Tianjin Medical University

Hospitals from China will be partaking in existing research in Singapore that aims to develop precise and personalised solutions to early detect and manage symptoms of cardiovascular diseases specific to the Asian population. Early this month, Kailuan General Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, and Tianjin Medical University General Hospital signed a memorandum of understanding to join the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine's (NUS Medicine) Project RESET. WHAT IT'S ABOUT The new Project RESET Parallel Cohort will particularly focus on subclinical cardiovascular diseases (SCVD), or asymptomatic conditions associated with higher risk of cardiovascular diseases that have become a growing concern among Asian populations. Tianjin Medical University reportedly has expertise in this research area. The four organisations will study data from a diverse, multi-ethnic cohort of Asians using multi-omics and big data to discover molecular, metabolic, and immunological markers of heart diseases. Besides filling gaps in the research of SCVD, their study will also contribute to developing "precise, personalised prevention and management strategies for cardiovascular conditions." Additionally, the organisations will conduct trials to test the effectiveness of AI and digital health interventions for detecting and treating cardiovascular conditions. THE LARGER TREND NUS Medicine launched the Project RESET in September last year. The five-year research project, funded by the Singaporean government, initially sought to track heart disease symptoms that go undetected in the majority of Singaporean people. At least 3 million individuals or half of the island city-state's population unknowingly have heart disease. Up to 80% of healthy individuals are reportedly unaware of the abnormal calcium build-up in their arteries while around four in 10 have fatty liver, which is also a key sign of heart disease. Project RESET then aims to discover new biomarkers of early heart disease; it also intends to pilot new methods and approaches to prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases. Other national and private initiatives in Singapore are building big databases representing the diversity of the Asian population, contributing to precision medicine. The SG100K project, led by the government's Precision Health Research, is analysing big data – sequencing genomes of a hundred thousand individuals – to better understand various factors contributing to non-communicable diseases relevant to Asians. Private startup Mesh Bio has established a big multi-omics dataset that assists in generating insights into metabolic conditions related to the Asian population. Outside Singapore, India has also embarked on a population-wide initiative, led by the Indian Council of Medical Research , to collect and curate volumes of medical images representing the Indian people to support AI development. In September, the first comprehensive multi-omics database on cancer was also launched in India after fifteen years. The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas now provides initial access to clinically annotated data on DNA, RNA, and protein profiles of breast cancer patients.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 20, 2024 -- High cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with better cognitive performance and lower dementia risk, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine . Shuqi Wang, from the Tianjin Medical University in China, and colleagues examined the association of CRF with cognitive function and dementia risk, accounting for genetic predisposition for dementia. A total of 61,214 dementia-free participants within the U.K. Biobank, aged 39 to 70 years, were followed for up to 12 years. The CRF score was estimated using a six-minute submaximal exercise test and divided into age- and sex-standardized tertiles. The researchers found that high CRF was associated with better global cognitive function compared with low CRF (β = 0.05). Overall, 553 individuals developed dementia during the follow-up period. The incidence rate ratio was 0.60 for all dementia for high CRF versus low CRF; dementia onset was delayed by 1.48 years among people with high versus low CRF. Higher CRF attenuated all dementia risk by 35 percent among those with a moderate/high polygenic risk score (incidence rate ratio, 0.65). "Our findings suggest that maintaining favorable CRF could be a strategy for the prevention of dementia, even among people with a high genetic predisposition," the authors write. Abstract/Full Text Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

BEDFORD, Mass. and SHANGHAI, China, Feb. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Frontera Therapeutics a global clinical-stage biotechnology company that seeks to develop novel and best-in-class gene therapy medicines to improve the lives of patients across multiple disease areas, announced that it has dosed the first patient in a clinical trial of its innovative gene therapy product, FT-003, at the Ophthalmology Hospital of Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China. FT-003 is being studied for the treatment of neovascular or wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and is Frontera’s second gene therapy product candidate to enter the clinic. “I am excited by the momentum the Frontera team has achieved so far this year with the dosing of the first patients in two gene therapy Phase 1 clinical trials during the month of January for FT-001 and FT-003,” said Yong Dai, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Frontera. “FT-003 is designed as a one-time treatment for patients with wet-AMD, a leading cause of blindness globally in people over 60 years old. We remain committed to validating our novel AAV technology platform and to making further breakthroughs in bringing gene therapies to patients with unmet medical needs, and expect to have initial clinical results for both FT-001 and FT-003 later this year.” About Wet AMD Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), also known as Senile Macular Degeneration (SMD), is an irreversible eye disease that leads to severe vision loss or even blindness in the middle-aged and the elderly. AMD is the third most common cause of blindness and the fourth leading cause of visual impairment worldwide. Wet AMD accounts for approximately 10% to 20% of patients with AMD, and is characterized by rapid visual deformation and loss of central vision over weeks to months. The main pathological changes of wet AMD are submacular choroidal neovascularization, vascular leakage, hemorrhage, edema, and finally fibrous scar formation, resulting in progressive impairment of central vision leading to severe blindness. About Frontera Frontera Therapeutics is a global, fully-integrated, clinical stage biotechnology company leveraging its novel APEX Technology & Manufacturing platform to develop and manufacture superior and novel gene therapy candidates across multiple disease areas. The platform is an innovative adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene expression system that aims to optimize both new and clinically validated AAV vectors to enhance the safety and efficacy profiles of gene therapy products. The in-house GMP manufacturing capabilities enable rapid production across the product lifecycle, and efficiently advance AAV therapies from research to clinical development. Frontera’s development pipeline spans not only orphan diseases, but also targets large patient markets – including ophthalmology, hematology, cardiovascular, neurology and metabolic diseases. Two of Frontera’s gene therapy product candidates, FT-001 for LCA-2 and FT-003 for wet AMD, have entered clinical development. Frontera Therapeutics has offices in the United States and China, allowing it to target global patient populations. For additional information about Frontera Therapeutics, please visit the company’s website at Company Contact: us-admin@fronteratherapeutics.com Investor Contact: Robert Uhl, Managing Director ICR Westwicke Robert.uhl@westwicke.com 619.228.5886