Recent developments at the Burnham...( New Focus on Childrens Health B...),Health

Burnham Institute for Medical Research will unveil the new Sanford Childrens Health Research Center at a ceremony on Burnhams campus on Friday, April 25. Fred Levine, M.D., Ph.D., director of the center, will introduce the newly appointed Sanford Investigators. The center was established to facilitate collaboration between Burnham and Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The center was made possible by a $20 million donation from philanthropist Denny Sanford and facilitated by Sanford Health.

Fruit flies may hold the key to understanding heart disease in humans. A new model for the study of dilated cardiomyopathy has been developed by Dr. Rolf Bodmer by knocking out the Distrophin gene in the common fruit fly. The fruit fly model will allow for rapid identification of markers for the disease, as well as testing for potential new therapies.

Dr. John Reed and his graduate student Lorena Puto have identified a new mechanism of epigenetic control of gene expression that may be associated with cancer and neurodegeneration. Epigenetic therapies are already in clinical use for the treatment of cancer, and understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic control of gene expression may help determine which tumors will respond best to an epigenetic therapy.

A new mouse model for the study of Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), a type of muscular dystrophy, has been developed by Dr. Zeev Ronai and a worldwide team of researchers. The protein RNF5 is over-produced in the mice, resulting in extensive muscle damage similar to that seen in IBM patients. The IBM mouse model will allow researchers to further study the mechanisms underlying development of the disease, as well as test potential new therapies.