President’s letter
2020 Metrics
Cycle of Translation
Visionary Gifts
Discovery to Clinic
Innovative Education
Translational Luminaries
Introduction
The Ann Kimbell and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics
The Fondren Food & Health Alliance and The Fondren Inflammation Center
Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics
Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Translational Research Initiative
Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research
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Outcomes Research
Precision Medicine
CPRIT Funding to Drive New Discoveries in Cancer Therapeutics
Siemens Healthineers and Houston Methodist Imaging Innovation Hub Empowers Researchers to Push the Boundaries
Novel Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Halts Tumor Growth in Deadly Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancers
Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation & Education (MITIESM)
Can Devices Provide A New Treatment Option for Glioblastoma?
Houston Methodist Hospital’s new Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Tower offers the Most advanced treatments and innovations available
Neuroimaging Offers New Insights into Neurodegeneration
COVID-19 Studies
Restorative Medicine
Houston Methodist and Rice University Launch Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics and Interfaces
Non-invasive Spinal Stimulation Enables Paralyzed People to Stand Unassisted
Dissolvable Implants Enhance the Body’s Ability to Heal Broken Bones
Cell Encapsulation May Hold the Key to Preventing Cell Transplant Rejection
Revolutionizing the Future of Complex Valve Disease Management
Science in Service
of
Medicineresult
President's letter
2020 Metrics
Cycle of Translation
Visionary Gifts of Hope
Introduction
The Ann Kimbell and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics
The Fondren Food & Health Alliance and The Fondren Inflammation Center
Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics
Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Translational Research Initiative
Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research
From Discovery to Clinic
Introduction
Restorative Medicine
Houston Methodist and Rice University Launch Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics and Interfaces
Non-invasive Spinal Stimulation Enables Paralyzed People to Stand Unassisted
Dissolvable Implants Enhance the Body’s Ability to Heal Broken Bones
Cell Encapsulation May Hold the Key to Preventing Cell Transplant Rejection
Revolutionizing the Future of Complex Valve Disease Management
Precision Medicine
CPRIT Funding to Drive New Discoveries in Cancer Therapeutics
An Innovative New Tool to Enable Drug Discovery and Personalized Medicine
Devising a Novel Combination Treatment for Aggressive Double-hit Lymphoma
Expanding the RNAcore to Encompass the Entire Cycle of a Cure
Siemens Healthineers and Houston Methodist Imaging Innovation Hub Empowers Researchers to Push the Boundaries
Novel Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Halts Tumor Growth in Deadly Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancers
Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation & Education (MITIESM)
Surgical Technology Developed in MITIE Gains FDA Approval
Pushing the Frontier of the Robotics Revolution
Can Devices Provide A New Treatment Option for Glioblastoma?
Houston Methodist Hospital’s new Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Tower offers the Most advanced treatments and innovations available
Neuroimaging Offers New Insights into Neurodegeneration
Translational Luminaries
Can Devices Provide A
New Treatment Option for Glioblastoma?
Experts at the Houston Methodist Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Pituitary Tumor Treatment Center are developing new Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treatment options, including an innovative technology that provides anti-cancer therapy through a wearable device.
David S. Baskin, MD
Santosh Helekar, MD, PhD
GBM is the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. After over 40 years of research, median survival with David S. Baskin, MD Santosh Helekar, MD, PhD aggressive treatment has only improved from 9 to 15 months and the quality of life during this time is often poor.
A team of researchers has developed a new method of generating an oscillating magnetic field (OMF) that eradicates cancer cells via a wearable device. These studies were made possible by the prior invention of a wearable miniaturized multifocal transcranial magnetic stimulator by Santosh Helekar, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurosurgery, and Henning Voss, associate professor of physics in radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. The device uses microstimulators, called oncoscillators, that rotate strong neodymium permanent magnets devised patterns. Helekar and his colleagues have produced selective anti-cancer effects in patient-derived GBM and breast cancer cells in culture without damaging cultured normal cells.
We believe that our current investigations may help to establish Oncomagnetics as a GBM treatment that does not have the limitations of chemotherapeutic agents. Given that various cancerous cell types are susceptible to apoptosis by OMF-induced accentuation of reactive oxygen species, we hope to modulate our nascent OMF treatment to target other cancers.
David S. Baskin, MD
Kenneth R. Peak Presidential Distinguished Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Director of the Brain Metastasis, Glial Tumor and Pituitary Tumor and Disorder Initiative
On a cellular level, they demonstrated that when OMFs are applied in a defined pattern at a certain range of frequencies, they disrupt electron flows in the mitochondrial electron transport chain that drives cellular fuel production. This disruption leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species, triggering a cascade of cellular events that leads to cancer cell apoptosis. Compared with normal cells of the same tissue type, cancer cells have critically high levels of reactive oxygen species at baseline that are poised to trigger apoptosis if further increased.
With this information, the investigators further optimized the stimulus parameters of OMF stimulation and confirmed safety and efficacy in a humanized preclinical model of GBM. They then modified the Helekar-Voss Transcranial Permanent Magnet Stimulator device to construct a wearable device prototype for humans called an Oncomagnetic Device along with the associated hardware, software and mobile device applications.
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