to - HMRI-Huntington Medical Research Institutes

Pasadena, California
SUMMER 2015
New Mission Drives HMRI Forward
Science Strategic Plan Reflected in 2015 Activity
directors
meeting
where she was appointed
HMRI’s
President and Chief
Scientist, Dr. Marie Csete presented
the scientific strategic plan that she
developed with the
board’s
Research
Planning Committee. The ambitious
plan has kept HMRI
in overdrive since
then. Key new hires
have been made,
HMRI’s newest recruits - Dr. Orest Boyko (left) and important collaboDr. Andrea Loewendorf (right) – bring enormous rations established,
and there has been
enthusiasm for collaborating across specialties.
an internal reorganiIn addition to a new leadership struczation of the science program. It now
ture, Huntington Medical Research
focuses on five areas – cardiovascuInstitutes has been operating with a
lar, neurosciences, imaging, liver/
new mission since the beginning of
GI/GU, and cell & cancer biology.
the year -- Improving health through
multidisciplinary,
patient-focused
Under the plan, research at HMRI
research. At the January board of
will be “Physician-Scientist led” and
it will follow a “bedside-to-bench”
path from a physician’s perspective,
focusing on the gaps between clinical
application and laboratory research.
The plan also encourages interdisciplinary research.
To those who may look at HMRI’s new
mission as a semantic change from
the old mission, Dr. Csete responds
easily: “There are a couple of words
in our new mission that really strike
me as being critical to a new vision
for HMRI. One is ‘patient-focused’
and the other is ‘multi-disciplinary’.”
She explains that HMRI’s strength
in physician/scientists “allows us to
study disease in humans when other
people would be studying the same
disease in animals.” That is significant because animal models used to
study disease are often inbred strains
and consequently do not recapitulate
the complexity of human disease.
continued page 16
HMRI Installs $3 Million
High Tech Magnet
Looking back years from now, 2015
could go down in HMRI’s history as
“The Year of the Maries!” Dr. Marie
Csete was appointed President and
Chief Scientist of HMRI in January.
Marie Darr was installed as President of HMRI’s fundraising support
group, the Altadena Guild, in June.
And then came “MaRIe” in July.
MaRIe is the nickname given to a
$3 million General Electric Tesla
magnetic resonance imaging de-
vice which has assumed residency
at HMRI’s Imaging Center in Pasadena. The guests at a ribbon-cutting
ceremony voted on the name by an
overwhelming majority. The capital
M, R and I are intentional. “Marie” was chosen because the device
lived for some time and arrived to us
from the Centre Hospitalier National
d’Opthalmologie des Quize-Vingt in
Paris, France.
The new 3T MRI machine will be
continued page 6
Community
Leaders Rally in
Support of HMRI
Biomedical
Research Building
HMRI’s capital campaign for a new
state-of-the-art biomedical research
building is gaining momentum among
Pasadena’s community leaders.
Since formally launching in February,
the campaign has assembled a
distinguished list of cabinet members,
honorary co-chairs, and supporters.
continued page 4
INTRODUCING
Orest Boyko MD, PhD
HMRI insights
is a publication of
Some years ago, a young radiology
physician named Orest Boyko came
to HMRI to learn from Dr. Ross. We
can only presume that Dr. Ross saw
something in him because he invited
Boyko to give some lectures at future
HMRI courses. Fast forward to May
2015: After an extensive, international search, HMRI has appointed Orest
Boyko MD, PhD to serve as Director
of the Imaging Research Program.
Huntington Medical
Research Institutes.
Summer 2015 Issue
Terry Garay
Editor/Writer
Editorial Assistance
Marie Csete MD, PhD
Dan Maljanian
Huntington Medical Research Institutes has been one of the premier
centers for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research over the last 3 decades. Well known in the MRI community, HMRI has been the epicenter
for knowledge, research and education especially in magnetic resonance
spectroscopy. The program operated
under the leadership of Dr. Brian D.
Ross from 1988 until his retirement in
June of 2014.
Photography
Christopher Grisanti
James Kingman
Mandy Lai
Cheryl Long
Dan Maljanian
Dave Strickland
Today, Dr. Boyko has more than 23
years of experience as a practitioner,
administrator, and educator in the
medical fields of radiology, teleradiology, neuroradiology, and magnetic
resonance imaging and MR contrast
patient safety. He comes to HMRI
from USC, where he was Visiting Associate Professor of Radiology at the
Keck School of Medicine. During his
academic career he was actively involved in patient care, residency and
fellowship training and administration, and research. On a national
level, Dr. Boyko has been a member
of the Radiological Society of North
Andrea Loewendorf PhD
Special Thanks
James Kingman
Dave Silvey
emcee at the Brain Day event in
March. An immunologist by training,
she says of the experience, “I didn’t
have anything to contribute about the
brain, but if being the emcee is what
they want me to do, then here I am!”
Graphics
Alma Design
In May, Dr. Loewendorf was off to
New Orleans to present a poster at
the annual meeting of the American
Association of Immunologists. June
saw her doing television and radio
interviews. And then there’s the reason she came to Huntington Medical
Research Institutes: the science!
© 2015 HMRI All rights reserved.
Page 2
If you ever want a demonstration
on what it means to “hit the ground
running,” ask HMRI staff scientist Dr.
Andrea Loewendorf. To say she has
been unstoppable since she joined
the Cell and Cancer Biology lab in
April would be an understatement.
Typical for her, Loewendorf hadn’t
even begun working at HMRI when
she volunteered her services as the
Loewendorf has quickly proved herself a natural in HMRI’s highly collaborative research environment. Another PhD might consider it a challenge
to interface with someone who is
interested in cardiac disease or neurodegeneration. She’s dived in and
is making the most of the opportunity.
Asked about her new recruit, HMRI’s
President and Chief Scientist, Dr. Ma-
America (RSNA) Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA), serving on the MRI Diffusion/Perfusion
committee since 2009, and most
recently on the PET Amyloid committee. He received his MD and PhD in
Biochemistry/Immunochemistry from
Indiana University. Later, he completed his radiology residency at Indiana
University Medical Center, followed
by his internship and fellowship at
Duke University Medical Center. He
then stayed on faculty at Duke post
fellowship and completed an NIH
neurooncology fellowship.
“I’m very excited about Dr. Boyko,”
says HMRI President and Chief Scientist Dr. Marie Csete. “He brings his
own twist to the research at HMRI,
so there will be exciting times as the
imaging program gets its own new
identity.” Highlighting another key
point, she says, “Since imaging is at
the core of our new scientific strategic plan, Dr. Boyko was also chosen
for his enthusiasm for collaborating
across specialties.”
continued page 17
rie Csete, says with a grin, “The woman is fearless.”
Dr. Loewendorf comes to HMRI from
UCLA. As part of her applied research at UCLA, she did foundational
work on the immune basis of healthy
pregnancy and those affected by
pre-eclampsia, a common disease
of pregnancy. Since immunology
and inflammation are at the heart of
all diseases that HMRI studies, she
brings a valuable and needed perspective. Her goal is to add another
point of view to HMRI’s existing studies and, in her words, “to interrogate
the same patient pool for changes in
the immune system that will inform our
understanding of underlying disease
mechanisms.”
Dr. Loewendorf’s rapid ascent at
HMRI comes as no surprise to Dr.
Csete: “I trusted that this would happen
continued page 18
Page 3
Community Leaders Rally in Support of HMRI CONT’D
B O A R D
O F
D I R E C T O R S
Dr. Susan Kane Joins the HMRI Board
nership that promoted research and
training in the area of minority disparities in cancer; and she now directs a
science education outreach program
partnering with Duarte Unified School
District to engage elementary, middle
and high school students in authentic,
research-based science activities.
Dr. Kane is an advocate for educational equity and for the advancement
of women, girls and other underrepresented populations in science. She
helps organize a day of hands-on science for middle school girls held an-
Susan E. Kane PhD
Perspective rendering of HMRI’s proposed Biomedical Research Building,
which will anchor an emerging biomedical corridor along Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.
With the groundbreaking goal for later this year, the new HMRI Research
Laboratory will be located where
Fair Oaks Avenue meets Congress
Street in Pasadena. Directly across
from Huntington Hospital, the location is planned as the anchor in an
emerging biomedical corridor along
Fair Oaks. The Doheny Eye Institute
is a neighbor, Shriner’s Hospital for
Children recently broke ground close
by, and other medical institutions are
reported to be coming into the area
as well. Growth of medical arts in
the area is accompanied by growth
of fine arts close by, as the ArtCenter
College of Design has announced its
intention to build a dormitory near its
South Campus on Raymond.
With its prime location – Fair Oaks
Avenue happens to be the most trafficked street in Pasadena - the new
building will dramatically increase
people’s awareness of HMRI and its
visibility. Though a capital campaign
can be rigorous and represents a lot
of hard work for all involved, Dr.
Marie Csete, HMRI’s President and
Chief Scientist, is confident about the
future: “We are building a new laboratory that I think will be the core
of Pasadena’s biomedical research
corridor,” she says. “I know we are
on the right path because the support
has been unwavering,” she adds.
“For those of us on the front lines of
the campaign, it’s really inspiring.”
This new building will position HMRI
to maintain its place on the cutting
edges of science. The design is
going to facilitate multidisciplinary
collaboration and increased local
clinical, academic and industry
partnerships, all absolutely essential
to stay relevant in today’s competitive biomedical research. Perhaps
more importantly, it is going to provide HMRI’s dedicated scientists with
a space they deserve, and which will
surely stimulate additional transformative discoveries.
To learn more about the new building and the campaign, contact Dan
Maljanian, HMRI VP of Philanthropy,
at (626) 397-5805 or maljanian@
hmri.org.
HMRI Forward Campaign Cabinet
Helen Baatz – Co-Chair
C. Joseph Chang
James J. Femino MD
Dorothy Hull
Scott Jenkins
Mireya Jones
Allen W. Mathies Jr. MD
Rita Pudenz
Debbie Williams
Roger Engemann – Honorary Co-Chair
From Steve Ralph, President and
and CEO, Huntington Hospital
“Huntington Hospital is proud to collaborate with HMRI in their efforts to
improve health by improving medicine. Having a renowned, innovative
research institution in our community
positively impacts the lives of those in
our region and beyond.”
Steve Ralph
Campaign Honorary Co-Chair
SPECIAL THANKS
Thank you to The Gustavus
and Louise Pfeiffer Research
Foundation for a generous
pledge of support to the
HMRI: Forward building
campaign. The pledge
brings HMRI closer to
fulfilling its dream of a
new Biomedical Research
Building. The support
has also brought new
momentum to the campaign.
Page 4
Susan E. Kane PhD was elected to
serve on the HMRI board of directors at the May 2015 board meeting. In addition to her leadership
background, she brings impressive
academic and research credentials,
and a solid understanding of the community and considerable non-profit
governance experience.
Dr. Kane is a cancer researcher at the
Beckman Research Institute of the City
of Hope in Duarte. She received a
B.S. in Biology from Stanford University and a PhD in Biology from Johns
Hopkins University. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, she came to City of Hope
as an assistant professor in 1990.
She was chair of Molecular Medicine from 2001-03, associate director of research from 2004-08, and
senior vice president of graduate and
professional studies from 2006-08.
Kane also served as associate dean
of graduate studies at California State
University-Los Angeles from 2003-04.
Currently a professor in the Cancer
Biology Department at City of Hope,
Dr. Kane has stepped away from her
administrative responsibilities to focus
once again on laboratory research
and education.
Her lab studies mechanisms of drug
resistance in breast cancer. Dr. Kane
is also a mentor in City of Hope’s
graduate school; she was co-director
of a City of Hope-Cal State LA part-
Dr. Kane on a tour of
HMRI’s labs. (Left to right)
Board member Jim Gamb,
Dr. Marie Csete, Dr. Kane, and
Dr. Douglas McCreery.
nually in Pasadena. She was on the
board of Alverno High School, served
on the Pasadena Unified School District board of education, and was a
past member and president of the
board of Young & Healthy. She currently sits on the boards of two other
Pasadena-based non-profits, Oak
Crest Institute of Science and The Patron Saints Foundation.
She has been honored as a Woman
of Achievement in Business (2006)
and Health Care (2014) by local
members of the State Assembly and
State Senate; a Woman of Achievement in Enhancing Community Capacity (2010) by the YWCA of San
Gabriel Valley; and It Takes A Village
honoree (2012) by the Duarte Education Foundation; and Outstanding
Humanitarian (2014) by the Duarte
Chamber of Commerce.
Not only has Dr. Kane agreed to
serve on the board’s governance
committee, but she will be chairing
the RPC or research planning committee, helping to guide and evaluate
HMRI’s science programs and strategic plan. Dr. Kane and her husband,
Jon Fuhrman, make their home in
Pasadena. They enjoy movies, traveling, playing tennis, skiing and scuba
diving.
“I have had the pleasure
of serving on a few boards
with Susan, and I have come
to respect her nonprofit
board involvement a great
deal. The qualities of her
background kind of jump
out at you. To me, it seemed
evident right away that
Susan would be an ideal
candidate for the board
of HMRI. We developed a
process to put that in place,
and I was pleased to enter
her name into nomination.”
James D. Gamb, CFA
HMRI Board Member
Page 5
HMRI Installs $3 Million High Tech Magnet CONT’D
T E C H N O L O G Y
Importantly, the General Electric 3
Tesla MRI has special capabilities
that go beyond the standard image
produced by the proton signal that
comes from abundant water in the
human body, to tune in other elements such as carbon and phosphorus. Tuning in these other elements
allows researchers to obtain chemiWeighing in at 20,000 lbs, the
$3 million General Electric 3
Tesla MRI made the journey from
France to HMRI.
HMRI Website Gets a Facelift
now self-producing videos and immediately posting them to the website.
Guests at the ribbon cutting
get their first glimpse of the
3T magnet.
require an intravenous contrast dye
will not require these injections.
Getting diagnostic information without radiation exposure and without
exposure to the potential serious
side effects of constrast dyes is an
important framework for the research planned under Dr. Boyko’s
direction.
dedicated to clinical research under
Dr. Orest Boyko, who was recently
appointed to serve as Director of
HMRI’s Advanced Imaging and
Spectroscopy Research Program.
The machine is equipped with special coils to facilitate investigation
into chemical processes at the cellular level, such as metabolism–advanced techniques that represent the
next generation imaging tools. The
purchase of the device was made
The crew worked from day to
night installing the 3T magnet.
“Think of magnetic resonance spectroscopy as ‘Green Technology,’”
says Dr. Boyko. “You can get biochemical information without injecting the patient.”
cal information necessary for insight
into cell energy and metabolism as
well as pathologies that can’t be
seen in the standard anatomic images.
Easy does it! The 3T magnet
is carefully brought into its
new home.
Also significant, Dr. Boyko is hoping
to push the spectroscopy capability
to investigate more molecules, so
that some MRI studies that currently
possible thanks to funding from an
anonymous donor.
HMRI will use the new equipment to
study Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, liver cancer, heart
failure, brain tumors and other cancers, and other conditions. Very few
magnetic resonance machines are
dedicated specifically to research
or they are very costly for researchers to use (at keast $800 an hour to
gain access). Having the horsepower of this new machine at HMRI will
give the researchers ability to probe
anatomy and chemistry with greater
depth and resolution.
While the new website clearly has
more capabilities, it will actually be
easier to manage internally. Moving
forward, Mr. Silvey and Mr. Kingman
will be responsible for maintaining it
and adding and changing content.
That represents an enormous cost-savings for HMRI. The previous website
was created and managed by outside consultants.
HMRI’s VP of Finance Frank
Davis with board member
John Mothershead and his wife
Leanne were among the VIP
guests at the ribbon cutting for
the 3T magnet in July.
The installation of the new 3T magnet further establishes the area off
of South Fair Oaks as Pasadena’s
emerging biomedical corridor. For
HMRI scientists and its Board, the
magnet is a very visible sign of
progress in the campaign Forward
for Huntington Medical Research Institutes.
Dr. Marie Csete and the new
director of the Advanced
Imaging Program, Dr. Orest
Boyko, officially cut the ribbon
for the 3T magnet.
You can thank them for HMRI’s new website:
Special Projects Administrator Jim Kingman (left)
and Communications Officer Dave Silvey (right).
The address remains the same – www.
hmri.org – but don’t be surprised if
you visit the HMRI website and things
look different. In an effort to better
serve our constituents, the website
has undergone a complete transformation. The new site launched on
July 1. The renovation project was
overseen by HMRI Communications
Officer Dave Silvey with considerable
help from Special Projects Administrator Jim Kingman. Mr. Silvey estimates
that he and his team spent over a
year working on the new site.
He admits that many of the new features are technical and that people
won’t necessarily notice them. He’s
hoping, though, that you’ll enjoy the
convenience. Among the improvements: The new website is “responsive and adaptable.” That means it
will automatically resize itself to an
iPad, mini iPad, iPhone, Android
phone, as well as a computer screen.
Since people view with so many different devices these days, that was important to Silvey. “I thought the best
first step to take would be to make a
website that’s responsive so that it will
at least look better on smaller devices,” he says. Without that capability,
if you were to pull it up on a phone,
the images would be tiny.
The other significant change is that
visitors to the website will now be
Page 6
able to access HMRI’s current social
media posts. HMRI’s Twitter feed as
well as LinkedIn and Facebook accounts are all tied to the site. That
provides an almost immediate connection to what is happening now
at HMRI. If a scientist
has a new publication,
for example, guests will
be able to read the announcement and link immediately to the journal.
If someone does a radio
interview or podcast, it
can be posted in real
time to the website.
Silvey’s other goal was
to create a website
where people can find
things easier. He and
his team knew they
were building a site that
would be catering to
two types of users – the general public (translation: non scientists) plus scientists and their peers. The website’s
layout was developed with the needs
of these different audiences in mind.
Feature stories are right at the top.
There’s a top line menu as well as
drop down menus so people can
peruse and search as they like. The
website also features a more extensive collection of video clips. Taking
a citizen journalist approach, HMRI is
Talking to Dave Silvey, it becomes obvious that he’s a HMRI team player
all the way. The idea that the website may represent more work doesn’t
faze him. He is focused on the big
picture: “I’m really excited because
I want people to know who Huntington Medical Research Institutes is,” he
says, “not just who we have been, but
who we are now, and who we are
becoming.”
Asked if there’s anything else he
wants to see happen, he responds,
“Yes, I would love to get people’s
comments on the website. Feedback
is needed, welcomed, and encouraged…good or bad, because it’s ultimately the end user that we’re trying
to serve and benefit.”
So there you have it: Please visit the
HMRI website at www.hmri.org and
let Dave Silvey know what you think.
He can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at (626)
795-4343.
Page 7
E D U C A T I O N
E D U C A T I O N
HMRI Expands Research Program for
Undergraduate and Graduate Students
HMRI Lecture Series Hosts Weekly Talks
Now Offering CME Credits for Physicians
Education is alive and well at HMRI!
The HMRI Lecture Series - which is free
and open to the public - continues on
schedule every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
It’s the best seat in town if you want to
stimulate your brain and find out what
is going on within the walls of some
of this country’s most celebrated medical and research institutions. HMRI
hosts the weekly lectures by leading
scientists and doctors as a benefit to
the community, and as a place where
all of HMRI’s scientists can ponder the
same problem together, inspired by
an expert’s presentation.
Most of the talks are offered in the Research Conference Hall in the HMRI
building at 734 Fairmount Avenue in
Pasadena. Over the past year, the
lecture series has covered an amazing range of medical and research
topics. Dr. Larry Couture from City
of Hope has spoken on Challenges
in Scale-up of Regenerative Medicine
Products for Clinical Use; Dr. Ashish
Patel from Huntington Hospital presented on Things You Didn’t Know
about Sleep Apnea. You can attend
and learn about auditory implants or
Alzheimer’s Disease, that is how far
ranging the topic matter can be.
When asked about her proudest
achievement since she arrived last
year, HMRI President and Chief Scientist Dr. Marie Csete is immediate in
her response: “Our in house education system,” she says. “It’s robust and
interesting, and I just can’t imagine us
without it.”
As Dr. Csete puts it, “Collaborations
are happening on the spot. It’s a
way for all of us to be in the room, at
the same time, to be thinking about
a problem that maybe we don’t think
about on a regular basis. It gets the
juices running.”
In May, the series also began offering
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
credits for physicians. This has only
enriched the content of the talks. Physicians are required to demonstrate
a certain number of hours of continuing education when they go to renew
their licenses. The ease of coming to
HMRI for a lecture has been great for
outreach, and it is putting HMRI on
the map with a whole new community of doctors. That in turn opens the
door for more collaborations. HMRI
is grateful to Huntington Hospital for
allowing us to use their CME service,
meaning that the hospital committee
that reviews talks and workshops for
suitability for CME has to do a lot of
work evaluating the HMRI seminar
topics and objectives. It is gratifying
to see more clinicians from the hospital attending talks – and asking questions.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/HMRIMEDResearch
DR. GROSS: It’s important to remember that we are talking about
volunteers who will receive a high
level of exposure to various laboratory techniques, and who will have
the opportunity to participate in focused scientific discussions that will
help guide HMRI’s future research
endeavors. We prefer to select volunteers who are willing to commit to
HMRI research for at least one year in
the lab because that will give our volunteers extended knowledge in their
respective field of study. Our newly
formed year-long program is a new
approach for us and we’re excited
about it. We are concentrating our
efforts on finding a good “fit” for the
students and their mentors in terms of
domain expertise and motivation.
If you’d like to get weekly e-mail alerts
announcing the lectures, contact Jim
Kingman at [email protected].
You can also visit the HMRI website
at www.hmri.org for series information. Make sure to click on a short
video clip on the HMRI website where
Dr. Howard Kaufman talks about the
lecture series, and of course, follow
HMRI on these social media sites:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/HMRIMedResearch
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hmri–huntington-medical-research-institutes
HMRI Lecture Series SAVE THE DATE
Tuesday, October 27th 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Dr. Noah Gross (upper left) and Dr. Alfred Fonteh (upper right),
program co-chairs, with some of this year’s students.
After a successful sixty-year run, Huntington Medical Research Institutes
has retired its ten-week summer student research program. Does this
spell the end for education at HMRI?
Far from it! Committed to providing
the best educational experience possible, HMRI has kept the full-time summer research opportunity available
and revamped the program by expanding it to one year or more. The
goal of the program is to give students
a chance to become autonomous researchers, rather than just giving them
a ‘taste’ of science. The program is
overseen by HMRI researchers Dr. Alfred Fonteh and Dr. Noah Gross.
Insights editor Terry Garay sat down
with the program co-chairs recently
for an overview of what’s available
for students interested in biomedical
research at HMRI.
“Innovations in Vitreous Macula & Retina”
J. Sebag, MD, FACS, FRCOphth, FARVO
Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology
Doheny Eye Institute
VMR Institute for Vitreous Macula Retina
GARAY: For the person who is just
learning about HMRI, what is the Undergraduate and Graduate Research
Program?
HMRI Research Conference Center
734 Fairmount Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105
Page 8
DR. GROSS: Our volunteer/student
research program is a service that
we at HMRI are providing for young,
aspiring scientists who would like to
experience the research environment
by working alongside top-level scientists at HMRI. Our volunteers will
gain insight into research through
their volunteer time and with HMRI
collaborations. We maintain a variety of scientific disciplines at HMRI,
some of which include research on Alzheimer’s Disease, Cell Biology and
Tissue Engineering, Migraine, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Cardiovascular laboratory-based research.
GARAY: Why expand the program
from 10 weeks to one year or more?
DR. FONTEH: There’s no disputing
that HMRI had a successful 10-week
summer student research program for
several decades. My daughter went
through it two years ago and has benefited greatly. It has been my experience, though, that students will have
a better experience if the program is
not limited to just a few weeks in the
summer. It will also be mutually beneficial to the principal investigators if
students can make tangible contributions to ongoing research. The oneyear program is designed to give students better medical research training
and more exposure, while enabling
them to become successful team players in our research programs.
Dr. Noah Gross, Dr. Marie Csete,
and Dr. Alfred Fonteh at a kick
off luncheon for the program.
GARAY: Given your research work,
why take on the additional responsibility of the program?
DR. FONTEH: I think HMRI is making a valuable contribution that is not
only making a difference in the career of these young investigators, but
will greatly impact medical research
in this country. For me, that’s important as a scientist, as a member of the
community, and as a parent. We had
over 100 applications for this year’s
program. It’s sad, but we were able
to accommodate less than 10% of
those who applied. My goal for the
future is to have successful students –
more of them! - who will become part
continued page 10
Page 9
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS IN DISCOVERY
E D U C A T I O N
of the HMRI family, which happens to
include established researchers and
medical doctors. It is always a joy to
see young researchers get experience
and become competent in modern research methods.
DR. GROSS: I am looking forward to
interacting with these intelligent and
highly motivated young thinkers who
will lead us into the next memorable
chapter of HMRI research on the
brain and body.
HMRI salutes Drs. Fonteh and Gross
and the new 2015 class of the Undergraduate and Graduate Research
Program. A special note of thanks
also goes out to Dr. Victor Pikov who
directed the Summer Student Research
Program for many years. His contributions to HMRI and the students will
not be forgotten.
Through the years, HMRI’s summer student research program has
graduated many outstanding former
students. HMRI alumni have gone
on to careers as chairmen of medical school departments or careers in
medicine. A number of alums credit
their HMRI experience as a springboard to their future professions. In
the Pasadena area, the list of successful alums includes orthopedic surgeon
Dr. Todd B. Dietrick, neurosurgeon Dr.
Lance E. Gravely, cardiologist Greg
Geisler, and plastic surgeon Dr. Gordon H. Sasaki. Another distinguished
alum: Thomas Dean Pollard, former
President of the prestigious Salk Institute, and Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
and a Professor of Cell Biology and
Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
at Yale University.
The revamped 2015 program will emphasize students at local colleges and
universities who can extend their time
past the summer into a more extensive
research experience. Students from
other schools may be considered
however if they have the flexibility to
spend sufficient time at HMRI. For additional information, or to download
an application, visit the HMRI website
at www.hmri.org and look for the education link in the toolbar.
MEET THE STUDENTS
The HMRI Undergraduate and
Graduate Research Program
Class of 2015
Jennifer Cai
UC San Diego
Mentor:
Dr. Alfred Fonteh
Elissa Cheung
Occidental College
Mentor:
Dr. Robert A. Kloner
Grace Chung
Keck Institute
Mentor:
Dr. Alfred Fonteh
Crystal Pun
Biola University
Mentors:
Dr. Niema Pahlevan,
Thao Tran,
Cherise Charleswell
The generous support of our philanthropic partners helps improve health and enhance life through medical research.
MAJOR DONORS
Paige O’Connor
Colorado College
Mentor:
Dr. Marie Csete
Rhiannon Moore
Pomona College
Mentor:
Dr. Marie Csete
Altadena Guild
Mrs. Francine Hokin Katz in memory of my
Dr. John D. Baldeschwieler
beloved husband Marshall B. Katz
and Ms. Marlene Konnar
Ms. Kathryn M. Keele
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Coulombe
Mr. and Mrs. George Leal
Dr. Marie Csete
Zella Mack Revocable Trust
Engemann Family Foundation
Dr. and Mrs. Allen W. Mathies Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Engemann
Panda Inn/Panda Express
Dr. and Mrs. James Femino
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
Jim J. and Sue Femino Foundation
Joseph and Evelyn Pertusati Trust
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Gustavus & Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation
Foundation For The Carolinas
George T. Pfleger Foundation
John C. Hench Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Pfleger
J.W. & Ida M. Jameson Foundation
Dr. and Mrs. Robert E. Tranquada
Deepika Sarode
Pomona College
Mentor:
Dr. Marie Csete
Vida Enterprise Corp.
THANK YOU
Tadeh Setaghian
St. George’s University
Mentor:
Dr. Michael Harrington
In June, the Altadena Guild presented a
check for $60,000 to HMRI representing
the proceeds from the 64th Annual Home
Tour. (Left to right) VP of Philanthropy Dan
Amythis Soltani
Occidental College
Mentor:
Dr. Michael
Harrington
Aish Subramanian
Scripps College
Mentor:
Dr. Noah Gross
Maljanian, outgoing Guild President Sharon
Morrisey, Home Tour Co-Chairs Julie Manning,
Judy Bolenbaugh, Bobbie Miller, HMRI Board
Chair George Leal, and Home Tour Co-Chair
and incoming president Marie Darr.
Alexandra Filkins
Occidental College
Mentor:
Dr. Michael
Harrington
Aaron Lew
Polytechnic School
Mentor:
David Buennagel
JANUARY 1 TO JULY 31, 2015
*Gifts received after July 31, 2015, will be included in next issue.
Page 10
Page 11
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS IN DISCOVERY
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS IN DISCOVERY
MEMORIAL AND TRIBUTE GIFTS
These gifts were made to honor a loved one, a favorite physician or a researcher,
to celebrate a special occasion or achievement, or to remember someone special.
In Memory of Ms. Violet Hatounian
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Z. Agajanian
IIn Memory of Joe Pizzorno
Mrs. Josephine R. Bracci
In Memory of Janet Bockus
Dr. and Mrs. William F. Agnew
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Albee
Dr. and Mrs. Fred C. Anson
Mrs. Elizabeth B. Behny
Ms. Deborah E. Black
Mr. and Mrs. George P. Coulter
Mr. Frank G. Davis
Mrs. Eileen M. Escobedo
Mrs. Carole Grant
Dr. Robert J. Mackin and Ms. Merrilee Fellows
Ms. Candace McCrea
Mrs. Ruth McCrea Simpson
Ms. Jneal McCrea
Ms. Robin A. Merlo and Mr. Michael I. Lescander
Ms. Jackie Nuccio
Ms. Terry M. Traver
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Vandernoot
In Memory of Mrs. Hwa-Jen Cheng
Ms. Victoria L. Y. Cheng
In Memory of Janet Bockus and Robert Salinas
Altadena Guild of Huntington Hospital
In Memory of Dan Brigham and Edward Kaighn
Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence W. Jones
In Memory of Jean Freshwater
Dr. and Mrs. Yancey Beamer
In Memory of Dr. Jack Richards
Dr. Keiko Kanamori
In Memory of Daniel Brigham, Jr.
Mrs. Barbara Anderson Blake
Mrs. Franklin H. Simmons
In Memory of Marshall B. Katz
Mrs. Francine Katz
In Memory of Joe Pizzorno
Mrs. Josephine R. Bracci
Donors
In Honor of Helen Baatz,
Jim Gamb and Allen Mathies
Dr. and Mrs. Stuart Miller
In Memory of Charles Rice
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mustacchio
In Memory of Donald W. Petit
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, Inc.
In Memory of Roy Edwards
Mrs. Ellen D. A. Eidson
In Memory of Harold Meyerman
Dr. and Mrs. William Opel
In Memory of Dr. William G. Corey
Roy E. Hanson
In Memory of Audrey Luedke
Mrs. Vincent W. Heublein
In Honor of Dr. Mike Harrington
Mrs. Anne R. Snyder
In Honor of William Opel
Hezlep Family Foundation
Mrs. Elizabeth N. Osborn
In Honor of Dr. Myron Tong
Vida Enterprise Corp.
In Memory of Lt. Andrew Torres
Mr. John Warnke
In Memory of Courtney Marie Janda
Mr. and Mrs. Steven F. Janda
In Memory of Evelyn Scribner
Mrs. Barbara Weller
In Memory of Helen Tar Coates and Toni Reifel
Mr. Gaylord West
In Memory of Marvin Beeson
Mr. and Mrs. George Leal
Mr. and Mrs. John Baatz
Ms. Chrysa Barbatsialos
Ms. Cynthia Bennett
Mrs. Dorance D. Bolton
Mrs. Hannah G. Bradley
Ms. Patricia G. Bruce
Mr. Enrique Cadenas
Mr. and Mrs. Shody Chow
John and Lucille Crumb Medical Research Fund
Mr. and Mrs. John C. Cushman
Mr. and Mrs. Ken Drellishak
Faye A. Eggerding, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Alfred N. Fonteh
Mr. and Mrs. James D. Gamb
Mr. Matthew Gutierrez
Dr. Michael Harrington
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Hart
Mrs. Collis H. Holladay Jr.
Ms. Fumiko Humberd
Mrs. Pamela H. Lewis
Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Lipsig
Ms. Laura L. Mode
Mr. Leroy Moser
Mr. and Mrs. John Mothershead
ORACLE
Pasadena Community Foundation
Ms. Janet Rich
Mr. Michael Schwartz and Mr. Kenneth Talley
Ms. Yelena Smirnova
J H Stafford Charitable Trust
Mr. Leonard Torres and Mrs. Anita S. Brenner
Truist
Mr. Larry Walker
Mrs. Patches Willcox
Estate of Constance G. Zahorik
JANUARY 1 TO JULY 31, 2015
JANUARY 1 TO JULY 31, 2015
*Gifts received after July 31, 2015, will be included in next issue.
*Gifts received after July 31, 2015, will be included in next issue.
Page 12
Page 13
64TH ANNUAL HOME TOUR
64TH ANNUAL HOME TOUR
With a theme of “Bellissimo,” this
year’s home and garden tour took
place on Sunday, May 3rd and it
focused on the magnificent homes
and gardens residing within the
original Sphinx Ranch of northeastern Altadena. It’s an area
nestled above the Midlothian and
Glenview Terrace intersection.
Thank you to the 2015 Home Tour Co-Chairs (left to right) Bobbie
Miller, Judy Bolenbaugh, Julie Manning, and Marie Darr.
On Friday, June 5th, the members of the Altadena Guild gathered on the campus of Huntington
Hospital to present a check for
Huntington Medical Research Institutes offers its thanks to everyone associated with this year’s
event – from the Guild members
who poured their hearts and souls
into making the tour another success, to the owners of the exquisite
homes and gardens featured during the tour, plus the volunteers,
musicians, classic car exhibitors,
bagpipers, and of course, the
many sponsors and people who
attended the event.
$60,000 to HMRI. The donation
represented the proceeds from
the 64th Annual Home Tour.
Judy Bolenbaugh
Marie Darr
Julie Manning
Bobbie Miller
Debbie and Jonathan Williams. In addition to
being an Altadena Guild member, Debbie is
serving on HMRI’s Capital Campaign Cabinet.
fk
Special Thanks
For their extraordinary vision and
leadership, HMRI gratefully
acknowledges the efforts of the
2015 Home Tour Co-Chairs:
This year’s Home Tour included a classic car show.
As in past years, the Pasadena Scots officially began the
day with their bagpipes and drums.
Incoming Institutes Chair Diana Trujillo with
Patti Ebbert. As Institutes Chair, Diana will be
the Guild’s liaison to HMRI.
(Left to right) Judy Armstrong, Freddi Hill, and Penny Gill.
Patricia Harris greeted visitors to the Tea Garden.
For sharing their homes
and gardens, HMRI thanks:
Barbara Bowns
Nancy and Henrik Gronroos
Katie Jordan
John Oden and Mark Dizik
Renata and Talmadge O’Neill
Chelsey and Rob Park
Charlotte Jordan and Ed Saulny
Dorothy and James Soares
Page 14
Page 15
New Mission Drives HMRI Forward CONT’D
A major feature of human disease is
the heterogeneity, or how different
one patient with Parkinson’s disease
is from another patient. HMRI’s patient-focused approach emphasizes
the importance of studying a broad
range of patients with one disease.
In short, HMRI’s sophisticated and
very deep studies in humans will get
to the answers about the underlying
causes of disease faster.
As for why the multi-disciplinary approach is so necessary and timely,
Csete says: “I feel very strongly
that people of different backgrounds
looking at the same problem come
up with results that are more than just
one plus one equals two.” She points
with pride to the potentially groundbreaking discussions that have been
taking place between Dr. Michael
Harrington and Boswell Fellow Dr.
Niema Pahlevan. Harrington’s focus
for years has been Alzheimer’s research; Pahlevan is developing tools
that look at heart function. Thanks to
the cross talk between the two, Pahlevan is now starting to look at his
non-invasive cardiac assessment as
a potential biomarker of Alzheimer’s
disease. This work could also help to
dissect out the vascular contribution
to this common neurodegenerative
disease. A champion of interdisciplinary research, Dr. Csete beams
as she talks about the excitement she
is seeing in HMRI’s labs these days:
“In this case fluid dynamics and cardiac function crossing paths with
neurology, I think, present powerful
new approaches to understanding a
disease process. The collaborations
just seem to add more spokes on to
the wheel as we get together more
often and talk about what we’re doing.”
Importantly, HMRI’s science strategic plan also takes into account the
common features of all the diseases
-- inflammation and metabolism. As
work began on the plan, Dr. Csete
recognized that identifying those
common features would be critical
to working across disciplines. On
the topic of inflammation, she says:
“Inflammation at the cellular and molecular level contributes to virtually
every disease and in some ways you
can think of aging as a disease of
increasing inflammation.” She adds
Orest Boyko MD, PhD CONT’D
that inflammation also plays a huge
role in recovering from heart attack.
When asked to explain metabolism,
she says: “Metabolism here means
that we’re talking about the energy
source of the cell, particularly the
mitochondria.” Not surprisingly, the
core of the science strategic plan
takes advantage of new tools for
studying function and metabolism.
Csete goes on to say that Dr. Robert
Kloner has taken the lead at HMRI
in looking at new drugs that affect
mitochondrial function, adding, “But
we will increase our look into the mitochondrial function and the impact
that mitochondrial disease has in all
of our programs down the road.”
While it was an exhaustive nearly
year-long process, Csete is pleased
with the end result. “I think we have
a vision,” she says. “The process of
going through the strategic plan really helped me solidify what that vision
is, and I think more importantly, we
have everybody behind the vision.”
Making her point, she adds: “Our
board understands where we’re going and why, scientifically. Our scientists are very excited about where
we’re going. We can recruit on a
national level in a way that we have
never been able to do before. We
can also realistically think about
achieving that vision because we’re
getting more notice.”
And indeed HMRI is everywhere
these days! In addition to having scientific papers published, and to presenting posters or doing talks at high
profile conferences, in recent months
HMRI’s scientists have become fixtures in print, radio, television, and
on the internet. Dr. Csete kicked off
the year being quoted in U.S. News
& World Report on January 26th in a
piece about physician involvement in
clinical trials. Also in January, HMRI’s VP of Translation Dr. Robert A.
Kloner was Tim Conway Jr.’s guest
on KFI radio. The April 2nd edition
of the Pasadena Outlook had HMRI
as its cover story. In June, ABC7, the
local TV affiliate, ran separate stories
on HMRI’s migraine research and Alzheimer’s research. HMRI’s Alzheimer’s research was also the subject of a
moving feature in the Pasadena StarNews over Father’s Day weekend,
as well as several of the other Los
Angeles News Group publications.
More recently, Dr. Andrea Loewendorf, one of HMRI’s newest recruits,
was featured in an interview on KPFK
radio’s Feminist Magazine. During
the summer, HMRI also received generous coverage from The Pasadena
Now website, and in July, Dr. Csete
was quoted in Health Day about how
a healthy diet can reduce the risk of
problems with certain types of brain
functions.
To learn more about HMRI and its
plans for the future, you are invited to
visit HMRI’s website - www.hmri.org.
The website has undergone a major
transformation, another of the many
projects initiated since the beginning
of the year. HMRI Communications
Officer Dave Silvey and Special
Projects Administrator Jim Kingman
deserve special credit for taking on
the tough task of changing the HMRI
website to reflect an organization
on the move. If you are interested
in the lectures sponsored by HMRI,
the website has a weekly schedule,
among many other new and userfriendly features. Among the offerings: There is a link to an article
published in California Healthcare
News by Dr. Csete that provides
insight into the “bedside to bench”
strategy used in the science strategic
plan. In the Recent Videos section,
you can watch the presentations
from January’s HMRI Forward event.
It is a wonderful opportunity to hear
HMRI’s scientists as they detail their
exciting plans for the future.
About this, Dr. Csete says: “Ten
years from now if we have accomplished half of the audacious goals
we have for research, I’ll be a very
happy person.”
HMRI Forward was designated
as the theme for 2015. Led by a
new mission and guided by a new
science strategic plan, Huntington
Medical Research Institutes is clearly
making good on what Dr. Csete says
in that video from January: “HMRI is
the small place that will make a big
difference in the life of medicine.”
We hope to advance things outside
of just the brain,” confirms Boyko.
“We want to tie in with the expertise
of Dr. Kloner and the cardiovascular
team to do some advanced imaging
as it relates to cardiac diseases.” A
collaboration with HMRI’s Liver Center is also on the horizon. Dr. Boyko
mentions that there’s an active clinical role for using MRI scanning of
the liver. “There is a technique of
using the MRI machine to look at
scarring of the liver called MR Elastography,” he continues. He’s looking forward to seeing the technique
in use soon at HMRI.
Dr. Boyko also brings a special
interest in Magnetic Resonance
Spectroscopy to his role at HMRI.
He believes it is underutilized in
medical clinical practice, and he
is determined to create what he
describes as “a renaissance in MR
Spectroscopy” to guide radiologists
and other physicians. “Spectroscopy opens up a different category
of biochemistry,” he says. “It can
assist you in establishing how you
rank your differential diagnosis.”
(In medicine, a differential diagnosis is the distinguishing of a particular disease or condition from others
that present with similar symptoms.)
Patient safety and how to deal with
big data are two other major areas
of interest for him. He very much
wants to see HMRI at the forefront
of patient safety. To that end, the
long term (potential negative) impact of MR contrast dyes used for
some MRI studies is one area currently being examined. Dr. Boyko
is also focused on “advancing everything digitally so we can be on a
digital platform and move forward
in an electronic environment.” In
this case, he is talking about the
enormous amount of data that are
embedded in images and how you
overlay very different image modalities to get meaningful information
out the other end.
Orest Boyko was born in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. He grew up
in the Midwest, though, in Bloomington, Indiana, the home town of
Indiana University. He is of Ukrainian ancestry and his first language
as a child was in fact Ukrainian,
Dr. Boyko with the Advanced Imaging Team and Dr. Csete at the 3T
magnet ribbon-cutting. (Left to right) Dr. Boyko, David Gultekin,
Darlene Royal, Dr. Marie Csete, Cherise Charleswell, and Thao Tran.
Dr. Boyko’s daughter Anissa also attended the ribbon-cutting event.
Recognized as a leader in his field,
Dr. Boyko was recently quoted in
TechRepublic, an online publication
with a massive following. In
the web article, which posted on
August 13th, Boyko offers his
perspective on the IBM Watson
acquisition of medical imaging
company Merge Healthcare. To
read the article, visit:
not English. His parents taught him
Ukrainian and he didn’t learn English until he started playing outside
of his home. Looking back, he says
that his cultural background is what
broadened and opened him to experiences beyond science, which,
he admits, “was always of interest.”
Over the years, Dr. Boyko has studied art, history, literature, and multiple languages, including French
and German.
http://www.techrepublic.com/
article/ibm-watson-bets-1-billionon-healthcare-with-mergeacquisition/
What originally brought his family
to Indiana was his father’s career as
a librarian. Indiana University was
Dr. Boyko Quoted in TechRepublic
continued page 20
Page 16
Page 17
Andrea Loewendorf PhD CONT’D
As a youngster, HMRI’s future scientist found that “everything was exciting to me!”
Not surprising for someone with a
curious mind, she adds: “Daddy
was a firefighter, so, naturally, I had
to test every material for its ignitability. We had a sand box so that was
good. I had the brains to do it in the
sandbox!”
It was Dr. Loewendorf’s fascination
with living things that ultimately
drew her into science. As she says,
“I wanted to do something where
I would find answers to things that
you can’t find in a book or through
Google.”
In May, Dr. Loewendorf
presented a poster at the
annual meeting of the American
Association of Immunologists
in New Orleans. The study
that is shown on the poster
examined the consequences
of the maternal pregnancy
complication preeclampsia on a
baby’s immune system.
because her work in the last couple
of years has been to put an immunologic picture on a disease that
wasn’t really considered an immunologic disease. That’s pre-eclampsia.
She has the ability to go in and learn
enough about the disease to figure
out a direction based on her deep
knowledge of the immune system.
That perspective will make a difference in so many different diseases
we study.” Csete then adds, “And
of course here, with everybody talking to everybody, adding in this unifying perspective will be a lot easier
for her, so it’s just great!”
Born and raised in West Berlin,
Germany, Loewendorf is the only
member of her family to go to college. Her parents and brother were
always supportive, but she credits a
high school biology teacher with fostering her interest in science. “That
teacher was able to make us feel like
we were doing something new,” she
remembers. A few years later, she
was able to invite him to her PhD
graduation. She still cherishes the
memory: “It was cool. He really
liked that.”
Dr. Marie Csete agrees, “Andrea is
a PhD who is absolutely passionate
about working with human samples
and with humans, so in that respect
she fits in here extremely well. Many
immunologists will live their lives in
mice and never have a care about
the human parallel. But working in
the human system is first and foremost on Andrea’s list.”
Today, the immune regulation of normal and complicated pregnancies
continues to be a major focus for Dr.
Loewendorf, and a large part of that
research is conducted using peripheral blood samples from pregnant
women. One of the exciting new
approaches she has established is
a non-invasive, wonderfully simple
method of sampling the unique microenvironment located at the site
where the maternal and fetal tissues
meet, the uteroplacental interface.
This method allows for comparison
of local with peripheral immune
cells. The unique microenvironment
at the uteroplacental interface is in
direct contact with the placenta and
our understanding of how a mother
tolerates (does not reject) an immu-
After high school, she attended university in a small town in the former
East Germany. She went on to earn
a Master’s degree and a PhD. Her
PhD thesis was on immunomodulation by herpesviruses. In Germany,
it is customary to go abroad for at
least a limited time if you want to
have a successful scientific career.
By this point, Loewendorf knew she
wanted to stay in science so she set her
sights on San Diego for her post-doc
work. At the La Jolla
Institute for Allergy
and Immunology she
studied the impact
of herpesvirus infection on the adaptive
immune system in
mice. After a short
interval working on
a stem cell project in
Loma Linda, (where
she first met Dr.
Marie Csete), she
switched gears and
focused on more
applied research at
Left to right) Altadena Guild President Sharon
UCLA.
Morrisey, HMRI President and Chief Scientist
Dr. Marie Csete, with Dr. Loewendorf at the
“And then I started
Altadena Guild Home Tour on May 3rd.
working with people,” she recalls. This was a critinologic foreigner, the fetus, is still
cal next step for Loewendorf. While
very limited. Better understanding of
not diminishing her past efforts, she
this unique relationship will be nechad grown to realize she wanted
essary to create treatments for those
to do more. “I wanted to do somepregnancies where this tolerance is
thing where at some point I could
incomplete such as in preeclampsia.
say somebody has been treated for
some disease better because of my
continued page 19
work.” The road to HMRI was set.
Page 18
While there is still very little that can
be done to help a preeclamptic woman, this work will ensure better care
when little girls born today become
mothers in the future.
Given her passion for life, there’s infinitely more to Dr. Andrea Loewendorf
than just her scientific endeavors.
Discussing her interests outside of
work, she says that she likes to dance
tango and that she loves to laugh. It
turns out that she has taken full advantage of L.A.’s stand- up comedy
scene since moving here from San
Diego. She also enjoys sewing and
history.
It’s clear, though, that the interest that
has shaped her life the most is sports:
“I played ultimate Frisbee,” Loewendorf mentions. “I was actually on the
German national team in the World
Cup.”
She refers to sports as “a great
school for life.” Playing in team
sports taught her about taking responsibility. It’s something that she
brings to her work as a researcher.
“Science is a team sport,” she says
with absolute conviction. “I believe
that for the bigger breakthroughs in
the future, you really have to work together. We’re just not living in a time
where you can sit alone in a room
and make that level of discovery.”
Dr. Loewendorf, at the podium, volunteered to emcee
HMRI’s Brain Day event in March.
Asked for some final thoughts on Dr.
Loewendorf, Dr. Marie Csete says,
“Andrea is proof that you can really
be a woman scientist on your own
terms. I think she’s a great role model for young women. She is obviously so well-spoken – two languages
– plus she’s beautiful, athletic, and
talented as a scientist.”
Dr. Csete will be pleased to learn
that Dr. Andrea Loewendorf has no
plans to leave HMRI any time soon.
“I would like to stay here,” she says.
“I would like to be an integral part
of this enterprise because I enjoy it.”
Glad to have you on board, Dr.
Loewendorf!
Appropriately, the fast-moving Dr. Loewendorf is in running
clothes as she gives an interview to ABC7 in June.
Page 19
Orest Boyko MD, PhD CONT’D
building a new library and they
were recruiting librarians. His father thought it would be a good opportunity. The decision to move to a
college town would prove especially
beneficial to his son Orest.
“One of the advantages we had of
going to school in Bloomington,” Dr.
Boyko recalls, “was that they had a
program where high school students
could actually take classes at the university.” He was soon taking chemistry classes at the university and a
career in science was born.
Happenstance also put him on the
road to learn about magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): “As a senior
in medical school, I found out that
we could take classes, clinical rotations, anywhere in the United States
for our last year,” he recounts.
Boyko chose to go to Boston. At
the time, he wasn’t thinking about
radiology as a career and actually
didn’t know much about it. A lecture that he attended in Boston soon
changed that. He saw a research
scientist from England take an orange and place it in this machine
that he called an “NMR” machine.
Boyko was hooked! “And so it was
because of the interest in ‘nuclear
magnetic resonance,’ which is now
called magnetic resonance imaging,
that I decided to pursue a career in
radiology,” he says.
Now on board as the Director of
HMRI’s Imaging Research Program,
Dr. Boyko has nothing but praise for
the man he replaced. “For Brian
Ross, as always, we owe a tremendous amount of thanks,” he says.
“He pioneered the field of MR spectroscopy, and he paid attention to
all the things that one needs to pay
attention to in order to make something relevant in the care of patients
throughout the United States and the
world.”
Asked about the transition, Dr. Csete
says, “Dr. Boyko is continuing things
that Dr. Ross started but we wouldn’t
get somebody worth their salt unless
they had their own ideas. I think
his approach is exactly the way we
should be going.” HMRI’s goal of
bringing new techniques of chemical imaging of the brain and other
organs to greater application in
medicine is in fact perfectly aligned
with Dr. Boyko’s interests and vision.
His primary goal is to not only to
build on the foundation that’s been
established, but to advance that
foundation based on new advanced
techniques and capabilities that will
be at HMRI for the very first time. He
mentions the 3Tesla MR Scanner that
was installed at HMRI in July as a
shining example of these new capabilities. This stronger, state-of-the-art
magnet allows for better resolution
as well as faster imaging times. This
is a broadband system, so not only
will HMRI be able to do everything it
currently does using its 1.5T system
(which only consists of proton (1H)
imaging and spectroscopy), but also
will be able to image other nuclei
like carbon-13 (13C) to detect brain
metabolism in different neurologi-
cal diseases, and phosphorus-31
(31P) to study energy of the heart
muscle—just a few examples of
the new capabilities. In the future,
HMRI foresees tapping into sodium
imaging for migraine studies as well
as fluorine for lung imaging. With
this vital piece of equipment, there is
no end to the applications of MRS in
HMRI’s various research programs.
The new 3T MRI machine will be
dedicated to clinical research under
Dr. Boyko’s leadership.
C O M M U N I T Y
Brain Day Brings the Community to HMRI
Held on Saturday, March 28th, this
half-day event was an opportunity
for HMRI to share its current cuttingedge brain research with the community, and to discuss how HMRI research can contribute to better brain
health. It was produced by HMRI’s
Advanced Imaging team in recognition of Brain Injury Awareness
Month. The presentations were focused on HMRI’s studies on diseases
that impact the brain: Alzheimer’s
Disease and dementia, concussion
and traumatic brain injury, headaches and migraines, and brain
complications of liver disease, and
sleep disorders.
Outside of work, Dr. Boyko and his
wife Luba have a strong interest in
pets and animals. They recently
adopted a dog, as a matter of fact,
an SPCA rescue dog named Mikko.
Since it’s a rescue, they’re not certain about the breed. Boyko says
simply, “As we walk our dog, different people will stop and give their
opinion. We’ve gotten lots of opinions.” So what’s the verdict? Dr.
Boyko shrugs and then volunteers:
“Our dog is very lovable, and very
caring, and very attached.”
The Boykos make their home in
Encino. The parents of two grown
daughters, they describe themselves
as “empty nesters.” Their daughter Anissa is a nursing student and
daughter Laryssa will be attending
Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health starting in a
few weeks.
Huntington Medical Research Institutes welcomes the Boyko family and
looks forward to a long and productive career at HMRI for Dr. Boyko.
In addition to organizing
the day, HMRI’s Cherise
Charleswell and Thao Tran
also presented at Brain Day.
We call this the A
Team – Dr. Marie
Csete, Dr. Alfred
Fonteh, and Dr.
Doug McCreery
took questions
following their
presentations.
THANK YOU TO THE BRAIN DAY PRESENTERS
Hepatic encephalopathy: Brain disease from a diseased liver
Myron Tong MD, PhD
Chemical imaging of the brain: Clues from Spectroscopy
Thao Tran, BS, ARMRIT
Another member of the
Advanced Imaging team,
Darlene Royal, greeted guests
as they arrived.
Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury in Pediatric Athletes
Cherise Charleswell, BA, MPH
Migraines and Headaches
Michael Harrington, MB, ChB, FRCP
FOLLOW US!
A Novel Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Douglas McCreery PhD
HMRIMedResearch
Stroke: A Primer
Robert A. Kloner MD, PhD
https://www.facebook.com/HMRIMedResearch
Dementias
Michael Harrington, MB, ChB, FRCP
https://twitter.com/HMRIMedResearch
Clues to Alzheimer’s disease therapy from spinal fluid studies
Alfred Fonteh PhD
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hmri-huntington-medical-research-institutes
Brain in a dish: How stem cells can help dissect brain disease
Marie Csete MD, PhD
Page 20
HMRI made it possible
for exhibitors to provide
additional information on
community resources. The
Alzheimer’s Association
Southland Chapter, Young &
Healthy, and Family Peace,
Inc., were among the groups
that participated.
Page 21
M O R E
S T A F F
the position in August 2014, she reports to the Executive Team on all
issues relating to diversity, whether it
be conferences, planned seminars,
staff training, or special events like
film screenings with follow up discussion.
Marie Csete MD, PhD
President and Chief Scientist
Dr. Csete has been appointed to
co-chair the Regeneration and Cell
Biology Grant Review Committee at
the American Heart Association, a
volunteer position. This represents
an honor for HMRI’s President and
Chief Scientist. She has been a committee member for several years.
Committee chairs are chosen based
on their performance as a reviewer,
and for their expertise in the area.
Charleswell is grateful for the opportunity and when asked for a comment recently, she said: “I want to
thank Dr. Csete for being forwardthinking and understanding the importance of insisting on diversity
and inclusion in our workforce, as
well as research subject populations. She is giving HMRI an opportunity to draw closer bonds with our
local community, to increase our visibility, as well as produce research
results and outputs that are generalizable to all genders, racial and
ethnic groups.”
M O R E
N E W S
Additional kudos to Charleswell for
organizing the Brain Day event in
March.
Michael Harrington MB, ChB, FRCP
Molecular Neurology Program
Martin Han PhD
Neural Engineering Program
Cherise Charleswell MPH
Advanced Imaging
Research Program
In addition to her duties as a clinical researcher, Cherise Charleswell
continues making strides in her role
as HMRI’s Diversity Officer. In June,
she offered a talk on Health Equity,
Diversity, Recruitment and Retention
in Human Subjects Research as part
of the Lecture Series. Appointed to
Multiple congratulations to Dr. Martin Han. In March, he was awarded
funding from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) for two RO1 grant
proposals he submitted last year, a
remarkable achievement in these
times of funding shortages. The
project title was Towards Clinical
Translation of Penetrating Multisite
Device for Cochlear Nucleus. This
will enable Han and the HMRI team
gram standards categorized within
four cancer program activity areas:
cancer committee leadership, cancer data management, clinical services, and quality improvement. The
cancer program was further evaluated on seven commendation standards.
to continue their work on the development of silicon-based, implantable microelectrodes. Implantable
microelectrode systems based on
batch processing micromachining
techniques continue to evolve and
expand their applications in treating
diseases and disorders in the central
and peripheral nervous systems, as
well as advancing basic neuroscience. Dr. Han also served as an
ad hoc study section reviewer for an
NIH BRAIN initiative R21 program.
Just in: In August, Dr. Martin Han
was notified of another National Institutes of Health grant award. The
project title for this award is Chronically-Implantable Multisite Microelectrode Arrays and the project
period covered is August 15, 2015
through May 31, 2019.
In May, Dr. Harrington gave an
exceptionally well received talk on
Alzheimer’s Disease at a meeting of
the Fiduciary Round Table in Pasadena. If you visit the HMRI website,
you are going to see that Harrington
has also been doing a lot of media
for HMRI recently. January saw him
receiving congratulations for his
contribution to a USC-based study
that was published in the high impact journal “Neuron.”
Page 22
S T A F F
N E W S
duced the size of heart attacks by
an impressive 32%. Bendavia also
reduced new onset of heart failure
in heart attack victims. Dr. Dai has
shown that in a model of heart failure induced by heart attack, chronic
Bendavia reduced heart failure and
prevented heart swelling. Bendavia
is now being studied in patients with
Howard Kaufman MD
Colorectal Research Program
Dr. Kaufman and his team traveled
to Washington, DC, for Digestive
Diseases Week, an annual meeting
of several high level medical and surgical organizations. Resident Elyse
LeeVan MD was given an opportunity to present a poster entitled Patients with Mixed Fecal Incontinence
and Obstructed Defecation Exhibit
Unique Physiologic Relationships:
A High Resolution Anal Manometry
Study. Abstracts from poster presentations at DDW are published.
Kaufman especially values how the
meeting opens the door for cross talk
between surgeons, gastroenterologists and pathologists. “From that
standpoint,” he says, “it’s great to
have multidisciplinary symposia that
are there not only for us to present
our research, but which make it possible for me and my colleagues to
learn different points of view about
the diseases that we treat.”
Congratulations to Dr. Kaufman for
another well-deserved recognition.
He serves as Director of the Huntington Hospital Cancer Center, and the
HHCC was recently presented with
the 2014 Outstanding Achievement
Award by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College
of Surgeons (ACS). HHCC is one
of a select group of only 75 U.S.
health care facilities with accredited
cancer programs to receive this national honor for surveys performed
last year. The award acknowledges
cancer programs that achieve excellence in providing quality care to
cancer patients. The HHCC cancer
program was evaluated on 34 pro-
Dr. Robert A. Kloner and the team from HMRI’s Cardiovascular
Research Institute (left to right) Sharon Hale, Dr. Kloner, Dr. Wangde
Dai, and Dr. Jianru Shi
Thanks to support from Stealth Biopharmaceuticals in Newton, Massachusetts, Dr. Kloner, Dr. Jianru Shi,
Sharon Hale, and Dr. Wangde Dai
continue to be involved with a new
class of pharmacologic agents that
protect the mitochondria. Mitochondria are small organelles found in
our cells, and they are basically the
energy factories of our cells. Simply put, they make energy. Without them, cells can’t live and they
can’t function. Many diseases are
caused or worsened by mitochondrial dysfunction, including acute and
chronic heart disease. Until recently,
drugs that work inside the mitochondria were not available.
When Dr. Kloner joined HMRI at the
beginning of the year, he brought
two grants from Stealth Biopharmaceuticals to study the effect of mitochondrial protective agents in various models of heart disease. One of
the drugs that the team has looked at
is called Bendavia. Sharon Hale’s
surgical model of acute heart attack
identified a modest effect of Bendavia in limiting the size of the heart
attack. This effect size was very similar to the results of the first clinical
trial of Bendavia in human subjects.
Of note, in patients with histories of
high blood pressure, Bendavia re-
heart failure. Dr. Kloner serves on
the steering committee and as a consultant for the clinical trials based
in part on work done in his lab as
a result of the Stealth funding. He
reports that the positive effect of Bendavia on chronic heart disease may
be more impressive than for acute
disease.
Because mitochondria are in all our
cells, Stealth is interested in looking
at the drug in other disease models,
and work at HMRI is taking advantage of the induced pluripotent stem
cell production in Dr. Csete’s lab, to
examine the effects of Bendavia on
resistance to stress in iPS cells and
soon, in nerve cells generated from
the stem cells. The Kloner and Csete
labs work together on this project.
As HMRI’s VP of Translation, Dr.
Kloner is proud of the work and
points to it as a perfect example
of the translational approach that
HMRI embraced this year in its strategic plan. “Studies that were done
in an experimental lab have now
translated into clinical findings,” he
says. “If these therapies work, it’s
something that will directly help the
community in terms of decreasing
heart failure.”
Page 23
M O R E
S T A F F
M O R E
N E W S
more expensive and time-consuming
diagnostics.
S T A F F
N E W S
A FOND FAREWELL TO…
Thanks to the support from HMRI,
the research process has been accelerated. Dr. Pahlevan estimates it
has been moved forward by at least
five years, and he is now looking for
new applications of the technology.
A WARM WELCOME TO…
Niema Pahlevan PhD
Caltech-HMRI Boswell Fellow
Dr. Pahlevan presented a poster at
ISMRM 2015, the 23rd International Society for Magnetic Resonance
in Medicine’s Annual Meeting, held
in Toronto from May 30th to June
5th. The poster highlighted a noninvasive, inexpensive, easy-to-use
diagnostic method to assess cardiovascular function. The technology was developed by Pahlevan, in
the Caltech laboratory of Professor
Mory Gharib. It is now being studied at HMRI under the supervision of
Dr. Marie Csete and with considerable input from Dr. Bob Kloner.
The core of the experimental device
under study is software developed
based on extensive fluid dynamics experiments.
The software is
loaded onto a smartphone, which is
used to capture a pulse (waveform)
by simply placing the phone lightly
against the neck over the carotid
pulsation. In this study, the information collected from the smartphone
app will be compared to cardiac
function data obtained from the current gold standard for measuring
cardiac function, cardiac Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI).
The impact of the technology is potentially significant in terms of reducing medical costs and also of promoting personalized medicine. For
example, outpatient monitoring of
patients with periodic echocardiograms could be improved upon by
more frequent iPhone-based monitors, with the potential to catch deterioration sooner than traditional,
Dr. S. Ashraf Imam
Lisa Lusk
Juan Carreno
Juan Carreno joined HMRI in March
as Animal Care Supervisor. Born
in Mexico City, Carreno attended
the National Autonomous University
of Mexico and is a veterinarian by
training (as is his wife Maribel). After living in Orange County for several years, he and his family recently
relocated to the San Gabriel Valley.
He and his wife are the parents of
two teenage daughters. His interests
include classical music, bike riding,
and Formula One racing. Asked for
a comment, he said, “I’m excited to
be at HMRI and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the researchers. This is an institution that
produces precise results and makes
a great contribution to society.”
Mr. Carreno is especially pleased
that he had a chance to work with
Edna Smith, whom he replaces. He
felt an immediate connection to her
after their first meeting and values
the time she spent with him. Interestingly, he and Smith were both born
on May 29th.
Lisa Lusk joined HMRI in February
and is serving as Human Resources
Administrator. A Southern California native, she attended Occidental
College and brings over 25 years
of administrative experience, including 12 years of HR expertise. Her
husband Robert is a personal chef
(when he’s not chauffeuring their
10-year old daughter around to her
various activities). As a family they
enjoy reading, cooking, and going
to USC football games, as well as
having fun together at the movies,
playing games and working various
assortments of puzzles.
Describing herself as someone who
likes to help people, Lusk says she is
very proud of the employee orientation she implemented shortly after
her arrival. She is looking forward
to having HMRI’s virtual network going for employees so that everyone
can communicate easier.
So how is she finding HMRI’s scientific environment? “I love it,” she
says, “going to the weekly lectures
is just a thrill! Working with all the
scientists and the support staff for
them is really stimulating…intellectually stimulating, and I like that.”
Sounds like she’s a keeper!
Page 24
The Director of HMRI’s Molecular
Pathology Program moved on to another position in July, after 16 years
of service. Dr. Imam says he will
continue to work on cancer. He
calls his time at HMRI an “uninterrupted wonderful working experience!”
Edna Smith
HMRI’s beloved Animal Care Supervisor retired in July after 29 years of
service. Her contributions were recognized at a farewell party that was
organized in her honor. Dr. Janet
Baer described Edna as someone
who “just did everything” up to and
including repairing floors and walls,
as well as cages. All researchers at
HMRI who work in preclinical studies value the expertise Edna brought
to their programs.
JOIN TEAM HMRI
at the
PASADENA HUMANE
SOCIETY & SPCA’S
WIGGLE
WAGGLE
WALK
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
8:00 AM-1:00 PM
Dr. Victor Pikov
In May, after 14 years of service,
Dr. Pikov moved to Stevenage UK to
assume the position of Research Platforms Director at GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK). Before leaving, he said that
his work at HMRI was formative for
his career as a biomedical researcher. The work he will be doing has
its roots in the neuromodulation research that he conducted at HMRI
over the last year. He also wants
everyone to know that, “I will keep
warm memories of my time at HMRI
and I hope that my connection with
the Neural Engineering program
will remain strong in the years to
come.”
BROOKSIDE PARK
AT THE ROSE BOWL
Edna Smith with Dr. Janet Baer
at the farewell luncheon in
Edna’s honor.
Register at
WWW.WIGGLEWAGGLEWALK.ORG
LOOK FOR TEAM HMRI!
Page 25
I N
JOHN H. RICHARDS 1930–2015
M E M O R I A M
An esteemed member of the Board
of Directors of Huntington Medical
Research Institutes, John H. (“Jack”)
Richards passed away on Thursday,
April 23rd, 2015. He was 85 years
old and had served on the HMRI
board since 1999.
A professor of organic chemistry
and biochemistry at Caltech, Dr.
Richards’ research was focused on
gaining a molecular understanding
of the mechanisms of protein function. He was born on March 13th,
1930, in Berkeley, California, and
earned a BA from UC Berkeley in
1951. As a Rhodes Scholar, he
traveled to England to attend the
University of Oxford, from which he
obtained a BSc in 1953. (Jack became a devoted fan of Oxford -- His
Caltech office was decorated with
pictures of the campus and city, and
he lit up at the opportunity to talk
about Oxford.) He then returned to
UC Berkeley for his graduate studies, earning a PhD in 1955.
After two years as an instructor at
Harvard University, Richards came
to Caltech in 1957 as an assistant
professor. He spent the rest of his career at Caltech, with promotions to
associate professor in 1961 and to
professor in 1970. He was named
a professor of organic chemistry
and biochemistry in 1999. Richards was the chair of the faculty
from 1991 to 1993. Prof. Richards
was remarkable in that he was one
of the earliest molecular biology researchers at Caltech—as a chemist.
Always ahead of the curve.
Richards is survived by his wife,
Minnie McMillan, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and professor of neurology at the
University of Southern California’s
Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Richards also leaves behind four daughters from his first marriage (to Marian King), Kathleen Fraga of Grass
Valley, California; Jennifer Welton
of Belgrade, Montana; Julia Hart
of Clayton, California; and Cynthia
Clapp of Corvallis, Oregon. He
had four grandchildren.
Page 26
at HMRI, Dr. Richards, as a board
member and scientific advisor, gave
me very helpful advice about my career at a critical time. It is in part
thanks to the vision and generous
efforts of Dr. Richards, that the position of Chief Scientific Officer was
created at HMRI in 2014. This has
led to better communication among
HMRI research scientists as well as
the opportunity to hear inspiring
seminars by medical doctors. His
influence clearly lives on at Huntington Medical Research Institutes.
Dr. Keiko Kanamori
HMRI Senior Research Scientist
WE REMEMBER JACK
I’ve known Jack since I was a student at Caltech and worked with
him extremely closely this past year.
We had developed a close personal
relationship that was very important
to me and his loss leaves a great
void in our lives - I was so used to
talking to him about HMRI!
He was tremendously influential in
how I developed the science strategic plan for HMRI. He also had
no problem telling me when I was
going down the wrong path in his
opinion, and I really appreciated
that. The strength of his character,
and the strength of his science were
behind those comments. I knew if
he was telling me that’s a cul-de-sac
that you don’t want to explore, that
he was probably right and I had to
stop and think about it.
He did not hold back, but he was
also funny as all get out. He could
throw the zingers in at the most intense times. That’s also something
that I will miss terribly about Jack.
Dr. Marie Csete
HMRI President and Chief Scientist
Dr. Richards interviewed and admitted me to the graduate program at
California Institute of Technology in
the 1970s. At Caltech, I had the
pleasure of taking his exceptionally
clear biochemistry class. Years later
Dr. Richards loved his work, and
taught class two days before his
passing away, and even on the
day he passed away, he gave me
instructions on what to tell the teaching assistants (“Have them discuss
half cell potentials with the class!”).
Margot Hoyt
Assistant to Dr. Richards for the past
15 years
I began working at HMRI in 1987
for Dr. Brian Ross and a few years
later was fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to work for a
PhD at Caltech where Prof Richards
was my supervisor. I learnt so much
whilst working in Jack’s laboratories,
benefitting greatly from his wonderful blend of autonomy, mentoring,
wide scientific interests and experience, together with his infectious
enthusiasm for life. He always had
time for his students and his weekly
group meetings were great for feedback, new ideas and jokes. From
protein engineering, organic and
inorganic chemistry, biochemistry
and biophysics, particularly electron
transfer and the critical science of
antibiotic resistance, Jack was able
to provide expertise, direction and
ideas, or contacts who were willing to assist. The opportunities and
successes in my career are due in a
large part to Professor Richards, and
for that I am very grateful.
Dr. Neil Farrow
PhD 1998
Page 27
HMRI
Our Mission...
Improving health through multidisciplinary,
Huntington Medical Research Institutes patient-focused research.
Huntington Medical Research Institutes
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Pasadena, CA 91105-3104
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www.hmri.org
IN THIS ISSUE
New Mission Drives HMRI Forward....................................................................1
HMRI Installs $3 Million High Tech Magnet.........................................................1
Community Leaders Rally in Support of HMRI Biomedical Research Building.......1
Introducing Orest Boyko MD, PhD......................................................................3
Introducing Andrea Loewendorf PhD.................................................................3
Dr. Susan Kane Joins the HMRI Board...............................................................5
HMRI Website Gets a Facelift.............................................................................7
HMRI Lecture Series Now Offering CME Credits for Physicians............................8
HMRI Expands Research Program for Undergraduate and Graduate Students....9
Thank You to our Donors.................................................................................11
64th Annual Home Tour Benefits HMRI............................................................14
Brain Day Brings the Community to HMRI........................................................21
More Staff News............................................................................................22
We Remember Jack Richards..........................................................................26
HMRI
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
M. Helen Baatz RN MA
John D. Baldeschwieler PhD - Treasurer
Roger Engemann
James J. Femino MD
James D. Gamb
Ann Slavik Hall
Herbert Hezlep III
Lawrence W. Jones MD
Nelson D. Jones
Susan E. Kane PhD
George D. Leal - Chairman
Allen W. Mathies Jr. MD
Robert D. May
Peter M. Menard
Lary J. Mielke
John L. Mothershead - Vice Chairman
Lynn H. Myers
James J. Rhodes
Philip V. Swan
Robert E. Tranquada MD
Emeritus
Jerry M. Harrington
Mitchell B. Howe, Jr.
R. William Johnston
Robert J. Mackin Jr. PhD