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Study Stresses Importance Of Exercise On Bone Health - Jumping And Running Identified As Best Physical Activity For Bone Development
Exercise has many benefits from improving cardiovascular capacity to reducing weight, and now a new

Physicians Sharing Their Notes With Patients
Patients across the country are voicing a growing desire for greater engagement in, and control over, their own medical care. A new study led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will examine the impact of adding new layer of openness to a traditionally one-sided element of the doctor-patient relationship - the notes from patients" doctors" visits.
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Successful Disease Management Programs Can Play Role In Health Care Reform
A study of the award-winning Behavioral Pharmacy Management Program (BPM) shows the private-public Medicaid partnership program has helped improve patient care while saving eight states almost $95 million in behavioral health pharmaceutical costs. Lilly funds the program, which is designed and run by research firm Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc. (CNS) at the sole direction and guidance of state Medicaid departments. The BPM, which has been executed in more than half of the states, has won a variety of national awards, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Science and Service Award, URAC Silver Award for Best Practices in Consumer Empowerment and Protection, American Psychiatric Association Bronze Achievement Award and Disease Management Association of America Gold Award.
Oncology

The Automation Partnership's First Project To Automate Manufacture Of 3D Tissue Constructs

The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world leader in the design and development of innovative advanced automation for life science applications, announced it is collaborating with world leading academics on the prestigious, Technology Strategy Board funded, RAFT (Rapid Automated Fabrication of Tissues) Project to develop and commercialise novel technology for rapid production of 3D tissues, which have the potential to transform drug discovery and regenerative medicine. The three-year RAFT Project initially aims to manufacture 3D human corneal tissue using corneal limbal stem cells, to determine if this is a viable method of producing a range of different tissue types. Scientists on the RAFT Project at UCL (University College London) will work on demonstrating pre-clinical proof of concept of the efficacy of these tissues for corneal regeneration. Complex 3D tissues can be produced in less than one hour by mixing cells with collagen, casting the gel into a mould then compressing it to give a sheet with properties very like natural tissue. The 3D structure provides cells with a more natural microenvironment; multiple layers with different cell types can be made with surface features that mimic the stem cell niche and support cell growth and differentiation. Since production of the tissues will be automated the size, shape, thickness and cell density can all be controlled - and complex features such as capillary like channels can be engineered into the tissues. This technology allows high quality and consistent manufacturing of tissues for therapeutic use, such as replacement skin; in cell biology by providing 3D collagen matrices for studying cell behaviour or in drug discovery applications including toxicity testing by generating skin, cornea and other models. Dr Rosemary Drake, CSO at TAP stated: "We are delighted to be working with eminent academics to commercialise this unique tissue fabrication process. We have licensed the use of this exciting technology from UCL because we are so confident it could be used to produce a number of different 3D tissue types and are seeking additional partners from pharmaceutical or cell culture companies with whom we can develop cell culture, drug discovery and therapeutic applications where more authentic tissues are required." David Newble, TAP"s CEO, added: "The significant industrial academic collaboration which has begun between TAP and UCL will make transformational science available for rapid, reproducible processing of commercially important tissues and could potentially, have a major impact on the future of drug discovery, development and regenerative medicine." About The Automation Partnership The Automation Partnership (TAP) is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of advanced large-scale automation systems for the life science research industry. TAP specialises in automation for cell culture, biological sample management, compound management and ultra high throughput screening applications. TAP"s systems are installed in the world"s top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; key service providers and leading research institutions including: Amgen, AstraZeneca, ATCC, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exelixis, Laboratoires Fournier, Loughborough University, GlaxoSmithKline, Max Planck Institute, Merck, MedImmune, Novartis, Oxford University, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi Aventis, Stem Cell Sciences, UK Biobank and Wyeth. TAP, founded in 1988, is a private company with headquarters in Royston near Cambridge, UK and a US sales and support office in Wilmington, Delaware. The Company, which employs over 180 staff, continues to grow by developing market driven automation products from standalone systems to multi-million pound drug discovery facilities. About the Rapid Automated Fabrication of Tissues Project The Rapid Automated Fabrication of Tissues (RAFT) Project is an industrial-academic collaboration in which TAP is the lead industrial partner and includes some of the world"s leading experts from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and the Tissue Repair & Engineering Centre (TREC) at the UCL Institute of Orthopaedics & Musculoskeletal Science. The project which has ÷£1.3 million funding from the UK"s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) aims to develop a commercial method for producing novel, cost-effective 3D tissues. The Automation Partnership


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