Posts

May 22, 2013

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2:41 PM | From Discovery to Market: How Invention Happens – a three-part seminar at OBR-Manchester

by Charlotte Rosher, OBR-Manchester Correspondent MANCHESTER, Greater Manchester – OBR is hosting a three part seminar series at the University of Manchester which will outline how academic discoveries can be transformed into successful businesses, step-by-step. The first seminar, titled ‘Getting Your Biotech Idea Funded’ will be held on the 28th May at the University of [...]The post From Discovery to Market: How Invention Happens – a three-part seminar at OBR-Manchester […]

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9:25 AM | OBR London: Blog your way to the top

By Kiran Nandra, OBR London Correspondent LONDON, United Kingdom – The use of blogging and social media is increasingly changing the field of science communication. A new generation of scientists are embracing the online science communication movement and are actively contributing to open discussion and sharing of either their own research or scientific developments that [...]The post OBR London: Blog your way to the top appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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8:00 AM | Gene Therapy Gets a Protein Piggyback Across the Blood-Brain Barrier

Growing up may be optional, but growing old is not and brings with it the increased risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease. Characterised by the progressive loss of neurons in the brain, such diseases can lead to a multitude of debilitating problems including memory loss, reduced motor control, and even death. Parkinson’s disease (PD) — one of the [...]The post Gene Therapy Gets a Protein Piggyback Across the Blood-Brain Barrier appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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8:00 AM | RSC Emerging Technologies Event: For the chemistry entrepreneur in you.

OBR would like to announce one of our partners’ exciting events: the Emerging Technologies Event sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry. What do you get if you have a room full of scientific developers, entrepreneurs, academics, investors and industrialists? A real buzz of creativity, innovation and opportunity. RSC’s Emerging Technologies Event highlights innovation as a critical [...]The post RSC Emerging Technologies Event: For the chemistry entrepreneur in you. appeared first on […]

May 20, 2013

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2:16 PM | Leaders in biotech entrepreneurship speak on commercializing innovation at OBR-San Diego

by Jessica Moore, Chapter Correspondent SAN DIEGO, California - The seminar-style event held Monday, May 13 (co-sponsored by OBR San Diego and UC San Diego’s International Affairs Group) covered both philosophies that foster entrepreneurship and how an individual entrepreneur has applied some of those philosophies to grow a successful pharmaceutical company. Several themes resonated across the [...]The post Leaders in biotech entrepreneurship speak on commercializing innovation at OBR-San […]

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8:00 AM | Stimulating The (Nervous) Senses: Technologies For The Brave New Brain

In light of a new report due to be published on the issues surrounding neurotechnology applications by the Nuffield Council of Bioethics, OBR examines the current uses for non-pharmaceutical brain therapies, and where the field is heading. [2] Here we look at Deep Brain Stimulation technologies. The field of neuroscience has long remained an arena [...]The post Stimulating The (Nervous) Senses: Technologies For The Brave New Brain appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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8:00 AM | The ‘Big Bad Pharma’ Wolf: Is It As Bad As The Media Say?

Nowadays, most public connotations of ‘Big Pharma’ have become synonymous with ‘Bad Pharma’. Undoubtedly the pharmaceutical industry is historically laden with scandals of questionable ethics, dishonesty and the promotion of bad science. Due to their prominent role in the health care system, this industry is under constant scrutiny and criticism, and it has become a [...]The post The ‘Big Bad Pharma’ Wolf: Is It As Bad As The Media Say? appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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8:00 AM | Science’s Unsung Heroes: The Importance Of Model Organisms

Model organisms play a central role in scientific research as they allow us to manipulate, analyse and understand a huge assortment of variables in an in vivo setting. Model organisms generally possess three main characteristics: rapid growth and short generation time, minimal creation and maintenance costs, and ease of manipulation. In scientific research a wide [...]The post Science’s Unsung Heroes: The Importance Of Model Organisms appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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7:00 AM | OneStart Winner Announced!

On 16th May, the OneStart competition came to a close with a gala dinner at The Grand Connaught Rooms in London; the winner was announced along with a surprise from the judges. From around 100 initial entries, 35 teams were selected to attend the semi-finalist’s biotech bootcamp in March, where teams were provided with the knowledge [...]The post OneStart Winner Announced! appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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7:00 AM | Science Writing Competition Winner Announced!

After six weeks of ploughing through over 100 entries for this year’s science writing competition, the Roundtable Review (RR) is pleased to announce the 10 finalists and the winner! The science writing competition was a huge success with the entries representing 10 countries, 19 cities, and 30 separate academic and industrial institutions. The quality of [...]The post Science Writing Competition Winner Announced! appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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6:30 AM | Ways to Fail an Interview

Not the cheeriest of titles for a Monday morning, but an important topic non the less. I came across this article over the weekend via Twitter and as someone who has carried out numerous interviews in my career, and provided advice to people about preparing for interviews I thought it summed up some of the key reasons why people don't succeed when they go along for that all important job interview. The article goes into more detail but it highlights the top 3 reasons why people […]

May 19, 2013

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9:24 PM | OBR-Cambridge hosts “Issues in Drug Discovery – from Target to Clinical Trial”

CAMBRIDGE, Cambridgeshire – There is little doubt that big pharma is undergoing a productivity crisis. The number of new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) per billion US dollars spent on research and development has decreased from 50 in 1950 to less than 1 in the present era. On Thursday, 2nd May, OBR-Cambridge hosted an [...]The post OBR-Cambridge hosts “Issues in Drug Discovery – from Target to Clinical Trial” appeared first on Oxbridge […]

May 17, 2013

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8:00 AM | Carbon Nanotubes – Laboratory to Industry

On Thursday May 9th Professor Alan Windle, FRS and Director of the Pfizer Institute for Pharmaceutical Materials Science, which is located in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, spoke about creating and exploiting carbon nanostructures in materials science. This talk was one of a number of science related events [...]The post Carbon Nanotubes – Laboratory to Industry appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 16, 2013

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3:52 AM | OBR London: Therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies and future trends in biotherapeutics

By Kiran Nandra, OBR-London Correspondent LONDON, United Kingdom – OBR hosted an event on Tuesday 7th May at Queen Mary University of London, to discuss the therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies and future trends in biotherapeutics with some of the industry’s experts. OBR were honoured to be joined by Dr Steve Holmes, Director of Therapeutic [...]The post OBR London: Therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies and future trends in biotherapeutics appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 15, 2013

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9:05 PM | How to Record a PowerPoint Presentation with Screencapture Software

Many of us give talks at conferences and seminars, but these presentations are only seen once by a limited audience. What if you could record your presentations so that other people can easily access and view them? Having a recorded … Continue reading →

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3:16 PM | PhD Career Guide PODCAST Episode 3

The third episode of the PhD Career Guide PODCAST is now up and available for download from iTunes, Stitcher, and many other podcast directories. You may also listen to the episode directly on the [...]

May 14, 2013

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4:07 PM | How to Improve the Audio of Your Videos Without Breaking the Bank

The success of your video will depend in part on good audio, which will require a decent microphone. You will need a good microphone during filming with a video camera as well as for doing voiceovers during editing. Which microphone … Continue reading →

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3:52 AM | News of the Week, May 13th, 2013

SCIENCE First national seed bank established in the UK to fend off disease The UK has established its first national bank of tree seeds. The collection will initially focus on 50 species native to the country, including the common ash, the target of the recently widespread fungal disease ash dieback. The spread of ash dieback, [...]The post News of the Week, May 13th, 2013 appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 13, 2013

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12:12 PM | Finding your dream job

In many of my consultations I see people who genuinely don't know what they want to do. They may be just starting out in their career or are reflecting on their career and realised they (like many) simply fell into their current role. I often suggest to people that they speak to friends and family about what sort of jobs they can see them doing. They often know us best, and can often recognise skills that we perhaps never see as 'work' skills. I found this article […]

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8:27 AM | Are we doing this right?: Stratified medicine in oncology panel at Oxford on Wednesday, May 1st

On Wednesday, May 1st, at the Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics up the hill from central Oxford, five medical professionals, academics and business leaders formed a panel to discuss the current state of stratified medicine for oncology. Moderated by Dr. Nick Meadows, a management consultant at Kinapse, the four panelists were Prof. David Kerr, [...]The post Are we doing this right?: Stratified medicine in oncology panel at Oxford on Wednesday, May 1st appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 12, 2013

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3:26 PM | Are natural killer cells helpers or killers in pregnancy?

Natural Killer (NK) cells are often judged to be the bad guy and with a name like that it is understandable! But in the case of mammalian pregnancy their assassin-like nature is somewhat forgotten, instead NK cells play the good guy. If they are indeed helpers rather than killers in this situation, what role do [...]The post Are natural killer cells helpers or killers in pregnancy? appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 11, 2013

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3:19 PM | OBR Reviews: Graham Richards’ “University Intellectual Property: A Source of Finance and Impact”

Book: University Intellectual Property: A Source of Finance and Impact Author: Graham Richards (editor) Publisher: Harriman House Subject: Intellectual property, commercialisation of academic research ISBN: [...]The post OBR Reviews: Graham Richards’ “University Intellectual Property: A Source of Finance and Impact” appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 10, 2013

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3:14 PM | Myths About Giving Presentations: Imagine Your Audience Is Naked

I've been discussing myths about giving presentations. A lot of myths deal with fear of public speaking. The recommendation to imagine your audience naked or in their underwear or sitting on the commode is meant to allay the speaker's fear of being on stage. Supposedly, a naked audience is less intimidating. Rumor has it that this idea came from Winston Churchill, who used this technique (among others) to overcome his fears of speaking in public (he also apparently recommended that people […]

May 06, 2013

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2:13 PM | Making the Leap from Academia to Industry: How to Set Yourself Apart from Other Candidates

By Dora Farkas, PhDI have been working in industry for a few years now, and students ask me the same question that I was struggling with during my job search: “How can I get a job in industry if I don’t have industry experience?” Like many other students, I had my heart set on an academic career path when I was in college. I spent my undergraduate [...]

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8:00 AM | Global Entrepreneurship in the Biotech Industry

Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable and the International Affairs Group at UC San Diego are co-sponsoring an exciting event on Global Entrepreneurship the in Biotech Industry on May 13, 2013. This seminar brings together Greg Horowitt, founder of Global CONNECT, and Jeff Stein, president and CEO of Trius Therapeutics, a developer of antibiotics for drug-resistant, life-threatening infections. [...]The post Global Entrepreneurship in the Biotech Industry appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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8:00 AM | Integrating Mesofacts: On Samuel Arbesman’s “The Half-Life of Facts”

Book: The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date Author: Samuel Arbesman Publisher: Penguin Subject: Turnover patterns and their rates of what we call “facts” ISBN: 978-1591844723 RRP: £17 How do we know a technology is nearing its maximum potential? How do we know to stop incremental improvement and [...]The post Integrating Mesofacts: On Samuel Arbesman’s “The Half-Life of Facts” appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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7:00 AM | Personalized Medicine – The Future of Medicine

Following a clinical exam, Bob hands over his smartphone to Dr. Trevor. After poring over Bob’s genome sequence on the phone, Dr. Trevor proceeds to type out a prescription. The exam gave Dr. Trevor an idea about what Bob is suffering from. This genome sequence told her about how best to approach Bob’s condition and [...]The post Personalized Medicine – The Future of Medicine appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

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6:53 AM | News of the week, May 6th, 2013

SCIENCE Youngest child ever to receive bioengineered organ A two-year-old Korean-Canadian girl, Hannah Warren, born without a trachea (tracheal agenesis) has been fitted with a new one bioengineered using her own cells. No child with this condition has ever lived past the age of 6. She has become the youngest child ever to receive a [...]The post News of the week, May 6th, 2013 appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.

May 04, 2013

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11:22 AM | Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine: Learning from Spin Outs

Earlier in February, OBR hosted a timely discussion on the commercialisation of regenerative medicine research, inviting UK based industry leaders Gregg Sando, CEO, Cell Medica, John Sinden, CSO, Reneuron and Paul Kemp, CEO and CSO, Intercytex to share their views and expertise. Regenerative medicines, defined inclusively, encompass tissue engineering, cellular therapies, gene therapies, aspects of [...]The post Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine: Learning from Spin Outs appeared first […]

May 03, 2013

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6:03 AM | Fighting the Bad Bugs: What Can Be Done About Antibiotic Resistance?

The challenge Ever since their introduction in the early 20th century, antibiotics have saved millions of lives. Indeed, the rise in average life expectancy in the last century is credited in large part to the introduction of these bacterial-fighting agents. But the bacteria have learned to fight back. The enormous selective pressure placed on bacteria [...]The post Fighting the Bad Bugs: What Can Be Done About Antibiotic Resistance? appeared first on Oxbridge Biotech.