurgery; CareChex national and regional rankings for neurological care and Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery designation to develop this list. Please contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com with any questions about this list.

Note: Hospitals cannot pay for inclusion on this list. Organizations are presented in alphabetical order.

Abbott Northwestern Hospital (Minneapolis). At Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Spine Institute, physicians treat more than 4,000 patients annually. The hospital has been designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery by BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota. With five area partners, Abbott Northwestern Hospital was ranked on U.S. News & World Report's list of 50 best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

AdventHealth Orlando (Fla.). AdventHealth's Neuroscience Institute provides comprehensive care to patients with brain and spinal disorders. The health system's brain tumor team includes 12 physicians, and the spine team features 15 physicians that aim to stay at the forefront of spinal treatment. With an elite team, U.S. News & World Report ranked AdventHealth Orlando among the 50 best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery for 2019-20.

Ascension Seton (Austin, Texas). Physicians at Ascension Seton's Brain & Spine Institute specialize in minimally invasive and complex surgery for patients suffering from problems with their brain, spine, cerebrovascular system and peripheral nerves. Spine, orthopedic and neurosurgeons at the hospital have been recognized nationally and internationally for pioneering new treatments and research. The Seton Brain & Spine Institute has five locations offering neurosurgery across Texas.

Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Atrium Health offers one of the region's largest neurosurgery specialty programs. The health system's spine institute has been recognized by Blue Cross Blue Shield as a Blue Distinction Center for its quality care and outcomes. An early adopter of minimally invasive and robotic surgery, Atrium Health's Neurosciences Institute has 20-plus years of groundbreaking investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis). The Barnes-Jewish & Washington University Spine Center receives patient referrals from all around the world. As a result, it has grown into one of the largest clinical spine practices in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranked Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery, and the top hospital in Missouri for those specialties in 2019-20.

Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix). Physicians at Barrow Neurological Institute oversee more than 8,000 admissions and perform more than 5,000 neurosurgeries annually more than anywhere else in the U.S. There are 26 neurosurgeons, nine neurosurgery fellows and 28 neurosurgery residents on staff at the hospital. As one of the leading spine organizations in the world, U.S. News & World Report named Barrow Neurological Institute among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville (Fla.). Surgeons at Baptist Medical Center have teamed up with Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jacksonville to conduct clinical trials related to brain and spine tumors. Along with its extensive brain and spine tumors division, Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville has a robust stroke and cerebrovascular care team and four neurologic oncologists. Neurosurgeons at the hospital's Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center are participating in more than 20 ongoing clinical trials.

Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center (Houston). Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center created its Neurosciences Institute in 2013, and it has since has been accredited by DNV GL Healthcare as a certified comprehensive stroke center. Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center neurosurgeons have also helped the hospital receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Stroke Association. Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center was recognized in 2019-20 by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery.

Beaumont Health (Southfield, Mich.). Beaumont Health was the first hospital in Michigan to create a pediatric stereo-EEG epilepsy surgery program to pinpoint seizures and cure drug-resistant epilepsy. The hospital's neurosurgery team is researching stem cell regeneration and spine reconstruction. Additionally, as a leading hospital for orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery and neurology, Beaumont Health has a leading spine team with on-call surgeons who can be at the hospital in 15 minutes no matter the time of day.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston). All physicians at Beth Israel's Spine Center are board-certified and faculty of Boston-based Harvard Medical School. In total, there are four neurosurgeons and three orthopedic spine surgeons. To make care more accessible, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has opened six spine centers throughout Massachusetts that provide comprehensive care patients in Boston and the surrounding area.

Boston Children's Hospital. The spine division of Boston Children's Hospital collaborates with the hospital's department of neurosurgery to treat complex spine conditions. Boston Children's Hospital has a complex cervical spine program as well as a spine and sports program. As a leading hospital for orthopedics and spine in the U.S., Boston Children's has various study groups, including a spinal deformity group whose Scoliosis Outcomes Database is cited in more than 45 abstracts and 15 peer-reviewed publications annually. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report ranked Boston Children's No. 1 in the nation for pediatric neurology and neurosurgery.

Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston). The Comprehensive Spine Center at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital brings together neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and specialists in pain management, physical medicine and rehabilitation. Brigham and Women's Hospital has five other spine centers throughout Massachusetts. U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital among the top 20 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.). The 1,026-bed Carilion Clinic hospital system provided care to nearly 1 million residents of Virginia and West Virginia in 2018. Touting around 13,320 employees and nine hospitals, the health system has 732 physicians across 77 specialties. Surgeons at Carilion's Institute for Orthopaedics and Neurosciences perform approximately 300 minimally invasive spine procedures annually, and it has the region's only deformity correction program for both adult and pediatric patients.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). Serving more than 1 million patients annually at more than 40 locations, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has more than 4,500 physicians on staff. The Cedars-Sinai spine team has 26 spine surgeons, assisted by eight advanced care providers. The health system is active in research efforts, hosting an array of clinical trials. Cedars-Sinai splits its spine care between four locations, including the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center and the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute. U.S. News & World Report ranked Cedars-Sinai as the No. 12 hospital for neurology and neurosurgery for 2019-20.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Established in 1883, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has more than 600 beds and around 1.3 million patient encounters in fiscal year 2017. The hospital's Crawford Spine Center was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the best hospitals for pediatric neurology and neurosurgery for 2019-20. The hospital is also involved in spine research, focusing on endoscopic technology, scoliosis correction and guided spine growth.

Cleveland Clinic. Featuring both a robust clinical program and a comprehensive spine research lab, Cleveland Clinic's Center for Spine Health sees thousands of patients annually. The Center for Spine Health has three specialty departments to address lower back pain, spinal deformity and spine tumors. Cleveland Clinic has 14 spine surgeons on staff, 14 medical/interventional staff members and 13 advanced care providers in its Center for Spine Health. The center is also testing robotics and is in the midst of a cervical spondylotic myelopathy surgical trial. U.S. News & World Report ranked Cleveland Clinic No. 10 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, N.H.). Dartmouth-Hitchcock developed its Center for Pain and Spine to meet the needs of its patient population, which comprises about 1.9 million people across northern New England. Anthem BlueCross BlueShield named the center a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery for its commitment to good patient outcomes. U.S. News & World Report recognized the hospital as the highest performing neurosurgery institute in New Hampshire in 2019-20.

Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.). Duke University Hospital's comprehensive spine institute has 106 physicians on hand to provide an array of spine-related treatments. The spine team at Duke performs more than 1,200 spine surgeries annually. The hospital equipped all its surgery centers with intraoperative imaging equipment to ensure all procedures and physicians have access to real-time imaging information. U.S. News & World Report named Duke its No. 1 hospital in North Carolina and among the top 25 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Emory University Hospital (Atlanta). With its six locations throughout Atlanta, Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital offers patients comprehensive treatment options. Emory's neuroscience program will soon be headlined by the Emory Musculoskeletal Institute in Brookhaven, Ga. The institute broke ground in October 2019 and will be a 180,000-square-foot center dedicated to spine care. Emory University Hospital planners incorporated several environmentally conscious features into the institute. U.S. News & World Report ranked Emory among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin is the region's only academic regional medical center. Froedtert physicians see patients across the greater Milwaukee suburbs. Froedtert has four locations that specialize in spine care, including the outpatient clinic SpineCare. In 2017, Froedtert physicians treated 8,606 patients through its neurosurgery program.

Geisinger (Danville, Pa.). Founded more than a century ago, Geisinger has provided care to central Pennsylvania residents for generations. At the forefront of its neuroscience program is the Geisinger Neuroscience Institute. Employing a combination of treatment methods including microsurgery, minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery and image-guided surgery, Geisinger has 24 providers on its neurosurgery staff. The health system is also on the forefront of innovation in healthcare delivery, with its ProvenCare program offering refunds to spine patients dissatisfied with their care. Geisinger is also a Walmart spine center of excellence, meaning the retail giant sends patients from across the country to undergo spinal evaluation and surgery at the health system.

Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. Hackensack University Medical Center offers a robust program for neurosurgery care, including the Orthopedic Institute, which has more than 50 physicians on staff. Healthgrades has recognized Hackensack University Medical Center with its Cranial Neurosurgery Excellence Award for the last four years, and U.S. News & World Report ranked Hackensack as high performing for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit). With more than 35 physicians specializing in spine and related specialties on staff, Henry Ford draws patients in Detroit and its greater suburban locations to its Henry Ford Spine Centers. In 2017 alone, Henry Ford surgeons performed some 75,000 surgeries across its 200 care sites. U.S. News & World Report ranked Henry Ford among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Hoag Health Network (Newport Beach, Calif.). Hoag Health Network offers numerous spine programs, including care at Hoag Orthopedic Institute. In 2018, the institute reported 3,246 hospital spine procedures, as well as 180 ambulatory procedures. Hoag has two acute care hospitals, 11 urgent care centers and eight health centers it staffs with a team of more than 1,700 physicians and 6,000 employees. U.S. News & World Report ranked Hoag Hospital among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). Holding the No. 1 U.S. News & World Report ranking in orthopedics for 10 consecutive years, HSS surgeons perform more than 32,000 procedures annually. In 2016, the hospital reported 469 non-cervical spine fusion cases, which was well above the 48-procedure average for New York state. The hospital also focuses on research, with a 300-plus member research department that has a $45 million grant portfolio and $25 million in industry funding. Current spine-focused projects include studying spine instability, developmental deformity and tissue degeneration.

Houston Methodist Hospital. For nearly 30 years, Houston Methodist Hospital has been on the forefront of spine and neurosurgical care. The hospital is home to the center for neurodegeneration, which is comprised of 11 labs staffed with researchers working on therapies for chronic paralysis and neurologic loss. The hospital has 14 neurosurgeons on staff and was among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report for 2019-20.

Huntington Hospital (Pasadena, Calif.). Spine surgeons at Huntington Hospital specialize in treating spinal degenerative diseases such as deformities, lumbar stenosis and traumatic disorders. The hospital is home to a 32-bed orthopedic and neurological nursing unit, a 24-bed rehabilitation unit, an outpatient neurophysiology lab as well as angiography suites. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report ranked Huntington Hospital among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery.

Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Va.). Inova Fairfax hospital is home to the largest neurological practice in the Washington, D.C., area. Nine Inova neurosurgeons perform more than 3,000 cases a year. The Inova team was the first in Northern Virginia to conduct MRI-guided surgeries to treat Parkinson's disease and a brain tumor. The Inova Neuroscience and Spine Institute has 12 specialized treatment programs and was awarded The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for its cervical and lumbar spine surgery program.

IU Health (Indianapolis). IU Health's Neuroscience Center offers patients treatment across a variety of neurological specialties, including oncology, spine surgery, stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, trauma treatment and pediatric neurosurgery. IU Health's team of neurosurgeons are at the forefront of using new technology for improving outcomes. Researchers at IU Health are currently pioneering four clinical trials on epilepsy and hematoma evacuation.

Jefferson Health (Philadelphia). Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience is the only hospital in the Philadelphia region dedicated to neuroscience, and is one of the busiest academic neurosurgical programs in the U.S. The neuroscience program has five surgeons on staff, and in 2015, was the first in the region to offer deep brain stimulation. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report ranked Jefferson Health-Thomas Jefferson University Hospital among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery. The health system also has a robust spine program, with its spine surgeons completing around 7,000 procedures each year at inpatient and ambulatory locations. It was also the first in the country to enroll a patient in the INSPIRE 2.0 clinical trial examining treatment for spinal cord injury.

Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). Physicians in the department of neurology and neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine have been treating patients since 1889, and now perform more than 4,000 operations and 30,000 outpatient consultations each year. The Johns Hopkins Carnegie Center for Surgical Innovation, a collaboration between the departments of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering, is working on new technology to make spine surgery safer through image-guided interventions. Johns Hopkins neurosurgeons are actively researching and conducting clinical trials on Parkinson's disease, dementia and brain cancer. The Johns Hopkins Hospital was ranked No. 1 in the in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20 by U.S. News & World Report.

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Kaiser Permanente's neurologists and neurosurgeons perform hundreds of complex procedures each year in one of the nation's busiest neurosurgical centers. The health system's 70-year history gives it a leg up in educating the next generation of specialists through neurology and neurosurgery residency programs, as well as a neuroanesthesia fellowship program. Kaiser's Los Angeles Medical Center houses the health system's comprehensive spine surgery department as well as a radiosurgery program dating back to 1989.

Keck Medicine of USC (Los Angeles). The USC Spine Center aims to deliver a coordinated, conservative approach to spine care at four locations in the greater Los Angeles area. Specialists at USC Spine Center are all fellowship-trained faculty members at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and have collectively gained an overall patient satisfaction rating of over 4.5 out of 5 stars. USC Spine Center, which is part of USC Orthopaedic Surgery and USC Neurological Surgery, is recognized as a Blue Distinction Center for spine surgery by Blue Shield of California. Additionally, Keck Medicine of USC was ranked No. 16 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (Allentown, Pa.). Lehigh Valley Health Network's spine and neurology services are provided through its Institute for Surgical Excellence, where surgeons perform over 35,000 surgeries annually 70 percent more than other centers in the area. The system boasts the region's only spine neuronavigation system, as well as a 14-bed neuroscience intensive care unit. With surgeons currently involved in at least five clinical trials focused on neurology, Lehigh Valley Health Network offers patients unique opportunities to undergo new treatments in addition to surgery.

Lifespan (Providence, R.I.). With six experts on its surgical team, Lifespan's Comprehensive Spine Center is affiliated with the Providence-based Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, giving patients access to advanced technology and treatments. Operating at both Rhode Island Hospital in Providence and the newly opened Newport (R.I.) Hospital, the Comprehensive Spine Center is housed within the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute. Lifespan's 13 neurosurgeons perform about 2,000 procedures annually, and they're researching the use of microelectrode arrays in epilepsy, light treatments for neurological disease, and deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer's patients.

Loyola University Medical Center (Maywood, Ill.). As an academic medical center with researchers involved in nearly 200 clinical trials, Loyola University Medical Center leverages unique neurosurgical techniques such as deep brain stimulation and stereotactic radiotherapy. Each year, Loyola's highly experienced surgeons perform over 1,000 cranial surgeries and collaborate on about 150 cranial-base operations at the Center for Cranial Base Surgery, which features a fully equipped speech and swallowing laboratory. With a 13-bed neuro intensive care unit, Loyola was ranked No. 28 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report for 2019-20.

Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). Massachusetts General Hospital's neurosurgery department performs more than 4,000 procedures every year and was the first to use deep brain stimulation to reduce epileptic seizures. MGH's team of 20 faculty neurosurgeons and 20 residents in training oversees 86 dedicated beds and a 22-bed ICU. Home to the nation's largest hospital-based neuroscience research program, MGH is committed to studying rare disorders of the nervous system, neurodegenerative disorders and effective ALS therapies. U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass General among the top 20 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Mayo Clinic is one of the premier institutions for neurosurgery in the nation, with its Rochester location ranked No. 2 for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report in 2019-20. Neurosurgeons annually perform 7,000 procedures at its three campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. The health system is also on the forefront of neurosurgical research and currently has 31 clinical trials open for participation as well as a registry for primary spinal tumor research.

Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston). The Medical University of South Carolina's spine center team is a designated Blue Distinction Center for spine surgery, a mark of demonstrated quality outcomes. The hospital has $9 million in technology development funding through an in-house innovation program called Zucker Institute for Applied Neurosciences, a technology accelerator embedded within the health system to move new neuroscience innovations into the clinical settings quickly. The Medical University of South Carolina's spine program was one of the first in the state to offer patients endoscopic spine surgery, and it plans to expand its endoscopic and minimally invasive spine outpatient offerings.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (Washington, D.C.). The 609-bed MedStar Georgetown University Hospital has a multidisciplinary spine center and offers comprehensive neurosurgery services, including a pediatric neurosurgery program. It includes 12 neurosurgeons and spine specialists, of which five are trained in minimally invasive spine care. Its minimally invasive spine specialists have performed thousands of procedures, from discectomies to decompressions. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report named MedStar Georgetown University Hospital high performing in neurology and neurosurgery, as well as one of the best regional hospitals in the nation.

Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (Houston). Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center includes the Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital to offer patients the latest in spine care. The Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital features 64 private patient rooms, eight two-room suites and 10 surgical suites. Patients coming to the medical center can also receive care at the Mischer Spine Center, where neurosurgeons perform more than 3,000 spine surgeries annually. The Mischer Spine Center is affiliated with Memorial Hermann Mischer Neuroscience Institute at the Texas Medical Center, which offers opportunities for patients to receive the benefits of cutting-edge research. There are 25 spine and nerve research clinical trials in progress or recently completed at the Mischer Neuroscience Institute.

MemorialCare (Fountain Valley, Calif.). Spine care at MemorialCare is offered by a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and nonoperative specialists. Patients seeking care have the option of going to one of three California-based locations, in Long Beach, Laguna Hills or Fountain Valley. Two MemorialCare hospitals are ranked high performing in adult neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report. The Spine Center at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center recently acquired robotic navigation technology to enhance precision in spine surgery.

Michigan Medicine (Ann Arbor). Michigan Medicine's neurosurgery department celebrated 100 years of offering adult and pediatric neurosurgical care last year. It includes 24 clinical faculty and eight research faculty members. Michigan Medicine's neurosurgery department also has a mission to educate and train the next generation of neurosurgical and spine care specialists via its residencies and fellowships. Its neurosurgeons are involved in an outreach program, Project Shunt, that offers neurosurgical care to children in Guatemala. U.S. News & World Report ranked Michigan Medicine No. 19 on its list of the 50 best hospitals for adult neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, Pa.). Milton S. Hershey Medical Center offers spine and neurosurgery services via its spine center, which includes a 25-person care team. The spine center has developed a "back coach" program, which offers information and resources to those suffering from chronic back and neck pain. The hospital also has a robust neurosurgery research faculty that includes 17 members focusing on several key research areas, including using 3D models to understand tumor growth.

Montefiore Health System (New York City). Montefiore Health System aims to be at the forefront of neurosurgical research and care with eight comprehensive care centers and 12 neurosurgeons on staff. Earlier this year, Montefiore held its first pediatric neurointerventional symposium, which included experts from the U.S. and Canada. Montefiore Medical Center, the health system's flagship, was ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for adult neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report for 2019-20.

Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital (Greensboro, N.C.). The 517-bed Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital has received several recognitions for its spine care services, including being ranked No. 1 in the state for medical excellence in spinal surgery and spinal fusion by CareChex in 2018. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina also designated the facility a Blue Distinction Center + for spine surgery last year. The hospital offers major interventional neuroradiology and neurosurgery treatments with a multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neuroradiologists other nonoperative specialists to ensure comprehensive care. Cone Health includes 19 orthopedic spine surgeons and neurosurgeons.

Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City). The Spine Hospital at Mount Sinai offers the full spectrum of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine care. It includes 16 orthopedic and neurospine surgeons who provide care along with a team of nonoperative spine specialists. The hospital is also a preferred spine care site for retired NFL players. The health system has a strong foundation in research through various programs, including the Friedman Brain Institute, an interdisciplinary clinical and research hub focused on brain and spinal cord disorders. U.S. News & World Report ranked Mount Sinai Hospital among the top 20 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York City). NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center's Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center includes 24 neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, neuropsychologists and neuroendocrinologists, who offer clinical services, conduct research and train students, residents and fellows. Patients receiving care at the center have access to the latest research-based medicine, including access to 16 neurosurgery-focused clinical trials. NewYork-Presbyterian was ranked No. 4 on U.S. News & World Report's 2019-20 list of the 50 best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery.

Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Northwell Health's Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery includes a multidisciplinary team that offers a wide array of clinical services, and in collaboration with the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the physicians and scientists conduct research and clinical trials that advance the field. U.S. News & World Report ranked Northwell's North Shore University Hospital among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery, while also distinguishing Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City as high performing in the specialty for 2019-20.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Northwestern Memorial Hospital includes 38 neurological surgery and spine surgery specialists. It also offers a combined orthopedic spine and neurosurgical spine fellowship to train the next generation of spine and neurosurgeons. Earlier this year, the hospital launched the Northwestern Medicine Hispanic Brain and Spine Tumor Program in Chicago, which aims to reduce barriers to specialized care for the Hispanic and Latino population. U.S. News & World Report ranked Northwestern Memorial Hospital No. 5 on its list of the 50 best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Norton Healthcare (Louisville, Ky.). Norton Healthcare is home to the Norton Leatherman Spine Center, serving patients in Louisville and southern Indiana. Specialists at Norton Leatherman Spine perform more than 4,000 surgeries annually, and patients see its providers there more than 30,000 times a year. The fellowship-trained specialists at Norton Leatherman Spine have an average of 20 years of experience and focus on research as well as training the next generation of spine surgeons. The hospital has trained more than 100 spine surgeons who are practicing across the country.

NYU Langone Health (New York City). NYU Langone Health's neurosurgery department consists of more than 20 full-time clinical and research faculty members who take on other physicians' most complex surgical cases. Combined with the system's orthopedic spine surgeons, NYU Langone supports about 2,700 spine procedures per year. Its spine center is equipped with robotic technology and a 3D platform for planning and performing surgeries and provides operative and nonoperative treatment for about 18,000 adults and children annually. NYU Langone Hospitals is ranked No. 9 among U.S. News & World Report's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery.

Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans). Ochsner Health System's neurosurgery program stands out for various reasons, including being the only such program in Louisiana and one of only five U.S. centers to offer in-utero surgery to repair spinal bifida in babies during pregnancy. Each year, neurosurgeons across Ochsner Health System perform more than 1,500 adult and pediatric surgeries. The health system's spine and back care program is also highly rated, earning five stars from Healthgrades. Ochsner Medical Center, part of Ochsner Health System, is among the nation's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2019-20 rankings.

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Columbus). Ohio State University is the home of an 87-bed, 60,000-square-foot brain and spine hospital that includes specialized units for stroke care, neurotrauma and traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injury. The university also houses one of the nation's only centers that pursue innovative projects and research through the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems program, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Additionally, the university has the only rehabilitation program in central Ohio certified to handle traumatic brain injury. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report recognized Wexner Medical Center as high performing in adult neurology and neurosurgery.

Oregon Health & Science University Hospital (Portland). Oregon Health & Science University Hospital has pioneered innovation in neurological surgery, including North America's first deep brain stimulation surgery, the world's first neuronal stem cell transplants and an intraoperative MRI facility. It also has a leading neurosurgery training program and advanced fellowships in skull base and vascular, functional and pediatric neurosurgery. The hospital is ranked No. 44 among U.S. News & World Report's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Penn Medicine (Philadelphia). Penn Medicine neurosurgeons perform more than 5,000 operations annually at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Penn Medicine Virtua Neurosciences and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Penn Medicine's neurosurgery department also includes a research program led by basic scientists in brain, spine and nervous system diseases and disorders. Penn Medicine researchers are working on a prognostic blood test that would detect and measure neuronal proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid. In 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report ranked the health system's Pennsylvania Hospital No. 31 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery.

ProMedica (Toledo, Ohio). ProMedica is a health system with more than 794 hospital beds serving 27 counties in Ohio and southeast Michigan. The system includes the ProMedica Wildwood Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital, which is designated a Blue Distinction Center for spine care by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and earned the 2018 Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for physician engagement. The system's ProMedica Toledo Hospital also offers advanced navigation and robotics for complex brain and spine surgeries; it became the first in Ohio to offer the 3D mapping technology in 2017.

Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). Rush University Medical Center is one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery, according to U.S. News & World Report. Its neurosurgery program consistently reports the most neurosurgical discharges in the Chicago area. In 2018, the health system reported 4,334 neurological surgery outpatient visits focused on the brain and 6,498 outpatient neurological visits focused on the spine. The health system also has a robust spine and back care program, with 12 physicians and surgeons increasingly moving toward minimally invasive and outpatient procedures. The health systems surgeons aim to stay at the forefront of patient treatment and participate in clinical trials investigating degenerative disc disease treatment, registry data for metastatic spine tumors and spinal stenosis treatment with new technology.

Saint Barnabas Medical Center (Livingston, N.J.). Saint Barnabas Medical Center houses the 22-physician neurological team of RWJBarnabas Health, the largest healthcare system in New Jersey. The Saint Barnabas Institute of Neurology & Neurosurgery is a level 4 epilepsy center with nine physicians focused on excellence in clinical care as well as clinical research. The hospital also has an innovative spine surgery department that has used a microdiscectomy technique developed by a member of its team to treat more than 500 patients. Saint Barnabas is recognized as high performing in neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report.

Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City (Mo.). Saint Luke's Marion Bloch Neuroscience Institute has an advanced comprehensive stroke center accredited by the Joint Commission that leads the region in endovascular interventions and outcomes. It provides advanced stroke care to more than 2,000 patients annually, and the integrated spine program earned designation as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Spine Surgery by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Saint Luke's Spine Surgery Program has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval of Spine Surgery Certification. The system also has a level 4 comprehensive epilepsy center and a seven-member neurosurgeon team. For 2019-20, Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City was named among U.S. News & World Report's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery.

Scripps Health (San Diego). Scripps Health offers neurosurgery and follow-up care at five San Diego County locations. At Scripps Health locations, physicians offer advanced techniques and technology, including minimally invasive brain surgery treatments and a robotics platform. Programs of Scripps Green Hospital and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20.

Spectrum Health (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Spectrum Health's neurosurgery department specializes in disorders affecting the central nervous system and offers services at five centers across Michigan, including a level 4 epilepsy center. Spectrum Health is also home to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, which has the only pediatric neurosurgery program in the region. As the largest hospital group in West Michigan, Spectrum Health has been ranked among America's 50 best hospitals by Healthgrades for four consecutive years and has 1,600 physicians focused on more than 110 specialties.

St. Luke's Boise (Idaho) Medical Center. St. Luke's Boise Medical Center is part of the nonprofit St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest, comprising 14 hospitals. St. Luke's Boise, which includes four neurosurgery centers and three spine clinics in Idaho, has been ranked as a top 100 hospital by IBM Watson Health. After doubling the number of referrals to its spine care clinic in 2018, the hospital plans to open another location in 2020.

Stanford (Calif.) Health Care. The Stanford department of neurosurgery is composed of 61 neurosurgeons who perform 4,000 neurosurgical operations annually. It was named the No. 9 hospital in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report in 2019-20 and its stroke center was the first in the nation to be certified as a comprehensive stroke center by the Joint Commission. The department has 30 active labs researching topics including brain injury, deep brain stimulation, brain tumors and epilepsy.

Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital. Stony Brook University Hospital's Neurosurgery Spine Center is a tertiary care academic medical center that has been named one of America's 100 Best Hospitals for stroke care by Healthgrades for five consecutive years. Stony Brook has more than 70 labs researching topics including spine and brain trauma, stroke and multiple sclerosis. The Neurosurgery Spine Center is the only practice in Suffolk County with two full-time pediatric neurosurgeons, and the adult neurology center sees more than 18,000 patients per year.

Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Eleven hospitals within the Sutter Health network a 24-hospital, nonprofit health system with more than 12,000 physicians received recognition from the American Stroke Association for providing a high level of stroke care in 2019. Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Calif., was named one of America's 100 Best Hospitals for stroke care by Heathgrades in 2019. Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif., also earned recognition as high-performing in neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report in 2019.

Swedish Medical Center (Englewood, Colo.). Swedish Medical Center serves as the Rocky Mountain region's neurotrauma provider and has spine experts who perform an average of 90 spine surgeries per month. Part of HCA's HealthONE, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association designated it a Blue Distinction Center for spine surgery, and UnitedHealth Group designated it a Center of Excellence for spine surgery. It serves as the region's referral center for the most advanced stroke treatment and was the state's first Joint Commission-certified comprehensive stroke center.

Texas Children's Hospital (Houston). Texas Children's Hospital was the first hospital in the world to use real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to treat epilepsy. Named the No. 3 best neurosurgery center on U.S. News & World Report's 2019-20 list, the hospital performs more than 950 neurosurgical operations every year. It was also the first hospital to use a device similar to a pacemaker in the brain, which recognizes oncoming seizures and prevents them.

The Christ Hospital (Cincinnati). The Christ Hospital Joint & Spine Center is a seven-story facility with 14 operating rooms, four of which are dedicated solely to spine surgery. The Joint & Spine Center also offers physical, occupational and speech therapy services and physicians dedicated solely to joint, spine and brain care. Founded more than 125 years ago, The Christ Hospital has performed more spine procedures than any other hospital in the Cincinnati area.

Tulsa (Okla.) Spine & Specialty Hospital. Founded in 2002, Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital has a national reputation top-level patient care. It was named one of America's 100 best hospitals for spine surgery by Healthgrades. The physician-owned hospital was also honored with the Cigna Center of Excellence designation in 2018 for orthopedic back surgery and earned five stars from Healthgrades for spinal fusion in 2018. The hospital has 13 dedicated spine surgeons who perform minimally invasive procedures.

University of California San Diego Health. UC San Diego's neurosurgery division was founded in 1971 and features four intraoperative MRI and CT suites, destination skull base tumor programs and neurocritical care units. The division collaborates regularly with the UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego-based Scripps Research Institute and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., and received $30 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2018. It was ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery in 2019-20 according to U.S. News & World Report.

UCI Health (Irvine, Calif.). UCI Health is the only academic health system in Orange County, Calif., and UCI Medical Center's neurosurgery department was recognized as high performing by U.S. News & World Report in 2019-20. The department of neurological surgery includes Orange County's first comprehensive stroke center, granted certification by The Joint Commission, as well as active research in neuro-oncology and spinal cord injury. The department frequently collaborates with other research organizations, such as UC Irvine's Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is working to find new treatments for spinal cord injury.

UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). As UCLA Health's flagship hospital, UCLA Medical Center's neurosurgery department has ranked as one of the top neurosurgery programs in the nation for over 20 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. The department has its own neurosurgery app designed for patients with information about their physicians, procedures and hospital amenities. UCLA's Spine Center is also designated a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery by Blue Shield of California.

UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco). The department of neurological surgery at UCSF Medical Center has 14 specialties, including pediatric neurosurgery. In 2011, the department developed the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety initiative with the goal of becoming a national leader in neurological surgery quality. The hospital is piloting an enhanced recovery after surgery pathway for cranial surgery as well as an opioid stewardship program. UCSF's Spine Center is also one of the largest spine centers in the country and sees over 10,000 patients a year. The department of neurological surgery at UCSF was recognized in 2019-20 as one of the top three neurosurgery programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report, which also ranks the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals among the top hospitals for pediatric neurosurgery in the nation.

UF Health (Gainesville, Fla.). The UF Health Spine Program provides comprehensive outpatient and inpatient treatment options at one location that features 17 neurosurgeons, three neurosurgery ORs, two neurosurgery hybrid interventional ORs and 48 private ICU patient rooms. The hospital provides complete spine services including the treatment of degenerative spinal diseases, spinal tumors as well as craniocervical junction anomalies and performs more than 1,000 procedures annually. For its 2019-20 rankings, U.S. News & World Report named UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville the No. 2 hospital in Florida, and it was ranked among the top in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery.

UK HealthCare Albert B. Chandler Hospital (Lexington, Ky.). UK Neurosurgery features nine neurosurgeons providing care for complex conditions including spinal tumors and deformities, stroke, ALS, and epilepsy. UK HealthCare Albert B. Chandler Hospital was ranked the No. 1 hospital in the state for neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report's best hospitals survey for 2019-20. UK Neurosurgery collaborates with the UK Kentucky Neuroscience Institute on several research initiatives and is currently enrolling participants in ALS and epilepsy clinical trials.

UNC REX Hospital (Raleigh, N.C.). REX Neurosurgery & Spine Specialists features a team of 12 orthopedic spine and neurosurgeons providing comprehensive neurosurgical care including spinal fusion, minimally invasive spine surgery and reconstructive spine surgery. The department performs thousands of procedures each year and has been certified as a comprehensive stroke care center by The Joint Commission since 2011. UNC REX bolstered the department in the past year with the addition of an on-site spine physical therapist and a spine navigator to determine whether patients need imaging, surgery or physical therapy.

University Hospitals (Cleveland). The staff University Hospitals includes 11 orthopedic spine and neurosurgeons focused on providing exceptional patient care. The University Hospitals Spine Institute collaborates with the UH Neurological Institute, which features 13 centers of excellence and provides innovative neurosurgical therapies including CyberKnife, Gamma Knife and the NeuroBlate System. University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center was ranked among the best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in 2019-20.

University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham. UAB Hospital at Birmingham is widely recognized for its spine care and brain cancer research, and its specialists treat more than 4,000 patients annually. UAB Neurology and Neurosurgery has eight comprehensive divisions and seven centers that care for 26,000 patients per year. The neurosurgery department is also responsible for around 5,000 procedures annually for both pediatric and adult patients. It features research faculty and physician scientists who collaborate to advance research in conditions such as Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and neurovascular disorders.

University of California Davis Medical Center (Sacramento). Spine and neurosurgeons at UC Davis Medical Center actively participate in research and clinical trials spanning a range of areas including lumbar fusion, traumatic brain injury and thoracic spinal cord injury. UC Davis Health's neurosurgery department features 13 physicians on its clinical faculty and its brain tumor program incorporates 19 physicians from several subspecialties to provide optimum care for adult and pediatric patients with tumors of the nervous system. The UC Davis Medical Center ranked among the best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery in U.S. News & World Report's 2019-20 list.

University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora). UCHealth Spine Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus is staffed by renowned spine and neurosurgeons who have built a comprehensive and award-winning program. The hospital is certified by The Joint Commission as a comprehensive stroke center and its epilepsy program is rated as a Level 4 center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers and earned the 2019 Get With the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Elite Plus award from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for outstanding care. The department of neurosurgery features 23 physicians and U.S. News & World Report ranked UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital among the best in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery for 2019-20.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (Iowa City). The UI Spine Center has a robust program with 10 orthopedic spine and neurosurgeons who participate in next-generation surgical technology investigations to stay on the forefront of spine care. The hospital has earned the Blue Cross Blue Distinction Center+ designation for spine surgery and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine is often ranked in the top 10 in National Institutes of Health funding for faculty members, including neurosurgery. The neurosurgery department specializes in the surgical treatment of degenerative spine pathology, epilepsy, brain and spinal cord tumors and was designated a center of excellence by the Parkinson's Foundation in 2018.

University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City). The department of neurosurgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center is equipped with virtual reality systems and a 3D printer to assist neurosurgeons in planning procedures and training physicians in the latest technology. The hospital includes 11 neurosurgeons and a 14-physician neurosurgery residency program. It also has a robust spine center, the Marc A. Asher, MD, Comprehensive Spine Center, which opened in 2008 and includes 27 exam rooms, four diagnostic rooms and a 4,000-square-foot outpatient rehabilitation gym.

University of Miami (Fla.) Hospital and Clinics. Neurosurgeons at University of Miami Hospital and Clinics see more than 14,000 patients and perform over 4,000 procedures annually. The hospital was named among the best hospitals in Florida by U.S. News & World Report in 2019-20 and scored as a high-performing facility in the departments of neurology and neurosurgery. The hospital integrates the latest innovations into its neurosurgical research programs including robotics, 3D interoperative imaging and deep brain stimulation.

UW Health (Madison, Wis.). The neurosurgery residency program was founded at the University of Wisconsin's department of surgery in 1942 and has been in operation ever since. UW Health features 14 neurosurgeons, 12 research faculty and two fellows. Neurosurgeons in the department see more than 1,200 brain tumor patients per year in collaboration with the UW Carbone Cancer Center. The department focuses on both clinical and investigative aspects of care for neurological diseases and is currently participating in a range of clinical trials involving brain tumors, stroke, spinal cord injury and cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics (Salt Lake City). University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics provides the full spectrum of neurosurgical care to patients with cranial and spinal diseases and disorders. The faculty includes 25 physicians who provide a range of services including cerebrovascular, spinal, functional, traumatic, tumor, and pediatric neurosurgery. Physicians at the hospital are actively involved in clinical trials with current projects including pediatric neurosurgery and venous thromboembolism.

University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville). Spine specialists at the University of Virginia Medical Center, in partnership with colleagues from the neurosurgery department, perform more than 1,500 spine procedures each year. The medical center's neurosurgery department is led by Jeffrey Elias, MD, who was honored as the 2018 Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year by the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group. At the university, Dr. Elias pioneered the use of focused ultrasound to treat essential tremor and led a clinical trial that resulted in FDA approval of the treatment.

UW Medicine (Seattle). The department of neurological surgery at UW Medicine is the primary referral center for patients in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho who have complex neurological conditions. Twenty neurosurgeons, 15 neuroscientists and 79 adjunct clinical research faculty staff the department, and an additional 20 physicians are in its neurological surgery residency program. The neurological surgery department's outreach initiatives include National Institutes of Health-sponsored brain injury research in five Latin American countries.

UW Health (Madison, Wis.). In 1993, spine specialists at UW Health developed a minimally invasive treatment for spinal fusion surgery, becoming one of the first institutions to perform the procedure in the world and solidifying the health system as a leader in minimally invasive spine surgery. In addition to spine, providers at UW Health care for more than 1,200 brain tumor patients each year, working with the UW Carbone Cancer Center when additional treatment is needed. For 2019-20, U.S. News & World Report listed UW Health among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery.

UPMC (Pittsburgh). Part of the UPMC Neurological Institute, the UPMC department of neurosurgery is one of the largest academic neurosurgical providers in the nation, with more than 11,000 procedures performed annually. Among its accolades, the department ranks as one of the highest in the country in National Institutes of Health funding, and the department's chair, Robert Friedlander, MD, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018. U.S. News & World Report ranked UPMC's Presbyterian Shadyside hospital in Pittsburgh among the nation's top 50 hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery for 2019-20.

UR Medicine (Rochester, N.Y.). Patients across New York's Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Western New York regions are served by UR Medicine Neurosurgery. At UR Medicine's Spine Center, physicians see more than 19,000 patients annually. In 2019, researchers led by the director of the hospital's department of neurosurgery's Translation Pair Research Program were selected to help the National Institutes of Health create a nonaddictive treatment for pain through clinical trials.

UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas). The Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, part of the department of neurological surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center, ranks No. 15 in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2019-20 list. The department's neuro-oncology program is supported by the Annette G. Strauss Center for Neuro-Oncology and collaborates with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2018, the Decherd Foundation awarded the hospital an endowment to create an annual award to recognize exceptional care for neurotrauma patients at UT Southwestern's teaching hospital, Dallas-based Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). In addition to 21 residents, the neurological surgery department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has 16 physician faculty members who are part of its 32-member advance practice and research team. The department sees more than 5,000 surgeries and procedures each year. In 2019, neurological surgery researchers at Vanderbilt, supported by the National Institutes of Health, for the first time found improvements in brain networks after surgery in 15 people with temporal lobe epilepsy.

VCU Medical Center (Richmond, Va.). With a 13-physician faculty, the Virginia Commonwealth University department of neurosurgery at VCU Medical Center is home to a new concept of outpatient medicine for orthopedic and neurological conditions. The VCU Health Neuroscience, Orthopaedic and Wellness Center, dubbed the "N.O.W. Center," aims to offer patient-centered care, using new software to help providers manage patients' progress during visits. The neurosurgery department at VCU Medical Center has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report, which named the hospital among the top 50 in the country for neurology and neurosurgery for 2018-19.

Vidant Medical Center (Greenville, N.C.). Vidant Medical Center is home to the only neuroscience intensive care unit in eastern North Carolina, as well as a specialized neuroscience rehabilitation unit. The hospital's neurosurgery department has 19 physicians and healthcare professionals. In April 2019, one of Vidant's neurosurgery department members co-authored a 12-month study of the use of a new neuro-spinal scaffold to treat acute thoracic complete spinal cord injury.

Wake Forest Baptist Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Every year, physicians at Wake Forest Baptist Health's spine center perform more than 1,000 surgeries on patients in need of treatment for back and neck disorders. Wake Forest Baptist Health is home to one of the nation's leading Gamma Knife Centers and is one of the few centers in the country to use deep brain stimulation to treat movement disorders, brain tumors, depression and Tourette syndrome. Additionally, the hospital's neurosurgery department has two neurosurgeons who specialize in pediatric care.

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100 hospitals and health systems with great neurosurgery and spine programs | 2019 - Becker's Hospital Review

An 8.42% Dip in Hospitalizations and 7.83% Gain in Hospitalization via ER for Orthopedics at Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven County

By: Avinash Kumar  Feb. 10, 2020

Dexur utilized Medicare claims data from 2014-Q2 to 2019-Q2 to analyze the market share of Yale New Haven Hospital of New Haven County on different metrics like Specialties, Conditions, DRG groups, Outpatient ER Visits, Hospitalizations via ER.

Yale New Haven Hospital of New Haven County maintained a consistent hospitalization rate at around 45% to 50% with 47.82% market share in 2014-Q2 and 48.65% in 2018-Q2, however when analyzed at the specialty level, there was a difference.

Orthopedics specialty of Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven County, had seen a dip of 8.42% in hospitalizations from 2014 to 2018 with a market share of 46.61% in 2014 to 38.19% in 2018. However, based on the data analysis of 2018-Q2 to 2019-Q2, a decrease of 2.74% in the Orthopedic market share is observed. Other specialties that saw a decrease in market share are Neurology, Cardiovascular, Gastroenterology & Endocrinology, with a growth of 8.46%, 4.22%, and 4.16%, respectively, from 2014 to 2018.

Furthermore, Dexur also analyzed the share of hospitalizations admitted via ER. An increase of 6.86% in hospitalization rate via ED with 43.3% market share in 2014-Q2 and 50.16% in 2019-Q2 in New Haven County for Yale New Haven Hospital was recorded.

The Orthopedic specialty, which showed a decrease of 8.42% market share in hospitalizations, showed an increase of 7.83% in hospitalizations via ER.The market share of other specialties like Psychiatry & Mental Disorders, Neurology, and Cardiovascular increased by 8.58%, 8.12%, and 7.8% respectively from 2014 to 2018.

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An 8.42% Dip in Hospitalizations and 7.83% Gain in Hospitalization via ER for Orthopedics at Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven County - Dexur

With the support of a $1 million grant from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust, researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are furthering their work on developing drugs to treat Huntington's disease (HD) and other neurological disorders, according to a news release.

A research team led by Xin Qi (associate professor of physiology and biophysics at the school of medicine) has been working for four years to develop drug treatments for HD, an inherited, chronic neurological disorder that causes brain cells to die, according to the release. The disorder, which has no known therapy to prevent or slow the disease, typically surfaces at age 40 and progresses until it is fatal about 10 to 20 years after diagnosis.

Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust supports biomedical research with two programs: the Catalyst Research Award Program that provides seed funding to develop promising concepts, and the two-year Transformational Research Award to help researchers advance such concepts toward commercial development.

The new round of funding is a two-year grant from the trust's Transformational Award Program. With the grant, Qi and her team will "improve on novel compounds they've recently identified by screening for similar but safer and more effective potential medicines," according to the release. Her team includes Drew Adams, an assistant professor of genetics and genome sciences and co-principal investigator, and consultant William Harte, the chief translational research officer at the university.

"We will synthesize and evaluate a series of analogs of the chemical leads and assess their effectiveness in treating HD in animal models and patient cells," Qi said. "That will allow us to identify and focus on further drug development toward novel therapeutics for HD and a wider range of neurological disorders."

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CWRU research team receives $1 million to advance therapies for Huntington's disease - Crain's Cleveland Business

DUBLIN, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Gene Therapy - Technologies, Markets & Companies" report from Jain PharmaBiotech has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The markets for gene therapy have been difficult to estimate as there only a few approved gene therapy products. Gene therapy markets are estimated for the years 2018-2028.

The estimates are based on the epidemiology of diseases to be treated with gene therapy, the portion of those who will be eligible for these treatments, competing technologies and the technical developments anticipated in the next decades. In spite of some setbacks, the future for gene therapy is bright. The markets for DNA vaccines are calculated separately as only genetically modified vaccines and those using viral vectors are included in the gene therapy markets

Profiles of 193 companies involved in developing gene therapy are presented along with 266 collaborations. There were only 44 companies involved in this area in 1995. In spite of some failures and mergers, the number of companies has increased more than 4-fold in 2 decades. These companies have been followed up since they were the topic of a book on gene therapy companies by the author of this report. John Wiley & Sons published the book in 2000 and from 2001 to 2003, updated versions of these companies (approximately 160 at mid-2003) were available on Wiley's web site. Since that free service was discontinued and the rights reverted to the author, this report remains the only authorized continuously updated version on gene therapy companies.

Gene therapy can be broadly defined as the transfer of defined genetic material to specific target cells of a patient for the ultimate purpose of preventing or altering a particular disease state.

Genes and DNA are now being introduced without the use of vectors and various techniques are being used to modify the function of genes in vivo without gene transfer. If one adds to this the cell therapy particularly with use of genetically modified cells, the scope of gene therapy becomes much broader.

Gene therapy can now combined with antisense techniques such as RNA interference (RNAi), further increasing the therapeutic applications. This report takes broad overview of gene therapy and is the most up-to-date presentation from the author on this topic built-up from a series of gene therapy report written by him during the past decade including a textbook of gene therapy and a book on gene therapy companies. This report describes the setbacks of gene therapy and renewed interest in the topic

Gene therapy technologies are described in detail including viral vectors, nonviral vectors and cell therapy with genetically modified vectors. Gene therapy is an excellent method of drug delivery and various routes of administration as well as targeted gene therapy are described. There is an introduction to technologies for gene suppression as well as molecular diagnostics to detect and monitor gene expression. Gene editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 and CAR-T cell therapies are also included.

Clinical applications of gene therapy are extensive and cover most systems and their disorders. Full chapters are devoted to genetic syndromes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders and viral infections with emphasis on AIDS. Applications of gene therapy in veterinary medicine, particularly for treating cats and dogs, are included.

Research and development is in progress in both the academic and the industrial sectors. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the US is playing an important part. As of 2016, over 2050 clinical trials were completed, were ongoing or had been approved worldwide. A breakdown of these trials is shown according to the geographical areas and applications.

Since the death of Jesse Gelsinger in the US following a gene therapy treatment, the FDA has further tightened the regulatory control on gene therapy. A further setback was the reports of leukemia following the use of retroviral vectors in successful gene therapy for adenosine deaminase deficiency. Several clinical trials were put on hold and many have resumed now. Three gene medicines have been approved by the FDA. The report also discusses the adverse effects of various vectors, safety regulations and ethical aspects of gene therapy including gene editing and germline gene therapy.

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Originally posted here:
Gene Therapy Industry Insights and Outlook to 2028 - Genetic Disorders, Cancer, Neurological Disorders, Cardiovascular Disorders, and Viral Infections...