Featured Stories
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation: Uncovering the True Origins of Small Cell Lung Cancer
NEW YORK, July 7 (TNSjou) -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Uncovering the true origins of small cell lung cancer
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a rare but aggressive form of lung cancer that, for years, scientists believed arose from specialized lung cells called neuroendocrine cells. But new research from former Damon Runyon Innovators Trudy G. Oliver, PhD, and Elvin Wagenblast, PhD, and their colleagues overturns this long-standing assumption, revealing how SCLC tumors are able to "shapeshift" in order to evade treatment.
Using genetically
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NEW YORK, July 7 (TNSjou) -- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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Uncovering the true origins of small cell lung cancer
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a rare but aggressive form of lung cancer that, for years, scientists believed arose from specialized lung cells called neuroendocrine cells. But new research from former Damon Runyon Innovators Trudy G. Oliver, PhD, and Elvin Wagenblast, PhD, and their colleagues overturns this long-standing assumption, revealing how SCLC tumors are able to "shapeshift" in order to evade treatment.
Using geneticallyengineered models of SCLC, the team found that the fast-growing tumors do not arise from mature neuroendocrine cells, as previously thought, but from basal stem cells, the progenitors of all lung cells. Single-cell analyses revealed that these basal-derived tumors are remarkably plastic, moving through multiple cellular identities as they grow.
Together, these findings reshape our understanding of how SCLC tumors arise and evolve. By illuminating the roots of tumor heterogeneity and plasticity, this work opens new avenues for therapies aimed at stopping cancer cells from changing identity to evade treatment. The work also has implications for other types of cancer, including multiple gastrointestinal cancers, that are characterized by high degrees of plasticity.
This research was published in Nature.
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Original text here: https://www.damonrunyon.org/discovery/uncovering-true-origins-small-cell-lung-cancer
Central New York Community Foundation Launching Participatory Budgeting in Cortland County for Centennial Celebration
SYRACUSE, New York, July 7 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release:
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CNYCF Launching Participatory Budgeting in Cortland County for Centennial Celebration
Community members invited to help decide how $75,000 will be invested locally
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The Central New York Community Foundation will launch the third of five participatory budgeting initiatives across its service area this August, inviting Cortland County residents to help decide how $75,000 will be invested in their community.
The initiative marks the beginning of the Community Foundation's two-year
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SYRACUSE, New York, July 7 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release:
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CNYCF Launching Participatory Budgeting in Cortland County for Centennial Celebration
Community members invited to help decide how $75,000 will be invested locally
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The Central New York Community Foundation will launch the third of five participatory budgeting initiatives across its service area this August, inviting Cortland County residents to help decide how $75,000 will be invested in their community.
The initiative marks the beginning of the Community Foundation's two-yearcelebration of its 100th anniversary in 2027. As part of the centennial effort, the Community Foundation is hosting participatory budgeting projects in each of the five counties it serves, awarding a total of $500,000 in funding determined directly by residents.
Participatory budgeting is a community engagement process in which residents work together to identify local needs, develop project ideas and vote on how funding should be allocated. Throughout the month of August, Cortland County residents will meet to brainstorm ideas, hear from county and city officials and collaborate to turn community priorities into feasible project proposals. At the end of the process, residents will vote online for the proposal they believe will best serve their community.
"This initiative reflects our commitment to listening to residents and investing in ideas that come directly from the communities we serve," said Melanie Littlejohn, president & CEO of the Community Foundation. "As we approach our centennial, participatory budgeting is one way we are celebrating our history while empowering residents to help shape the future of Central New York."
The Cortland County process will take place over four sessions during August. The first two sessions will be held Wednesday, August 5 and Thursday, August 6, 2026 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Truxton Academy located at 6337 Academy Street, Truxton. During these sessions, residents will learn about the participatory budgeting process, share ideas and begin developing project proposals. Residents can register to attend the sessions at cnycf.org/CortlandPB.
A proposal presentation night will be held Wednesday, August 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. Community members are encouraged to attend to learn about the proposals before voting begins.
Voting will take place Thursday, August 20, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents may vote online for the project they believe best serves the community's needs. An in-person gathering will also take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Center for the Arts, Homer at 72 South Main Street, Homer.
The participatory budgeting initiative is designed to ensure that funding priorities are determined by residents themselves. Participants will work with nonprofit organizations, grassroots groups and local leaders to identify a priority need, co-design potential solutions and develop proposals that address community needs. Residents will ultimately decide which project receives funding.
Participatory projects were completed this spring in Oswego and Madison counties; the Community Foundation will host them in Cayuga County in September and Onondaga County in 2027.
Residents who need transportation assistance may reach out mobility@cortlandcountyny.gov or 607-756-3416.
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Original text here: https://cnycf.org/cnycf-launching-participatory-budgeting-in-cortland-county-for-centennial-celebration/
WLF Urges Fourth Circuit to Reject Antitrust End-Run Around Prior Patent Judgment
WASHINGTON, July 6 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Urges Fourth Circuit to Reject Antitrust End-Run Around Prior Patent Judgment
"Antitrust law does not allow one district court to sit in review of another, nor does it permit parties to relitigate old theories under new labels." -Jay DeSanto, WLF Senior Litigation Counsel
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Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to affirm the dismissal of antitrust claims against pharmaceutical company Amgen over patents for "etanercept,"
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WASHINGTON, July 6 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Urges Fourth Circuit to Reject Antitrust End-Run Around Prior Patent Judgment
"Antitrust law does not allow one district court to sit in review of another, nor does it permit parties to relitigate old theories under new labels." -Jay DeSanto, WLF Senior Litigation Counsel
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Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to affirm the dismissal of antitrust claims against pharmaceutical company Amgen over patents for "etanercept,"a molecule used to treat arthritis. In an amicus brief supporting Amgen, WLF contends that the lower court correctly rejected Sandoz's attempt to relitigate issues already resolved in prior litigation over those patents.
The case concerns a long-running dispute over patents covering etanercept, the active ingredient in the arthritis drug Enbrel. In prior litigation, Sandoz challenged the validity of Amgen's etanercept patents, but those challenges were rejected, and the patents were upheld through final judgment and appeal. In this action, Sandoz brings a Sherman Act Section 2 claim alleging that Amgen's acquisition and enforcement of those same patents unlawfully extended its exclusivity over the etanercept molecule.
WLF's brief contends that Sandoz's claims are barred by claim-preclusion principles. It explains that Rule 13(a) and res judicata prohibit parties from repackaging previously litigated patent-validity theories in follow-on suits, and that antitrust claims are not exempt from those rules. WLF warns that accepting Sandoz's theory would invite collateral attacks on final judgments, encourage duplicative litigation, and undermine the certainty essential to the patent system.
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Click HERE (https://www.wlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/FILED-Sandoz_Amgen-WLF-AMICUS-BRIEF.pdf) to read amicus brief.
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Original text here: https://www.wlf.org/2026/07/06/communicating/wlf-urges-fourth-circuit-to-reject-antitrust-end-run-around-prior-patent-judgment/
OMRF to study keto diet's benefits for MS
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, July 6 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF to study keto diet's benefits for MS
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An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist has received a new National Institutes of Health grant to investigate how dietary changes help protect vision in people with multiple sclerosis.
Scott Plafker, Ph.D., will lead the two-year, $470,000 research project. It focuses on optic neuritis, an inflammatory condition that damages the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain. About 70% of people with MS
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, July 6 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF to study keto diet's benefits for MS
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An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist has received a new National Institutes of Health grant to investigate how dietary changes help protect vision in people with multiple sclerosis.
Scott Plafker, Ph.D., will lead the two-year, $470,000 research project. It focuses on optic neuritis, an inflammatory condition that damages the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain. About 70% of people with MSexperience optic neuritis at some point.
Optic neuritis can cause temporary blindness, blurred vision and eye pain. For roughly one in four people who develop MS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, these eye problems represent the first sign something is wrong.
Current treatment for MS patients with optic neuritis typically relies on high-dose steroids to reduce inflammation. And while steroids can help relieve symptoms, they come with a multitude of side effects and do not address the underlying disease. In addition, repeated use can cause systemic issues like bone loss, high blood pressure and infection.
"Our goal is to find non-steroidal methods to reduce the inflammation before it destroys the optic nerve," Plafker said.
The new project builds on Plafker's earlier work involving mice with a condition similar to MS. The OMRF scientist found that mice fed a ketogenic diet - one high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbohydrates - developed far less inflammation and experienced significantly milder symptoms.
The new study will probe why this happens. Plafker's previous work suggests that a keto diet changes the community of bacteria living in the gut, known as the microbiome. These bacteria produce naturally occurring compounds, which then enter the bloodstream and appear to trigger beneficial changes that help reduce inflammation and promote recovery in the optic nerve.
Instead of focusing on the diet itself, the new study tests whether these compounds, called indoles, can produce similar protective benefits on their own.
"If so," Plafker said, "it may eventually be possible to develop these compounds as nutritional supplements or therapies that are easier for people to use than maintaining a strict ketogenic diet."
The work is still in its early stages, he cautioned, and more research will be needed before any approach can be evaluated in people with MS.
Still, Gabriel Pardo, M.D., who leads OMRF's Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence and treats thousands of patients with MS, is excited to see where the project leads.
"Many of my patients experience optic neuritis, and the effects can be debilitating," said Pardo. "Current treatments for acute optic neuritis aren't ideal. I'm quite hopeful that Dr. Plafker's research will lead not only to a more natural treatment with fewer side effects, but also to a better understanding of the relationship between the microbiome and inflammation."
The National Eye Institute, part of the NIH, awarded the grant, No. R21EY037427-01A1.
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/omrf-to-study-keto-diets-benefits-for-ms/
New Getty Volume Charts the Evolution of Rock Art Conservation
LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Getty Volume Charts the Evolution of Rock Art Conservation
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Rock art is the oldest and most widespread example of humanity's cultural expression and communication.
Found everywhere people have lived, it constitutes an invaluable archive of human cultural evolution. Because of its great age, however, rock art is often very fragile and vulnerable to environmental catastrophe and change, careless land development, and deliberate vandalism. It has also suffered from lacking a cohort of professionals
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LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Getty Volume Charts the Evolution of Rock Art Conservation
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Rock art is the oldest and most widespread example of humanity's cultural expression and communication.
Found everywhere people have lived, it constitutes an invaluable archive of human cultural evolution. Because of its great age, however, rock art is often very fragile and vulnerable to environmental catastrophe and change, careless land development, and deliberate vandalism. It has also suffered from lacking a cohort of professionalsdedicated to its understanding and conservation, with professional responsibility for its care distributed uneasily among archaeologists, anthropologists, geologists, and others.
Rock Art: The Changing Landscape of Conservation and Management (Getty Conservation Institute, $75) is the first interdisciplinary anthology to focus on the conservation and management of rock art sites. Its 133 essays by archaeologists, scientists, conservators, and other researchers survey the arc of published writings on the subject, ranging from early academic theories and oral narratives of First Nations and Indigenous peoples to an abundant selection of recent scholarship covering current best practices and advances in portable instrumentation that can be used in the field. Initial sections probe the origins and significance of these often-enigmatic works of art, then survey scientific and technological methods of dating, monitoring, and documenting them. Subsequent readings discuss rock art's physical characteristics and weathering, its importance to Indigenous communities, the decolonization of site management, the role of governments, the value of public outreach, and climate change. The volume closes with a selection of case studies drawn from major sites worldwide.
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Original text here: https://www.getty.edu/news/new-getty-volume-charts-the-evolution-of-rock-art-conservation
New Getty Volume Charts Evolution of Mexican Artifacts from Curiosity to Art Collector's Dream
LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Getty Volume Charts Evolution of Mexican Artifacts from Curiosity to Art Collector's Dream
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In midcentury Los Angeles, a curious transformation was underway, helmed by Earl Leopold Stendahl, the founder of the Stendahl Art Galleries of Los Angeles and an influential art dealer among a circle of Hollywood art collectors.
Ancient, pre-Hispanic, Mexican artifacts, once dismissed as anthropological curiosities, had become prized artworks that were now being prominently displayed in major US
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LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Getty Volume Charts Evolution of Mexican Artifacts from Curiosity to Art Collector's Dream
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In midcentury Los Angeles, a curious transformation was underway, helmed by Earl Leopold Stendahl, the founder of the Stendahl Art Galleries of Los Angeles and an influential art dealer among a circle of Hollywood art collectors.
Ancient, pre-Hispanic, Mexican artifacts, once dismissed as anthropological curiosities, had become prized artworks that were now being prominently displayed in major USmuseums, featured in advertisements and Hollywood films, and shown adorning the homes of celebrities. The conceptual transformation of pre-Hispanic objects from anthropological artifacts to ancient works of art was implemented via strategic marketing and Stendahl's keen eye for opportunity, as he repositioned these artifacts to define a new canon of "ancient American art."
Artifacts to Art: Collecting Ancient America in Midcentury L.A. (Getty Research Institute, $30) goes beyond this glamorous facade, however, to explore the darker narrative of the looting, smuggling, and forgery that fueled this midcentury craze. Throughout the volume, the authors expose how the desire for authenticity and prestige often came at the expense of ethical collecting practices and cultural heritage, bringing together art history, museum studies, and the politics of the antiquities trade, offering both a social history and a critical examination of how ancient Mexico's past was sold in twentieth-century America.
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Original text here: https://www.getty.edu/news/new-getty-volume-charts-evolution-mexican-artifacts-curiosity-to-art-collectors-dream
New Book Spotlights Transformative Nature of Black Curatorial History
LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Book Spotlights Transformative Nature of Black Curatorial History
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The relationship between Black Americans and American art museums has historically been both fraught and hard-won.
Fifty years after Black artists protested their exclusion from exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney, and MoMA, among others, there was a call for museums to hire Black curatorial talent. As a result, the Black curator made significant inroads into the U.S. art world. Such advocacy led
... Show Full Article
LOS ANGELES, California, July 6 -- The J. Paul Getty Trust posted the following news release:
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New Book Spotlights Transformative Nature of Black Curatorial History
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The relationship between Black Americans and American art museums has historically been both fraught and hard-won.
Fifty years after Black artists protested their exclusion from exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney, and MoMA, among others, there was a call for museums to hire Black curatorial talent. As a result, the Black curator made significant inroads into the U.S. art world. Such advocacy ledto acquisitions and exhibitions by Black artists at important institutions and spurred the establishment of museums and cultural organizations promoting Black art and culture. Today, Black curators hold significant positions at institutions nationwide. In this context, the Black curator becomes essential to broadening the discourse around the endeavors of Black artists, and for providing the frameworks by which depictions of the Black experience are perceived and historicized.
Black Curators Matter: Conversations on Art and Change (Getty Research Institute, $30) illuminates this critical history by spotlighting figures who have transformed the art world since the 1970s. This book presents illuminating conversations between six pioneering curators-Lowery Stokes Sims, Deborah Willis, Richard J. Powell, Kellie Jones, Thelma Golden, and Franklin Sirmans-and a new generation of professionals, including Ashley James, Kalia Brooks, Aaron Bryant, Thomas Jean Lax, Rujeko Hockley, and LeRonn P. Brooks. The oral histories presented fill a gap in the existing scholarship on Black arts production, circulation, and institutionalization. It incorporates, directly from the sources, the experiences and voices of Black curators who have transformed the art world since the 1970s, a history frequently mentioned in scholarship but not explicitly addressed at length. By showcasing their stories, Black Curators Matter brings new perspectives to curatorial and museum history and reveals how these pioneering figures reshaped American art museums toward greater inclusivity and innovation.
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Original text here: https://www.getty.edu/news/new-book-spotlights-transformative-nature-of-black-curatorial-history
