The Future is Bright for Probiotics
Posted 2nd December 2019 by Joshua Sewell
I am extremely sceptical of all claims about probiotics. For the last 10 years of running Probiotics.org, companies have been sending me questionable products with extraordinarily impossible to believe claims.
But, after Global Engage’s 4th Probiotic & Prebiotics Congress, here’s what I strongly believe:
3 Ways Single-Cell Sequencing and AI are Transforming Kidney Transplantation
Posted 27th November 2019 by Liv Sewell
Transplantation is now a successful therapy for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The first successful kidney transplantation happened in Boston in 1954 and the procedure is now routine clinical practice in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Ishita Moghe and Kim Solez outline some of the major strides taken in kidney pathology and transplantation through the use of scRNA-seq and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Slides from the 4th Medicinal Chemistry & Protein Degradation Summit
Posted 26th November 2019 by Joshua Sewell
The 4th Medicinal Chemistry & Protein Degradation Summit provided two days of fascinating topics and case studies about AI-assisted lead optimisation, DNA encoded libraries and the use of data and informatics in drug-discovery. We have made the following presentation slides available from Greg Makara, Paul Colbon and Yugal Sharma.
Digital Pathology Solutions for low-budget and low-tech regions of the world
Posted 18th November 2019 by Liv Sewell
Digital pathology is transforming possibilities for patient care and the nature of pathologists’ work. But it is clear that in low-income countries, access to pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) services is very restricted and under-developed.[1] Low-income countries bear a disproportionate share of the global disease burden, yet they are so under-resourced in the pathology and laboratory services that are vital for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of disease.[2] This presents a huge issue for global health.
Given this global context, Rebecca Calder, Daniel Stevens and Zev Leifer’s poster, presented at the 5th Digital Pathology and AI Congress, is of notable significance.
Diverse Approaches in Immuno-Oncology: A Review of the Research & Technology Series
Posted 13th November 2019 by Joshua Sewell
This blog was published on Clarivate’s Cortellis blog. It is reproduced here with their kind permission.
A fascinating range of insights into the ways in which the immune system can be harnessed to fight cancer was provided by Global Engage’s Immuno-Oncology Research & Technology Series meeting held in October in London. The conference comprised five concurrent tracks covering cutting-edge developments in fields such as cell therapies, novel antibodies and neoantigens. Some of the highlights tracked by the Cortellis team are presented below.
Deep Learning based detection of tumor tissue compartments improves prognostic immunoprofiling in muscle-invasive bladder cancer
Posted 11th November 2019 by Liv Sewell
Worldwide, bladder cancer (BC) is the 11th most commonly diagnosed cancer. In men, BC is the 7thmost commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.[1]Although men are more likely to develop BC than women, women present with more advanced disease and have worse survival rates.[2]
Muscle-invasive bladder cancers (MIBC) are cancers that have grown into or through the muscle layers of the bladder wall.
Dr. Katharina Nekolla and Ansh Kapil and their team applied Deep Learning enabled pathology to better understand prognostic factors in MIBC. Here we review the significance of the research and share their original poster.
5 Ways Sleep And Microbiome Are Interrelated With Immunity And Cognition
Posted 8th November 2019 by Joshua Sewell
The effect of sleep on the microbiome of the host has been a topic of interest among researchers for the past several years. Studies have yielded opposing results in how short sleep affects the microbiome. While some showed a significant change in Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, others found no microbial change following short-term sleep restriction.
How will Ground Truth Colour Standardisation yield the benefits of AI in Medical Imaging?
Posted 6th November 2019 by Joshua Sewell
The essence of colour management is to ensure that the original target translates through a digital pathway so that the output images are exactly the same colour as the original.
When applied to medical imaging, and considering all the specific stains used in pathology, colour management becomes important. Particular coloured stains bind specific structures of cells in tissue to confer visualisation of diagnostic information. Without translating the colour through the digital pathway correctly, you lose the aspect of diagnostic information, which comes from specific colours.
