In recognition of the extensive studies, long hours and emotional investment of those involved in eradicating mesothelioma, three awards will be presented at the gala dinner on Friday June 27th, day two of The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s 5th Annual International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, to be held Thursday, June 26th through Saturday, June 28th at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Harvey Pass, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and surgery and director of the division of thoracic surgery and oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center and its NYU Cancer Institute, is the recipient of the Pioneer Award. An expert on mesothelioma—an asbestos-associated malignancy of the chest and abdomen—Dr. Pass is the former chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, which was responsible for awarding mesothelioma research grants to investigators all over the world. Dr. Pass has conducted numerous trials for the treatment of mesothelioma starting at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and he is credited with the discovery of osteopontin as a possible early detection marker for the disease. Dr. Pass has published numerous articles on the molecular genetics of mesothelioma, and edited two books concerning the disease: 100 Questions and Answers about Mesothelioma, and Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Translational Therapies.

The symposium, organized annually by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (the Meso Foundation), will highlight the latest advances in research and treatment for patients and caregivers, offer psychosocial support to them as well as those who have lost someone to the disease, and provide all who are intent on eradicating the vicious and terminal effects of this tragic cancer with significant advocacy and volunteer opportunities. The three-day conference, supported by the generosity of sponsors SimmonsCooper, LLC; Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos, PC; Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Conboy, LLC; Merck & Co., Inc.; and Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., is dedicated to the issues of advocacy, science and community, as they relate to mesothelioma.

The Meso Foundation is the nonprofit collaboration of patients and families, physicians, advocates and researchers dedicated to eradicating the life-ending and vicious effects of mesothelioma. The Foundation spurs mesothelioma research and seed money grant funding, with over $5 million awarded to date. The Foundation also provides patients and families with information on mesothelioma treatments, clinical trials and medical referrals through its full-time mesothelioma nurse practitioner and its website, www.curemeso.org. The Meso Foundation also hosts the annual Symposium to educate patients and families on the latest advances in mesothelioma research and treatment, and advocates for a federal commitment to cure the disease.

For more information about the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, please contact Chris Hahn at (805) 563-8400 or Joel Schnur at (212) 489-0600 x204.

ABOUT NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER
One of the world’s premier academic medical institutions for more than 167 years, NYU Langone Medical Center continues to be a leader in patient care, physician education and scientific research. NYU Langone Medical Center is internationally renowned for excellence in areas such as cardiovascular disease, pediatrics, skin care, neurosurgery, urology, cancer care, rehabilitation, plastic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, transplant surgery, infertility, women’s health and day surgery.

The 4th International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI) will be held in Paris July 5-8, 2008. The organizers of this workshop have summoned the world´s leading experts in urology, gynecology and urodynamics to present and discuss the most recent advances in the field, including epidemiology, basic science, and treatment. Additionally part of the purpose is to propose validated standard international instruments to evaluate incontinence, and to help standardize response criteria and recommendations for clinical research on incontinence.

The abstracts of the posters that will be presented at the consultation are now published exclusively in this first issue of Urotoday International Journal (UIJ). These abstracts comprise not only different aspects of the overactive bladder such as treatment, epidemiology, basic science, but also summarize recent advances in the areas of stress incontinence, pelvic floor disorders and prolapse.

The aim of UIJ is to elevate the access of relevant urology science to professionals around the world and to make this scientific information available to a broad audience. We believe that this aim will be fulfilled for these abstracts, since UIJ currently reaches over 60,000 professionals in urological diseases.

It is our hope that all professionals in the fields of incontinence research and management, both experienced and newcomers, will benefit from these abstracts, and become inspired towards further efforts.

UroToday International Journal ®
UroToday International Journal (http://www.urotodayinternationaljournal.com) is an online open-access, peer-reviewed, fast-tracked urology and urologic oncology publication. UIJ is the first urology journal to provide free submission and free access to full text.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice.

The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly, who normally experience sleep disturbances, could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response to protein misfolding that happens in aging cells. “Protein misfolding and aggregation is associated with many diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” notes first author Nirinjini Naidoo, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine. The study appears in the June issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is one part of the quality control system for monitoring protein synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum, the cellular compartment where some proteins are made. In this study, researchers found that the UPR was activated in 10-week old, sleep-deprived mice, so that misfolded proteins did not accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum of brain cells in the cerebral cortex. However, in two-year-old, sleep-deprived mice, the UPR failed to do its job and misfolded proteins clogged the endoplasmic reticulum. Old mice that were not stressed by sleep deprivation were shown to already have an impaired UPR.

Sleep in mice is characterized by short periods of inactivity throughout the day and night. On average, mice sleep approximately one hour for every two they are awake. In order to deprive mice of sleep, researchers constantly monitored and gently stroked the mice with a brush to disturb periods of inactivity.

At 3, 6, 9, or 12 hours of sleep deprivation, proteins were examined from the mouse brains. By six hours of sleep deprivation, young mice demonstrated that the UPR system was in place because protein synthesis was shut off by a chaperone protein called BiP/GRP78. In contrast, there was no BiP/GRP78 in old mice so protein synthesis continued.

Old mice also had less of the proteins that refold abnormal proteins than young mice, and old mice had more of the proteins that cause cell death than young mice. Thus, several processes are upset in old mouse brains by sleep deprivation, and the overall result is a further accumulation of misfolded proteins.

“We could speculate that sleep disturbance in older humans places an additional burden on an already-stressed protein folding and degradation system,” says Naidoo.

Future studies will examine whether augmenting key protective proteins delays the effects of aging and reduces sleep disturbances.

Study co-authors are Megan Ferber, Monali Master, Yan Zhu and Allan Pack, all of Penn. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.

PENN Medicine is a $3.5 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #4 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's survey of top research-oriented medical schools; and, according to most recent data from the National Institutes of Health, received over $379 million in NIH research funds in the 2006 fiscal year. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals — its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.