San Diego Biomedical Research Institute

THE SDBRI MISSION IS TO FIND NEW WAYS TO PREDICT AND PREVENT CANCER, DIABETES, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND HIV INFECTION, AND TO ACCELERATE MEDICAL ADVANCES THAT MAINTAIN HEALTH AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE.

HIV/AIDS: THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION RECENTLY ESTIMATED THAT 36.7 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE WITH HIV/AIDS WORLDWIDE WITH 1 MILLION HIV-RELATED DEATHS EVERY YEAR. NEW INFECTIONS ARE ESTIMATED AT AN ALARMING 1.8 MILLION WORLDWIDE. DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL HIV VACCINE IS A MAJOR GLOBAL HEALTH INITIATIVE. RESEARCH AT SDBRI IS FOCUSED ON INTRODUCING NOVEL DESIGNS TO CREATE AN HIV VACCINE THAT MORE PEOPLE RESPOND TO. THE NEW SDBRI STRATEGY OF USING HIV VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES (VLPS) AS A VACCINE PLATFORM IS SHOWING GREAT PROMISE. IN ADDITION, OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS SDBRI SCIENTISTS HAVE DESIGNED WAYS TO IDENTIFY FACTORS THAT STOP THE IMMUNE SYSTEM FROM RESPONDING TO HIV VACCINES. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ALLOWS US TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE VACCINE IS LIKELY TO WORK IN THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. SDBRI CONTINUES TO PARTICIPATE IN A MULTI-ORGANIZATION HIV VACCINE RESEARCH PROGRAM. OUR INVESTIGATORS WORK WITH SCIENTISTS ACROSS THE U.S. AND IN SEVERAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE NETHERLANDS AND CHINA. A STAFF SCIENTIST FROM CHINA RECEIVED SALARY & BENEFITS WHILE BEING TRAINED AT SDBRI IN A VARIETY OF CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO VACCINES.

CANCER & MUSCLE HEALTH:METASTATIC CANCER IS CANCER THAT HAS SPREAD FROM THE SITE WHERE IT WAS FIRST DETECTED TO ANOTHER ORGAN. SCIENTISTS AT SDBRI ARE WORKING ON UNDERSTANDING HOW CANCER CELLS MOVE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER SO THAT WE CAN DEVELOP NEW MEDICINES THAT STOP THEM FROM MOVING. SCIENTISTS AT SDBRI HAVE DISCOVERED A GENE THAT, IF LEFT UNCONTROLLED, CAN TURN A NORMAL CELL INTO A CANCER CELL. THIS GENE IS PRESENT IN VERY HIGH AMOUNTS IN CANCER CELLS FROM WOMEN WITH THE MOST AGGRESSIVE FORM OF BREAST CANCER. SDBRI SCIENTISTS HAVE ALSO IDENTIFIED MOLECULES INSIDE CANCER CELLS THAT TELL THE CANCER TO MOVE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER. IN EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS BLOCKING THE FUNCTION OF THIS GENE AND THESE MOLECULES STOPS THE CANCER FROM SPREADING. THAT INFORMATION IS NOW BEING USED TO DEVELOP DRUGS TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CANCER TO OTHER ORGANS. CACHEXIA, PRONOUNCED KUH-KEK-SEE-UH, IS THE PROFOUND LOSS OF MUSCLE THAT IS OFTEN SEEN IN PEOPLE WITH LATE STAGE CANCER. IT IS INCREDIBLY DEBILITATING AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR RESPONSE TO MEDICATIONS AND POOR PROGNOSIS. SO FAR, NO SINGLE DRUG HAS SUCCESSFULLY REVERSED OR STOPPED CACHEXIA. THE GOAL OF THE SDBRI CACHEXIA RESEARCH TEAM IS TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS THAT CAUSE CACHEXIA AT A VERY EARLY STAGE, BEFORE CACHEXIA BEGINS. SCIENTISTS AT SDBRI HAVE SHOWN THAT IMMUNE CELL TYPES THAT ARE ABLE TO KILL CANCER CELLS ARE PRESENT AT HIGHER LEVELS IN THE BLOOD OF PATIENTS WITH STRONGER AND LARGER MUSCLES THAN IN PATIENTS WITH SMALLER AND WEAKER MUSCLES. THE FOCUS NOW IS TO FIND OUT WHETHER INCREASING MUSCLE STRENGTH AND MASS IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER, AND IN PEOPLE WHO ARE CANCER SURVIVORS ENHANCES THE FUNCTION AND FREQUENCY OF THE CANCER-KILLING IMMUNE CELLS. SDBRI SCIENTISTS WORK WITH SCIENTISTS ACROSS THE U.S. AND INDIA. THIS WORK INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION AND TRAINING. A STAFF SCIENTIST FROM INDIA RECEIVED SALARY & BENEFITS WHILE BEING TRAINED AT SDBRI IN CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE IMMUNE SYSTEM CHANGES AS THE DISEASE PROGRESSES, AND HOW WE CAN INTERVENE TO STOP THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF CANCER PROGRESSION.DNA REPLICATION AND DISEASE DNA REPLICATES IN A HIGHLY ORGANIZED WAY IN HEALTHY CELLS. HOWEVER, IN UNHEALTHY CELLS, DNA REPLICATION IS MIS-REGULATED. SDBRI SCIENTISTS ARE WORKING TO UNDERSTAND HOW DNA REPLICATION IS MIS-REGULATED IN HUMAN DISEASE IN THE HOPES OF FINDING NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO PREVENTING AND REVERSING DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS:MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IS A DEBILITATING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE IN WHICH IMMUNE CELLS TRAVEL TO THE BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD AND DESTROY THE PROTECTIVE COATING THAT SURROUNDS NERVE FIBERS. WITHOUT THE PROTECTIVE COATING NERVES ARE UNABLE TO SEND MESSAGES TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY AND THIS CAUSES AN ARRAY OF DISORDERS INCLUDING NUMBNESS IN HANDS AND FEET, MUSCLE WEAKNESS, FATIGUE, AND BLURRED VISION. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE 2.3 MILLION PEOPLE WITH MS WORLDWIDE. THE GOAL OF OUR CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AT SDBRI IS TO IDENTIFY WAYS TO MANIPULATE AND STRENGTHEN BLOOD VESSELS SO THAT THE CELLS THAT CAUSE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) ARE UNABLE TO ENTER THE BRAIN. IN PARTICULAR WE SEEK TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE INTEGRITY OF BLOOD VESSELS IN THE BRAIN IS REGULATED BY: (I) PROTEINS OF THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) THAT SURROUND CELLS, AND (II) ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI SUCH AS MILD HYPOXIA. BY UNDERSTANDING THESE MECHANISMS, WE ARE ABLE TO DESIGN NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES AIMED AT INCREASING BLOOD SUPPLY AND REDUCING VASCULAR LEAK, THEREBY MAKING BLOOD VESSELS BETTER EQUIPPED TO PROTECT AGAINST NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE. IN 2021 WE FILED A PROVISIONAL PATENT FOR A DRUG THAT CAN REVERSE SYMPTOMS OF MS IN A PRE-CLINICAL MODEL. A STAFF SCIENTIST FROM BANGLADESH RECEIVED SALARY & BENEFITS WHILE BEING TRAINED AT SDBRI IN CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES TO LEARN HOW BLOOD VESSELS CAN BE STRENGTHENED AND REPAIRED AND HOW WE CAN USE THAT INFORMATION TO STOP AND REVERSE MS.