Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Gautam Sethi
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Keynote: Modulation of oncogenic transcription factors for cancer therapy
Time : 10:00-10:50
Biography:
After completion of his postdoctoral training at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Gautam Sethi joined Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in 2008 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. The focus of his research over the past few years has been to elucidate the mechanism (s) of activation of oncogenic transcription factors such as NF-kB/STAT3 by carcinogens and inflammatory agents and the identification of novel inhibitors of these proteins for prevention of and therapy for cancer. The findings of his research work have so far resulted in more than two hundred scientific publications in high impact factor peer reviewed journals (with h index = 71) and several international awards. He currently serves as an Academic Editor for PLOS, editorial board member of Scientific Reports, Pharmacological Research, BMC Cancer, Frontiers in Pharmacology, Frontiers in Oncology, Journal of Natural Products in Cancer Prevention and Therapy, and ad-hoc reviewer for several other prestigious international journals.
Abstract:
Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs) comprise an important class of transcription factors that have been implicated in a wide variety of essential cellular functions related to proliferation, survival, and angiogenesis. Among various STAT members, STAT3 is frequently overexpressed in tumor cells as well as tissue samples, and regulates the expression of numerous oncogenic genes controlling the growth and metastasis of tumor cells. I will briefly discuss the importance of STAT3 as a potential target for cancer therapy and also provide novel insights into various classes of existing pharmacological inhibitors of this transcription factor that can be potentially developed as anti-cancer drugs.
Keynote Forum
Raymond Chong
Augusta University, USA
Keynote: Niacin Enhancement for Parkinson's Disease Keynote by
Time : 10:50-11:40
Biography:
Dr. Raymond Chong completed his PhD in 1997 from the University of Oregon. He is the director of the Augusta University's Applied Health Sciences graduate program. He is the lead author in over 70% of his papers. Dr. Chong is a regular reviewer for the US Veteran Affairs Research department and also serves on the editorial board of several journals including Gait & Posture.
Abstract:
We discovered that many individuals with Pakinson's disease (PD) have a vitamin B3 deficiency. Levels were 3.4 standard error lower than age-matched controls. The deficiency may be related to carbidopa interaction, defective tryptophan metabolism and stresses of nightsleep disorder. Vitamin B3 supplies energy in all cells by producing NAD+ and NADP+ in redox reactions of oxidative phosphorylation. Some symptoms of the disease such as fatigue, sleep dysfunction and mood changes may be related to the deficiency. We conducted an exploratory randomized pragmatic trial to determine the effect of low-dose niacin (a B3 derivative) enhancement in PD individuals. An average of 6.4-point improvement in the UPDRS motor score was observed after 12 months of daily niacin. Many secondary outcome measures also improved. Notably, handwriting size increased, fatigue decreased, mood improved, frontal beta rhythm during quiet stance increased, stance postural sway amplitude and range of acceleration decreased. Set shifting however, as measured by the Trail Making-B test, worsen from 66 to 96 seconds. Other measures did not change after 12 months but it is not clear whether this represents a positive benefit of the vitamin. For example, while the quality of nightsleep remained the same, there was a trend towards a decrease in the frequency of awakening episodes. These preliminary results suggest that niacin enhancement may maintain or improve quality of life in PD. A larger and longer-term double-blinded trial needs to be conducted to better understand the benefits of vitamin B3 in PD.
- Ethics in Clinical Trials and Research | Innovations in Clinical Trials and Research | Pharmacogenomics | Patient Centric Clinical Trials | Bioinformatics in Clinical Research | Clinical Trials and Clinical Research Conducts
Session Introduction
Qiufang Chen
China Pharmaceutical University , China
Title: High cholesterol in lipid rafts reduces the sensitivity to EGFR-TKIs therapy in non-small cell lung cancer
Biography:
Qiufang Chen was enrolled in the School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy of China Pharmaceutical University in September 2015, majoring in Clinical Pharmacy. Now She is a student in the third year of doctor graduate study. She has published 6 papers in reputed journal.
Abstract:
Overcoming EGFR-TKIs resistant which has the initial enthusiasm over substantial clinical responses is a formidable challenge on nowadays. That cancer cells need excess cholesterol to maintain a high level of proliferation is well accepted, however, whether cholesterol in lipid rafts associates with EGFR-TKI resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR mutations has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we used PC-9, PC-9/GR (PC-9 cells with gefitinib-resistant), A549, H1650 and H1975 cell lines to explore the relationship between cholesterol and EGFR-TKI resistant. Cholesterol level was measured using the Amplex® Red Cholesterol Assay Kit. Methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MβCD) was used to deplete cholesterol, and cytotoxicity was measured by MTT assay. Western bolt was used to detect the level of EGFR and its downstream signaling phosphorylated proteins. The affinity of EGFR-TKI and EGFR was determined by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. We showed that cholesterol level in lipid rafts in gefitinib resistant NSCLC cell lines was remarkably higher than gefitinib sensitive cell line, and depletion of cholesterol increase gefitinib sensitivity. Furthermore, Cholesterol-depleted enhanced gefitinib inhibit phosphorylation of EGFR, Akt-1, MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 and these were reversed in cholesterol add-back experiments. Gefitinib resistant cell lines showed high affinity of gefitinib and EGFR when cholesterol was depleted. Therefore, targeting cholesterol combined with EGFR-TKI is potentially a novel therapeutic strategy to overcome gefitinib resistance. The combination of lovastatin and gefitinib is a promising strategy for gefitinib resistant patients.
MYAT THU THU WIN
Asian Institute of Medicine Science and Technology (AIMST)
Title: Importance of Dosage effect in Clinical Trials
Biography:
Dr. Myat Thu Thu Win was graduated M.B.,B.S in 2001 and Master of Medical Science (Pharmacology) in 2005 from Institute of Medicine I, Yangon. She got Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship from 2009-2013. She finished her Ph.D in 2013 from Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science and postdoctoral fellow in the same department for 3 months. She had more than 8 years of teaching and clinical experience as well as 6 years of research experience. She published research and review papers. She is now doing as a senior lecturer Pharmacologist in the Faculty of Medicine, Asian Institute of Medicine Science and Technology (AIMST) University. She got ‘Outstanding award in Medical Science’ from Venus International Foundation and ‘2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century award’ in 2017. She also involved as invited speaker in Contemporary Academic Meet, Chennai, India as well as in International Conference on Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Rome, Italy in 2017.
Abstract:
Statement of the Problem: Therapeutic effect can be obtained by standard dosage and toxicity can occur because of over dosage. It should be taken awareness in doing clinical trials and research to get effective drug response for a particular disease or outcome. It is difficult to know the estimation of dosage in human directly so we do from preclinical research to clinical trial. In this study, I monitored different dosages of drug Metformin, well known antidiabetic agent, on lifespan of Caenorrhabditis elegans (C. elegans) (From worm to human).
Methodology: Lifesapn of C. elegans N2 Bristol wild type was monitored by using liquid culture medium in 96 well plates. 100 worms for each group were cultured in S complete media containing ampicillin (50 μg/ml) and amphotericin B (0.1 μg/ml). We used 50 μg/ml 5-fluoro-2’- deoxyuridine (5-FUdR) in well to prevent hatching. All experiments were performed at 20ºC for 2 times. C. elegans were fed alive E. coli (108 cfu/ml) and added Metformin 1 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM at day 3. After the wells were shaken for 3 minutes, worm survival was checked every other day under an inverted microscope at 50x or 100x magnification.
Findings: Different dosages of Metformin1 mM, 5 mM increase the worm survival in compared to wild type worm in this study (data not shown). Increasing the dose of Metformin more than 10mM may not increase the longevity and reduce lifespan of worms when compared to the group of worms exposed to 50 mM Metformin.
Conclusion & Significance: The longevity effect of Metformin in worms may be useful as antiaging agent in human but needs more clinical trials to explore the effect of Metformin. It was concluded that the higher dosage would not produce more increase in longevity and reduce the lifespan of worms which will be considered as important factor in clinical trials.
Christina Gellknight
AIMST University, Malaysia.
Title: Effect of Badminton Exercise on Intraocular Pressure of Human
Biography:
Dr. Christina Gellknight has her expertise in evaluation and passion in improving the vision and wellbeing. She has lot of experience in teaching and training of the students in reputed Medical Universities. She has done this model clinical experiment after years of experience in research, evaluation, teaching and administration both in hospital and education institutions. This is a new clinical study conducted in Kedah State Malaysia
Abstract:
Statement of the Problem: The popularity of badminton play is increasing tremendously among Malaysians after the Olympics Rio 2016. Badminton is one of the most favorite indoor sports activities in Malaysia. There are many articles described that badminton exercise has positive health impact. Among them, it is interested that play badminton being able to lower the intraocular pressure (IOP). But, effectiveness of playing badminton in reducing the IOP is still need to be explored. In this study, we examined the effect of badminton exercise on IOP of adults.
Methodology: Our study included 118 badminton players aged ranging from 20 to 50 years of both sexes (84 males and 34 females). Mean age of our study group was 33.12 yrs (SD=7.38). This study was performed at badminton centre located at Sungai Petani, Kedah. The IOP of all the participants were measured in both eyes and recorded at time 0 hour before they started to play badminton and 2 hours after exercise. A transpalpebral tonometer (Diaton) was used to measure IOP.
Findings: There was a significant reduction of the IOP in both eyes after 2 hours badminton exercise ( p < 0.001). There was no relation of IOP changes to sex, age, ethnicity, and handedness (p> 0.05).
Conclusion & Significance: This was the first study to show that there was a significant reduction in the IOP of both eyes after 2 hours of badminton exercise. It was suggested that badminton exercise is beneficial in reducing intraocular pressure.
Sarah Mahmood
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan
Title: Perceived Stigma affecting Psychological Well-being and Self-esteem among Patients Receiving Treatment of Substance Abuse
Biography:
Sarah Mahmood is an experienced Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry. She is a strong education professional with a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) focused in Clinical Psychology from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan.
Abstract:
The research was conducted in order to investigate the effects of perceived stigma on self-esteem and psychological well-being among patients receiving treatment of substance abuse (n=192) and lung cancer (n=192). Sample of 384 adults was collected through “purposive sampling strategy” from various hospitals of Multan city (Nai Zindage, Khurshid Rafeeq and Nishtar hospital). “Perceived Discrimination- Devaluation Scale (Urdu version)” was used to measure the level of perceived stigma in patients of lung cancer and substance abuse. “Index of Self-Esteem (Urdu Version)” was applied to evaluate the level of self-esteem. Further, “Psychological Well-being Scale (Urdu version)” was administered to analyze the level of psychological well-being. Statistical analysis was conducted through SPSS by using Pearson correlation coefficient and independent sample t-test. The results revealed that perceived stigma is negatively correlated with self-esteem (r=0.542**, p=0.000) and psychological well-being (r=0.524**, p=0.000). Moreover, the findings revealed that patients of substance abuse perceived higher degree of stigma as compared to patients having treatment of lung cancer (t=3.867, p=0.004). Patients having treatment of substance abuse had more affected self-esteem (t= -7.226, p= 0.000) and psychological well-being (t= -7.123, p= 0.000) as compared to patients of lung cancer.
Biography:
Eunho Shin is the Head of Solution Consultant for Asia Pacific (except Japan) at Medidata. In his role he is responsible for consulting and advising Pharmaceuticals, contract research organizations (CRO), and other healthcare providers on clinical trial processes, clinical trial IT systems and infrastructures.
Eunho has over 10 years of experience in the clinical trial field across monitoring, project management, and people management. Prior to Medidata, he was a Senior Clinical Research Manager, and Regional Lead of the Embedded Program at ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (RPS), a functional service provider of global pharmaceutical companies in Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia.
Abstract:
Today, clinical trials are accommodating an incredible variety of data and content from various sources – from traditional clinical data, to high-resolution images and operational data. As clinical trials become more complex, the biggest challenges for stakeholders are:
- Reducing study risk
- Meeting complex regulatory requirements
- Reducing the life cycle of the clinical development without compromising the patient’s experience
This presentation will look to address the top challenges faced by stakeholders in achieving their treatment development objectives. Critical components of this are a single source of data, improving patient experiences, a seamless image management process, and leveraging statistical analytics and machine learning algorithms to improve clinical data quality and reducing trial timelines.