Statement by the Prime Minister on Black Ribbon Day – Prime Minister of Canada

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The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on Black Ribbon Day, the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism and Nazism in Europe:

Today, we join people from around the world to honour the victims and survivors of communism and Nazism in Europe, and pledge to continue standing up for all those who still face violence and oppression at the hands of authoritarian regimes.

Black Ribbon Day marks the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which was signed on this day in 1939 between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and resulted in the division of Poland and the annexation of the Baltic states as well as part of Romania by the Soviet Union.

Across Central and Eastern Europe, millions of people suffered tremendously under totalitarian regimes, including Jewish, Romani, Slavic, disability, and LGBTQ2 communities. They were robbed of their basic human rights, forced to flee their homes, and murdered. Many of those who escaped the Soviet and Nazi regimes found new homes in Canada and have helped shape the strong and diverse country we know today. Their stories remind us that we all have a responsibility to ensure atrocities like these never happen again.

This year, we also stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who continue to face brutal violence from Russias illegal, unjustifiable, and expansionist war of choice in their country. Canada, together with our Allies and international partners, will continue to support Ukraine and stand up for democracy and human rights everywhere.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I encourage all Canadians to pay tribute to those who have suffered or lost their lives to totalitarian and authoritarian regimes past or present. Together, we must continue to reject extremism, intolerance, and oppression, while promoting human rights, freedom, and democracy here in Canada and around the world.

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Statement by the Prime Minister on Black Ribbon Day - Prime Minister of Canada

Why is the MNA-UMPNC saying Michigan Medicine nurses will receive no strike pay? – WSWS

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Are you a nurse or health care worker at Michigan Medicine?Contact the WSWS Health Care Workers Newsletterusing the form at the end of this article. What are the main issues you face at your workplace? What do you think needs to be done? All submissions will be kept anonymous.

Nurses at Michigan Medicine are attending meetings across the Ann Arbor-based health care system this week to vote on what the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) and its local affiliate, the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council (UMPNC), is calling a work stoppage in protest of the universitys unfair labor practices.

There is widespread support for a walkout among the 6,200 Michigan Medicine nurses, who have been working without a contract since July 1. Nurses are locked in a struggle against intolerable working conditions at the fifth largest hospital in the state, which is run by the University of Michigan.

The top issue is unsafe and unsustainable workloads stemming from the refusal of the hospital to hire more nurses. Throughout the contract negotiations, hospital management has made it clear the new contract will not address the staffing shortage. Michigan Medicine has maintained it will not discuss staffing ratios as a mandatory bargaining issue because the subject is supposedly unrelated to employee safety.

As we have explained over the past four months, the MNA-UMPNC leadership is a primary obstacle to nurses at Michigan Medicine going on the offensive to fight for their rights. Since negotiations began in March, the union has told nurses that strike action by public employees is illegal, except in response to unfair labor practices.

Instead of preparing for a strike, the union organized protest events that appealed to the universitys Board of Regents to come to the aid of nurses. Nearly two months after the contract expired, and when it was obvious to everyone that the regents were firmly behind the attack of Michigan Medicine on the nurses, the MNA-UMPNC filed an unfair labor practice charge and called for a work stoppage vote.

Now, the MNA-UMPNC is putting up obstacles to actually implementing a vote by the rank and file to take strike action. For example, the union has said that after a yes vote by the nurses, it will give the hospital a 10-day notice before any walkout so it can prepare. This is under conditions, as wereported last week, where hospital management is recruiting replacement nurses to use as strikebreakers in the event of a walkout.

Moreover, in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the union website the MNA-UMPNC is telling nurses they will receive no strike pay if they go on strike to fight for their rights.

The following exchange appears:

Q: Would I be paid when participating in the work stoppage?

To which the union replies:

No. This protest is a sacrifice we need to make to demonstrate to the university that we will not tolerate unfair labor practices.

Nurses pay hundreds of dollars in union dues every year. Its their money.

What gives the union tops the right to decide that this money cannot be used to strengthen the fight of the rank and file for safe and tolerable working conditions for themselves and adequate staffing to ensure the safety of their patients?

Just ask yourself: Who benefits from bankrupting nurses compelled to strike against money-mad, ruthless employers? To ask the question is to answer it!

Are the bureaucrats who run the MNA and the Michigan AFL-CIO willing to forgo their ample salaries and sacrifice along with the nurses?

The Michigan Nurses Association has significant financial resources. According to filings submitted to the US Labor Department at the end of last year, the MNA has total assets of $23,170,482, including $8,374,552 in cash and $13,746,551 in investments. The filing says that in 2021 the MNA took in $7,372,106 in dues from 13,000 member nurses across the state.

Instead of using these resources to support struggles like the Michigan Medicine nurses contract battle, the union squanders it on six-figure salaries for its executives and staff members and to make campaign contributions to Democratic Party candidates who do nothing for hospital workers and then turn around and enforce anti-strike laws.

The top six officers of the MNA take in a combined annual income of nearly $800,000. This includes Executive Director Janella James, who received a total of $188,105 in 2021.

The union spends more than $2 million annually on employee compensation for a staff of more than 50 individuals.

One thing is for sure: These individuals are not fighting on the picket lines to help win nurses battles for decent pay and working conditions. The grand total of cash disbursements for strike benefits last year was ... $0.00.

Nevertheless, the MNA filing shows expenditures of $3,412,114 in 2021 for something called representational activities.

These figures demonstrate that the MNA, like the rest of the official labor movement, is a union in name only. It would be more accurate to describe it as a labor contracting business.

Michigan Medicine nurses should demand that the MNA-UMPNC provide strike benefits from the substantial financial resources of the union to make sure that the hospital is not able to starve them out on the picket line.

With more than $8 million in cash, the MNA has enough ready money to pay every nurse at Michigan Medicine more than $500 per week in strike benefits for more than two weeks. And that does not account for its millions more in investments.

In any event, it is the rank-and-file nurses who should be making the decisions about how most effectively to use their money.

To take forward the fight for strike pay and to advance demands that are in the interests of the nurses, a rank-and-file committee of nurses and other Michigan Medicine workers should be formed to take the struggle out of the hands of the union bureaucracy.

The WSWS Health Care Workers Newsletter suggests that nurses adopt the following demands:

Sign up for the WSWS Health Care Workers Newsletter!

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Why is the MNA-UMPNC saying Michigan Medicine nurses will receive no strike pay? - WSWS

Welly Disrupts With Over-The-Counter Medicine And Dietary Supplements Free From Parabens, Talc & Synthetic Dyes – Yahoo Finance

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Welly

Welly Medicine & Dietary Supplements

Welly Medicine and Dietary Supplements

Welly Medicine & Dietary Supplements

Welly's Full Assortment of Medicine and Dietary Supplements

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Welly Health PBC, the brand that brings happiness and ease to healing, has expanded its offering to include over-the-counter Welly Medicine & Dietary Supplements within the Pain & Fever, Cough & Cold, Digestive, Sleep, Allergy, and Mood categories.

Welly Remedies are shifting the way we approach sick care to self-care by providing a holistic assortment of proactive and reactive health care products that are science-backed and free from the things you dont need synthetic dyes, artificial flavors, talc and parabens.

"With Welly, we have a successful model of consumer-driven innovation. We want to become the leader in health for Millennials by offering solutions that help people get back to a well-lived life, says Welly Co-Founder Eric Ryan. With this expansion into Welly Remedies, we want to be the one-stop for well care by offering complete healthcare solutions that are fun and easy to shop.

Welly Remedies are available now at Target and on getwelly.com.

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About WellyWelly was created by Eric Ryan, the serial entrepreneur behind eco-friendly household brand Method and dietary supplement brand, OLLY. The brand is now sold in more than 44,000 stores, including Target, Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, Kroger, Meijer, Stop & Shop, Hy-Vee, Amazon and more.

For more information, visit http://www.GetWelly.com and follow the social conversation on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook - @getwelly #getwelly #bewelly.

PR Contact:Natalie Krause, SHADOW PR: nkrause@weareshadow.comMadison Wool, SHADOW PR: mwool@weareshadow.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4551e09d-7749-4bdb-a27e-c30dcbb36be9https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c9c50458-511d-4388-8f5d-828b396b476e

A video accompanying this announcement is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/affddf0a-0a28-4dbf-a4a3-f6593fde0c09

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Welly Disrupts With Over-The-Counter Medicine And Dietary Supplements Free From Parabens, Talc & Synthetic Dyes - Yahoo Finance

Medicine on the Moon: Artemis I Launch Sets Stage for Medical Treatment in the Final Frontier – University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

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The Apollo missions had a medical accessory kit containing medical supplies, medications and small medical equipment that included compression bandages, adhesive bandages and an oral thermometer and biomedical harness worn under the spacesuit that measures the astronaut's ECG and heart rhythm. What factors do you consider when determining the capabilities needed in a medical system on the moon?

The answer to this question is highly dependent on the particular details of the mission. We break the hazards of human spaceflight into five categories: distance from Earth, isolation and confinement, radiation, altered gravity fields, and hostile and closed environments. These hazards interact with one another to place astronauts at risk for a host of medical conditions. Some are medical conditions that we might see on the ground, like appendicitis, and others are unique to spaceflight, like spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome.

The likelihood and consequences of these conditions are then driven by the duration of the mission, the design of the spacecraft or habitat, the types of activities the astronauts are undertaking, and the location of the mission, which impacts gravitational fields and medical evacuation time. We use large computational models that account for the mission characteristics to generate an initial estimate of the clinical capabilities needed, which are then refined and finalized by flight surgeons and other clinical experts.

The Artemis Medical System will need to integrate capabilities across Orion, Gateway and the Human Landing System. Flight surgeons at NASA are working to evaluate the total suite of diagnostic and treatment capabilities that makes the most sense based on the spacecraft and mission designs, including system limitations. Furthermore, work is underway to look at how astronauts and flight surgeons can record information generated by the medical system during the mission, and how that information can be transmitted back to Earth.

As we plan for future missions to the moon, we look to data from all prior human spaceflight experiences, but particularly Apollo, as that mission is most similar to future Artemis missions. We also have accumulated a wealth of knowledge from the International Space Station (ISS), where we have learned much more about the effects of spaceflight on the human body over 6- to 12- month-long missions.

There is an excellent report on the Biomedical Results of Apollo. As a simple example, prolonged wearing of a urine collection device on Apollo 13 led to a urinary tract infection, and potentially sepsis, in one astronaut. This has led to plans to include a toilet on both the Orion and Gateway program.

The ISS has provided invaluable knowledge about how the human body reacts to 6 to 12 months in space. This has helped us to identify common medical conditions that occur in space and learn how to treat them. This epidemiologic data helps to inform how we design medical systems for spacecraft. However, there are important differences between ISS and the moon.

The most obvious is that a lunar habitat will be on the surface of the moon, and astronauts will be working in approximately one-sixth of Earths gravity. Increased spacewalks on the moons surface may place astronauts at higher risk for traumatic injuries. They will also be exposed to lunar dust, which is certainly a contact irritant and may be an allergen. Medical evacuation times are also very different. From the ISS, the crew could be back to Earth on the order of hours to a day. Because of the distance to the moon and the orbit for the Gateway spacecraft, it could take up to two weeks to evacuate an injured astronaut back to Earth.

A big key to this question goes back to planned improvements for space suits. The space suits used by the Artemis program will allow greater joint mobility than prior space suits allowed. Prototypes of the next generation of surface exploration space suits have undergone testing using microgravity simulators (using a system called ARGOS as well as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in the NASA pool facility) and with simulated planetary surfaces at NASA Johnson Space Center.

The Artemis Program involves missions of increasing duration and complexity over time. Artemis III, currently planned for the first moon landing, will have two astronauts on the surface for approximately one week. Determining the medical capabilities for a mission requires an understanding of the likelihood and consequence of specific medical conditions as well as the constraints of the spacecraft. Mass, in particular, is extremely limited. In the Apollo Program, the numbers of Band-Aids in the lunar module had to be reduced to help keep the vehicle within its mass constraint. And theres no free lunch more medications mean less fuel or fewer spare parts. Engineers use a process called trade space analysis to understand how trading a capability into or out of a system affects risk and constraints.

Astronaut health is closely monitored. NASA has a standard health screening program before, during and after missions. During the mission, diagnostic and treatment capabilities of a medical system are designed to address issues early. The spacecraft and suits are designed with layers of redundancy to minimize the chances of catastrophic system failures and to protect occupants from any dynamic forces present during launches and landings. Spacewalk objectives, tasks and equipment are also designed with safety in mind to reduce the chances of injury.

Given this, medical capability can be tailored. For example, a need to perform superficial procedures for minor injuries is more likely than needing to perform complex procedures during the mission.

The overall function of the spacecraft is necessary to support human health and performance, and to ensure that the design meets the requirements to support the human. We will be collecting data from Artemis I in multiple domains, including understanding the radiation environment with human-like mannequins, using microphones to capture the sound levels in the spacecraft throughout the mission, and also using accelerometers to understand the gravitational forces on the vehicle throughout launch and landing. The performance of the heat shield is a prime objective for the Artemis I mission to demonstrate that it will protect crew from the heat generated during reentry, which will be about half the temperature of the Suns surface.

We have a lot of experience with human health and performance in normal Earth gravity, and thanks to over 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station, we also have a much better understanding of how the body reacts to prolonged weightlessness. We lack significant data on all the points in between. Artemis missions will have humans working on the surface of the moon, which is approximately one-sixth of Earths gravity, for months at a time. This gives us an additional data point between 0g and 1g to better understand how each of the bodys systems respond to different gravitational fields. The response might be linear, exponential, or level off at some point, and is likely different for each system. Artemis will help us to answer that question.

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Medicine on the Moon: Artemis I Launch Sets Stage for Medical Treatment in the Final Frontier - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

How Medicine’s Fixation on the Sex Binary Harms Intersex People – Scientific American

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In the summer of 1996 a small group of people met in northern California to share their experiences with intersex variations. One participant, Heidi Walcutt, said that doctors surgically reduced her clitoris as a young child to more closely approximate a normal female appearance.

This resulted in nerve damage that would blunt sexual sensation later in life, as well as stigma that made Walcutt feel at times like hiding in the closet and at other times intensely angry. Others in the group similarly reported shame, confusion and anger resulting from their medical treatment.

The encounter was archived in a documentary created by the Intersex Society of North America, which was founded just three years earlier by an activist using the name Cheryl Chase, whose experience paralleled that of Walcutt. (Chases name is now Bo Laurent.)

Intersex is an umbrella term for variations in reproductive or sexual anatomy that may appear in a persons chromosomes, genitals or internal organs, and it has been estimated to include about 1.7 percent of the population. There are more than 30 medical terms for different combinations of sex traits that fall outside of the typical male and female paths of development.

In the second episode of Scientific Americans documentary series A Question of Sex, we look at how people with sex variations are challenging longstanding notions of the sex binary in medicine.

In a survey conducted in 2020 by the Center for American Progress, nine in 10 LGBTQ+ intersex individuals reported some level of poor physical health. Of the majority who reported experiencing discrimination in the year prior, more than four in five said it had affected their financial well-being.

While international human rights groups widely condemn medically unnecessary intersex surgeries on minors, science has been slow to follow.

Genital surgeries on intersex youth first became commonplace in the 1950s, when a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University argued that a baby with genitals that looked neither clearly male nor female should be assigned a sex in early age and that their body should be altered to match. If a penis or a clitoris was deemed too small or large, respectively, it was shaved down.

There are life-threatening conditions in which genital surgery is required for infants and children. But normalizing their genital appearance to match a sex assigned in early age isnt medically necessary and is still largely up to doctors and parents. Advocates have long argued that the decision should instead be delayed until individuals are old enough to give informed consent.

Sean Saifa Wall is an intersex activist and researcher who was born with an intersex variation called androgen insensitivity syndrome, which occurs when a person who has XY chromosomes is resistant to hormones called androgens.

At age 13, Wall underwent a surgery to remove his internal testes, which at the time were thought to carry a risk of cancer. He told Scientific American that, not long after, he and his mom attended a consultation with the same doctor for another cosmetic procedure that involved shaving down his clitoris and creating a cavity inside of him.

There are so many assumptions made: that I would want a vagina, that I would want to be in a heterosexual relationship, that I would even identify as a woman.

Arlene Baratz is a physician who had to rethink what she was taught in medical school when she learned that her two daughters were born with intersex variations. She notes that the stigmatizing push to treat genital differences doesnt square with how science thinks about other traits that naturally vary in the population.

I think we know through science that there is a spectrum of variation for just about everything, including sex traits, Baratz says. And people with intersex bodies show us that because their bodies exist on a spectrum of difference. I think the issue is that people want to think about gender as a binary.

As a result, she explains, most research on surgery focuses on cosmetic outcomes. Theyll report that theyre able to put something in the vagina that they create, Baratz says. And being able to put something in there of a certain size, they say the surgery was a success but then no information about, when that person goes on to want to be a sexual person, how thats working out for them.

One of Baratzs daughters is now a psychiatrist who focuses on the mental health of LGBTQI people. In 2020 the two co-authored a study reflecting the need for more community-based research on the mental health of intersex people.

In July 2020, after years of activism by Wall, Baratz and others, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago became the first in the country to say it would stop performing medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex infants and children.

Hospitals in other cities have since followed suit. And in 2021 New York City passed a bill to educate doctors, parents and guardians of intersex children on the potential harms of genital surgery.

After all, the fixation on a sex binary in science, Wall points out, doesnt occur in a vacuum.

I think for people asking the question Is your child a boy or a girl? I would really challenge them to just take a moment and ask, Why? Why is it so important? Are you just happy to have a baby? Are you just happy to start a family? I think those are quality-of-life questions that often get overlooked or missed in this conversation.

This article was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Scientific American documentaries are shot on Blackmagic Design cameras.

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How Medicine's Fixation on the Sex Binary Harms Intersex People - Scientific American

Gradalis Announces Publication in Nature Communications Medicine Identifying Survival Predicting Biomarker in Patients with Ovarian Cancer Treated…

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Gradalis, Inc.

DALLAS, Aug. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gradalis Inc. announced a peer-reviewed publication today in the Nature portfolio journal, Communications Medicine, in which several biomarkers were evaluated for their potential to predict survival following Vigil (Gemogenovatucel-T) treatment. The publication entitled ENTPD1 as a Predictive Marker of Treatment Response to Gemogenovatucel-T as Maintenance Therapy in Newly Diagnosed Ovarian Cancer, features results from VITAL, a Phase 2b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of Vigil in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. The analysis indicates that pretreatment expression levels of the ENTPD1 gene may be a significant predictor of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) following Vigil therapy. Vigil is a novel, personalized cellular immunotherapy platform that is designed to decloak the full repertoire of a patients tumor antigens, reactivate the immune system, and summon key effector cells to deliver a durable clinical response. In VITAL, Vigil showed a positive trend in RFS in the overall population and a significant improvement in RFS and OS in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients with BRCAwt and HRP molecular profiles. This finding may allow for a more refined targeting of patients who will benefit from Vigil therapy.

The ENTPD1 gene, also referred to as CD39, is a protein coding gene that functions as a limiting step in the adenosine metabolic pathway found in immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. ENTPD1 gene directed signaling is involved in a wide range of cancers.In the analysis, a high level of RNA expression by the ENTPD1 gene (High ENTPD1) was prospectively defined as greater than the median value, hence representing 50% of patients. High ENTPD1 was associated with improved RFS and OS following Vigil maintenance treatment in frontline ovarian cancer patients. The analysis was conducted in collaboration with the University of South Alabama.

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While the use of predictive biomarkers to identify populations most likely to benefit from immunotherapy has expanded and evolved, attempts to use this approach in the treatment of ovarian cancer have thus far been underwhelming, said Rodney Rocconi, M.D., Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Alabama at Birmingham and study investigator. The Phase 2b VITAL trial demonstrated statistically significant improvement in RFS and OS when Vigil was used as a frontline maintenance therapy in patients with BRCAwt as well as HRP subtype advanced ovarian cancer. These exciting data and the identification of ENTPD1 as a biomarker that is predictive of response to Vigil, independent of BRCAwt and HRP status, represent a promising step forward with the potential to provide meaningful benefits for ovarian cancer patients.

The full text of the article can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-022-00163-y. Key findings in the paper include:

High ENTPD1 expression predicts response to Vigil versus placebo regardless of HR status: At 40 months elapsed, median RFS was not yet reached in the Vigil treated group (n=23) vs. 8.1 months in the placebo group (n=23), p=0.00007; at 40 months elapsed, median OS was not yet reached in the Vigil treated group vs. 41.4 months in the placebo group, p=0.013.

High ENTPD1 expression with HRP status: RFS and OS were further improved in Vigil patients with tumors demonstrating High ENTPD1 and HRP status compared to the placebo group. Median RFS of 21.1 months was observed in the Vigil treated group (n=11) vs. 5.6 months in the placebo group (n=9), HR=0.18, p=0.004; at 40 months elapsed, median OS was not yet reached in the Vigil treated group vs. 27 months in the placebo group, HR=0.23, p=0.025.

John Nemunaitis, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Gradalis commented, ENTPD1 is recognized to be an important gene in cancer development and progression. ENTPD1 has been identified as playing a role in numerous other solid tumor indications, including melanoma, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. There has been growing interest and support from large pharmaceutical companies for the development of drugs targeting the ENTPD1/CD39 axis. The findings published today further underscore the clinical utility of biomarker approaches to predict survival differences across BRCAwt and HRP positive ovarian cancer patients treated with Vigil. We plan to further validate these findings in the Vigil registrational program and hope to use such a biomarker-based patient selection strategy to expand the potential of Vigil across a variety of cancers.

Mr. Steven Engle, Chief Executive Officer of Gradalis added, In 2003, Gradalis founders including our CSO, Dr. Nemunaitis, had the foresight to explore more effective solutions to treat cancer, including approaches that leveraged the patients immune system to target the entire tumor. Based on multiple clinical studies, Gradalis has developed Vigil, an oncology treatment that is designed to decloak the full repertoire of a patients tumor antigens, reactivate the immune system, and summon key effector cells to deliver a durable clinical response. When combined, this powerful trifecta of anti-cancer activity has the potential to eliminate elusive metastatic cells and thus improve survival, as shown in our Phase 2 clinical studies in ovarian cancer.

Mr. Engle continued, Importantly, Vigil activates the patients immune system without disrupting its natural state of balance. As a result, multiple clinical trials have demonstrated that Vigil is well tolerated and has an encouraging safety profile compared to currently approved standard of care treatment options. Taken together, we believe Vigil has the potential to become a game-changing therapeutic approach in oncology. If validated in a planned Phase 3 trial, the ENTPD1 finding may be applicable to multiple cancer tumor types, providing the potential to explore new opportunities to maximize the therapeutic benefit of Vigil.

About Ovarian Cancer and Molecular ProfilesEvery year, an estimated 22,000 patients are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. and 14,000 patients die. The biomarker analysis in the VITAL Phase 2b trial focused on patients with ovarian cancer who had the BRCA wildtype (BRCAwt) gene and whose tumors had the homologous recombination proficient (HRP) molecular profile. Patients with the BRCAwt molecular profile have less than a 35% chance of surviving ovarian cancer at five years following diagnosis. BRCAwt is found in over 75% of patients with ovarian cancer and in 90% or more of several other tumor types. Patients with the HRP molecular profile have less than a 30% chance of surviving ovarian cancer at five years following diagnosis. HRP is found in over 40% of patients with ovarian cancer and in 80% or more of several other tumor types, including skin, colorectal and cervical cancers.

BRCA genesproduceproteinsthat help repair damaged DNA and are sometimes calledtumor suppressor genes. There are two types of BRCA genes: BRCA wildtype (BRCAwt) and BRCA mutated (BRCAmt) gene. In tumors of patients with the BRCAwt gene, mutations that lead to the generation of novel neoantigens on the cell membrane of each cell are less likely to occur. As a result, it is easier for the immune system to identify and target the tumor cells. In patients with the BRCAmt gene, mutations are more likely to lead to the generation of different neoantigens on the cell membrane of each new tumor cell making it more difficult for the immune system to identify and target the tumor cells. Vigil uses the patients immune system to target the tumor, so it is not surprising that Vigil would work better in patients with the BRCAwt gene. Similarly, tumors with the HRP molecular profile are more likely to maintain intact DNA repair pathways, and therefore are also more likely to respond to Vigil therapy.

About VigilVigil is a novel, plasmid engineered, autologous tumor cell immunotherapy platform designed to achieve a trifecta of immune anticancer activity using a unique bi-shRNA DNA based technology and the patients own tumor tissue. The trifecta of systemic activity involves knock down of TGF1 and TGF2 which function as tumor suppressor cytokines, increased GM-CSF expression to enhance local immune function and presentation of the patients clonal neoantigen epitopes via use of autologous cancer tissue. By utilizing the patient's own tumor as the antigen source, Vigil is designed to elicit an immune response that is specifically targeted and broadly relevant to each patient's unique clonal tumor neoantigens. Vigil therapy has been well tolerated in Phase 1, 2a and 2b clinical studies.

In VITAL, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial (NCT02346747), Vigil showed a positive trend in the primary endpoint of recurrence free survival (RFS) in the overall population and a statistically significant improvement in RFS and overall survival (OS), with a median time of three years to date, in a pre-planned subgroup analysis of Stage III/IV newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients with the BRCAwt molecular profile. In patients with tumors of the HRP type, significant additional improvement was seen in RFS and OS.

Additionally, Phase 1 results in an all-comer clinical trial have shown positive signals of activity in 19 tumor types and some patients treated with Vigil remain in the trial 48 months later. The company is preparing to initiate a clinical trial intended for product registration in patients with the HRP subtype ovarian cancer.

About Gradalis, Inc.Founded in 2003, Gradalis is a privately held, late-stage clinical biotechnology company developing a personalized immunotherapy called Vigil, that has been tested in multiple studies in ovarian and other cancer tumor types. Based on its Phase 2b clinical trial results, the company is preparing to initiate a Phase 3 trial intended for product registration of Vigil in patients with ovarian cancer. Vigil is the first cellular immunotherapy to demonstrate survival benefits in a randomized controlled trial of patients with solid tumors. The results of the companys Phase 2b trial have been published in Lancet Oncology and presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Vigil is being studied in other womens cancer types and has shown positive results in combination with checkpoint inhibitors

Gradalis Vigil platform uses the patients immune system to target the entire tumor. Based on multiple clinical studies, Gradalis has developed an oncology platform that is designed to decloak the full repertoire of a patients tumor antigens, reactivate the immune system, and summon key effector cells to deliver a durable clinical response. When combined, these are a powerful Trifecta of anti-cancer activities, potentially eliminating even the elusive metastatic cells, and as shown in Phase 2 clinical studies in ovarian cancer, a potential gamechanger in oncology. Our clinical trials have also demonstrated that Gradalis platform is better tolerated compared to standard cancer treatments since Vigil uses the patients immune system operating within its natural state of balance rather than in an artificial overdrive as with some technologies. Vigil utilizes proprietary bi-shRNA technology that has been proven to silence multiple genes in a variety of cancers and has the potential to be used in other diseases.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the success, cost, and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials, our plans to research, develop, and commercialize our product candidates, and our plans to submit regulatory filings and obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates. These forward-looking statements are based on Gradalis current expectations and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, which are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: (a) the timing, costs, and outcomes of our clinical trials and preclinical studies, (b) the timing and likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals for our product candidates, and (c) the potential market size for our product candidates. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and, other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Gradalis ContactMark Early(214) 442-8161mearly@gradalisinc.com

LifeSci Advisors ContactJoyce Allaire+1 (617) 435-6602jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com

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Gradalis Announces Publication in Nature Communications Medicine Identifying Survival Predicting Biomarker in Patients with Ovarian Cancer Treated...

Newsworthy from the School of Medicine, Week of Aug 19 – Aug 25 | Newsroom – UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine

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The below clickable headlines link directly to outside media outlets, which featured UNC School of Medicine faculty during the past week, starting Friday August 19, 2022.

Big changes are needed to turn the tide of North Carolinas mental health crisis, health leaders say Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody (Honest Columnist)

Other Viruses Offer Hints Toward the Mystery of Long COVID Dr. Richard Boucher (WebMD)

What is postpartum depression? Dr. Alison Stuebe (UNICEF)

On Air Today: Back to School and COVID-19 Dr. David Weber (Chapelboro)

F.D.A. Clears Path for Hearing Aids to Be Sold Over the Counter Jonathan Oberlander (The New York Times)

Dr. Cristy Page is helping to create an inclusive work environment at the UNC School of Medicine. See how shes doing it. Dr. Cristy Page (Beckers Hospital Review)

New mental health data show unsustainable burden on NC hospitals Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody (WRAL)

As NC schools start back, make sure kids are caught up on routine immunizations, doctors urge Dr. David Weber (CBS17)

Burkett on treatment options for endometrial cancer Dr. Wesley Burkett (NewsBeezer)

What Happens If You Dont Treat Swimmers Ear? Dr. Christine DeMason (MSN.com)

Understanding self-harm and how to help someone struggling Dr. Rebecca Taylor (WRAL)

Wake County shifts to new way of injecting monkeypox vaccine Dr. David Wohl (WNCN)

UNC Healths Hospital at Home Program Wins Innovation Award Dr. Meera Udayakumar (Healthcare Innovation)

White House strategy for monkeypox vaccines causing chaos out in the field Dr. David Wohl (POLITICO)

UNC Health hospital-at-home program honored for innovation Dr. Meera Udayakumar (Beckers Hospital Review)

Common molecular tool for DNA labeling has surprising anti-cancer properties Dr. Aziz Sancar (The Science Advisory Board)

Child contracts monkeypox in Mecklenburg County just as school starts back for many Dr. David Wohl (WRAL)

Fact check: Are more vaccinated people now dying of COVID-19 than unvaccinated? Dr. David Weber (CBS17)

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Newsworthy from the School of Medicine, Week of Aug 19 - Aug 25 | Newsroom - UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine

Modeling personalized medicine for neurocritical illness – The Source – Washington University in St. Louis – Washington University in St. Louis

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Precision medicine, which considers the unique characteristics of individuals to provide the most effective treatment, has been a goal of health care providers for decades. Now, it is a goal for helping those with critical neurological illnesses, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury and spine trauma, to track and predict secondary injury, such as seizures, and create new treatments.

ShiNung Ching, associate professor of electrical and systems engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, along with Rejean M. Guerriero, DO, and Terrance Kummer, MD, PhD, both associate professors of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine, plan to develop a model to detect and track critical neurological illnesses with nearly $1 million over four years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant is part of the Smart and Connected Health in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science program, a joint initiative between the NIH and the National Science Foundation. The goal is to predict active interventions and therapies that could potentially prevent these secondary injuries, which can have lifelong implications.

To do so, they will develop a method to track and predict when circuits in the brain undergo unexpected changes in individuals, both with neurocritical illnesses and without, by using data from electroencephalographic (EEG) and other noninvasive recordings of the brain.

Read more on the engineering website.

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Modeling personalized medicine for neurocritical illness - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis - Washington University in St. Louis

Medical Students Share the Significance of Receiving Their White Coats – University of Missouri School of Medicine

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A white coat has been the most common symbol of the medical profession for more than a century. Students from the University of Missouri School of Medicine class of 2026 took their first steps toward becoming physicians during a White Coat Ceremony on July 29, 2022.

We invited five students from the Class of 2026 to share what their white coats mean to them.

As my class and I started orientation and began learning about each others unique motivations for becoming physicians, it was clear that our common goal is to provide top-quality care for our patients. The environment created by the faculty and staff made us even more excited to begin this journey. Ending the week with the white coat ceremony felt surrealfor many of us as we each spent years of hard work to get here. As we took the oath of Geneva wearing our white coats for the first time, it set in that I was finally joining the medicalprofession. This moment was a very humbling and honorable experience as I pledged my life to the service of humanity.

For me, receiving my white coat was a remarkable moment as I became one step closer to my dreams. As a first-generation American from a Middle Eastern immigrant family, the journey to medicalschool itself was difficult. All medical students face challenges as we come from diverse backgrounds, different economic statuses and experience unique life events that shape our futures. When I visited Iraq, I wasalways aware of the lack of physicians and medicalresources. This opened my eyes to the underserved communities here in the United States as well and is where my dream of becoming a physician in underserved communities began.I want to be a physician who is committed to serving the community I work in and is dedicated to providing quality, patient-centered care regardless of a patients background.I feel honored to be a part of the University of Missouri School of Medicine, as they emphasize working with underserved populations, understanding the community we serve, and providing patient-centered care to each patient.Although the medicalschool journey is difficult, I am excited to take this next step toward my dream and Im grateful to be supported by my family and mentors. I hope my journey can serve as motivation for other underrepresented students to follow their dreams, no matter how difficult they seem.

Donning the white coat feels like a continuation and a new beginning, all at the same time, in the city I have grown to love so much. I will wear this coat with pride as I close the chapter on my undergraduate and post-grad years, and begin a new one through medical school, all while continuing my dedication to the Columbia community.

Im so grateful for my Mizzou undergraduate experience and every single person who has poured into my development and learning to lead me to where I am today. From my involvement with Tour Team, Homecoming, and Summer Welcome, to my academic and extracurricular mentors, my friends and biggest supporters, fellow researchers at Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, and many other community members and groups. While there were many difficulties along the way, there was also much to be celebrated. I would be remiss if I didnt acknowledge all of my educators along the way: from my elementary teachers that fueled my curiosity about the world, to my middle school teachers who cultivated my passion for learning and helped me refine my interests to my high school teachers who pushed me academically and encouraged me to be a leader.

To me, Mizzou is so much more than just a school- it is belonging. I hope to continue my involvement now in the school of medicine and to cultivate a sense of belonging among my class and through my efforts as a physician. Im committed to my education and being a lifelong learner for both the betterment of myself and the practice of medicine. Im grateful that so many people have invested in me and my education and now, in turn, I will give back to my patients and medical research.

The MU School of Medicine cares deeply about shaping medical students into patient-centered physicians. Standing next to 127 future physicians was such a surreal moment, knowing we have all overcome obstacles to be standing together and that we can rely on each other for support over these next four years. My love of medicine and my community made completing two grueling application cycles, taking the MCAT twice, and navigating applying during the COVID-19 pandemic all worthwhile. Without Mizzou and everyone that has touched my life, I wouldnt be where I am today. This is the first place I feel like I can truly be myself and I want to extend that feeling to others in my class and in service to my patients. Im proud to be a gay doctor and hope to extend the sentiment of being seen and heard to all my patients, no matter their identity or their background. I know that the medical school instructors and mentors will continue to encourage and teach me, just as educators before them, and for future classes of medical students.

As I worked in health care over my gap years, I realized how rare it was to see multiple African American physicians in a healthcare setting. I was often the only Black person involved in a patients healthcare experience. This was significant because a couple of patients expressed how comfortable they felt seeing another person belonging to a minority group participate in their care experience. My passion for representation and diversification within medicine are the reasons I am a medical student today. I also have passions for health literacy, health equity and interest in resolving health disparities in underrepresented communities. As I listened to Dr. Gause deliver the keynote speech, I was inspired. I realized my white coat means I am presented with the opportunity to break down barriers as a Black physician and can contribute to a more equitable healthcare system.

Before medical school, I had the pleasure of working with physicians who demonstrated utmost empathy and commitment to their patients. This week during orientation, we had small group discussions amongst my class regarding the kind of physicians we wanted to be. I had a few ideas from observing traits I wanted to exemplify in the physicians I worked for. However, my classmates presented many great ideas of qualities of physicians that I hadnt even considered. As I reflected on their statements, I realized that as I begin medical school this is a new beginning full of potential. I am learning what it means to provide patient-centered care, to collaborate with others and to be a role model for young Black girls with similar dreams. Throughout medical school, I want to challenge myself to become that type of physician who encompasses all of these key characteristics.

Samantha Metzger, a fourth-year MU medical student, also spoke at our ceremony and expressed how it is a privilege to wear our white coats and I could not agree more. When the white coat was placed on my shoulders, I felt a shift and was overwhelmed with emotion. This journey was no longer about me, as I will soon be entrusted with the honor and responsibility of caring for patients. I am proud, grateful and humbled to be able to have this role in patient care. Lastly, this coat is a reminder that although I am capable of making my dreams a reality, I could not do so without the support of my faith, family and friends.

The journey to my white coat was rooted in perseverance, passion and dedication to my future craft. I am the first in my family to graduate from college in the United States. My mother and father immigrated from Venezuela and Cuba when I was young in hopes of a better future for my brother and me. My parents made significant sacrifices to put me in a position to be successful. They worked very hard to make sure I had all the resources to actualize my dreams. I am forever indebted to them for what they have done for me. This white coat is a reminder of all the people that have helped me get to this point. I am so grateful for the family, friends, mentors, and professors that pushed me to be a better student, and more importantly, a better person. It truly takes a village. I wear this coat for them and the patients that I will serve.

I am excited to begin this new chapter of my life here at the University of Missouri. My experience here so far has been amazing. The faculty are passionate and dedicated to making my classmates and I the best physicians we can be. The staff is highly supportive and always looking out for us. My class is diverse and it is composed of some of the most dedicated, compassionate people Ive ever met. The facilities offered here at MU are world-class and constantly improving. MU fosters an environment that will allow me to reach my maximum potential as a future physician.

My goal is simple: I want to be the best physician I can be to take care of my future patients. The school of medicine will help me on this path to becoming a compassionate, knowledgeable physician.

When I put on my white coat for the first time, it became clear to me the coat draped over my shoulders represented the conclusion of one journey and the emergence of another. Throughout orientation week, my classmates and I had the opportunity to not only reflect on our own path to medicine but also discuss each others journeys considering the key characteristics of a physician outlined by the University of Missouri School of Medicine. This reflective exercise helped me understand that although my classmates and I arrived at the same destination, the journey to our white coats was unique for each of us. The compilation of each one of our journeys to MU Med is what makes our class of aspiring physicians special. Although each of our journeys has been different, we are unified by our white coats. This is a garment that symbolizes the humanism and compassion we as future physicians must express to each of our patients.

My own journey to medicine was heavily influenced by being able to witness the empathy and compassion shared between a physician and a patient. Understanding the impact a patient-centered physician can make in the progression of health in not only an individual but also a community fueled my determination to become a doctor. The constant support of my family and friends gave me the confidence to push through challenging times and their continued support will be paramount in this next phase of my life as a medical student. As I prepare to start this new journey, I look forward to building relationships with my fellow classmates, teachers and most importantly my future patients.

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Medical Students Share the Significance of Receiving Their White Coats - University of Missouri School of Medicine

Breakingviews – Powell gives markets tough medicine they needed – Reuters

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2022.

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WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jerome Powell chose not to mince words at this years Jackson Hole central bank summit. The U.S. Federal Reserve chair on Friday said the central bank would do what it takes to tame inflation, even if its painful for the economy. Thats a tough message that investors, who have been searching for dovishness, needed to hear. Theyre not the only ones he has to convince.

In a speech half as long as the one he gave last year, Powell said the Feds fight against price surges will take some time, which could slow job growth. But thats necessary, he argued, to bring prices down. Curbing rate hikes prematurely would be a mistake. That last part was clearly directed at investors. In July, even as the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points, markets rose after Powell said the pace of tightening would slow at some point. On Friday when his speech was released, the S&P 500 index fell slightly.

Now consumers and businesses need to get the message too. While American spending on goods and services slowed in July, consumption has been resilient. Retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.6% last month on an inflation-adjusted basis as declining gasoline prices left more money for other things.

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Thats a problem for the Fed. The personal consumption expenditures index, the Feds preferred measure of inflation, rose at a slower 6.3% year-over-year in July and fell 0.1% from June. While consumers own projections of inflation are declining, according to a New York Fed survey, that may not hold if spending, and corporate hiring, stays as strong as it has been lately. Powells claim that inflation expectations are well anchored is backed by surveys, but its also something thats hard to measure definitively, and can change quickly.

When Powell took on leadership of the central bank in 2018, he vowed to speak in plain English to make the institution more accessible to ordinary people. He is doing that. But his success in fighting inflation will depend on whether the message hits home outside of the world of finance and markets.

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(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

CONTEXT NEWS

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Aug. 26 that the U.S. central bank will work to bring inflation down until the job is done. He made his comments during the annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming central bank conference.

The theme for the 2022 gathering, hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, is "Reassessing Constraints on the Economy and Policy."

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Editing by John Foley and Sharon Lam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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Breakingviews - Powell gives markets tough medicine they needed - Reuters

How In The World Do You Get Your Pets To Take Medicine? – kkyr.com

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How do you get your pets to take their medicine? That was the question we asked on the Power 95-9 Facebook page and your answers were awesome.

I am a big dog person and we currently have two boxers. When it comes to giving them pills they are pretty smart and will spit them out when they are given the pills in a piece of bread. Here are the guilty dogos now.

Wes Spicher Townsquare Media

Now when it comes to our listeners they had some pretty good things for me to try the next time my two need meds. Check out some of these suggestions.

Power 95-9 Facebook

These suggestions are great and they remind me of my former co-worker Mimi. She loved all her dogs and the pill pocket was her choice when it came to giving out the meds to her dogs. I have tried using some weiners but the pills were so big I couldn't;t keep them in the Weiner they kept falling out. Maybe a pill pocket could work for my two silly boys.

But when it came to suggestions cheese was the big winner.

Power 95-9 Facebook

I really like what Jaymie had to say about the cheese and how she uses small pieces to feed them before giving the meds. I have tried peanut butter but they are so weird about that stuff. The first time I gave them peanut butter they actually spit it out. Now they like it enough that I may try that too if the cheese doesn't work.

Thank you for all of the suggestions. The next time my two boys have to take pills I will be trying the cheese for sure. And unfortunately this winter my big dog Haus will be taking pills. He has some upper respiratory stuff he gets with all of that cold air.

To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.

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How In The World Do You Get Your Pets To Take Medicine? - kkyr.com

Unlocking the Power of Precision Medicine the Rheumatology Example – Technology Networks

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What is precision medicine?

Precision medicine, also referred to as personalized medicine, is the opposite of a one-treatment-fits-all model, instead tailoring disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment based on a persons own genes or proteins as well as potentially their environment and lifestyle. According to the Precision Medicine Market Report 2022-2023, the increase in scope of application of precision medicine is expected to propel market growth as the leading precision medicine disease focus, oncology, is joined by immunology, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory and other diseases.

Specific to cancer, over the pastseveral decades, researchers, scientists and therapeutic manufacturers in oncology have significantlyimproved treatment outcomes by embracing this precision medicine approach, with some advancements even called revolutionary. Today, cancer patients often undergo molecular tests and genetic profiling to align the physicians treatment selection with the drug most likely to improve a particular patients prognosis. This recognizes that no two cancers are the same, no two patients are the same, and even within established categories, such as breast cancer, different therapeutics will benefit different individuals.

Advances made in oncology are setting a precedent for whats possible in personalized medicine scenarios in other areas and powerfully impacting what the future of tailored care will mean.

Industry visionaries focusing on other disease states and optimizing treatment outcomes are applying the learnings from cancer precision medicine to their own specialties. Rheumatology is one such field. As the prevalence of autoimmune conditions, currently estimated to affect about 3 percent of the US population, increases, it becomes more critical to address individual cases with effective treatments. Like cancer, the underlying factors and disease progression for autoimmune conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Sjogrens Syndrome vary among those afflicted, and so should the treatment approach.

What makes the promise of precision medicine so appealing to both physicians and patients with autoimmune conditions is that currently, especially for RA, successful treatment response rates to existing therapeutics vary widely and this may be due to physicians taking the one-medication-fits-all approach with first-line therapeutics.

An increase in treatment options for RA has emerged in recent years, particularly when it comesto the development of dozens oftargetedimmunomodulators (TIMs)across five main types of mechanisms of action. However, despite the growing number of TIMs approved to treat RA, drug selection remains a process driven by empirical physician judgment and influenced by insurers drug formulary rules. Phase 3 trials for virtually all RA drugs demonstrate a treatment ceiling whereby approximately 40 percent of patients do not achieve minimal response, and as many as 80 percent do not achieve a major treatment response.

By utilizing a more personalized approach to autoimmune conditions, starting with an accurate diagnosis, physicians can better inform patients and prescribe treatments that hold the most promise for individual symptom relief and in some cases, have the potential to halt disease progression.

Emerging, innovative diagnostic technology promises to change the current trial and errorof assigning treatment protocols for RA, fostering a breakthrough of the treatment response ceiling with drugs that are currently available. Taking a page from oncology, new molecular tests are now a viable option for linking individual patients to the targeted therapy that has the greatest potential for personalized clinical response.

Specific to RA, there are approximately 1.5 million people with the condition in the United States with about 120,000 new diagnoses each year. Targeted biologic therapies in RA are among the largest categories of therapeutic spending in the United States. So, while treatment options are widespread, the key to unlocking the potential of the most effective RA treatment for those affected is in molecular characterization of the synovium the portion of the joints where the drivers of RA damage/progression are present.

These tests, through synovial biopsies, will provide physicians a new approach to the traditional standard of care model. In addition to the obvious benefit of providing more targeted, effective solutions to patients, the tests will also save them time by mitigating repeated trial and error attempts with targeted biologics that leave RA patients without symptom relief while an effective drug is identified. As an example, a study published in Nature Medicine on May 19, 2022, demonstrated that molecular profiling of synovial joint tissue might greatly impact whether certain drug treatments would be effective in treating RA patients.

Furthermore, there is an additional cost benefit: personalized medicine in RA has the potential to reduce billions of dollars spent annually on drugs that do not yield adequate disease control.

Taking a lesson from other disease areas, the potential for innovative diagnostics and a precision medicine approach in treating a variety of autoimmune diseases, including RA, is becoming more and more of a reality and will pave a path to more positive patient outcomes.

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Unlocking the Power of Precision Medicine the Rheumatology Example - Technology Networks

Noiva retires from Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine – News at OU

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A thirst for knowledge, love of teaching, and affinity for adventure guided the career of Robert Noiva a scientist and educator critical to the foundation and future of OUWB.

Now, Noiva, Ph.D., is slowing down a little, at least after retiring from OUWB.

For the school, Noivas most recent titles were associate dean for Graduate Studies and Community Integration, and associate professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies.

Now, Noiva plans to focus on his titles of retiree, Washingtonian, husband, father, and especially, grandfather.

I wont miss budget meetings, annual performance evaluations, and all of that paperwork stuff, he said. But I will miss the interaction with the studentsthats whats fun and inspiring.

Colleagues likeJudith Venuti, Ph.D., professor emeritus, OUWB. said his commitment to education has always been evident in his work, and will continue to show as OUWB evolves.

Bob was instrumental in helping OUWB get off the ground and was a strong leader with great organizational skills and vast expertise in medical education, said Venuti.

Duane Mezwa, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, recently shared similar sentiments about Noiva.

Bob Noiva brought a wealth of expertise and knowledge in the field of medical education when he arrived at our new medical school more than 10 years ago, said Mezwa. We are grateful that he accepted the challenge and excelled at shaping medical education at OUWB.

Strong role models as teachers

Noiva grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, as one of five children in his family.

He excelled in math and science and enjoyed problem-solving. Noiva also understood from a young age the importance of good mentors.

When youre a student and in a classroom, I think you can identify when theres a genuine sense of commitment by the instructorthat they care about you learning, he said. I think thats one of the things that probably motivates many of us that have gotten into academicswe had strong role models as teachers.

Noiva would go on to attend Michigan State University and earn a bachelors in biochemistry.

It was really appealing to me to be doing something in chemistry related to human health, he said.

Between his sophomore and junior years at MSU, Noiva began dating a classmate named Nancy. Post-graduation, the couple married and relocated to Hartford. Nancy worked at Oak Hill School for the Blind and Robert worked in the pathology department at Hartford Hospital.

As in high school, Noiva said he had great mentors who encouraged him to go further specifically to get a Ph.D.

I told them that I didnt know about graduate schools or how to even do that, he said.

His mentors helped him identify programs, including one at Creighton University. He wrote the school a two-page letter introducing himself, highlighting his experience, talking about his plans, and asking for an application.

They called me and said Can you be out here in two weeks? he said. Thats how I ended up in Omaha.

The willingness to take on the challenge was very similar to how he ended up at OUWB.

When I have an opportunity, I go for it, he said. Weve always been willing to do things that are a little adventuresome.

Its about being empathic

Noiva did his postdoc in Houston, Texas, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, for three years.

By then, in addition to his experience in clinical settings, he had built up a solid teaching portfolio.

Much of it happened at Creighton, where graduate students were required to serve as teaching assistants. He also tutored for a summer program at Creighton for remediating medical students from across the U.S.

(Those experiences) really helped me to be a good teacher, he said.

After M.D. Anderson, Noiva took his first faculty position at University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine a week after the Noivas daughter, Jennifer, was born.

At South Dakota, he continued refining and improving his skills as an educator. Senior faculty were required to mentor anyone who took on a new teaching role.

Equally vital, he said, was a never-ending quest to learn, adapt, and improve through professional development. And he always drew on his own experiences as a student.

Its about being empathic, he said. That if you know what you wanted as a student and perhaps sometimes didnt get, you think to yourself Im not going to do that to these students.

Noiva spent 18 years in South Dakota.

A different medical school

In the early 2010s, Noiva decided to once again take a chance this time on Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, a medical school in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was there for a year before the dream opportunity to come to Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

I dont think youre given many opportunities to start with a blank slate and do what you want to do, said Noiva.

But thats exactly what he got when Noiva decided to join the team launching OUWB.

He worked with OUWB Founding Dean Robert Folberg, M.D., and others, to create the schools blueprint a plan that very much relied on getting the right people in place.

They had a great idea of making this a medical school that was going to be different, he said. Having a faculty that was really going to be focused on student successwas attractive to a number of people.

Noiva said things really started to get exciting as new educators joined OUWB. He recruited Venuti, whom he had worked with at M.D. Anderson.

Nelia Afonso, M.D., assistant dean for Community Integration & Outreach and professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies, joined the team.

Others did, too, such as David Thomas, Ph.D., who now serves as associate dean for Preclinical Education, along with Barbara Joyce, Ph.D., Rick Sabina, Ph.D., and William Forbes, D.D.S.

Noiva credits Christina Grabowski, Ph.D., former assistant dean of Admissions, for recruiting OUWBs first class of 50 that had an entrepreneurial spirit and sought to embody what the school was all about.

Noiva said he regretted not having the opportunity to thank the many other colleagues at OU that helped make OUWB a success, including dedicated educators that emphasized a student-centered approach in their teaching; key staff and faculty important in creating and shaping the OUWB curriculum; outstanding clinician educators; and those who demonstrated the importance to addressing health and wellness disparities in the community.

It wasnt the administration that made this work, he said. It was faculty and staff driven.

In reflection, Noiva called his time at OUWB a wonderful opportunity.

But now hes onto new wonderful opportunities and adventures.

During a recent session called Five Easy Lessons I Learned to Improve My Teaching, Noiva explained that he and Nancy are moving to a Seattle suburb.

He talked about spending more time doing the little things simply reading for pleasure or going to baseball games.

Then there are the bigger things spending more time with his daughter.

And then theres perhaps the biggest thing the one thing that made him emotional in talking about retirement spending time with his grandson, Caspian.

Whenever he sees me, he smiles, said Noiva, his voice cracking. So thats all.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, marketing writer, OUWB, at adietderich@oakland.edu.

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketingwebpage.

NOTICE: Except where otherwise noted, all articles are published under aCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You are free to copy, distribute, adapt, transmit, or make commercial use of this work as long as you attribute Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine as the original creator and include a link to this article.

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Noiva retires from Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine - News at OU

Family and Social Support May Influence Caregiver Stress and Depression – Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

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A new study from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators shows that cultural values and social support may influence a caregivers burden, self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. These findings suggest interventions aimed at buffering the negative effects of care-related stress should reinforce the importance of social connections.

In a study reported in the July 2022 issue of the Journals of Gerontology: Series B, a team led by first author Dr. Francesca Falzarano, a postdoctoral fellow, and senior author Dr. Sara J. Czaja, professor of gerontology in medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, examined racial and ethnic differences in familism -- a cultural value that centers around a sense of collectivism in the family -- and social support to better understand cross-cultural differences in caregiving outcomes.

Familism is a cultural justification to provide care, and there are three factors: family obligations, or how does your culture and your family structure influence your feelings of obligation to provide care? Perceived support, or what's a persons perception of support that they receive from their family. And then family as referents, which is being exposed to a family member providing care and using that as a model, Dr. Falzarano said.

The aging population, as well as the caregiving population, are becoming much more ethnically diverse in the United States, Dr. Czaja said. We know that there are cultural differences in ideas about caregiving and it's important to understand those differences in order to develop efficacious interventions.

The Weill Cornell researchers hypothesized that Hispanic and Black people would exhibit higher levels of familism and that familism would act as a buffer and mitigate care-related strain in these caregivers.

The literature is actually very mixed on whether familism is helpful, Dr. Falzarano said. But we thought individuals who might be high in familism -- particularly members of the Hispanic and Black groups -- might have more expansive social support networks, whether it be kin and non-kin relationships, that can aid in caregiving and lead to more positive caregiving appraisals, such as higher self-efficacy and reduced depression.

Their team collected data from 243 caregivers whose loved ones had Alzheimers disease or other related dementias (ADRD) -- a population of caregivers that tend to have higher degrees of feeling burdened and stressed. The caregivers, who ranged in age from 20 to 95, lived in the greater Miami region and were participants in the Caring for the Caregiver Network study, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, which examined a culturally-tailored, technology-based psychosocial intervention.

This intervention was primarily delivered virtually and included caregiver skill building and support sessions, support groups, and enhanced access to resources, Dr. Czaja said.

Of the 243 participants, 55 were Black, 79 were white, and 109 were Hispanic. Researchers found that the Black and Hispanic participants reported higher familism compared with white participants. Black participants also reported higher levels of social support, which in turn predicted lower burden and depressive symptoms when compared with white participants.

Our hypotheses were largely maintained, which really highlights the criticality of this topic, Dr. Czaja said. Its vital for caregivers to know theyre not alone and they should not feel bad about needing or seeking support. And while family is important, we must also enhance support for individuals who do not have family. We must also define the term family broadly.

The team, which included Dr. Jerad Moxley, instructor of psychology in medicine, and Dr. Karl Pillemer, professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development at Cornell University, also did an exploratory analysis with Hispanic participant acculturation, or assimilation to a new culture.

We didnt know what we were going to find, but our results showed that the greater number of years a Hispanic person spends in the United States, the lower they score on the familism scale, Dr. Falzarano said.

Since Hispanic is an umbrella term representative of many different cultures, values and belief systems, the Weill Cornell researchers are collaborating with Dr. Andrs Losada Baltar, a professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, to see if their model replicates in a Spanish sample of caregivers.

We will compare our Hispanic subsample with a subsample of dementia caregivers from Spain, Dr. Falzarano said. And so, we're continuing to further parse apart these different groups, their cultural beliefs and how that impacts their caregiving outcomes.

In the future, the Weill Cornell researchers also hope to expand their research to first-generation caregivers and members of other racial or ethnic groups.

Overall, our findings show that a one-size-fits-all approach to interventions is not efficacious, Dr. Czaja said.

Many Weill Cornell Medicine physicians and scientists maintain relationships and collaborate with external organizations to foster scientific innovation and provide expert guidance. The institution makes these disclosurespublic to ensure transparency. For this information, see profile for Dr. Sara Czaja.

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Two Tales from the Euthanasia Dystopia – Discovery Institute

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Photo credit: Jeremy Bezanger via Unsplash.

Euthanasia is showing its fangs in places such as Canada and Spain.

First, in Spain, a criminal who shot four people and was, in turn, shot in the spine by police and paralyzed, was granted death by euthanasia.From theEuroNewsstory:

Since December, he has been bedridden at the Terrassa prison hospital near Barcelona and had demanded the right to die.A Tarragona court judge ruled in his favour earlier this month, ruling that he had a fundamental right to dignity.

Spain has no death penalty, so even if the victims had died, he would have faced no lethal consequence as the death penalty is considered cruel and unusual punishment. But deathwasdeemed dignified because the criminal was paralyzed. So I guess we could call this cruel and unusual death with dignity that allowed a criminal to avoid the consequences of his attempted lethal action and a form of death penalty to be applied.

Meanwhile, our cousins in Canada are embroiled in an entirely predictable euthanasia scandal. Rather than properly treat a veteran with PTSD, a social worker suggested euthanasia.From theDaily Mailstory:

A spokesperson confirmed that all frontline staff at the VAC are to be given formal training, direction and advice on how to approach the issues surrounding MAiD.

The veteran, who has not been identified, claims the service agent they spoke to brought up the option repeatedly even after he asked them to stop. He also said that the service agent told him in the call about having helped another veteran access MAiD through VAC including supporting that persons children.

The service agent reportedly said better than blowing his brains out all over the wall or driving his car into something, when discussing the separate case.

An investigation has been promised. The veterans caseisnt the first timethat Canada offered deathinstead of proper care, and it wont be the last.

Heres the lesson if we want to learn it: Euthanasia legalization validates killing as a proper response to real and perceived suffering, leading to its normalization for an ever-broadening swath of human conditions. And aplusfor the utilitarian mindset:Money savedon proper care for expensive patients and moreorgans for transplantation!

But Wesley, euthanasia is aboutcompassion, and strict guidelines protect against abuse! Bah.

Cross-posted at The Corner.

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Two Tales from the Euthanasia Dystopia - Discovery Institute

Canada Is Euthanizing Its Sick and Poor. Welcome to World of Government Health Care. – Daily Signal

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Many leftists tout Canadas socialized health care system as something America should emulate, claiming government-run health care is more humane. But it seems Canadian officialsare more interested in urging doctors to help patients to kill themselves than to treat them.

Americas neighbor to the north has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world. Canadas medical assistance in dying laws allow almost anyone who can claim some form of hardship or disability to receive physician-assisted suicide, regardless of how minor those disabilities might be.

In a recently reported horror story from The Associated Press,Alan Nichols, 61, was successfully killed after a quick one month waiting period as he was suffering from hearing loss. Nicholswas an otherwise decently healthy guy, but his brother claimed he was railroaded into killing himself.

Nichols family said that hospital staff helped him request euthanasia and pushed him to do it, a story that has been repeated many times by other disabled or sick Canadians.

Roger Foley, whose story was also reported by The Associated Press, became so unnerved by his hospitals health care providers discussing euthanasia as an option that he started torecord conversations. Foley has a degenerative brain disorder.

During one reportedconversation, the hospitals director of ethicstried to guilt Foley into thinking about the cost of his hospital stay. The director told Foley it would cost north of $1,500 a day.

When Foley asked what long-term treatments were, the director responded, Roger, this is not my show. My piece of this was to talk to you, [to see] if you had an interest in assisted dying.

Foley says he had never discussed ending his own life prior to the encounter.

The fact that the ethics director mentioned how much it cost is essential to understanding why Canadian officials seem so hellbent on getting people to kill themselves.

There are a flurry of stories of Canadians choosing to die over living through crushing poverty. The Spectator reported on a woman who chose because she simply cannot afford to keep on living.

As the Canadian government pays for health care, it is incentivized to cut costs as much as possible. Based on how eager some hospitals seem to push euthanasia, the government seems to have concluded that its cheaper to kill people than to cure them.

Thats ditto for the disabled and mentally ill.

Global News Canada reported that a Canadian military veteran, pursuingtreatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury, was told, completely unprovoked, that he couldreceive medical assistance in dyingby a Veterans Affairs Canada agent. (Global News did not name the veteran, or the sources for the conversation.)

The man fights for his country, receives injuries in the line of duty, and is told that he can kill himself for his sacrifice. How humane.

While these stories are all disgusting, they lay out perfectly the biggest danger of importing a government-run health care system to the U.S.

When the government decides who gets medical care and when they get care, it also can decide who doesnt.

With the relatively substandard care that Americas poor and vulnerable get under Medicaid, for example, why would we want to give more power to government bureaucrats over patients health care decisions?

Something not often considered in the debate over government health care plays into the countrys current fascination with obliterating gender and sex differences.

Scores of children are being given hormones and treatments that will permanently warp and scar them. Whats to stop some future government-run health care program from destroying a confused childs body and then encouraging him to kill himselfrather than deal with the consequences?

Canada is already beginning to consider allowing so-called mature minors to off themselves if the government determines them competent enough to make the decision.

Dying with Dignity, a pro-euthanasia group, posted a ghoulish blog post on mature minors and medical assistance in dying that urged the government to extend the option to children at least 12 years of age and capable of making decisions with respect to their health.

The left already claims children are mature enough to change their sex, so giving 12-year-olds the ability to legally kill themselves seems like the logical next step.

Worse, this push for suicide seems to be having a tangible impact on the number of people taking their own lives.

Canadian federal data shows that 10,064 people died in 2021 by medically-assisted suicide, a massive 32% jump from the year before.

This culture of government-endorsed death cannot be allowed to come to America.

Our costly health care system is far from perfect, but at least it isnt wholesale encouraging people to end their own lives.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and well consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular We Hear You feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

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Canada Is Euthanizing Its Sick and Poor. Welcome to World of Government Health Care. - Daily Signal

Unable to bear pain and afford treatment, a disable youth seeks permission for euthanasia – United News of India

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More News29 Aug 2022 | 10:08 PM

Shillong, Aug 29 (UNI) Cyclist Rojit Singh Yanglem on Monday interacted with the youth of Shillong here in Meghalaya on the benefits of a balanced diet and maintaining a disciplined life in the Meghalaya edition of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Meet the Champion event to mark National Sports Day.

Bhubaneswar, Aug 29 (UNI) Odia athlete, weightlifter Jhili Dalabehera and shooter Shriyanka Sadangi were conferred with the prestigious Biju Patnaik Sports Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Gangtok, Aug 29 (UNI) On the occasion of National Sports Day, Chief Minister PS Tamang extended greetings and best wishes to the public.

Sambalpur, Aug 29 (UNI) Hundreds of farmers of Jharbandh block in Bargarh district, under the banner of 'Khatikhia Sangha' are sitting in Dharna protesting rampant corruption in the block.

Kendrapara, Aug 29 (UNI) Rajkanika police have arrested a woman and her paramour for killing her husband in Bhamanda village under Rajkanika police station.

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Unable to bear pain and afford treatment, a disable youth seeks permission for euthanasia - United News of India

Pug Name Willy Wonka Couldn’t Open his Mouth and Was on the Euthanasia List – One Green Planet

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When Sky Sanctuary Rescue received a call from a local shelter about a dog with his mouth stuck shut, they knew they had to help. Because of his condition, he was on the euthanasia list. The poor puppy was scared and starving, but thanks to the staff at the rescue, Willy Wonka will get a second chance.

According to the rescue, Willy Wonka was immediately taken to the veterinarian. Dr. Grant sedated the pug to try to find what was causing the pups jaw to lock. They found out that his jaw did not have any structural abnormalities or fractures. Confused, the shelter continued to fight to give Willy Wonka a second chance at life.

His lab work showed an elevated blood cell count and neutrophils, which can mean an underlying infection and inflammation. They sent his bloodwork to UC San Diegos Neuromuscular Laboratory for diagnostics. Soon after, Willy Wonka and another pup named Cricket, who had a locked jaw as well, went to see Veterinary Neurologist Dr. Fallen.

Finally, after so many unanswered questions, the shelter learned what was causing the pup so much misery. Willy Wonka was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Masticatory muscle myositis. This condition causes the immune system to attack and kills its own tissues. For the pug, it specifically is attacking the muscles that allow him to open and close his mouth.

Wonka is now on an aggressive treatment plan to suppress the immune system. They already see improvements in his jaw function, and he can drink water on his own. He even feels well enough to make other friends at the rescue!

He is very happy to be off the street, out of the shelter and finally receiving the second chance he deserves, the shelter wrote in a Facebook post.

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Pug Name Willy Wonka Couldn't Open his Mouth and Was on the Euthanasia List - One Green Planet

Disability advocates warn that a lack of support leads to assisted suicide | The Paradise News – The Paradise News

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As assisted suicide spreads around the world, more and more people with disabilities are falling victim. For many, this is confirmation that a life with a disability is one not worth leading, full of agony, pain, and suffering. Yet for disability advocates, the problem is not the disability itself, but the lack of support and accommodations they face.

Kathleen Nicole ONeal wrote an op-ed for Not Dead Yet, a non-profit that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia, arguing that the use of assisted suicide by people with disabilities is a symptom of a discriminatory system that has failed to give the disabled more autonomy.

One of the examples ONeal cites is Federico Carboni, an Italian man who spent most of his life able-bodied. But 12 years ago, he was in an automobile accident, and woke up from a coma to find himself paralyzed. He lived the next years of his life as a quadriplegic, until he was able to successfully petition the Italian government to allow him to be euthanized. Carboni died earlier this year.

ONeal pointed out that one of Carbonis last statements shows how the problem was not one of disability, but of autonomy:

I do not deny that I am sorry to take leave of life. I would be false and a liar if I said the opposite because life is fantastic, and we only have one. But unfortunately, it went like this. I have done everything possible to be able to live as well as possible and try to recover the maximum from my disability, but by now I am both mentally and physically exhausted. I do not have a minimum of autonomy in daily life, I am at the mercy of events, I depend on others for everything, I am like a boat adrift in the ocean. I am aware of my physical condition and future prospects so I am totally calm and calm about what I will do.

ONeal explained, What I find haunting about this is that ultimately this is an indictment of a terrible personal care services (aka caregiving) system, a system that fails to pay workers enough to create a reliable workforce and a system that fails to grant disabled people sufficient authority to control their services. Even the most physically disabled people should feel independent and empowered by their attendant services and apparently this is not what was happening in Carbonis life.

Unfortunately, as ONeal explained, the solution to this problem is often not to improve the situation for people with disabilities. Its to make assisted suicide and euthanasia available for them. Simply put, assisted suicide is not a solution but an extension of the devaluation disabled people experience, she wrote. Its like saying, Disability equals no autonomy so prepare to die.

Along with of poor access to medical care and support services, people with disabilities are routinely ignored, forgotten, and then pushed towards death. And, ONeal said, they deserve better.

READ:Family shocked to learn healthy American sisters died by assisted suicide in Switzerland

Federico Carboni did not deserve the death penalty, she said, adding, He deserved attendant services that centered his autonomy, his needs, his wants, his wishes, and his will. His life would have been different had he had that opportunity. We as a culture need to get over this notion that needing help with physical bodily functions is an affront to ones dignity. This is the logic of ableism.

Catalina Devandas Aguilar, a Costa Rican lawyer and the United Nations first Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, spent a week in Canada investigating whether or not people with disabilities are given the health care and support they need. Yet she discovered numerous cases of individuals who were pressured into euthanasia or placement in nursing homes, as well as a court system that does not reinforce their rights.

Gerard Quinn, Olivier De Schutter, and Claudia Mahler three experts who sit on the United Nations Office of Human Rights issued a statement condemning the growing trend of offering euthanasia solely due to disability. We all accept that it could never be a well-reasoned decision for a person belonging to any other protected group be it a racial minority, gender or sexual minorities to end their lives because they experience suffering on account of their status, they wrote in the statement. Disability should never be a ground or justification to end someones life directly or indirectly.

Assisted suicide is, in and of itself, inherently ableist. Most people are not undergoing assisted suicide due to fears of a painful death; in fact, a loss of autonomy has been found to be the most commonly cited reason people give for wanting to die. And legalizing assisted suicide essentially tells people with disabilities that theyre right for wanting to die, rather than offering them a reason to live. It seems that saving the life of a suicidal person is only reserved for the young, healthy, and able-bodied. If youre disabled, you will be helped into suicide, and disability advocates are rightly calling foul.

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Disability advocates warn that a lack of support leads to assisted suicide | The Paradise News - The Paradise News

If the US is Nineveh, Then Canada is Sodom – The Stream

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Some 14 years ago I published a satire, a funny piece meant to point up a deadly serious subject. A leader of the official ob-gyn organization in Canada had publicly denounced then-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Why? Because she had said that she was glad she hadnt aborted her Down Syndrome child. And the Canadian doctor worried that she might influence Canadian parents to do the same. To welcome the child God had sent them, instead of killing it. She ought to be silent, this Canadian doctor demanded.

So I wrote a piece called Kill More Canadians. In it, I pretended that I wished to empty Canada of all its current inhabitants, so the U.S. could annex it and make it a theme park. And I praised the abortion-happy doctor for helping us get a start on culling the herd in the Great White North:

The process of gradually clearing out the blank space on the map which lies to our North Ive always called it The Annex should be accomplished in classic Canadian style: with deference, almost with diffidence. There is no call for broken windows or blood on the ice. As we gain for our overcrowded nation a measure of much-craved living space, we owe it to the brooding, bleating herds of lumbering Canucks to ensure that their last days are spent in peace and comfort.

I invite you to go read the piece.

Sadly, that piece has aged all too well. The culture of death in North America advances inexorably, a little more quickly in Canada than in America. Here as in other indicators of decline (think of the savage crackdown on the truckers protest) Canada is five years ahead of the United States, on the slippery Gadarene slope that leads down to the sea.

My old friend, the intrepid conservative journalist Richard Poe, called my attention to whats happening more quickly in Canada than here. The facts are appalling, if not exactly surprising. I beg you to go through the whole of this sobering Twitter thread which Richard posted:

Do you think the U.S. is immune to this brutal, utilitarian killing of the helpless and the innocent? Far from it. Leave abortion aside for the moment, and the crass vivisection of unborn babies for the production of untested, dangerous vaccines.

During COVID we witnessed in practice a mass euthanasia of patients in nursing homes. Too many even on the right still tell themselves the thousands of COVID deaths in such facilities were the result of Democrats incompetence or apathy or cluelessness.

I dont believe it. Not for a second. All that death was premeditated and intentional, as I argued here back in May. Ill repeat the salient points, which I believe justify us in speaking of the Blue State Nursing Home Genocide of 2020:

An old saying goes, When someone shows you what he really is by his actions, believe him. When vaccine fascists went on social media and wished mass death on the unvaccinated, they meant it. When public officials in once-free countries like Australia and New Zealand said there was no room in society for people who didnt comply, they meant it.

When Bill Gates says he wants a global population reduction in the billions, he means it, too. Likewise when transhumanist big brain Yuval Harari says: We just dont need the vast majority of the population, I believe hes stating his beliefs quite sincerely. Here he is giving a TED talk to his fellow elites, explaining the uselessness of everyone who doesnt get invited to go to TED talks.

When I say that were facing not people confused by bad ideas, but elites possessed by demons, I mean it too.

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or co-author of ten books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. He is co-author with Jason Jones of God, Guns, & the Government.

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If the US is Nineveh, Then Canada is Sodom - The Stream