Foundations
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from U.S. foundations.
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Drs. Mehmet Altan, Valsamo Anagnostou, and Zofia Piotrowska Receive 2017 LUNGevity Career Development Awards
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- The LUNGevity Foundation issued the following news release:
LUNGevity Foundation today announced the recipients of its 2017 Career Development Awards (CDA) for lung cancer research. These coveted awards fund critical lung cancer research projects and offer the recipients world-class mentorship by LUNGevity's prestigious Scientific Advisory Board.
"LUNGevity created the CDAs to identify outstanding scientists early in their careers and encourage their continued development in the field of lung cancer research to grow a strong pipeline of dedicated lung cancer researchers,"
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- The LUNGevity Foundation issued the following news release:
LUNGevity Foundation today announced the recipients of its 2017 Career Development Awards (CDA) for lung cancer research. These coveted awards fund critical lung cancer research projects and offer the recipients world-class mentorship by LUNGevity's prestigious Scientific Advisory Board.
"LUNGevity created the CDAs to identify outstanding scientists early in their careers and encourage their continued development in the field of lung cancer research to grow a strong pipeline of dedicated lung cancer researchers,"says Charles Rudin, MD, PhD, Professor and Chief, Thoracic Oncology Service, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and chair of LUNGevity's Scientific Advisory Board. "We work closely with these researchers with the hope of seeing them become the next generation of scientific superstars."
LUNGevity is proud to support the following researchers its 2017 Career Development Awards:
Mehmet Altan, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Identification of predictive markers of toxicity to immunotherapy. Dr. Altan will work to develop a way to predict which patients are most likely to develop serious side effects from some types of immunotherapy - these side effects can limit use of the treatments. Once patients can be flagged as high-risk for tissue damage, measures can be taken to limit the tissue damage proactively; patients may then experience better outcomes with their immunotherapy.
Valsamo Anagnostou, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Dynamics of neoantigen landscape during immunotherapy in lung cancer. Dr. Anagnostou will leverage an existing clinical trial to discover why some patients become resistant to immunotherapy and to get a handle on how to help them overcome the resistance.
Zofia Piotrowska, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Overcoming heterogeneity and resistance in EGFR-mutant NSCLC. Dr. Piotrowska intends to uncover the reason a subset of lung cancer patients develop resistance to their best option for treatment: a third-generation EGFR-blocking tyrosine kinase inhibitor drug. In addition, she will study a new combination of drugs in a clinical trial that may help patients who develop this type of drug resistance.
"We have seen a lot of great progress in treating lung cancer, and we still need to better understand how lung cancer develops resistance to drugs, and why some patients experience side effects from treatment," notes Upal Basu Roy, PhD, MPH, director of LUNGevity's translational science research program. "Our funding this year's group of awardees will help make progress in facing these challenges and continue to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients."
Each of these prestigious three-year awards is for $100,000 per year, renewable in the second and third years based on research progress. Awardees serve as non-voting members of LUNGevity's distinguished Scientific Advisory Board for the terms of their awards. Awardees are mentored by senior lung cancer experts at their own institutions as well as by experts from the Scientific Advisory Board.
Under the guidance of LUNGevity's Scientific Advisory Board, a group of 21 prominent scientists and researchers, LUNGevity ensures that grants are awarded to the researchers whose proposals demonstrate the greatest potential for finding lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable phase, as well as extending and improving lives for lung cancer survivors.
LUNGevity is the only lung cancer organization with a programmatic focus on early detection and a robust Career Development Award Program. Our researchers are working on finding a better way to detect lung cancer, and to better diagnose, treat, and prevent its recurrence. The foundation's overall research program, including CDA awards, is a crucial factor in moving the science forward to improve outcomes for people living with lung cancer.
New USFS Chief Strong Leader for the Nation's Forests
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 -- The American Forest Foundation issued the following news release:
Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Tony Tooke. Tooke previously served as Regional Forester in the Forest Service's Southern Region.
In regards to this announcement, Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation released the following statement:
"Tony is a great choice to lead the Forest Service. Our forests face unprecedented challenges from wildfire, insects and disease, and need the kind of leadership Tony can bring. With
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 -- The American Forest Foundation issued the following news release:
Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Tony Tooke. Tooke previously served as Regional Forester in the Forest Service's Southern Region.
In regards to this announcement, Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation released the following statement:
"Tony is a great choice to lead the Forest Service. Our forests face unprecedented challenges from wildfire, insects and disease, and need the kind of leadership Tony can bring. Withmore of America's forests owned by families and individuals than the federal government, its critical we have a leader in the Forest Service who works with not only with our national forests, but also with private landowners, forest industry, state agencies and conservation interests to restore our lands."
"Tony has long worked to grow rural forest-based economies while protecting our environment. He is trusted by his colleagues and respected by all for what he has accomplished in his career. We look forward to partnering with Tony on the next phase of his life's work."
Joseph Rowntree Foundation Responds to Child Poverty Action Group Report
YORK, United Kingdom, Aug. 21 -- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation issued the following statement by Head of Policy Katie Schmuecker:
"Today's report reveals the pressures faced by families on low incomes. Rising inflation, combined with a 0.5% fall in real earnings and a freeze on working age benefits, means that tough times are set to get even tougher.
"The Budget later this year will be a key test of the government's commitment to helping families who are just managing, and those who are barely managing at all.
"By ending the freeze on working age benefits and reversing the two child limit on
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YORK, United Kingdom, Aug. 21 -- The Joseph Rowntree Foundation issued the following statement by Head of Policy Katie Schmuecker:
"Today's report reveals the pressures faced by families on low incomes. Rising inflation, combined with a 0.5% fall in real earnings and a freeze on working age benefits, means that tough times are set to get even tougher.
"The Budget later this year will be a key test of the government's commitment to helping families who are just managing, and those who are barely managing at all.
"By ending the freeze on working age benefits and reversing the two child limit onUniversal Credit the Government can give low income families much-needed respite from the strain on their living standards."
Community Fund Awards Grants for 2017
SCHROON LAKE, N.Y., Aug. 21 -- The Adirondack Foundation issued the following news release:
The Community Fund for the Gore Mountain Region (CFGMR) has awarded grants totaling $15,020 to 19 organizations.
This year's grant recipients will be honored at a ceremony at Seagle Music Colony at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25.
"Our grants this year reflect the diverse needs of the region's communities," said Mindy Preuniger, chair of CFGMR's Advisory Committee. "From support for families in need and veterans to the arts, recreation, community infrastructure, and more, the community fund is truly working to
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SCHROON LAKE, N.Y., Aug. 21 -- The Adirondack Foundation issued the following news release:
The Community Fund for the Gore Mountain Region (CFGMR) has awarded grants totaling $15,020 to 19 organizations.
This year's grant recipients will be honored at a ceremony at Seagle Music Colony at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25.
"Our grants this year reflect the diverse needs of the region's communities," said Mindy Preuniger, chair of CFGMR's Advisory Committee. "From support for families in need and veterans to the arts, recreation, community infrastructure, and more, the community fund is truly working tomake life better here."
CFGMR was established in 2005 by a group of concerned residents who partnered with Adirondack Foundation to create a permanent charitable grantmaking fund to support effective programs to meet pressing needs and improve the quality of life in the towns of Chester, Horicon, Johnsburg, Minerva and Schroon. CFGMR supports community needs and opportunities such as historic preservation, education, community beautification, culture and the arts, as well as programs for youth, senior citizens and veterans.
The Minerva Youth Program received a CFGMR grant this year to support additional learning experiences within its summer program, which includes swimming instruction, crafts, entertainment and educational presentations. A portion of this named grant is made in honor of Woody Widlund's lifelong dedication to working with young people.
"This year we are seeking to raise the bar and look a bit farther afield for our summer learning," said Danae Tucker of the Minerva Youth Commission. "We plan to host a number of interactive, fee-based presentations from museums and other experts. We're thankful for the community fund's support in expanding opportunities for our youth."
Tannery Pond Center received a grant in 2017 to expand cultural arts programming to attract more local and regional participation. This named grant is made in honor and memory of Ernest Johnson, who was a supporter of arts and humanities.
"This grant makes it possible for us to reach out to our veteran population to present a special Veterans Day concert performed by the popular and Grammy Award-winning band Professor Louie & the Crowmatix," said Executive Director Deborah Zack. "The grant further enables TPC to extend free admission to all vets in honor of their service."
Grants were also awarded to the following organizations:
* Adirondack Shakespeare Company, for the production of Hamlet for Gore area students in 2017.
* Adirondack Community Outreach Center, for the Johnsburg Food Pantry's Personal Care Pantry in 2017. This grant is made in honor of the McGee Whitney Family; the McGee Whitney Family named grants support areas of greatest need in the CFGMR service region.
* Adirondack Community Outreach Center, for database and donor management expansion.
* Adirondack Marathon, for community support and services for the Adirondack Marathon Distance Festival.
* Adirondack Tri-County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, for the Musical Entertainment for Our Residents project in 2017.
* Creative Healing Connections, to assist more elderly, female veteran participants in CHC's Arts & Healing programs in 2017. This named grant is made in honor and memory of Wanda Callihan.
* Johnsburg Fine Arts, for the North Creek Mosaic Project.
* Johnsburg Historical Society in support of increased community demand for Johnsburg Historical Society newsletters.
* Johnsburg Youth Committee, for the school year activities program in 2017-18. A portion of this named grant is made in honor of Woody Widlund's lifelong dedication to working with young people.
* North Creek Railway Depot Preservation Association for a computer/software upgrade for the museum.
* Schroon Lake Central School, for the Intergenerational Reading Club project.
* Schroon Lake Central School, toward a trip to Adirondack Experience museum.
* Seagle Music Colony in support of "Little Red's Most Unusual Day," an opera for children.
* Town of Chester Public Library, for community technical support services and troubleshooting for personal devices.
* Town of Horicon, for the Heintzelman Library Preservation project.
* Town of Johnsburg Library, for solar panels.
* Town of Minerva, for the Clear Communications Screen Purchase project.
2017 Salzburg Trilogue: Actively Managing Globalization
GUTERSLOH, Germany, Aug. 21 -- The Bertelsmann Foundation issued the following news release:
The 2017 Salzburg Trilogue, sponsored organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, dealt with the complex phenomena presented by globalization. The topic of the conference was "A Closer Look at Globalization - The Positive and Negative Facets of a Complex Phenomenon." The debate focused not only on international trade and manufacturing, but also on the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, the reciprocal influences of cultures and traditions, as well as international migration.
The 29 participants from 15 countries
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GUTERSLOH, Germany, Aug. 21 -- The Bertelsmann Foundation issued the following news release:
The 2017 Salzburg Trilogue, sponsored organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, dealt with the complex phenomena presented by globalization. The topic of the conference was "A Closer Look at Globalization - The Positive and Negative Facets of a Complex Phenomenon." The debate focused not only on international trade and manufacturing, but also on the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, the reciprocal influences of cultures and traditions, as well as international migration.
The 29 participants from 15 countriescame to the conclusion that politics, business and culture need to actively engage with the challenges of globalization. Their central demand: to more closely pursue the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDG) in order to safeguard standards in the key areas of sustainability, business ethics, and the rule of law. After two rounds of intense discussions, the participants agreed that actively shaping the future of globalization was the way forward. It was necessary to learn from the past and develop strategies for managing globalization.
Liz Mohn, initiator of the Salzburg Trilogue, underscored this at the beginning of the event: "Globalization's accelerating pace over the last decades has amplified the interdependence of countries, regions and continents, while the parallel expansion of international trade relations has surely contributed to prosperity and thereby also world peace. Never before have people around the world enjoyed so many opportunities for development. Never before has the risk of being impacted by the repercussions of a crisis been so great. Hence, many are anxious about what the future holds and want for orientation. We are lacking common goals. We therefore have to ask ourselves: What are the goals of globalization?"
The participants adopted the Salzburg Recommendations at the end of the conference, which will be conveyed to EU institutions as well as international organizations after the Trilogue. These recommendations aim to support local and regional entities, as well as individuals, to cope better with managing change. Education opportunities were identified as essential for dealing positively with the effects of globalization. Defining concrete goals for globalization should help preserve the positive effects of globalization. This would include fair and sustainable international trade, courses of action for legal migration and against illegal migration, and the potential for collaboration to combat international crime and the shadow economy. At the same time, attention should be paid to the legitimate concerns and fears stemming from the negative effects of globalization.
Additional information
The Bertelsmann Stiftung's Salzburg Trilogue took place for the 16th time this year. This annual event brings together a small circle of international figures to address shifting future-oriented issues. This exchange of ideas, initiated by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, foregrounds diverse perspectives from business, politics and culture. Through dedicated discussions about values and principles, the trilogue has established itself as an extraordinary event over the years.
New State-Level Jobs Report Shows Texas Job Creation Continues to Lead Nation
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 18 -- Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement by Economist Vance Ginn on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-level labor market information for July 2017:
"July was another strong month of job creation in the Lone Star State. With 19,600 net nonfarm jobs created in Texas last month, the total of 293,400 net new jobs in the last twelve months tops every other state.
"This increases the remarkable pace of positive job creation to 78 of the last 82 months, contributing to an unemployment rate that's been at or below 5 percent for 37 straight
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AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 18 -- Texas Public Policy Foundation issued the following statement by Economist Vance Ginn on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-level labor market information for July 2017:
"July was another strong month of job creation in the Lone Star State. With 19,600 net nonfarm jobs created in Texas last month, the total of 293,400 net new jobs in the last twelve months tops every other state.
"This increases the remarkable pace of positive job creation to 78 of the last 82 months, contributing to an unemployment rate that's been at or below 5 percent for 37 straightmonths, a feat unmatched by comparable states.
"By limiting government and empowering families, the Texas model continues to support greater economic prosperity."
JDRF, IBM Collaborate to Research Risk Factors for Type 1 Diabetes in Children
NEW YORK, Aug. 18 -- JDRF, charitable 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research, issued the following news release:
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, today announced a new collaboration to develop and apply machine learning methods to analyze years of global T1D research data and identify factors leading to the onset of T1D in children.
T1D affects approximately 1.25 million Americans, and it currently does not have a cure. This research collaboration is expected to create an entry point for T1D in the
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NEW YORK, Aug. 18 -- JDRF, charitable 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to funding type 1 diabetes research, issued the following news release:
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, today announced a new collaboration to develop and apply machine learning methods to analyze years of global T1D research data and identify factors leading to the onset of T1D in children.
T1D affects approximately 1.25 million Americans, and it currently does not have a cure. This research collaboration is expected to create an entry point for T1D in thefield of precision medicine, by combining JDRF's connections to research teams around the globe and its subject matter expertise in T1D research with the technical capability and computing power of IBM.
"At JDRF, we are absolutely committed to seeing a world without type 1 diabetes, and with this partnership, we're adding some of the most advanced computing power in the world to our mission," said Derek Rapp, JDRF President and CEO. "JDRF supports researchers all over the world, but never before have we been able to analyze their data comprehensively, in a way that can tell us why some children who are at risk get T1D and others do not. IBM's analysis of the existing data could open the door to understanding the risk factors of T1D in a whole new way, and to one day finding a way to prevent T1D altogether."
IBM scientists will look across at least three different data sets and apply machine learning algorithms to help find patterns and factors at play, with the goal of identifying ways that could delay or prevent T1D in children. In order to match variables and data formats and compare the differing data sets, the scientists plan to leverage previously collected data from global research projects. Data analysis will explore the inclusion of genetic, familial, autoantibody and other variables to create a foundational set of features that is common to all data sets. The models that will be produced will quantify the risk for T1D from the combined dataset using this foundational set of features. As a result, JDRF will be in a better position to identify top predictive risk factors for T1D, cluster patients based on top risk factors, and explore a number of data-driven models for predicting onset.
"Nearly 40,000 new cases of type 1 diabetes will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. And each new patient creates new records and new data points that, if leveraged, could provide additional understanding of the disease," says Jianying Hu, Senior Manager and Program Director, Center for Computational Health at IBM Research. "The deep expertise our team has in artificial intelligence applied to healthcare data makes us uniquely positioned to help JDRF unlock the insights hidden in this massive data set and advance the field of precision medicine towards the prevention and management of diabetes."
Future phases of the collaboration may consist of furthering the analysis of big data toward the goal of better understanding causes of T1D. They may also consist of analyzing more complex datasets, such as microbiome and genomics or transcriptomics data. Finally, but no less importantly, the knowledge gained through these efforts could also help JDRF in its pursuit of a cure for people with T1D.
ABOUT JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers, and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our six international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.org or follow us on Twitter: @JDRF.
ABOUT IBM RESEARCH
For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. For more information about IBM Research, visit http://www.ibm.com/research.
ABOUT TYPE 1 DIABETES
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and -- at present -- nothing you can do to get rid of it.
