Tag: Moving Science

Southern Research launches philanthropic outreach with $500,000 gift

Posted on June 1, 2016

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Southern Research, a non-profit organization marking its 75th year of operation in 2016, today launched a broad-based philanthropic outreach initiative that includes a significant employee giving campaign.

The Southern Research employee give campaign is targeting $1 million in contributions over five years to fund innovative research programs, needed capital improvements, equipment purchases, and other potential uses.

To kick start the campaign, former President and CEO John A. “Jack” Secrist III, Ph.D., has pledged a donation of $500,000 to create the Encourage Innovation Fund. The fund will be used to enhance the organization’s ability to attract talented researchers and to help them thrive once they’re on board.

Secrist is a noted scientist who retired from Southern Research in 2013 after 34 years, including seven as its top leader. His research focused on the development of new anticancer, antiviral and antibacterial agents, and he is the co-inventor of clofarabine, an FDA-approved treatment for pediatric leukemia.

“Southern Research has played a prominent role in efforts to discover more effective treatments for cancer, make man’s journeys into space safer, and develop new technologies for a cleaner environment,” Secrist said. “From its beginning, the organization has been a hotbed of innovation, and supporting it today means that it will continue to make important contributions well into the future. We appreciate being part of that future.”

To show their firm support for the initiative, Southern Research’s entire leadership team – comprised of 33 officials, from the CEO to the director level – has agreed to participate in the employee give campaign.

Before today’s public announcement, the employee give campaign had quietly generated commitments totaling $145,000, all from the organization’s leadership team. Coupled with Secrist’s substantial contribution, Southern Research is making a strong push toward the campaign’s $1 million goal.

PHILANTHROPIC OUTREACH

In addition, Southern Research is taking steps to reconnect with the philanthropic community and with donors whose generosity enabled the organization founded in Birmingham in 1941 to become a world leader in cancer research and make noteworthy advances in other fields including clean energy, vaccine development and engineering.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Southern Research seeks charitable donations to complement its traditional funding stream of research grants and contracts secured from government and commercial sponsors.

“As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, and beyond, we’re looking forward to reengaging with the philanthropic community and with donors who have helped Southern Research make a difference in the world,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO. “In fact, our cancer research program, which has been instrumental in saving countless lives with drug discoveries and therapeutic breakthroughs, got its start in 1946 with a single $25,000 philanthropic gift.”

As part of this outreach, Southern Research recently brought Brynne MacCann on board to provide administrative and tactical support to the organization’s fund-raising strategy. MacCann previously served as vice president for development at the McWane Science Center, and, prior to McWane, in development roles at the Birmingham Museum of Art and the MS Society.

Today, Southern Research’s four operating divisions focus on drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and the environment. Its staff of more than 400 scientists, engineers and researchers work at facilities in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and Texas.

Southern Research was incorporated on Oct. 11, 1941, as the Alabama Research Institute, and its name was changed three years later to reflect its regional focus. Over the years, the organization has conducted work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and many others.

Not all mosquitoes are created equally

Posted on May 27, 2016

This may come as a surprise to some people, but there are over 3,500 different species of mosquitoes in the world. Of these, it is believed that approximately 175 can be found in the United States, two of which are known to serve as vectors for the Zika virus — the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. 

Aedes aegypti, also known as the yellow fever mosquito, is the primary species responsible for transmission of the Zika virus. It is an aggressive mosquito that originated in Africa, but has spread invasively throughout the equatorial and warmer regions of the world via modern trade routes. Unlike some mosquitoes, A. aegypti feed only on humans, and are capable of breeding virtually anywhere, requiring very little amounts of water in which to lay their eggs. This species also likes to live in urban environments, which has helped it emerge as such a highly effective vector for the spread of Zika across Brazil and throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Aedes albopictus, commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito, has long been known as a vector for dengue, yellow fever, and chikungunya. However, researchers in Mexico recently found it to also carry Zika. This discovery has led the global health community to question whether A. albopictus will exacerbate the rate and number of Zika outbreaks as we enter deeper into mosquito season.

A. albopictus differs from A. aegypti in two important ways. First, it can survive in more temperate climates and is, therefore, more widespread throughout the continental United States. It is also less aggressive towards humans, and known to enjoy feeding on birds and other animals. This means that even though A. albopictus is a source of concern, it is not believed to pose the same level of threat as A. aegypti.

Other distinctions of note

Unlike the Anopheles, or malaria mosquito, which only bites at night, A. aegypti and A. albopictus are day feeders and can breed virtually anywhere, requiring only small amounts of water in order for their eggs to hatch. Additionally, both species like to live near humans and can  often be found living in homes and under beds. Combined, these traits render traditional mosquito prevention methods — such as bed nets, fumigation, and staying indoors — as insufficient tools for effectively controlling the spread of Zika virus.

Fast facts about the A. aegypti and A. albopictus mosquitoes:

  • The average lifespan for the Ae. aegypti is only 10 days.
  • Females are the only mosquitos that take a blood meal.
  • Mosquitoes don’t actually “bite” — rather, their tubular mouth parts (proboscis) are used like needles.
  • When feeding, mosquitoes secrete saliva to prevent the blood from clotting.
  • An average female can lay 1,000 eggs in her lifetime.
  • They prefer to feed during the day.
  • It takes only a couple of infected mosquitoes to cause an outbreak.

To learn more about how to protect yourself from A. aegypti and A. albopictus, visit the CDC page on Zika prevention.

AIMTech unveils new ResistX Treadmill

Posted on May 26, 2016
AIMTech's ResistX treadmill will make its debut at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual conference.
AIMTech’s ResistX treadmill will make its debut at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual conference.

Following an intensive period of research and product development, the Alliance for Innovative Medical Technology (AIMTech) has quickly developed its first product. ResistX will be unveiled at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Boston May 31 through June 4.

AIMTech is a collaboration between Southern Research and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

ResistX is a unique force-induced treadmill designed with safety in mind and engineered for use in physical therapy and rehabilitation centers. It is the first treadmill to allow individuals recovering from neurological or physical disorders — such as injury, stroke, or surgery — to exercise in a challenging treadmill environment to improve cardiovascular fitness and lower limb strength. Thanks to a custom algorithm, the device employs resistive forces to increase the amount of work required by an individual to move under his or her own effort, and at a comfortable pace.

Additionally, in order to guard against injury, ResistX features a protective catching mechanism and padded backstop. These features ensure that if a user loses balance, he or she will not fall or be thrown from the device.

“ResistX is different from anything on the market, and represents a significant milestone for AIMTech and the physical therapy and rehab communities,” said Robert Hergenrother, Ph.D., director of AIMTech and Medical Technology Developments at Southern Research.

The project was accelerated by a $164,800 grant from the Alabama Innovation Fund — a program administered by the Alabama Department of Commerce that provides funding for promising research being conducted at Alabama universities and organizations.

“The Alabama Innovation Fund is a key component in our efforts to fuel the creation of ‘Made in Alabama’ products while also advancing our strategy of stimulating breakthrough research at universities and institutions across the state,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “The treadmill developed by the AIMTech joint venture is precisely the kind of product that aligns with the mission of our Innovation Fund.”

BORN TO FILL A UNIQUE MARKET NEED
The idea behind ResistX originated several years ago following a presentation by Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., and director of UAB’s Center for Exercise Medicine, involving a study of individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. Christopher Hurt, Ph.D., and Dave Brown, Ph.D. attended the talk as members of the UAB Department of Physical Therapy and immediately realized the need to develop a more effective way to conduct exercise tests for patients with disabilities.

Currently, clinical exercise tests can be difficult for individuals with gait or balance disabilities to perform. For anyone unable to tolerate treadmill tests, alternative methods of measuring estimated peak performance often include bike or recumbent ergometer tests, arm ergometer tests, or submaximal exercise tests. However, these tests have limited ability to provide an accurate estimation of a person’s actual peak performance.

“Individuals will self-limit their behaviors if they feel threatened or endangered in some way,” said Hurt, co-inventor and a UAB investigator on the project. “So, if you’re going to exercise without the safety of a support system, then you may limit the benefit of that exercise. If, however, people exercise in a safe environment, they may push themselves a little harder, may exercise a little longer, and may ultimately realize a better outcome.”

Additionally, while physical therapists are often able to assess or improve a patient’s fitness level through current methods, there is often limited benefit when it comes to improving one’s ability to walk.

“If you want to get good at throwing a ball, you don’t go out and practice kicking a soccer ball,” Hurt added. “In physical therapy, you need to focus on doing the thing you actually want to get better at. So, if a patient’s goal is to walk again, why can’t we provide a safe, yet challenging, system for the patient to practice walking?”

Woodway has been an integral partner with AIMTech for the ResistX treadmill.

WOODWAY COMMITMENT
This question led the UAB team to an AIMTech partnership with Southern Research and opened the door for Woodway to provide a treadmill for use in the development of a prototype. Woodway, the preeminent manufacturer of high performance treadmills used by elite athletes and in physical therapy settings around the world, also offered booth space at the American College of Sports Medicine to unveil the invention.

“The AIMTech partnership has been incredible because Southern Research has the expertise and unique ability to develop and bring a product to the market quickly,” said Brown, co-inventor. “But, a lot of credit also goes to Woodway for graciously donating a treadmill and the Alabama Innovation Fund for providing funding to make this possible.”

After ResistX is unveiled, it will return to Birmingham for use in a clinical setting, and become available for licensing.

“ResistX is a transformational rehabilitation tool that will help people develop the strength they need in order to be able to exercise by themselves again,” Brown said. “That’s our goal, and that’s the wish for every physical therapist dealing with a person who has a disability.”

ABOUT AIMTech
AIMTech is a collaboration between Southern Research and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to develop new medical devices to improve healthcare in the U.S. and around the globe. By combining the research and discovery expertise of Southern Research’s scientists and engineers, and UAB biomedical engineers and clinicians, AIMTech is designed to take a patient-centric approach to medical technology development in five key areas: Cardiology, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Rehabilitation Engineering, and Trauma. Additionally, with the close collaboration and in-house expertise of the two institutions, AIMTech is well positioned to bring new products to the market much quicker than under a traditional R&D environment.

 

Southern Research teams investigate Zika virus and its damaging mechanisms

Posted on May 3, 2016
Aedes aegypti mosquito
The Zika virus is carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Scientists at Southern Research are heavily involved in the global fight against Zika, and are examining five different strains of the virus in a broad-based effort to penetrate the mysteries of a virus that was seen as posing little threat before being linked to devastating neurological abnormalities in unborn children as well as other maladies.

Through this multi-pronged inquiry, infectious disease experts in the Drug Discovery and Drug Development divisions at Southern Research have engaged in basic and applied science to better understand Zika, while exploring how the mosquito-borne virus progresses in infected human neural cells. Scientists are also using these virus stocks to develop in vivo models to evaluate potential vaccines and treatments.

In March, Southern Research developed the first in vitro antiviral assay for the Zika virus, giving researchers and drug developers worldwide a testing platform for new compounds and biologics capable of interfering with Zika virus infection and replication by detecting the accumulation of progeny virus in cull culture supernatants.

Timothy Sellati, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Southern Research’s Drug Discovery division, said the Zika investigation aims to reveal the mechanisms that cause microcephaly, a rare disorder that causes a baby’s brain and head to be abnormally small.

“If we can understand how this virus affects normal human RNA, we may be able to develop therapeutics that can either eradicate the virus entirely or at least neutralize the virus’ ability to cause such severe damage to normal brain development,” Sellati said.

SUDDEN THREAT

Jonathan Rayner, director of Infectious Disease Research
Jonathan Rayner, director of Infectious Disease Research

After a surge in microcephaly cases in Brazil, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in April confirmed the link between the birth defect and Zika. The virus has also been recently associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition causing muscle weakness and temporary paralysis, as well as other illnesses in pediatric and adult populations.

“The more we learn about Zika, the more we realize how complex this virus truly is,” said Jonathan Rayner, Ph.D., Southern Research’s director of Infectious Disease Research. “While in the past, Zika was understood to be arthropod-borne virus associated with limited clinical pathology, we are now seeing increased transmission by previously unrecognized routes, including sexual transmission, and it is becoming increasingly associated with significant maladies in both newborns and adults.”

The virus was first identified in Uganda’s Zika Forest in 1947. Since this time, there have been several other outbreaks in various equatorial regions of the world, but Zika’s sudden emergence as a public-health hazard in the Americas makes developing a complete understanding of the virus a critical priority, Rayner said.

As part of that effort, Southern Research’s infectious disease researchers are studying five unique strains of the virus, each isolated in the geographic locations of a previous outbreak.

“One interesting question is whether, over this span of time, the Zika virus changed genetically in terms of its virulence and its ability to cause disease, particularly neurological diseases like microcephaly or Guillain-Barré Syndrome,” Sellati said.

“That’s a question we’re able to address in-house here at Southern Research.”

COORDINATED EFFORT

Southern Research is well positioned to take a leading role in the fight against Zika. With fully developed labs dedicated to drug discovery and drug development, the organization has deep experience in infectious disease research, including mosquito-borne viruses, and a longstanding history of exploring new drugs for a wide range of cancers and other maladies.

“We have a lot of experience working with other viruses in the same family as Zika,” Rayner said. “Dengue is a very good example. We have very active drug-screening programs against dengue and have developed the associated in vivo models to support drug development. West Nile virus is another example, as is Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever – we’ve established research programs and models for all of those.”

Tim Sellati, chair of Infectious Diseases, Drug Discovery.
Tim Sellati, chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases.

Sellati said teams of experts from various fields at Southern Research are collaborating on the Zika investigation, with the common goal of gaining insights that can combat the virus’ harmful spread.

“When you see the tiny brains, the tiny skulls of these children born with microcephaly, it’s amazing how devastating this viral infection on the normal development of the cerebral cortex,” he said. “We hope our research will help the scientific community better understand the aggressive nature of this virus, as we work collectively to fight its spread and develop effective therapeutic approaches.”

The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) program at Southern Research is poised to assist Sellati and Rayner as a partner in this effort. Researchers in the organization’s DART program have decades of experience and expertise, which will be invaluable assets in the program to determine how Zika is able to interrupt normal brain development.

“Once we have a better understanding of the complex interactions between the Zika-infected mother and child, we can help define a strategy to effectively prevent or mitigate Zika-induced birth defects,” said Paul Bushdid, DART program leader.

Space Shuttle anniversary: How Southern Research helped the program log 542 million miles

Posted on April 29, 2016

NASA’s Space Shuttle blasted off for the first time 35 years ago, and engineers and scientists from Southern Research made critical contributions to the program during a journey that spanned three decades and a half-billion miles.

In fact, by the time Columbia rose from Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981, Southern Research’s engineers had been working on the project for nine years, testing materials that would allow the new spacecraft to withstand the extreme conditions of lift-off and re-entry.

The Birmingham-based organization’s involvement in the Shuttle program didn’t end with the launch that day. In coming years, its engineers remedied a potentially catastrophic rocket nozzle problem and helped NASA prevent a replay of the events that doomed Columbia in 2003, among other things.

“Southern Research’s work on NASA’s Space Shuttle really started with the inception of the program,” said Michael D. Johns, the organization’s vice president of Engineering. “Over many years, we remained on the critical path for material development and understanding of the complex systems required to get people and payloads to space.”

Johns was on the engineering team that evaluated ablative materials used to protect the Shuttle from the high thermal loads and 5,500-degree temperatures generated by its massive solid rocket motors.

The Space Transportation System (STS), as the Shuttle was officially known, flew 130 missions over 30 years, covering 542 million miles and making 21,000 earth orbits, according to a NASA history. Its missions included a critical repair to the Hubble Space Telescope’s mirror and the launch of the Magellan probe to Venus.

EVALUATING MATERIALS

The Shuttle program was not the first time Southern Research had focused on manned space flight.

Its engineers helped NASA select heat-shield materials used in the Apollo program after exposing material specimens to conditions similar to a fiery re-entry. The tensile properties of these materials were tested at temperatures up to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

While working on Apollo, Southern Research developed devices to take temperature readings needed to select landing sites on the moon’s surface, and to measure heating rates on the Saturn booster exit. It also operated an engineering materials lab at Kennedy Space Center to provide technical support to NASA contractors.

As the Shuttle program got under way, the ability of Southern Research engineers to evaluate materials in extreme environments once again played a vital role. One example was the carbon-carbon composite leading edges of the orbiter, which experienced temperatures ranging from –150 degrees to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit on every flight.

Other divisions at Southern Research also worked on the Shuttle program leading up to the first launch.

Analytical chemists, for example, conducted tests that identified compounds in charred insulation, while chemists and toxicologists determined the harmful properties of burned insulation.

In one case, Southern Research’s analytical chemists were able to steer NASA away from using a polyurethane insulating foam with a flame-retardant additive because tests showed it produced toxic fumes when burned.

RECOVERY REMEDIES

Southern Research’s engineering team also made important contributions in post-flight incident investigations.

After the STS-8 mission in 1983, an inspection of the boosters revealed that a three-inch lining protecting the rocket nozzle had almost burned away, leaving just a few seconds of firing time before a catastrophic rupture would have occurred.

A group of Southern Research engineers led by John Koenig studied the unexpected event. They identified why the rocket nozzle erosion occurred and provided guidance for material design and process changes to prevent the defect. They even developed a unique laser screening test to ensure there was no repeat.

NASA again called in Koenig and the Southern Research team after Columbia broke up on re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.

Koenig and the team helped determine how the disaster occurred and modeled the impact event that damaged the Shuttle’s wing, allowing in super-heated gasses that destroyed the support structure. Koenig’s group also developed approaches to repair a wing in space if damage occurred on a future mission.

“The unique talents of Southern Research’s engineers were integral, and, in some cases, enabling for the design, operation and recovery from the flight anomalies and accidents that occurred during the Shuttle program,” Johns said.

In addition, Southern Research developed technology to help the Shuttle program return to space two years after the Columbia accident.

Its Airborne Imaging and Recording System (AIRS) turrets, mounted on WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft circling above Cape Kennedy on July 26, 2005, captured full-motion video of Space Shuttle Discovery’s launch to well beyond booster separation at 146,000 feet. The video provided new insights into conditions at lift-off.

Today, Southern Research is making contributions to NASA’s Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever developed.

Johns, who serves on NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Technology, Innovation and Engineering Committee, said Southern Research is well positioned to participate in the nation’s space program for decades to come.

Ruby James: Trailblazer in the Southern Research chemistry labs

Posted on March 28, 2016
Ruby James works in Southern Research lab
Ruby James

Ruby James was a chemistry major at Birmingham-Southern College when she got her first glimpse of the laboratories at Southern Research Institute. The tour opened her eyes to the power of applied chemistry.

“I was extremely impressed, and it encouraged me to want to know more and to be a part of the institute,” James later recalled.

When she joined Southern Research in the early 1950s, the labs, manned by a half-dozen chemists, were in the Morris-Cartwright House that served as the institute’s headquarters. Four decades later, James retired as head of the analytical chemistry department at Southern Research, her instinct about applied chemistry completely validated.

“It was probably the most exciting thing in my life to come and work for the institute, and that was 40 years ago,” she said in 1991. “I still feel that excitement about the institute.”

To mark Women’s History Month, Southern Research is remembering some of the female scientists who helped the Birmingham-based organization make discoveries that led to safer space flight, effective cancer treatments and many other advances over its 75 years.

“Ruby James was a trailblazer at Southern Research whose work in our chemical labs earned her respect in a traditionally male-dominated field,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO. “Her long-lasting contributions, along with those of our other women scientists, helped to position the institute as a premier research organization with international recognition.”

She joined Southern Research at a time when there were few jobs for female chemists in Birmingham, and most industrial chemistry labs didn’t even have a women’s restroom.

FUMING ACID

James’ first project at Southern Research involved working with red fuming nitric acid – a corrosive, combustible concoction used for rocket propulsion. The team was attempting to measure water in the acid because too much moisture would render it useless as an oxidizer for rocket fuel.

The acid “was as bad as anything you could possibly work with,” she admitted.

At one point, after the supplier quit manufacturing the fuming acid, James had to distill it herself at the Southern Research labs because the supplier quit manufacturing it. One chilly day, she had to open the windows in the lab to get the conditions right for producing the acid – an innovative move not appreciated by shivering co-workers.

“Sometimes you do things scientifically that do not appear to the casual observer to be so,” she recalled.

In the 1960s, James became involved in the space race. Southern Research won a contract to staff an engineering materials lab at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo program. The lab provided technical support to the contractors helping NASA to launch giant Saturn rockets.

By this time, she had become Southern Research’s specialist in gas chromatography, a means to separate the different components of a mixture by forcing gas through a column.

“Since it was a new technique, they did not have anyone trained in that area, and so they asked me to go – and I was happy to go,” James recalled in 1991. “I bought a house, moved my family, and lived in Florida for two years.”

FAR-SIGHTED RESEARCH

Soon after her retirement at Southern Research, James looked back at the cutting-edge work performed in Birmingham, much of the investigation far ahead of its time.

Beginning in the 1950s, this included looking at the health and safety of food products, water toxicity, hazardous waste, and air pollution, along with many other topics that grew in importance over time, she recalled. In addition, there were key contributions to the nation’s space program, starting in the early days.

For James, the groundbreaking work showed just “how important it was for a research organization to be formed here when it was formed.”

Mary Trader: Unraveling leukemia’s mysteries in a Southern Research lab

Posted on March 28, 2016
Mary Trader
Mary Trader

When Mary Trader joined Southern Research in 1966, she had a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Mary’s Dominican College in her hometown of New Orleans and plans to stick around for one year.

Trader’s one year blossomed into a long career at Southern Research that saw her rise to head the Experimental Leukemia Section, where she played a significant role in the institute’s pioneering chemotherapy work.

“You can’t help but feel you have made some contribution to eradicating a dread disease,” Trader recalled in a 1981 interview marking her 25th year at Southern Research.

Because March is Women’s History Month, Southern Research is highlighting the contributions of several of the organization’s prominent female scientists over its 75 years of operation.

“Southern Research has been fortunate to have employed many great women scientists like Mary Trader in its history,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO. “Their careful and thoughtful work in our labs has deepened the scientific community’s understanding of cancer and other diseases.”

Trader’s career at Southern Research began as the search for new cancer-fighting drugs accelerated in its Birmingham labs, thanks to a steady stream of funding from the National Cancer Institute. For Trader, the first few years were spent in a crowded lab in the Ingalls West building.

“At the beginning of the screening program, there was already a backlog of drugs that had never been tested against cancer,” she recalled. “We had a field day testing everything the government had to send us.”

IN THE LAB

In 1973, Trader was appointed head of the Experimental Leukemia Section. Her lab conducted work in mouse leukemia that contributed to improved cancer treatments, particularly of acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL.

In those days, ALL spread rapidly and often fatally in children, but because of advances coming from Southern Research and other organizations, survival rates began to rise sharply.

The work performed by Trader’s team contributed to these advances in several ways. For one thing, her lab developed at least 20 lines of drug-resistant leukemias that proved useful in testing drug treatments. These resistant forms of leukemia were utilized in biochemistry and cell culture studies to expose the mechanism of drug resistance.

“We want to know why a drug does not work in a person’s body and what happens to it,” Trader said in 1980.

In addition, extensive testing carried out in Trader’s lab demonstrated the validity of famed Southern Research cancer researcher Dr. Howard Skipper’s theory that just one cancer cell can trigger the fatal disease. Skipper introduced the concept that every single cancer cell must be eliminated to ensure the survival of the patient.

“This added some basic knowledge to understanding the magnitude of the disease of cancer,” Trader recalled.

Her lab also conducted studies on combination chemotherapy that explored how new and existing drugs could be used together or in sequence as an effective treatment regimen for leukemia and many different forms of cancer.

“Everything we have learned — proper scheduling of drugs, problems of drug resistance and demonstration of one cancer cell’s impact — has tied in with increasingly successful treatment of children with leukemia,” Trader said in 1980.

‘INSTANT RECALL’

Soon after marking 30 years at Southern Research, Trader died from a heart attack in 1987. She was 64 years old.

Dr. Russell Laster, then head of the institute’s Cancer Screening Division, noted her immense contribution to the organization’s work. “She was like a computer with 30 years of storage and instant recall, and you can’t replace that.”

During her career as an experimental cancer chemotherapist, Trader contributed to at least 30 scientific papers, including several with Skipper and another prominent figure in cancer research, Dr. Frank Schabel. She also presented her leukemia findings at national meetings held by the American Association for Cancer Research and others.

E.A. Dulmadge: Pursuing a research dream and attacking cancer

Posted on March 28, 2016

Elizabeth Ann Dulmadge – E.A., as she was known to her friends — arrived at Southern Research Institute in 1956 with more than a decade of experience in a clinical microbiology laboratory. She soon became involved in a significant new area of inquiry for the institute: cancer research.

Over several decades, Dulmadge’s work in Southern Research’s anticancer drug screening program helped the Birmingham-based organization make important strides in the battle against a disease doctors still struggle to understand.

To mark Women’s History Month, Southern Research is highlighting the careers of some of the female scientists and technicians who have made meaningful contributions to the institute over its 75 years of scientific investigation.

“E.A. Dulmadge should be an inspiration to many young people today, particularly girls interested in science,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research. “E.A. pursued her dream of conducting research that could help save lives, and her valuable work over many years accomplished that.”

Dulmadge came to the institute after earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Birmingham-Southern College and working for 11 years as supervisor of the clinical microbiology lab at University Hospital, now UAB.

“I wanted more of a challenge to see what I could do,” she recalled in a 1981 interview to mark her 25th anniversary at Southern Research.

CELL CULTURE WORK

Her sense of timing in 1956 was ideal. After arriving at Southern Research, she spent six months testing antiviral agents for pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis, then transferred to the institute’s fledgling anticancer drug screening program.

She worked alongside Dr. Frank Schabel, whose groundbreaking research with Dr. Howard Skipper and others at Southern Research advanced the role of chemotherapy as an effective cancer treatment and expanded the understanding of how to better counter the disease.

“Dr. Schabel put me in charge of the cell culture work since my background in microbiology was an excellent prerequisite for this type of work,” she recalled.

In those days, pharmaceutical companies were developing large numbers of synthetic drugs, and it was up to Southern Research to test them for the National Cancer Institute. Dulmadge and the team annually screened 5,000 to 7,000 compounds in cell cultures – cells grown under controlled conditions, perfect for experimental studies.

Over the years, she continued her work with cell cultures, investigating the effects of antitumor agents on laboratory-grown tumors and studying cells resistant to anticancer agents. Her inquiries included an extensive look into tumor stem cells, or those cells that give rise to cancer. She also developed effective methods of growing tumor colonies for the screening tests.

ANTICANCER ADVANCES

Dulmadge, who contributed to at least two dozen scientific papers with her Southern Research colleagues, felt a deep sense of accomplishment in the institute’s chemotherapy research.

“I think of how much more we know about cancer chemotherapy now that we did in the beginning of the program,” she said in the 1981 interview. “It’s been a privilege to work here.”

Dulmadge retired in 1992, after 36 years at Southern Research. At her death, she left a majority of her estate to Birmingham-Southern, which created the Elizabeth A. Dulmadge Scholarship Fund in 2004 for students majoring in biology or music.

Southern Research’s anticancer drug expertise has led to the discovery of six FDA-approved medicines that treat the disease. The organization remains a key player in cancer research, having received more than $90 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health over the past two decades.

Southern Research works to recover rare earth elements from coal ash

Posted on February 4, 2016
Jay Renew, principal investigator at the Water Research Center, works on column leaching experiments with coal combustion products. Southern Research is working to recover REES from coal combustion products.
Jay Renew, principal investigator at the Water Research Center, works on column leaching experiments with coal combustion products. Southern Research is working to recover REES from coal combustion products.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – February 4, 2016 – Southern Research is using $1 million in federal funding to develop and test a method to extract valuable rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash, the minuscule waste particles captured by anti-pollution devices in coal-fired power plants.

Southern Research’s Energy & Environment division is launching the work amid concerns about the U.S.’s near-total reliance on foreign sources for REEs, which are used in high-tech products ranging from smartphones to missile systems. At the same time, questions are emerging about the destructive environmental impact of mining for these and other elements, as well as the human toll of those mining operations in the developing world.

Southern Research scientists are focusing on the development of a plasma-based process to recover these strategically important elements from post-combustion ash originating from bituminous coal mined in the Eastern U.S. The scientists will carry out testing to evaluate two concepts for recovering REEs from coal fly ash utilizing a plasma-arc technology. The first concept involves a smelting process and the second includes element volatilization and sequential condensation.

To support its research into the recovery of REEs from coal and coal byproducts, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in December 2015 awarded the Birmingham-based organization $1 million in Phase 1 funding for the project. Nearly $300,000 in funding from other public and private sources complements the NETL support.

NETL is providing funding for a total of 10 projects that focus on developing cost-effective and environmentally benign methods for recovering REEs from domestic coal. NETL plans to select no more than four of these projects for around $6.5 million in Phase 2 funding, which targets technology that will lead to the economical recovery of rare earth elements at scale.

“Our innovative development work to recover rare earth elements and metals such as lithium from waste streams has the potential to deliver significant and long-lasting benefits,” said Bill Grieco, vice president of Southern Research’s Energy & Environment division. “While we are concentrating on providing a domestic source for these elements, our work could also serve to mitigate environmental problems and human rights abuses associated with the mining of these elements around the globe.”

SPECIAL PROPERTIES

REEs are a series of chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust that are widely used because of their special properties. The elements are utilized by technology companies and advanced manufacturers as catalysts in chemical processes, as strong permanent magnets in electric motors for electric and hybrid vehicles, as phosphors to illuminate displays in televisions, mobile phones and laptops, and in rechargeable batteries.

In addition, REEs have important military applications in jet fighter engines and various missile systems, requiring high-temperature materials.

With China accounting for around 90 percent of global production of REEs, national security concerns were raised in Washington about their access after Beijing imposed export restrictions in 2009. The export quotas were lifted last year — but not before triggering a World Trade Organization case and intensifying the search for new U.S. production sources.

Southern Research’s project to recover REEs from coal fly ash stands in stark contrast to conventional mining techniques. Existing REE mining processes are environmentally costly. REE mining usually includes open pit mining, which is a source of three major contaminants: radionuclides (including thorium and uranium), dust, and metals. These mines also require the disposal of solid wastes such as tailing and waste rock stockpiles that can also release contaminants to the environment.

The proposed technology in this project does not include mining, since the coal fly ash will already be at the surface. In addition, the coal fly ash does not have to be milled due to its small particle size (typically 2 to 10 µm). The proposed technology is also designed to be part of a vitrification process for coal fly ash to reduce metal leaching.

Hence, the REE recovery process could be part of an integrated system that positively impacts the environment by producing REEs in a more sustainable and environmentally benign way. The process would also generate solid byproduct materials that leach less contaminants, making them more stable than the original coal fly ash used as feedstock for the process.

RECOVERING LITHIUM

Meanwhile, the Energy & Environment division’s Water Research Center is also involved in another project to recover REEs. In 2014, the Department of Energy awarded Southern Research $500,000 in funding for a project focusing on the recovery of lithium – a light metal that never occurs freely in nature – from geothermal brines.

In that project, Southern Research is working on an innovative system to provide renewable energy to the grid and extract high-value lithium from low-temperature geothermal fluids. Southern Research is currently applying for the project’s second phase, which will expand the recovery effort to REEs, cobalt and nickel.

As with rare earths, cobalt mining practices have been mired in controversy. In early January, Amnesty International and Afrewatch issued a report charging that children as young as 7 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are working in perilous conditions to produce cobalt used in the lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones and electric cars.

About Southern Research
Southern Research is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with more than 400 scientists and engineers working across four divisions: drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and environment. We work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and other private and government organizations as we solve the world’s hardest problems. SR, founded in 1941, is headquartered in Birmingham with additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Alabama; Frederick, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Cartersville, Georgia; and Houston. Visit southernresearch.org for more information.

Pharmaceutical-Biotech Veteran Dan Hayden Joins Southern Research Board of Directors

Posted on November 17, 2015
Dan Hayen, Southern Research Board of Directors member
Dan Hayden, Southern Research Board of Directors member

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – November 17, 2015 – Southern Research announced today that Daniel O. Hayden has been appointed to its board of directors, effective November 10, 2015. Hayden brings almost 40 years of expertise in the biotechnology-pharmaceutical industry and joins a prestigious group of leaders in the business, financial, medical, and academic sectors on the SR Board. His involvement with both for-profit and non-profit entities complements Southern Research’s portfolio of both government and commercial clients.

In his extensive career he has grown an international business, cultivated several commercial-based businesses, and developed tremendous operational knowledge. In 2011, he retired as senior vice president and general manager of the Pharmaceuticals Division from the Genzyme Corporation, now a Sanofi Company. He then transitioned into the nonprofit world with more than five years’ experience as a management advisor, interim executive director, and board member at FightSMA. Hayden is currently an independent management consultant specializing in the commercialization of branded and generic pharmaceutical drugs, custom manufacturing including small molecules, CNS drug delivery technologies, and specialty pharma-chemical materials.

Notably, Hayden is the first Southern Research board member to reside outside of Alabama in several decades. In the organization’s early 75 years of history, the board and advisory council maintained a more national composition, with members including inventor Charles F. Kettering, General Motors magnate Alfred P. Sloan, and IBM leader and visionary Thomas J. Watson.

Southern Research presently has robust capabilities at the board level across key industries. More recently, the strategy has been to add subject matter experts in each of the industries that the organization serves: drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and environment. In 2014, the board elected subject matter experts from both the defense and the energy sectors, with Hayden’s recent appointment representing the drug development sector.

“As we drive more commercial business in the life sciences sector, and as we look to license drug candidates from our robust drug discovery pipeline, Dan brings a high level of expertise that will help these endeavors,” said Arthur J. Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO, Southern Research. “I have known Dan for over 10 years and developed a strong respect for him in many areas, particularly in his strategic vision and broad sales-based approach to business opportunities. I look forward to those skills helping at Southern Research.”

“Dan brings a unique and valuable perspective to Southern Research and to our board,” said Ray L. Watts, M.D., board chair and president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “His combined experience in major leadership roles in both the pharmaceutical industry and non-profit organizations is a good fit for Southern Research, which is working on solutions for major real world problems in the life sciences/medicine, energy and engineering industries.”

 

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