By Ankit Mahadevia, former CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC Drug development is complex. So is running a business. Sometimes, the work of doing both can make your head spin. In my

The post Boiling It Down: Conveying Complexity For Decision-makers appeared first on LifeSciVC.

In the spirit of the Halloween season, IEEE Spectrum presents a pair of stories that—although grounded in scientific truth rather than the macabre—were no less harrowing for those who lived them. In today’s installment, Robert Langer had to push back against his field’s conventional wisdom to pioneer a drug-delivery mechanism vital to modern medicine.

Nicknamed the Edison of Medicine, Robert Langer is one of the world’s most-cited researchers, with over 1,600 published papers, 1,400 patents, and a top-dog role as one of MIT’s nine prestigious Institute Professors. Langer pioneered the now-ubiquitous drug delivery systems used in modern cancer treatments and vaccines, indirectly saving countless lives throughout his 50-year career.

But, much like Edison and other inventors, Langer’s big ideas were initially met with skepticism from the scientific establishment.

He came up in the 1970s as a chemical engineering postdoc working in the lab of Dr. Judah Folkman, a pediatric surgeon at the Boston Children’s Hospital. Langer was tasked with solving what many believed was an impossible problem—isolating angiogenesis inhibitors to halt cancer growth. Folkman’s vision of stopping tumors from forming their own self-sustaining blood vessels was compelling enough, but few believed it possible.

Langer encountered both practical and social challenges before his first breakthrough. One day, a lab technician accidentally spilled six months’ worth of samples onto the floor, forcing him to repeat the painstaking process of dialyzing extracts. Those months of additional work steered Langer’s development of novel microspheres that could deliver large molecules of medicine directly to tumors.

In the 1970s, Langer developed these tiny microspheres to release large molecules through solid materials, a groundbreaking proof-of-concept for drug delivery.Robert Langer

Langer then submitted the discovery to prestigious journals and was invited to speak at a conference in Michigan in 1976. He practiced the 20-minute presentation for weeks, hoping for positive feedback from respected materials scientists. But when he stepped off the podium, a group approached him and said bluntly, “We don’t believe anything you just said.” They insisted that macromolecules were simply too large to pass through solid materials, and his choice of organic solvents would destroy many inputs. Conventional wisdom said so.

Nature published Langer’s paper three months later, demonstrating for the first time that non-inflammatory polymers could enable the sustained release of proteins and other macromolecules. The same year, Science published his isolation mechanism to restrict tumor growth.

Langer and Folkman’s research paved the way for modern drug delivery.MIT and Boston Children’s Hospital

Even with impressive publications, Langer still struggled to secure funding for his work in controlling macromolecule delivery, isolating the first angiogenesis inhibitors, and testing their behavior. His first two grant proposals were rejected on the same day, a devastating blow for a young academic. The reviewers doubted his experience as “just an engineer” who knew nothing about cancer or biology. One colleague tried to cheer him up, saying, “It’s probably good those grants were rejected early in your career. Since you’re not supporting any graduate students, you don’t have to let anyone go.” Langer thought the colleague was probably right, but the rejections still stung.

His patent applications, filed alongside Folkman at the Boston Children’s Hospital, were rejected five years in a row. After all, it’s difficult to prove you’ve got something good if you’re the only one doing it. Langer remembers feeling disappointed but not crushed entirely. Eventually, other scientists cited his findings and expanded upon them, giving Langer and Folkman the validation needed for intellectual property development. As of this writing, the pair’s two studies from 1976 have been cited nearly 2,000 times.

As the head of MIT’s Langer Lab, he often shares these same stories of rejection with early-career students and researchers. He leads a team of over 100 undergrads, grad students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists, all finding new ways to deliver genetically engineered proteins, DNA, and RNA, among other research areas. Langer’s reputation is further bolstered by the many successful companies he co-founded or advised, like mRNA leader Moderna, which rose to prominence after developing its widely used COVID-19 vaccine.

Langer sometimes thinks back to those early days—the shattered samples, the cold rejections, and the criticism from senior scientists. He maintains that “Conventional wisdom isn’t always correct, and it’s important to never give up—(almost) regardless of what others say.”

Yesterday’s conference sessions surfaced interesting questions and approaches regarding the post-acute sector, bundled payment, emergency medicine and anesthesia. Post-Acute Focus: With more and more focus on the need to rationalize and re-organize the post-acute sector, we have seen multiple industry leaders start to evolve their strategies.  I blogged yesterday about AccentCare’s interesting strategy in the...… Continue Reading

Jun 7, 2024

This short article introduces our Special Issue on 'Anticipating the Future of War: AI, Automated Systems, and Resort-to-Force Decision Making'. The authors begin by stepping back and briefly commenting on the current military AI landscape. They then turn to the hitherto largely neglected prospect of AI-driven systems influencing state-level decision making on the resort to force.

New program offers educators techniques and strategies for improving awareness of professional risks and vulnerabilities, and for the application of professional ethics in daily decision making.

Years ago, NASA�s Hubble Space Telescope launched with an error in the telescope�s mirror, which blurred its images for its first years in orbit. For NASA�s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope that is traveling much farther out in space, there can�t be a mistake. Abbott scientists created a technology to calibrate the mirrors on NASA�s new James Webb Space Telescope, which is now the same technology used in the iDesign System that allows ophthalmologists to map the human eye with great precision for a highly personalized LASIK treatment.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUENotification No. 26/2024-Central Excise New Delhi, the 23rd October, 2024.G.S.R........... (E). -In exercise of the powers conferred by

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMINISTRY OF FINANCE (DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)Notification No.27/2024-Central ExciseNew Delhi, the 28th October, 2024G.S.R.(E)...–In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section(1) o

HBO PR reached out to me about seeing Lovecraft Country, first episode dropping tonight. As a mixed race SF author I have a complicated relationship with Lovecraft, but the trailers intrigued. Mostly Black cast? Black writer-producer? Yes please! Check Lovecraft Country out not just because HBO gave me a goody bag and a free view, […]

We speak with former Ohio state senator and Bernie Sanders presidential campaign staffer Nina Turner about how the 2024 election has left her and many voters “frustrated” and “exhausted.” While she is not endorsing a candidate, she denounces the white supremacist rhetoric of the Trump campaign, which she notes is “as American as apple pie.” Turner pushes back on comparisons of the Trump movement to the rise of Nazi Germany, which she argues threaten to whitewash the United States’ own anti-democratic history. “The unfulfilled promises of this country, the undealt-with anti-Blackness and other types of racism and bigotry have not been dealt with sufficiently,” she explains. “It is us, and we need to deal with it and not push it off on some other nation.”

In a major piece for Mother Jones magazine on “Why Ballot Measures Are Democracy’s Last Line of Defense,” voting rights correspondent Ari Berman discusses abortion ballot measures in 10 states, important down-ballot races in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and the movement to abolish or reform the Electoral College.

The FBI is investigating a spate of racist text messages targeting Black Americans in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory last week. The texts were reported in states including Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, addressing recipients as young as 13 by name and telling them they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation” and other messages referencing slavery. For more, we speak with Robert Greene II, a history professor at Claflin University, South Carolina’s first and oldest historically Black university in Orangeburg, where many students were targeted. “Initially when I heard about the texts, I thought it was a bit of a hoax, but … it quickly became clear that this wasn’t just a Claflin problem, it was a national issue, as well,” says Greene. We also speak with Wisdom Cole, senior national director of advocacy for the NAACP, who says “this is only the beginning,” with a second Trump administration expected to attack civil rights and embolden hate groups.

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 premieres tonight on PBS and investigates the only successful insurrection conducted against a U.S. government, when self-described white supremacist residents stoked fears of “Negro Rule” and carried out a deadly massacre in Wilmington, North Carolina. Their aim was to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow the city’s democratically elected, Reconstruction-era multiracial government, paving the way for the implementation of Jim Crow law just two years later. We feature excerpts from the documentary and speak to co-director Yoruba Richen, who explains how the insurrection was planned and carried out, and how the filmmakers worked to track down the descendants of both perpetrators and victims, whose voices are featured in the film.

Among the most engaging passages in Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution are those dealing with the weeks and days leading up to the October insurrection,  when the Petrograd Soviet, under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, began pushing.  That is, they gradually took for the Soviet more and more power from the Provisional Government, waiting at … Continue reading Creeping Fascism

In the late 60s and early 70s there was an epidemic of “everything I hate is fascism.”  We seem to be back to that again.  But there are differences, and they are important. We warned then, and it is worth repeating now, that we use a narrow and precise definition of fascism because it is … Continue reading On Fascism–Things Are Different Now

I'm back with more Halloween goodies, spoops and ghouls! 

I didn't have anything too specific in mind for this week's theme, so I ended up with a boo-tiful mix of everything from Gothic Glam:

(Cake Effect Buffalo, New York)

... to bright pastel eye candy.

(Wonderfully Whitty Cakes, California)

I couldn't decide which of Whitney's cakes I liked best, so you get two:

(Wonderfully Whitty Cakes, California)

Ooooh. Those stripes are swoon-worthy.

Have you ever seen a little kid smile with a mouth full of Oreos?
This is kind of like that, only cuter:

(Backfeevi, Germany)

Hee!

I know I usually err on the adorable side of Halloween, so here's something more dark and dramatic: 

(AyşenButikPasta, Turkey)

This could almost be a wedding cake! And that dry-brushed gold detailing? Gorgeous.

Ahh, but now I bet you want to see an actual Halloween wedding cake.

So to quote the coffin lid as it slammed shut,

BAM:

(MakeLuvBlog)

Isn't this stunning? The wrought iron gate trim, the autumn flowers, the chocolate casket toppers! I love the light gray icing, too; less dye AND you can see all the details better.


Veering right back into Cute with this magical lil guy:

(That Baking Girl)

Batty Potter. Ermergersh. 

And of course we need more Pumpkin King and friends in here:

(Lovlie Cakes & Brookies Cookies Co.)

Digging the vintage illustration style on this one: 

(Saucy Bakes, Canada & Arizona)

The bright green and red makes it pop, and then that bottom piped border made me do a double-take; it looks just like real lace! Whaaaaat.

And finally, even more cheery pastels, since I can't get enough this season:

(Cake Happy, Virginia)

Is this not the happiest skull cake you've ever seen?? I guess Mickey ears really do make everything better. :D

I hope these made you a little happier, too, friends. Happy Sunday, and may your Halloween this year be extra extra Sweet.
*****
P.S. Speaking of happy skulls, I don't know who needs to hear this, but there is such a thing as rainbow skull spoons:

Stainless Steel Skull Spoons, set of 6

They also come in black or silver, for the more traditional/boring goths out there. :p

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

Professor Dave demolishes Sabine Hossenfelder. I feel that. The topic of my history class last week and this week is about bias in late 19th/early 20th century evolutionary biology, and how we have to be critical and responsible in our assessment of scientific claims. It’s tough, because I’m strongly pro-science (obviously, I hope?) but I […]

The foreign secretary previously called Trump a "tyrant" and "xenophobic" when he was a backbench MP.

Probability of operating an alarm clock

Nik is worried assisted dying could lead to coercion - but Elise, who has cancer, wants the choice.

Argentine side Deportivo Riestra are accused of a "lack of respect" after picking a YouTube star as a striker in a top-flight match.

San Francisco Giants clinch their second World Series title in three years, sweeping Detroit Tigers 4-0.

Apple and the Irish Government have been successful in having overturned a European Commission decision that two tax rulings granted to the company by the Irish Government were unlawful.

Highlights: Exercise for a total of 80 minutes per week can reduce postpartum depression and anxiety Physical ac

The Targeting AGwater Management Interventions (TAGMI) tool could support government planners to better target interventions at resource poor farmers in Africa. STOCKHOLM (3 SEPTEMBER 2013) Africa’s smallholder farmers stand to gain from a new online tool that highlights the water management methods most likely to be effective in given contexts. The tool, developed for the […]

The post A new decision-support tool finds top spots for boosting livelihoods with water technologies first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Highlights: Lack of exercise leads to weight gain and obesity-related health risks A sedentary lifestyle weaken

Highlights: Five minutes of daily exercise can lower blood pressure Replacing sitting with 20-27 minutes of exer

UK's current standard of care test for bmedlinkovarian cancer/medlink shall be replaced with an ultrasound test that can detect 96% of ovarian tumors

People with medlinkknee osteoarthritis/medlink (OA) often avoid doing exercise, reports a new study. bKnee osteoarthritis patients refrain from

Eating medlinkjunk foods/medlink and not doing exercise regularly can increase the risk of developing piles, fistula and fissures in young adults aged between 18 and 25 years, said doctors.

Want to sleep well at night? Short bouts of light exercise before bed can help you get enough sleep, suggests a new study led by the University of Otago researchers.

The physical activities we engage in during our daily routines, whether at work or home, do not sufficiently safeguard us against the risk of medlinkstroke/medlink.

People with busy work lives manage to fit their moderate to vigorous medlinkexercise/medlink into just one or two days a week. Dr. Shaan Khurshid,

Tissue stiffness in HER2-negative breast cancer, the most common type, can directly contribute to disease progression and metastasis, which can have serious consequences on patients.

The Union Health Ministry addressed recent media reports claiming that India has a high number of "zero dose children"-children who have not received any vaccines-based on a UNICEF report.

A recent study featured in the iInternational Journal of Sports Medicine/i titled "Inhalation of Hydrogen-Rich Gas Before Acute Exercise Alleviates

Over half of the experts on the UK government's nutrition advisory council have ties with the food sector (!--ref1--). Freelance writer Sophie Borland,

The Aquaculture Decision Support Tool shows climate hazards, suitability, land use and waterbodies, and supply and demand conditions.

The post Dashboard to improve decision making on aquaculture expansion in Myanmar first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

This training was conducted through the World Bank funded Balochistan Integrated Water Resources Management and Development Project (BIWRMDP).

The post Decision Making On Scientific Data For Improved Water Resource Management Critical: IWMI first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Researchers have introduced an innovative statistical tool enhancing the identification of disease-causing genetic variants. This tool combines information

Alterations in the SCN2A gene influence the age of seizure onset and the severity of neurological impairments in affected children, aiding in the identification

Researchers at the University of Toronto have created an RNA-targeting technology that uses the CRISPR system to precisely manipulate human gene parts

Most organisms rely on 20 standard medlinkamino acids/medlink to synthesize proteins, with few exceptions. Chemist Han Xiao's research focuses on

Exercise appears to be a potentially effective way of treating premature ejaculation, according to a new peer-reviewed study carried out by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).

Exercise can effectively reduce postpartum depression and anxiety. It can be an effective alternative to medication for maternal mental health.

As actor Amitabh Bachchan recovers from the novel coronavirus in the COVID ward of a hospital, he is reflecting back on his life, decisions and the consequences of his decisions.