Alfred's Blog

SiriusXM Satellite Radio to Feature Dr. Eva Feldman and ALS Patient Ted Harda

May 8th, 2013

Tomorrow (Thursday, May 9) at 10:00 a.m., Dr. Eva Feldman, director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, and ALS patient Ted Harda will be interviewed live on SiriusXM satellite radio’s Doctor Radio channel 84. The one-hour interview program will focus on the miraculous ALS research and treatment work being led by Dr. Feldman and her team at the Taubman Institute and the promising experiences of Mr. Harda, who since 2011 has been a part of Dr. Feldman’s clinical trial, which last month received the go-ahead from the Federal Drug Administration to proceed to Phase II. Just this week Crain’s Detroit Business profiled Mr. Harda and reported on his extraordinary progress.

For those of you who won’t be in your car or near a SiriusXM radio tomorrow morning, we will be posting highlights of the interview at TaubmanInstitute.org by Friday morning.

Of all the diseases and conditions we are tackling at the Taubman Institute, I would have to say that ALS is in many ways the most dreaded. One motivation for my funding of medical research was the personal pain I felt in witnessing the terrible toll ALS took on my good friend, the late great Senator from New York Jacob Javits. I am so gratified that we can do so much more today for people like Ted Harda than we could for Jacob back in the 1980s.

Please listen into the interview tomorrow, or visit the Institute site on Friday to hear more about this uplifting story.

Posted in ALS, Eva Feldman, Medical Research, Taubman Institute | No Comments »

ALS Stem Cell Trial Gets Critical Go-Ahead from Federal Drug Administration

April 17th, 2013

I am thrilled to announce that a groundbreaking stem cell trial led by Dr. Eva Feldman, director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, reached a critical milestone this week, receiving the FDA’s approval to proceed to Phase II. For nearly two years Dr. Feldman and her team have been leading this, the first clinical trial of stem cell injections in patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). The FDA’s approval validates our progress and creates the opportunity for trial patients to be treated right here at the University of Michigan.

As Dr. Feldman explains in the public announcement and Institute video:

“In Phase II, we’ll be injecting stem cells into the upper part of the spinal cord, and our goal is to continue to assess whether this approach is safe, and to look at whether this approach offers some benefit to our patients. We are very pleased at the potential to bring this trial to the University of Michigan, where the initial research behind this technology was done, as well as having it continue at Emory University.”

Congratulations to Dr. Feldman, her team of investigators, and everyone at U-M Medical School dedicated to this important work. Moving onto Phase II is a very big deal, and I could not be more proud of this accomplishment.

This remarkable achievement is another testament to the Taubman Institute’s focus on translational medicine. We have helped support research that has led to more than 30 clinical trials, and we’ve only just begun!

For more information on this great news, go to: http://bit.ly/12mTIvW

Posted in ALS, Medical Research, Taubman Institute | No Comments »

Cures for Cancer are Within Our Reach

April 12th, 2013

The bold headline on the cover of the April 1 issue of Time magazine reads: “How to Cure Cancer”. The cover story, “The Conspiracy to End Cancer”, focuses on the collaborative efforts around the world that are yielding promising cancer treatments. As one doctor quoted in the article explains about what is called translational research, “You no longer do science and medicine differently . . . it brings science and medicine together.”

Translational research is what the Taubman Institute is all about; marrying the laboratory and the clinic so that scientific advances can reach patients faster. And it has been the groundbreaking work by our own Taubman Scholar Max Wicha, Oncology Professor and director of the University of Michigan Health System’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, that has set the stage for many of the breakthroughs highlighted in Time this month. Max is the man who formulated what cancer researchers around the world refer to as the stem cell hypothesis. Simply put, Max, working with colleagues around the world, has found that cancers are driven by special cells with stem cell properties. In order to cure the cancer, these master cells, which are highly resistant to conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy, must be neutralized.

This game-changing research has led to human clinical trials in breast cancer patients. In fact, at the Taubman Institute, we have more stem cell clinical trials under way than any other institution in the world. That’s the essence of translational research!

In February, Max gave a fascinating lecture entitled “Cancer stem cells: A new frontier in cancer research,” as the first in the Taubman Institute’s Health Science Lecture Series. You can watch that presentation – - which is delivered in surprisingly understandable layman’s terms – - here, or read about it here.

Interestingly, the investigators at the Taubman Institute are working with the University’s engineering and pharmacy schools in figuring out how to isolate cancer stem cells in the blood and deliver the necessary medicines to knock out the nasty master cells with little or no negative side effects. I’m convinced that this type of exciting collaboration on campus, across the nation and around the world will defeat cancer and other terrible diseases. We are seeing the progress right before our eyes!

Posted in Education, Max Wicha, Medical Research, Michigan, Taubman Institute | No Comments »

Nixon’s Enemies List

March 21st, 2013

I’ve been included on many lists in my life, but I can’t think of one I’m more proud to be on than Richard Nixon’s Enemies List. At the encouragement of several close friends, notably the late Max Fisher, I made a significant contribution to Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. I recall that I was invited to the Oval Office to personally deliver my pledge and in retrospect, am happy that it was a check and not cash! My suspicion has always been that my displeasure with Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War and subsequent curtailment of financial support heading into Nixon’s second term was what earned me a spot on the laudable list. Not to pile on the late President, but my biggest regret is that my name doesn’t appear higher on the list!

Common Cause recently held a conference to mark the 40th anniversary of Watergate at the National Press Club in Washington, DC and video highlights from the event can be viewed here.

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

Cancer Breakthrough Announced

February 28th, 2013

The Taubman Institute’s mission of supporting “high risk, high reward” research is changing the way scientists categorize and treat certain tumors, by helping clinician-scientists examine cancer cells down to the molecular level.

In the latest example why I believe so strongly in the power of such translational medical science, Dr. Max Wicha, a Taubman-funded researcher and director of the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, has just published results of a game-changing breast cancer study. Shrinking cancer tumors – long the aim of conventional chemotherapy – is not necessarily the best way to approach cancer treatment, he believes.

That’s because drugs that treat the main tumor may fail to attack the elusive cancer stem cells that migrate throughout the body, causing the deadly metastasis that defeats standard drugs. Dr. Wicha, a Senior Scholar at the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, leads the team that first discovered cancer stem cells in a human solid tumor, and is the global authority in the potential of developing new treatments by targeting these early cells.

His latest findings, published Feb. 26 in the journal Cancer Research, took a look at women whose tumors where misidentified as HER2-positive, which meant that they supposedly expressed a protein called HER2 when in reality they didn’t. These patients were mistakenly given a treatment that was developed for the 20 percent of breast cancers that are HER2-positive.

The drug, given to the patients in error, shouldn’t have helped, according to conventional medical knowledge. But Dr. Wicha and his colleagues found that while the patient’s main tumors may have been HER2-negative, the cancer stem cells lurking throughout the patient’s body indeed were HER2 positive – enough so to be vulnerable to the Herceptin treatment.

Dr. Wicha and his team tested the theory in the laboratory and discovered similar results, when Herceptin was given early to mice that had HER2-negative cancers and that also had “micro-metastises” (the presence of cancer stem cells in bone marrow and other sites). The development of metastasis was blocked.

“The idea of using drugs that cause tumors to shrink, which has been the accepted paradigm for developing therapies, is flawed,” said Dr. Wicha. “Our work suggests that adjuvant (drug) therapies will need to target the cancer stem cell population. Eliminating cancer stem cells by effective adjuvant therapies should prevent tumor recurrence, ultimately resulting in more cures.”

Read more from the University of Michigan here.

Posted in Medical Research, Michigan, The Nation | No Comments »

New Book to Chronicle Life and Accomplishments of Judge Damon Keith

February 25th, 2013

I’ve been fortunate to have many extraordinary friends in my life. None have brought more joy and knowledge into my life than Judge Damon Keith, a favorite son of Detroit and one of the most respected jurists in America. It was wonderful to read in the Detroit Free Press this weekend that a book will soon be published chronicling the life and accomplishments of this unique man. Detroit journalist and best-selling author Mitch Albom, who is writing the forward to “Crusader for Justice”, visited Judge Keith in his chambers recently and wrote the article I’ve attached here. Mitch captures Damon’s patented combination of optimism, genius and humanity. I’ve also attached the first Free Press excerpt of “Crusader for Justice.” What a valuable resource this will be for young people wanting to build successful lives and make a positive impact on society. I can’t wait to read the book!

U.S. District Judge Damon Keith is in his chambers in the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Detroit on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007. He is sitting amongst the walls and walls of photographs with other noteworthy people and the numerous awards Judge Keith has received over his 40-year career.<br /><br /><br /><br />

REGINA H. BOONE/DFP

Posted in Detroit, Family, Life, Michigan, Politics, The Nation | No Comments »

Taubman Scholars at the University of Michigan

February 6th, 2013

On December 7, I had the privilege of joining this year’s Taubman Scholars at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning for an engaging luncheon held in my honor. Created in 1999, the endowment has supported 912 students, including 35 scholars this year. The merit-based aid is an expression of confidence in the students, a belief in their abilities to make a difference, and recognition that provision of support is a sound investment in our collective future.

I could not have been more impressed with the intellectual curiosity and vision of these young ladies and gentlemen. Go Blue!

Photos by Peter Smith / Peter Smith Photography

Posted in Art & Architecture, Education, Michigan, Urban Planning | No Comments »

Reading Works: Chris and Barbara Brooks

January 10th, 2013

Here’s a terrific video the Detroit Free Press produced for their special section on Reading Works—an organization transforming the lives of Detroiters, through the power of literacy:

Barbra Brooks and Chris Brooks talk about the challenges of keeping their inability to read a secret from friends at their home in Roseville, Mich. Motivated by friends, family and each other, the couple have advanced several reading levels.

Posted in Charitable Opportunities, Detroit, Education, Michigan | No Comments »

Human Clinical Trials Speed Breakthroughs to Bedside

December 13th, 2012

I am very proud that as the Taubman Medical Research Institute celebrates the fifth anniversary of its founding, there are 31 human clinical trials being conducted by our talented University of Michigan physician-researches. That’s the best evidence we are fulfilling our mission to quicken the pace at which groundbreaking medical discoveries translate into effective patient care.

These remarkable initiatives, including Dr. Eva Feldman’s trial of a stem cell therapy for ALS and Dr. Max Wicha’s landmark trial targeting breast cancer stem cells, are highlighted on the Institute’s website at http://www.taubmaninstitute.org/taubman-science/clinical-trials.

Posted in ALS, Charitable Opportunities, Detroit, Education, Medical Research, Technology | No Comments »

National Institutes of Health Director Sees an Exciting Medical Future

October 22nd, 2012

One highlight of the Fifth Annual Symposium of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, held October 11 in Ann Arbor, was a video address by Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Collins, a former University of Michigan faculty member, congratulated Dr. Harry Dietz, the first recipient of the first $100,000 Taubman Prize for Transitional Medical Science, and praised the ground breaking work being done at the Institute. Focusing on the Symposium’s theme – - “Unlocking the Mysteries of Genetic Diseases” – - he also presented a fascinating update on the exciting initiatives being funded by the NIS. Dr. Collins’ inspiring talk can be viewed here or below:

Posted in ALS, Charitable Opportunities, Detroit, Education, Medical Ethics, Medical Research, Michigan | No Comments »