Medical Research Update, August 2009
In early July we held meetings in Geneva to review the Searching to Conquer project, which is aimed at finding a cure for giant nevus. The following week we traveled to the Society for Pediatric Dermatology annual meeting in Philadelphia, met with Canfield Scientific and also met with Dr. Miguel Reyes and toured his new facilities at the new state-of-the-art Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg.
Searching to Conquer
The “Searching to Conquer,” project involves discovering cellular pathways that are necessary for melanocytes to replicate, then perfecting the discovered techniques for controlling the replication cycle, then developing practical therapies for applying these techniques.
Dr. Bernhard Wehrle-Haller continues to tick off step-by-step accomplishments towards this goal, most recently having his work on this project accepted for publication by the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
As should be expected, possibly hoped for, investigative work like this reveals new and more questions than it answers. We are finding ourselves with plenty of unanswered questions that have bearing on the idea of finding a cure for giant nevi and neurocutaneous melanocytosis.
At the meeting it was decided to pursue an international collaboration between the institutions that are working on various aspects of this question. This will be our next major step. Once the collaboration is in place, we will look over all the elements and prioritize them. The institutions we are working with (in no particular order) are:
- Stanford University
- University of California San Francisco
- University of Geneva
- University of Chicago
- French National Institute of Health and Medical Research
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Yale University
- University of Pittsburg
Top Priorities Identified for Registry
At the Society for Pediatric Dermatology annual meeting in Philadelphia, we engaged in an informal conversation with doctors from NYU, who have a very large registry themselves, we clearly identified the top priority of our statistical data efforts: to gather as much information as we all can about neurocutaneous melanocytosis, the aspect of giant nevi that can be fatal to the patient. We are hearing too many stories that sound similar and we don't have the data in one place. Look for us to ramp up our MRI repository project and consider adding new questions to the registry, and also intensifying our follow-up of patients with NCM.
Launch of Nevus Outreach Tissue Repository
In Pittsburgh, we visited the facilities that will house the new tissue bank. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here.
For more information about these projects, contact us at the Nevus Outreach office.
Dr. Miguel Reyes-Mugica and Nevus Outreach Executive Director Mark Beckwith outside the location of the new Nevus Outreach Tissue Repository at Children's Hospital of Pittsburg.
