The Highlights of Berkeley Pharma Tech Internships

By Zoe Boomershine on December 23, 2021

At Berkeley Pharma Tech, we pride ourselves on the hard work, innovation, and valuable insight that our interns bring to the table. We’re dedicated not only to preparing the young scientists of today with a hub for leadership and novel idea development, but we care about the experience our interns gain from their internships. With a variety of unique internship positions including Editorial, Biomedical Research, Human Resources, Online Marketing, Game Development, Cryptocurrency, and a Blogger Internship––there are opportunities for everyone to advance their career. But most importantly, our interns don’t just make copies, fetch coffee, and sit in the corner while executives do the “real” work. At Berkeley Pharma Tech, interns are considered invaluable members of our organization; and they’re given work and hands-on experience that reflect their importance. 

Interns vary on background, experience level, and education completion. Seunghyun (Jeff) Hung is a Senior at the University of California, Davis majoring in Managerial Economics and working as a Finance Intern at BPT. While completing his Finance Internship, he’s also been working as a Finance/sponsorship Intern at TEDXUCDavis. At Berkeley Pharma Tech, being on the forefront of biomedical innovation means taking part in market shifts through Blockchain technology–– which inspired us to create our CRISPR cryptocurrency. Jeff describes, “Finance interns, including myself, are in charge of maximizing the value of the CRISPR token by promoting through diverse social media platforms such as Reddit, Instagram, or Meta.” Finance, cryptocurrency, and even Game Development interns play an integral role in the advertisement, development, and use of our token in our Virus Shooter game app. 

Teamwork as a philosophy

Minori Aoki describes her typical day as a medical research intern team lead:

 “My duties include preparing for the weekly team meetings, finding relevant PubMed literature to assign to the teammates, making Google Slides with a table where they can take notes on the readings and answer key questions.” 

At Berkeley Pharma Tech, we emphasize the importance of teamwork and concrete deliverables. Medical Research Interns are tasked with finding a solution to a current challenge within biological science, and they must collaborate effectively in small interdisciplinary teams to perform high-impact research. When asked about the qualities that make a good teammate, Yiwei Hua, a medical research intern from UC Davis responded, “Cooperation…always doing more than what’s required, and listening to others.” Working on an effective team in an internship setting provides interns with the opportunity to learn how to collaborate and communicate with like-minded individuals. Additionally, BPT encourages intern socialization through weekly networking meetings, medical research conferences, and company-wide events such as Jeopardy game night. 

Perks

One of the most unique aspects of the virtual internship program at Berkeley Pharma Tech is the flexibility. Being a college student is time-consuming on its own, so finding an internship that is conducive to a busy schedule is important. 

Yiwei emphasizes, “Zoom gives us flexibility and convenience.” At Berkeley Pharma Tech, interns are required to work around 12 hours a week, and with the exception of weekly team meetings, internship work can be fully tailored to the students’ schedules. Also, because of the virtual nature of the internship program, interns are able to work from many different locations. 

A Path Towards a Career

Figuring out a career path is certainly difficult, but finding relevant experience to help reach your goals is also challenging. According to our interns, Berkeley Pharma Tech has made that journey a little bit easier through increasing interns’ knowledge about their chosen field, and the importance of teamwork. Minori describes, “This internship also taught me how imperative collaboration is in scientific research. It was important for our team that, although our initial questions following the readings may be different, we all brought them to the table to find a common theme.” Interns at Berkeley Pharma Tech are considered invaluable members of the BPT team, and we hope to equally contribute to their future careers. 

Who is William Wong? 

William is an excellent intern from the University of California, Santa Barbara who studies communications. William has been with us since the inception of the company and has worked extremely hard to help our HR department run smoothly. 

How did William become the HR lead?

William was an intern with the company and ended up taking one for the team by finishing an unfinished project when another HR intern became preoccupied. After the first semester of work he went on to serve as the team lead in HR. He was an incredible leader and our other interns learned so much from him as he provided them with hands-on experience.

Our thank you to William

We are so sad to see William go but so proud of him for accepting a position at the major company TikTok as a recruiting coordinator. We want to thank him for all of the hard work he has done for us over the last year. We are proud of all of our interns’ achievements at Berkeley Pharma Tech and celebrate their willingness to go above and beyond. Thank you for being such an incredible asset to our company and we can’t wait to see your future endeavours!

Introduction to Dr. Reid Adler

Background: 

Dr. Reid Adler holds a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Giles Rich in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. After that, he was a fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law in Munich, Germany. Reid has testified before Congress on technology transfer policy, published numerous articles, and has taught courses in Innovation Management, Strategic Planning, Technology Transfer, and Legal Aspects of Biotechnology for The Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University Law School, DePaul University Law School and the FAES Graduate School at NIH. Reid also has served on the boards of several community nonprofit organizations involved with the fine arts and with middle and high-school education. 

Most recently, Reid published a website to provide courses and training resources for innovation management at (www.innovationmatters.co). His most popular course, “How to Have Safe and Effective Confidential Business Conversations'' now includes a special module on “Best Practices for Negotiating in a Pandemic.” Berkeley Pharmatech members have a coupon code for free access!)

Involvement with Berkeley Pharma Tech: 

Reid Adler extremely cares about the success of the company and is dedicated to teaching interns important life skills. On January 28th 2021, Reid Adler shared key transitions of his life and pointed out some “themes” and “lessons learned” to interns at Berkeley Pharma Tech. As an experienced expert, Reid Adler offered numerous helpful suggestions in his account of his past experiences. I learned an important lesson when watching the recording: I need to have a personal mission statement. From his experience, I learned how to be comfortable with changes and have the courage to get out of my comfort zone. I highly recommend this sharing to every single teenager who wonders about what will happen in their life. Dr. Reid will have a conversation with interns on how to succeed and be well-rounded on August 5th. In this conversation, Dr. Reid will share lots of indispensable and unique opinions with BPT’s interns

Reid Adler has rich life experiences and cares a lot about the success of our company as well as our people. He is a role model for me and I recommend everyone to listen to his lectures and sharing. 

References:

Berkeley Pharma Tech, https://www.berkeleypharmatech.com/dr-reid-adler

The CRISPR Token – Berkeley Pharma Tech’s Own Cryptocurrency Is Now Live!

Berkeley Pharma Tech has released its very own cryptocurrency named the CRISPR Token. With the innovative CRISPR Token, you are contributing to one of the leading biotech startups. Holding our token will ensure that you are part of the groundbreaking projects undergoing within our company and backed by seasoned entrepreneurs and young minds from top universities.

What Are CRISPR Tokens? 

CRISPR Tokens are a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography. By owning CRISPR Tokens, users are helping fund the many innovative projects at Berkeley Pharma Tech.

What Purposes Do the CRISPR Tokens Serve?

Our cryptocurrency, the CRISPR Token, serves three distinct purposes:

1. Incentivizing — employees and interns at Berkeley Pharma Tech are rewarded with CRISPR Tokens for going above and beyond

2. Rewarding — those that partake in other projects at BPT (ex: publishing scientific articles with BPT’s Journal of Medicine) can also earn CRISPR Tokens

3. Investing in the Future of Our Health and Our Planet — funding goes to launch BPT’s innovative ideas and projects, including but not limited to research on Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, the microbiome, spaceflight osteopenia, rheumatoid arthritis, and more. We are also committed to environmental causes and are developing ways to synthesize clean energy and mitigate climate change.

Where Do I Buy CRISPR Tokens? 

CRISPR Tokens can now be purchased on https://pancakeswap.finance/. Our contract address is: 0xaa3d6308d963f218a6df85f0a94faeacc4ed5ded.

Where Can I Go to Learn More about CRISPR Tokens?

You can visit our website at https://www.berkeleypharmatech.com/crispr-tokens to find answers to frequently asked questions about our CRISPR tokens. Our whitepaper also gives more information regarding the background of the CRISPR token and the advancement plans that we have in store for the token. If you are new at cryptocurrency trading, you can attend our upcoming crypto webinar on Monday, 7/26 at 10 AM PST with the link meet.google.com/hms-yxjo-dkr to learn more. Our CRISPR team can be reached on Telegram @CRISPR_TOKEN. 

References:

Berkeley Pharma Tech, https://www.berkeleypharmatech.com/crispr-tokens

Genome Editing and CRISPR

What is genome editing? 

Gene or genome editing is a broad branch of biotechnology that allows scientists to alter an organism’s DNA in order to achieve a certain goal. Genome editing is very intentional in the sense that it targets specific parts of the DNA to alter rather than randomly inserting genetic material like genetic engineering. There are multiple processes by which scientists can genome edit including a double strand break repair, engineering of the nucleases  through meganucleases or Talen, and CRISPER or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.

What is CRISPR?

CRISPR is a significant and prominent process of genome editing as it is one of the most powerful ways to edit while reducing the off-target effects.​ CRISPR/Cas9 is a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex system consisting of Cas9 protein and single guide RNA (sgRNA). This method is really significant because it can edit in a living organism and is a method of treating genetic disorders as well as treating diseases. First used in 2012, the technology has become one of the frontrunning gene editing tools as it is much faster, cheaper, and easier than other methods of modification in biotechnology. 

What problems can CRISPR solve?

CRISPR has shown promising advancements in treating various types of cancers. Testing this form of treatment is still in early phases of trials around the world, however it has shown promising results in treating blood cancer as well as blood disorders. Further, CRISPR has been used to treat various hereditary forms of blindness that result from genetic mutation. What is more, CRISPR technology could be used to aid in muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, two more common mutations. 

What are the concerns with CRISPR?

Some concerns with CRISPR is that it can edit genes other than those intended for edit. These are called off-target effects, and they can cause unforeseen issues. Further, it can also cause damage when the cell is naturally repairing itself after the double stranded DNA has been cut and edited. 

Other Genome editing tools:

In a recent study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, TALENs or Transcription Activator Like Effector Nucleases proved to be a more efficient gene editing technique than CRISPR. TALENs are more limited in genetic mutation as they do not produce multiple gene mutations upon one injection which contrasts from CRISPR. “Overall, these results serve as a guide in selecting genome-editing proteins for the engineering of hard-to-edit heterochromatin regions of mammalian cells for general as well as therapeutic purposes,” the researchers wrote in the study. 

How does this relate to Berkeley Pharma Tech?

Genome editing relates to this startup because our primary goal is to invest in the most promising biomedical advancements. We want to perpetuate the growth of research that strives to save real lives, which is why we are naming our cryptocurrency token CRISPR Token. We hope that as Berkeley Pharma Tech grows, the CRISPR Token contributes to meaningful research and solutions in order to create a better future for all. 

References: 

Fernández, C. R. (2021, April 13). Eight Diseases That CRISPR Technology Could Cure. Labiotech.Eu. https://www.labiotech.eu/best-biotech/crispr-technology-cure-disease/

H. Wang, et al., "One-Step Generation of Mice Carrying Mutations in Multiple Genes by CRISPR/Cas-Mediated Genome Engineering," Cell 153(4):910-918, 2013.

Xu, Z., Kuang, Y., Ren, B. et al. SpRY greatly expands the genome editing scope in rice with highly flexible PAM recognition. Genome Biol 22, 6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02231-9

Liu, A. (2021, January 28). TALEN gene editing tool more efficient than CRISPR-Cas9 in compact DNA: study. FierceBiotech. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/research/talen-gene-editing-tool-more-efficient-than-crispr-cas9-certain-dna-study

Zhang, S., Shen, J., Li, D., & Cheng, Y. (2021). Strategies in the delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein for CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Theranostics, 11(2), 614–648. https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.47007

Artificial Intelligence in Biotechnology

Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) “leverages computers and machines to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind” (IBM, 2020). From applications such as Google Maps and face detection software to drones and self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence has revolutionized society and our everyday lives. However, one area proves to be truly fascinating and shows potential to change healthcare as we know it -- artificial intelligence in biotechnology. Artificial intellgience’s role in biotechnology has already proven to be impactful, and some examples down below will show why.

AI Technologies By Eyenuk: Eyenuk has made use of artificial intelligence to create medical applications. The company’s first product to market, EyeArt, uses AI to detect disease from retinal images. EyeArt was developed using machine learning to train its algorithms on nearly 2 million images. AI proves to be useful in a scenario like this because it would be almost impossible to train a medical resident with nearly 2 million images.

In addition, this AI medical application proves to be extremely accurate. EveArt’s sensitivity for detection of diabetic retinopathy was over 95% in a clinical trial that included 942 patients and spanned 15 medical centers around the United States. The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) carried out a health technology assessment in which EyeArt was compared with several competing technologies. EyeArt was found to be superior by a broad margin. The assessment’s findings, which were published in 2016, showed that EyeArt has 99.6% sensitivity for detecting proliferative disease, and 93.8 % for referable disease. The NHS is now shifting its workflow to adopt EyeArt for its screening programs.

Atomwise’s usage of Machine Learning: Atomwise is the first company to apply convolutional neural networking (CNN), a common method of machine learning that is used in several applications like Amazon Alexa’s speech recognition and Facebook’s image tagging feature, to the area of drug design and discovery. Atomwise currently has over 550 machine learning projects that focus on hit discovery, potency optimization, selectivity optimization, and off-target toxicity testing. 

Atomwise CEO Abraham Heifets, PhD, says there is virtually no limit to the number of small-molecule compounds that can be virtually screened using Atomwise’s algorithm. “We did the largest screen in human history recently—12 billion molecules,” says Heifets. This goes to show the capabilities of AI in biotechnology, and more specifically in the drug design and discovery area of focus.

References:

By: IBM Cloud Education. (n.d.). What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? IBM. https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence#toc-types-of-a-q56lfpGa.

Catherine Shaffer -, Shaffer, C., & Shaffer, C. (2020, April 16). Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Biotech Get Real. GEN. https://www.genengnews.com/insights/trends-for-2020/artificial-intelligence-is-helping-biotech-get-real/.

Contributor, E. (2019, September 3). The Robots are Coming: Is AI the Future of Biotech? Labiotech.eu. https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/ai-machine-learning-biotech/. 

Introducing Laszlo Heckler

At Berkeley Pharma Tech we care for each intern. Besides providing them opportunities to discover and explore their interesting fields(such as finance and marketing), we also want to teach them life lessons that might positively influence their whole life. Therefore, our motivational speaker, Laszlo Heckler, delivered interactive and meaningful lectures to uncover truths in their life. 

Who is Laszlo Heckler?

Laszlo Heckler got a college degree in physical education at Monroe Community College. He wants to help struggling children and direct his education to help the world. He is a regional champion in Rochester for wrestling and an inspirational speaker who has inspired audiences beyond his hometown of NY. His speeches consist of humor and storytelling with key takeaways to help transform people’s lives by empowering and helping them realize their dreams, passions, and reasons for striving to better themselves. Laszlo is an in-demand keynote speaker for conferences, organizations, events, leaders, and other professionals.

His Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laszlo-heckler-82121620a/

His podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A14mtKXaVQ

Where did he start?

Born in poverty, homeless during his youth, adopted and moved to the USA from a poor little country called Hungary. Laszlo has faced many challenges such as language. English was his 2nd language, now he studies 4 additional languages! He struggled with ADHD and was diagnosed with a learning disability throughout his schooling years, nothing came easy for him. Overcoming obstacles he discovered who he was but most importantly who he wanted to be; inspirational speaker, businessman, and life changer!

Services:

Laszlo has served and continues to serve his community! Serving at church for many years and offering his services to those in need. Through Boy Scouts Of America, he served as a leader for his troop and for the community.  He has helped scouts with their Eagle projects, cleaning up rundown areas, food and clothing drives as well as fundraising. Laszlo has served as Chairman of the clothing committee with Naiades Oncology Rowing. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Gift Of Adoption Fund and Peace360 Initiative.

Goals:

In five years from now, Laszlo will be a renowned inspirational speaker empowering and transforming people's lives by shattering their preconceived thoughts and planting the seeds for the reality they so desire! He will continue expanding his LLC business and donate a portion of the proceeds to charity and those in need! He plans to have written a minimum of one book reaching the best seller's list, a book that will help people realize their dreams and step by step instruction to plan and achieve them! Overall, he looks forward to all that he can achieve.

Finally, he plans to have owned five rental properties at affordable rates to help provide people with housing and shelter.

References: 

Laszlo Heckler, www.laszloheckler.com/.

Introducing the Berkeley Pharma Tech Journal of Medicine

What Is the BPT Journal of Medicine? Our Journal is an online, open-access journal aimed at democratizing scientific information by giving young writers and researchers a space to share their work with the scientific community. Anyone interested in science and novel developments is encouraged to submit manuscripts. With our simplification of complex principles to easy-to-understand language, readers without professional, scientific knowledge can stay updated and learn more about scientific trends. 

The Publication Process. We utilize the peer review process to ensure that publication is swift and achievable. Our communication liaison will assist the prospective author(s) through the overall publication process. A free editorial service is also available to any manuscript submitter. Moreover, authors are rewarded with our own cryptocurrency, CRISPR tokens. Prospective authors can find information on the CRISPR token at www.berkeleypharmatech.com/crispr-tokens.

Our Journal’s Purpose. Our intent is on supporting undergraduate research and providing a platform for novel scientific ideas to thrive. We understand the struggles of getting work published and want to simplify this process so that young readers can have a stress-free experience when submitting their work. Each of our authors will receive an individualized evaluation to help strengthen their papers and make them ready for publication.

Information for Authors. Interested authors who want to submit to this journal are recommended to review the Manuscripts page for the journal’s section policies and the Author Guidelines page. Authors then need to register or log in with the journal before submitting to start the five-step process. 

Information for Readers. Interested readers can register to receive new issues of the journal by email. By registering, readers are also helping the journal claim a certain level of support or readership. Our journal’s Privacy Statement assures readers that their name and email address will not be used for other purposes. Readers can sign up for the publishing notification service at https://berkeleypharmatechjournalofmedicine.com/index.php/bptjm/user/register.

Information for Librarians. Research librarians are welcome to list this journal among their library’s electronic journal holdings. In addition, our journal’s open source publishing system is suitable for libraries to host for their faculty members to use with journals they are involved in editing (see Open Journal Systems).

References:

Berkeley Pharma Tech Journal of Medicine, berkeleypharmatechjournalofmedicine.com/index.php/bptjm.

At Berkeley Pharma Tech we are striving to be a major proponent of the democratization of finance and medicine. With the CRISPR Token that our company is developing, we will reward those who are creating innovative scientific solutions while simultaneously encouraging significant research within our own company. In order to empower The CRISPR Token to serve its three distinct purposes including incentivising, rewarding and investing in the future of our health and planet, we are building a network of individuals who will be able to advertise and spread the message about our Token to a greater audience beyond the scientific community. The first influencer we have chosen to serve as a representative for the CRISPR Token is Diondre Borel, a former National Football League athlete. 

Who is Diondre Borel?

Diondre Borel was Utah State University’s starting quarterback from 2008 to 2010 and proceeded to play in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers as a receiver. Borel had a 10-year pro football career and is involved in promoting healthy lifestyles. Diondre spreads the message that you should work hard because you want to do it, not because you have to. 

Why is Diondre Borel an influencer for our CRISPR Token?

Diondre Borel is an influencer for the CRISPR Token because he believes in the mission of Berkeley Pharma Tech and the promising future of the token itself. Diondre has a wide network of followers on social media which will allow him to spread the message of our company to people who are less involved in biotechnology and innovative health solutions. 

How will Diondre Borel advertise the CRISPR Token?

Diondre will be posting on his social media about Berkeley Pharma Tech’s network building cryptocurrency and providing resources for people to purchase and sell the coin once it has been fully developed. His wide base of followers will provide an excellent opportunity for people to get invested in a cryptocurrency that is dedicated towards benefitting the world through significant biomedical research.

References: 

Diondre Borel College Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com. (n.d.). College Football at Sports-Reference.Com. Retrieved June 17, 2021, from https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/diondre-borel-1.html

Janke, C. (2021, May 16). You Have To Believe!! with Diondre Borel on Health in the Real World with Chris Janke. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8g6z8YTK_s

The Applications of Virtual Reality in Medicine

Image: Astonished microbiologist looking at microscope eyepiece photo

By: seventyfourimages on Envato Elements. Envato Elements

Link: https://elements.envato.com/astonished-microbiologist-looking-at-microscope-ey-D8L7KUQ.

By Raasi Bommu on April 9, 2021

What is Expansion Microscopy?

Expansion microscopy (or ExM) allows the use of a standard light microscope to achieve a significantly higher resolution when imaging. By embedding the specimen of interest into a polymer gel mesh network and expanding that gel, ExM enables 3-D nanoscale imaging of its original sample. The expansion factor is around 4.5 fold linearly when immersed in water. Recent papers reports that various different types applications of ExM that expands biological specimens up to 20 fold, and enables ~25 nm resolution imaging of cells and tissues on conventional microscopes.

The Process:

ExM For ExM, a specimen is first immersed in a monomer solution and a highly penetrating hydrogel so that monomers bind to form a network of the desired polymer via a chemical reaction. Then, to ensure that the specimen doesn’t wash out during the following expansion process, the sample is chemically disrupted either by enzymatic digestion or by a heat and detergent treatment (denaturation/dissociation). The type of treatment will depend on the nature of the specimen and the molecules to be visualized. After that, the sample is immersed in water, and the water diffuses into the polyelectrolyte hydrogel through osmotic force. The water will stimulate the expansion of the polymer. The expansion pulls apart anchored biomolecules isotropically, creating large gaps between each biomolecule. The spatial organization of the expanded specimen is then preserved allowing nanoscale imaging with a standard fluorescent microscope.

Applications:

Although different specimens call for slightly different labeling and expansion strategies, all follow a similar pathway but either in a different order, with extra steps, or with different molecules. One important application of ExM is the imaging of proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. However, ExM was once only limited to expansion of proteins and nucleic acids due to the lack of primary amino groups in lipids. The cell membrane is an array of phospholipids, which is why it was crucial to find imaging strategies for lipids. One strategy for lipid expansion included is called TRITON, where they create a trifunctional linker, including an anchoring moiety, fluorescent tracer, and a targeting species, in order to use for ExM. Another method to expand lipids was sphingolipid expansion, where an amino group is introduced to the lipid to make fixation into gel possible. With these specific approaches to target and image lipids, the cellular membrane of Human HeLa 229 cells can be uncovered, as well as the behaviors and interactions of that membrane when affected with different bacterias. Understanding how the cell’s membrane responds to infection is an important field to look into and thanks to ExM it is much more effective.

References:

Götz, R., Kunz, T.C., Fink, J. et al. Nanoscale imaging of bacterial infections by sphingolipid expansion microscopy. Nat Commun 11, 6173 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19897-1

Chen, F., Tillberg, P. W. & Boyden, E. S. Expansion microscopy. Science (80-. ). 347, 543–548 (2015).

Tillberg, P. W. et al. Protein-retention expansion microscopy of cells and tissues labeled using standard fluorescent proteins and antibodies. Nat. Biotechnol. 34, 987– 992 (2016).

Chen, F. et al. Nanoscale imaging of RNA with expansion microscopy. Nat. Methods 13, 679–684 (2016).

Seventyfourimage. (n.d.). Astonished microbiologist looking at microscope eyepiece photo by-seventyfourimages on Envato Elements. Envato Elements. https://elements.envato.com/astonished-microbiologist-looking-at-microscope-ey-D8L7KUQ.

Berkeley Pharma Tech’s Bi-Annual Biotech Conference 

Learn more about emerging science. 

by Nihal Deopura on April 4th, 2021 

Berkeley Pharma Tech is hosting its second bi-annual biotech conference. We are excited to host a multitude of keynote speakers and panelists. Our medical research teams will present their research in breakout rooms focalized on 12 different topics. These include neurological conditions, the microbiome, spaceflight-related conditions, and more. Attendees can attend the presentations that capture their interest. Our conference will lead off at 9:00 AM PST on April 9th with a Keynote Speech by Dr. James Larrick, M.D., Ph.D., on the current advances in medicine, with particular emphasis on novel therapies for neurodegenerative conditions. This speech will last for approximately 45 minutes. Afterwards, participants will enter breakout rooms depending on their topic of interest. Each section should last approximately 20 minutes with a ten-minute Q&A in the end. There will be ample time to attend multiple presentations. 

Outside of the presentation portion of the conference, there will also be a networking event where our interns and the industry experts can schedule a meeting and interact with each other in a one-on-one format, sharing experiences in their field and setting up for future mentorship opportunities.

Our Research Topics Include: 

Parkinson’s Disease (PD). A histological hallmark of PD is the misfolding of α-synuclein, resulting in its abnormal aggregation and Lewy bodies’ development. Lewy bodies are protein clumps that accumulate in the brain and impair the brain’s various capacities such as memory, movement coordination, executive functions, and mood. However, the exact molecular mechanisms that prompt α-synuclein misfolding have not been well-understood. We examine the possibility of intervening with α-synuclein’s misfolding, increasing its removal, restricting its aggregation, and possibly preventing Parkinson’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The causative role of beta amyloid aggregation in AD is a topic of heavy debate. However, it has been found that soluble oligomers of amyloid beta within neuritic plaques may be the toxic factors acting on the early stages of AD perhaps even initiating pathological cascade. Evidence supports this claim as soluble oligomers of amyloid beta in the brains of AD patients’ reduced the number of synapses, inhibited long term potentiation, and enhanced long term synaptic depression, particularly in regions of the brain responsible for memory. The role played by these soluble oligomers serve as useful AD biomarkers thus calling for treatment targeted towards the pathologies of this disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). According to the CDC, RA is a leading cause of work disability, with annual medical care costs and lost earnings totaling more than $300 billion. We would like to Assist our healthcare system in its mission to reduce the various impacts of RA on our population. We examine new effective methods to detect early risks of developing RA during the pre-RA period, including screening techniques, genetic assessment, and evaluation of environmental factors.

Microbiome for Type 2 Diabetes. Previous studies have shown that probiotics could be used alongside metformin in increasing the production of butyrate, thus consequently enhancing glucose management. We seek to explore and identify the useful microbiota that will ultimately prevent the progression of diabetes.

The Microbiome and Hormone Production. Elucidating the role of endogenous microorganisms in producing and regulating estrogen production is a new avenue that requires further inquiry. With increases in the aging population, women of post-menopausal age represent a burgeoning demographic susceptible to health-related issues due to significant decreases in estrogen levels. Thus, the development of therapies that harness the human microbiome could present an attractive option for maintaining estrogen levels in this segment of the population. 

Immune-Boosting Microbiome. Microbiota have also been linked to various immune functions like the production of immune cells and the regulation of homeostasis and the immune system as a whole. Additionally, the microbial metabolic pathways palmitoleic acid metabolism and tryptophan degradation are associated with production of cytokines involved in the immune response such as TNFα and IFNγ. Thus, by altering the microbiota present in the body, we have the potential to change and even improve the functionality of the immune system.

Eliminate the Addictive Properties from Opium Alkaloids. Since the major chemical components of opium extract include morphine and codeine, opium poppy is utilized to derive opiates and opioids, which are natural and synthetic pain-relief narcotic drugs, respectively. However, opium is addictive. The abuse of opium can lead to substance dependence, overdose, and death. We investigate the possibility of separating pain-relieving chemicals from addictive substances in opium.

Energy-Boosting Tea. A variety of ingredients that function through time release when used in tandem can elicit highly beneficial results aiding in the boost of energy for individuals that want to exercise. Many time-release pills have been developed but may produce unnecessary side effects. We investigate the plethora of natural ingredients that serve as energy boosters in order to provide a supplemental product for those that do engage in exercise and encourage exercise across all individuals among all age groups.

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), also known as prostate enlargement, is an immune inflammatory disease that consists of symptoms that primarily relate to a difficulty in urination. BPH affects the quality of life of approximately a third of men above the age of 50, and as many as 14 million men in the US exhibit symptoms related to this condition. We will examine novel ideas for potential BPH treatments.

Spaceflight Osteopenia is a condition experienced by astronauts during their space travel. Due to the microgravity environment and ionizing radiation, astronauts lose about 1% to 2% of their bone density per month in space. Depending on space travel duration, it can take three to four years for astronauts to recover from medical complications caused by spaceflight osteopenia. In more severe cases, spaceflight osteopenia can result in osteoporosis, a bone disease caused by an imbalance in bone remodeling processes. We explore plausible alternative approaches to protect the health of our astronauts as they continue space exploration.

Carbon Capture. Due to the large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, climate change is increasing at a rapid  rate. One strategy proposed by scientists for mitigating climate change is using the Earth’s soil to  help transfer carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground. There are natural processes that sequester carbon from the atmosphere to the soil and the aim of our project is to enhance a part of these natural processes to facilitate greater carbon sequestration.

Clean Energy. Society faces a potential energy crisis due to the world's exponentially growing population and its demand for energy. Increased globalized reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy poses significant environmental sustainability challenges and threatens economic stability. The combustion of fossil fuels has also been implicated in numerous health problems including, cancer and bronchitis. Governments have recruited the scientific community to develop new, alternative clean energy sources. One of the most promising procedures includes harvesting the photosynthetic energy of microorganisms. Because of their abundance and pre-existing abilities, microorganisms are promising in replacing fossil fuels and meeting humanity's demand for power. 

Microbes & Mitigating Climate Change

Image attribution: A global warming concept image by kwest/Shutterstock.com 

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/global-warming-concept-image-142619857 

By Andrew Albert

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues humanity faces in the coming century. Increasingly more attention is being given to climate change as a global issue that needs to be addressed by all sectors of society rather than leaving it up to the scientific community. As such, we’ve seen high-profile CEOs and activists like Bill Gates and Elon Musk beginning to take on a more active role in promoting social awareness about the reality of climate change. 

What differentiates climate change as an issue that needs to be resolved urgently is the severity of the consequences we are expected to face should we fail to develop and implement viable solutions soon enough. Ranging from more severe and frequent natural disasters that threaten our shared environment to toxic levels of atmospheric smog causing disease conditions like asthma and heart disease, we cannot afford to take these potential consequences lightly. Rather, it will take a worldwide effort to successfully combat climate change and save our planet from decaying into an uninhabitable environment. 

Why is climate change not a simple fix? And what criteria would a potential solution have to meet in order to resolve a unique, global scale problem like climate change?

Climate change is extremely difficult to overcome at this time because of the damage already done. Our planet is warming due to the greenhouse effect, where an overabundance of greenhouse gases like CO2 present in the atmosphere causes too much heat to be trapped in the atmosphere than is safe for global temperatures. The safe upper limit for carbon concentration in the atmosphere is considered to be around 380 parts per million (ppm). The amount already in the atmosphere was measured at roughly 409 ppm in 2019, with an expected average increase of 2 ppm/year. 

A potential solution would have to include both a way to reduce the amount of carbon emitted from the soil into the atmosphere and a way to displace the already dangerously high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Efforts to reduce emissions are absolutely necessary, yet they won’t be sufficient for properly dealing with the current levels. Humans must find a way to remove the excess carbon already causing damage in the atmosphere. 

One of the possible mitigating strategies purported by scientists seeks to employ the natural phenomena of biosequestration. Biosequestration is the process where carbon is captured from the atmosphere by living organisms and transferred to the soil where it is stored. This process primarily occurs through organisms like plants and bacteria, which use natural processes such as photosynthesis and carbon fixation to convert atmospheric carbon into usable forms like sugars. 

What means do we have for influencing and enhancing the drawdown and biosequestration processes? Can human intervention meaningfully impact the amount of carbon that’s naturally sequestered from atmosphere to soil by nature’s systems? 

Some scientists have pointed to the potential use of microbes in facilitating these processes. Microbial organisms like bacteria and fungi have unique abilities that may confer suitability for use in the mitigation of climate change. For example, scientists are studying bacteria that increase the photosynthetic capacity of plants and could enhance drawdown by increasing the rate of photosynthesis. With higher rates of photosynthesis among plants, we can expect to see greater levels of carbon being converted from atmospheric CO2 to the usable energy form of sugar. Alternatively, carbon-fixing cyanobacteria may increase the amount of carbon sequestered by their natural activities in fixing atmospheric CO2 to use it in their own growth.

These specific examples illustrate just a few of the many potential uses microbes could have in helping mitigate climate change. The ongoing search for the most effective microbes and their uses could prove pivotal in the coming decades to successfully changing the trajectory of our planet’s condition. Indeed, the long-term survival of life on earth may depend on it. 

References:

Butler CD. Climate Change, Health and Existential Risks to Civilization: A Comprehensive Review (1989-2013). Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Oct 16;15(10):2266. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15102266. PMID: 30332777; PMCID: PMC6210172.  

Kumari B., Mallick M.A., Solanki M.K., Solanki A.C., Hora A., Guo W. (2019) Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR): Modern Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture. In: Ansari R., Mahmood I. (eds) Plant Health Under Biotic Stress. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6040-4_6 
Haines A, Patz JA. Health Effects of Climate Change. JAMA. 2004;291(1):99–103. doi:10.1001/jama.291.1.99

The Biotech Revolution

By Giorgio Conta on March 28, 2021

What is the Biotech Revolution? We are already well accustomed to the Quantum Revolution, where scientists like Einstein discovered the structure of the atom and the Information Revolution in which we were able to store all of our information in the form of bits and bytes. Walter Isaac believes the up-and-coming Biotech Revolution, characterized by gene-editing technologies such as Jennifer Doudna’s CRISPR-Cas9 technology, will be even more far-reaching than the first two world-changing revolutions.

Curing Diseases. Through gene-editing technology such as CRISPR-Cas9, scientists will be able to splice out mutated sections of DNA that contribute to the progression of a certain disease. It was in this way that He Jiankui was able to create the “HIV babies” which had an alteration to the CCR5 gene that gave them an innate resistance to HIV. This development, however, was met with a lot of resistance since this gene editing affects the genome of not only the individual, but also of his/her offspring.

mRNA is the future. Since the discovery of DNA in the 1950s by Watson and Crick through the use of Rosalind Franklin’s experimental image of the double helical structure, DNA has been the centerpiece of biotechnology. However, recently particular emphasis has been put on mRNA as it has been utilized in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. mRNA vaccines have the potential to be a targeted therapy capable of eliciting an effective therapeutic response in certain disease models, thus potentially providing a cure for various forms of cancer, Ebola, Zika, cystic fibrosis, and more.

References

Normile, D. (2018). Shock greets claim of CRISPR-edited babies. Science, 362(6418), 978–979. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.362.6418.978

Pardi, N., Hogan, M. J., & Weissman, D. (2020). Recent advances in mRNA vaccine technology. Current Opinion in Immunology, 65, 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coi.2020.01.008

3/21/21 Newsletter

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Welcome, Reid Adler.

By Nihal Deopura on March 21st 2021

Berkeley Pharma Tech is more than excited to officially announce that Reid Adler will be joining Berkeley Pharma Tech’s Editorial Board. Reid is bringing an immense amount of value to the organization and we are grateful to have him with us.

Reid’s Background. Reid has been involved with innovation management for over 30 years in a multitude of sectors such as the development of programs and policies for technology transfer and the strategic management of intellectual property. Reid holds a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and has used his degree to testify before Congress on technology transfer policy, publish multiple articles, and teach courses within his field of study. Reid has actually taught courses in Innovation Management, Strategic Planning, Technology Transfer, and Legal Aspects of Biotechnology for schools such as The Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University Law School. Reid was actually a professor to our very own director, Vanloan Nguyen! Aside from his educational background, Reid has worked with two international legal law firms and as a general counsel for J. Craig Venter Institute. Some of Reid’s prime cases include negotiating purchase agreements for advanced genomic sequencing equipment, evaluating and reorganizing a portfolio of over 1,000 patents for a mid-size pharmaceutical company, and developing a comprehensive innovation management policy and program for a major non-profit research organization. Reid has his own website in which he publicizes courses based on innovation management at https://www.innovationmatters.co/. Reid is a decorated individual with a lot of experience that will help elevate Berkeley Pharma Tech to the top. 

Reid’s Experience with BPT.  Reid has been an active member of the BPT community and has helped guide interns prior to his position as a member of the Editorial Board. Berkeley Pharma Tech recently hosted a successful “Meet the Expert” session with Reid Adler. Interns were satisfied and impressed with his talk and it was clear how much of an impact he made with our community. After the talk, Reid took the initiative to open up his calendar and create office hours for interns so that interns could speak to him about educational or personal topics. Reid had also allowed interns to use his own course for free. We’re excited to see what else Reid is able to bring to the table with Berkeley Pharma Tech. 

References:

“Reid Adler.” Capital Technology Law Group, captechlaw.com/?page_id=3005. 

3/12/21 Newsletter

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3/4/21 Newsletter

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THE MANY DIMENSIONS OF CURIOSITY

Image Attribution: <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/two+minds">Geometry of the Soul photo created by agsandrew - www.shutterstock.com</a>

By Landon Phung on March 4, 2021

Curiosity is a given human trait. When we are curious about a subject, we attempt to learn more about it by asking a series of questions. Naturally, everyone has a particular interest or passion, and everyone can come up with good questions concerning a particular topic. However, since curiosity occurs on a spectrum, how do we create a way to measure our desire to learn?

How Can The Degrees Of Curiosity Be Measured? A simple search on Google Scholar reveals that the quest to measure curiosity has been a prominent objective among scientists. Various scales have been proposed in an attempt to measure this abstract concept. Recently, a five-dimension scale was presented by Kashdan et al. to unify all the different approaches of measurement. The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale (5DC) classified subjects into four types of curious people, made up of the Fascinated, Problem-Solvers, Empathizers, and Avoiders (non-curious), based on the five dimensions of curiosity. The dimensions include Joyous Exploration--the individual views challenging situations as an opportunity to grow and learn, Deprivation Sensitivity--thinking about solutions to difficult conceptual problems can keep one awake at night, Stress Tolerance--the smallest doubt can stop one from seeking out new experiences, Social Curiosity--the individual likes finding out why people behave the way they do, and Thrill-Seeking--the anxiety of doing something new makes one feel excited and alive.

With a sample size of more than 3,000 participants, the validity of the study certainly becomes apparent (Kashdan et al., 2018, p. 130-149). 

Understanding Curiosity by Studying the Outliers. It is interesting to note that the 5DC was not the first tool developed based on the accumulation of results gathered from the general population. In fact, our reliance on gathering scientific data from a large pool of subjects has been the cornerstone of modern medicine. Regardless, this method is not without its limitations. Kevin B. Jones, a cancer researcher and an associate professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Orthopaedics, would argue that the outliers, not the means, enable us to advance our knowledge. In other words, we learn the most from being curious about and exploring the exceptions to the general trends of the results. During his speech at a TEDx event, Jones emphasized: “Science is knowledge in process… The outliers teach us what we don’t know and lead us to something new.” These statements imply that the exceptions and the outliers stimulate us to ask even more questions and encourage the progression of our learning. Likewise, if we want to learn more about curiosity through tools such as the 5DC, I propose that we should start by studying the outliers.

References:

Kashdan, T. B., Stiksma, M. C., Disabato, D. J., McKnight, P. E., Bekier, J., Kaji, J., & Lazarus, R. (2018). The five-dimensional curiosity scale: Capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 130–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.11.011

Jones, B. (2015, September). Why curiosity is the key to science and medicine [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_b_jones_why_curiosity_is_the_key_to_science_and_medicine

1/29/21 Newsletter

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Meet-The-Expert: Reid Adler, J.D., Professor at John Hopkins University

By Nihal Deopura and Nancy Nguyen on January 29th

Berkeley Pharma Tech would like to introduce you to our very own Meet-the-Expert session with Reid Adler, J.D. on January 28, 2021 at 12 PM PST. Reid is coming onboard as Berkeley Pharma Tech’s Advisor. Currently, he is a professor at John Hopkins University with a lot of experience in innovation management in the life science for 30+ years. He offers a variety of courses but his most recent course is his CDA negotiation course, which came out with a new module called “How to Negotiate During a Pandemic.” During the event, Reid gave a presentation on his career choices and what his experience was like at a young age. Reid worked to provide insight to everyone who attended the session. After the presentation, there was a short Q&A session. This was a one-hour event.

Who is Reid Adler, J.D.? Reid holds a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. He has worked in the life science for over 30 years and worked on topics such as complex technology transactions, the strategic management of intellectual property portfolios, and the development of programs and policies for technology transfer. His legal career includes experience as a senior partner of two international law firms, Morrison & Foerster and Morgan Lewis, and as general counsel to the genomics pioneer, the J. Craig Venter Institute. He has also consulted with several multi-national pharmaceutical companies on exclusivity strategies for their pipeline products.

Accomplishments. Professor Reid Adler has successfully handled a variety of innovation-related challenges for various clients including negotiating purchase agreements for advanced genomic sequencing equipment, evaluating and reorganizing a portfolio of over 1,000 patents for a mid-size pharmaceutical company and developing a comprehensive innovation management policy and program for a major non-profit research organization. Reid was the founding director of the NIH Office of Technology Transfer, where he recruited and managed a team of over 40 people. He played a key role in developing policies and model agreements, research integrity guidelines and the Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement, currently used by hundreds of organizations worldwide. He was also the founding president of the Association of Federal Technology Transfer Executives. Recently, he published a website to provide courses and training resources in innovation management at (www.innovationmatters.co). 

Professor Reid Adler’s Bio : https://captechlaw.com/?page_id=3005

Check out his CDA negotiation course with a new module called “How to Negotiate During a Pandemic” : 

https://www.innovationmatters.co/how-to-have-safe-and-effective-confidential-business-conversations/

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1/14/21 Newsletter

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Scientific Innovation and Discovery: A Framework

by Mary Nowak on January 14, 2021

The Spark: Innovation and Discovery in Practice. Innovation starts with an idea, and change begins when ideas are made tangible by setting forth on the iterative process of discovery. Curiosity, an aptitude for problem-solving, and open-mindedness are essential qualities of successful innovators. What truly sets innovators apart from others is an understanding of current needs, a level of calculated risk-tolerance, enthusiasm, and persistence (Byers, 2018; Ricketts, 2021). 

Encouraging “Outside-of-the-Box” Thinking. Fostering creative thinking is not just the work of team leaders; rather, it is an endeavor that is achieved through collaboration and creativity among all team members. A great place to begin is by asking if there are efficient alternatives that have yet to be explored.

Integral to this process is recognizing and maximizing the individual strengths of team members. Having an open discussion at the inception of the innovative process can facilitate dialogue and progress in the long-term and can encourage everyone to contribute ideas freely. Leaders can spearhead this process by setting an example of creativity and adaptability that engenders a growth-oriented environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas or concerns. 

Effective Team Management: More Than a Top-Down Approach. Organization is the “glue” that holds teams together and drives efficiency; however, this does not imply that a hierarchical structure is necessarily conducive to a team’s needs. Instead, finding the right structural approach is a key component to maximizing team resources and ensuring that important ideas are not overlooked. This requires a balance between individual responsibilities and group goals. Communication is key, and establishing a framework from the very beginning can provide critical structure that will streamline the innovative process. 

SOURCES:

“5 Stories of Innovation and 5 Stories of Dis-Integration | LinkedIn.” Accessed January 9, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-stories-innovation-disintegration-david-ricketts/.

Byers, Jack. “Top 5 Perceived Attributes of Innovations and Their Effect on Rate of Adoption.” Vanguard Marketing International (blog), July 17, 2018.

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12/23/2020 Newsletter

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Estrogen-Hormonal Therapy Administered During Menopause May Delay the Onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in Women

An Ongoing Study

by Maliha Khan on December 23, 2020

Possible Sex Difference Contributor in Alzheimer’s Disease. Ongoing research within the field of endocrinology is looking into the possible delay in onset of Alzheimer's Disease in women through the use of estrogen-hormonal therapy. It is important to note that Alzheimer’s Disease is more prevalent in women than men. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease at an earlier age, and Alzheimer’s is also more common in women. This is due to sex differences that are not completely understood. Researchers are working to understand the mechanisms behind these sex differences, and combat the higher prevalence of AD in women. The use of estrogen therapy may be a revolutionary way to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s in women. 

Why estrogen? Estrogen is a sex-steroid hormone that is present in different concentrations throughout a woman’s life. Sex-steroid hormones are some of the most powerful hormones in the human body because they contribute to our prenatal development, pubertal development, menopausal transition, and ageing. Sex steroid hormones contribute to behavior, physiology, and functionality of humans all around! The significance of estrogen in women is that it regulates the chemical that allows for cell-cell communication. Additionally, estrogen plays a strong role in the synthesis of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is needed for memory. Overall, estrogen can impact cognitive abilities, and therefore is a strong candidate as a potential therapeutic to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Timing of hormonal therapy. During menopausal transition, estrogen levels significantly decline. This decline of estrogen is hypothesized to have an effect on the earlier onset of Alzheimer’s Disease that women experience. This critical period of transition may be the optimal time for women to take estrogen supplements to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Current studies are exploring whether estrogen can play a role in effectively delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, and whether the optimal timing is indeed during the menopausal transition for women.

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12/7/2020 Newsletter

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BPT Game App Development

A Look Into our Game App Development Project

by Veronica Rasmussen on December 5th, 2020

The Creators. Here at Berkeley Pharma Tech, two of our interns, Timmy Dang and Annona Hasan, have been hard at work developing an interactive game application. Timmy Dang is a Freshman at MIT where he studies Computer Science, and Annona Hasan is a Sophomore at Santa Clara University where she studies Electrical and Computer Engineering. They are both very excited by the learning process of this project. 

The Vision. The overall premise of this app is that the players get to control a drone that shoots COVID-19 particles. The more particles you shoot at, the more points you get, which ultimately can be converted to BPTtokens - our own form of cryptocurrency. The game represents our ongoing war against the invisible enemy, the SARS-Cov-2. The objective in making this game app is to encourage Generation Z to be more aware of Biotechnology and to put Berkeley Pharma Tech on their radar. The game will be linked to our Company’s crypto-tokens and website, and effectively introduces our Company to the younger generation.

What to Expect By 2021. Anonna and Timmy are working on many different aspects to add features to this project. However, with adding features also comes the complexity of figuring out how to combine all of the independent elements. By the end of this year, Annona and Timmy plan on having a functional game with a login/logout system, a database to keep score of points. multiplayer functionality (up to four players), and the ability to gain cryptocurrency.

Overcoming Obstacles. Needless to say, developing this game app has not been easy for Timmy and Anonna. Game development is very complex and demands extensive coding and effective teamwork. Anonna has never worked on designing a game before, so she has had to teach numerous skills and concepts to herself, and Timmy has found some difficulty combining all the features and elements to where they function together smoothly. In addition, collaborating virtually due to the pandemic has added an additional challenge to the mix. To mediate this issue, they often work independently on separate features. Despite all of these obstacles, they have both risen to the challenge and continue to work very hard.

The Ultimate Goal. According to Timmy, it is difficult to be truly “done” creating a game, however, in the long-term, Timmy and Anonna visualize the app having customizable drones, various levels, and multiple gun options to shoot the COVID-19 particles with. Timmy ultimately hopes that the game will allow players to level-up, exchange their BPTtokens for better guns and drones, and collaborate with other players.

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11/18/2020 Newsletter

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The BPT Biomedical Conference

All about our first Virtual Conference Event! 

by Veronica Rasmussen and Nicholas Jarrett on November 18

We would like to welcome you to the first biomedical conference hosted by Berkeley Pharma Tech, where we’ll have our medical research teams presenting recent developments in the fields of the Microbiome, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. To begin, the team lead will give a 20-minute presentation on their specialized topic, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session (each session is 30 minutes in total). After that, team members will take turns presenting on the same topic in the same format. These presentation sessions will run from 9:00 AM PST to 2 PM, so there is plenty of time to check out various presentations.

Outside of the presentation portion of the conference, there will also be a networking event where interns and experts can schedule a meeting and interact with each other in a one-on-one format, sharing experiences in their field and setting up for future mentorship opportunities.

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Research Topics to be Discussed

The Microbiome

The gut microbiome research team, led by Piper Tinne, is looking into the role of the gut microbiome in neuromodulation therapies and how these methods could provide potential treatment adjunct for multiple sclerosis (MS). According to Piper, research focusing on the gut microbiome has seen immense growth in past decades, especially in association with the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. This research has bred a new concept termed the gut-brain axis. The Microbiome group’s research will focus on recent evidence regarding the practicality of the gut-brain axis as an avenue for disease treatment and possibly prevention, specifically for MS patients. 

Alzheimer’s Disease

According to the Alzheimer’s Research team leader, Nidhi Kanchumarthi, the team’s research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Cannabinoids is focused on providing a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which cannabidiol substances can serve as potential effective treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Their research goal is to evaluate recently published studies that demonstrate the abilities of cannabinoid treatments in offering therapeutic relief and in inhibiting the advancement of AD. Nidhi’s team aims to equip the scientific community with an updated resource that explains the neural pathways involved and assesses the current findings on treatment options.

Parkinson’s Disease

The Parkinson’s Disease research group, led by Bhavana Sreepad, is focusing on the correlation between the incidence of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) And the onset of Parkinson’s disease.  According to Bhavana, there is only a small percentage of Parkinson’s disease caused by genetics. Various research is focused on other non-genetic factors and one such is the incidence of Traumatic Brain Injury. However, there has been conflicting evidence regarding a possible causal link between Traumatic Brain Injury and Parkinson’s disease. The purpose of the Parkinson’s Disease group’s research is to understand the research conducted between Traumatic Brain Injury and Parkinson’s disease through the comprehensive evaluation of biological and cognitive factors while understanding the impact of demographics and possible therapeutic targets for both diseases.

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Despite representing 11.6% of all cancers, lung cancer accounts for 18.4% of all cancer deaths. Among the two subtypes of lung cancer, non-small cell, and small cell, non-small cell accounts for 80% of lung cancer. To respond to these high numbers that are still growing, the search for biomarkers for early detection, diagnosis, and/or prognosis is a fast-growing, necessary field. However, despite numerous novel biomarkers discovered each year, only a few biomarkers are currently clinically implemented. These clinically accepted biomarkers are mostly confirmed via invasive tissue biopsies, as opposed to non-invasive liquid biopsies. The Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer research group, led by Carolyn Skotz, is focused on outlining the current landscape and challenges in emerging circulating DNA and microRNA based biomarkers from liquid biopsies for the prognosis of NSCLC.  

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