About Gene Therapy Institute

The Gene Therapy Institute for Hispanic Medical Research established in April of 2007, has begun in Davis, California, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical research institute focused on Breast, Cervical and Prostate Cancer, Diabetics, Skin and Aging Research affecting the Hispanic population. The Gene Therapy Institute will start operations in September of 2007 with an approximately 10 volunteer effort including the board of directors. The Gene Therapy Institute will work with various objectives in the development of research programs to discover the biochemical pathways and gene regulation of these diseases, and to use the knowledge to develop better therapies, including gene therapy. The Gene Therapy Institute recognizes the opportunities for creating a team of dedicated professionals, physicians, geneticists, molecular biologists, protein chemists, biomedical engineers, and computer scientists, offering an ingenious scientific network to find a cure for diseases affecting the Hispanic population. The Institute received 501(c)(3) status in August 2007.

The Gene Therapy Institute for Hispanic Medical Research plans to publish research papers in high impact journals on diseases affecting mainly the Hispanic community. By generating publications in top scientific journals, Gene Therapy Institute scientists will show their contribution for development of better clinical tests, improve therapies and possible cutting edge technology for human gene therapies; in addition to, DNA vaccines that will help to improve their lives and possibly find the cure for these diseases. Any new technology created by the Gene Therapy Institute will be accessible to medical centers, for testing in clinical trials.

The Gene Therapy Institute is expected to be the most efficient private research organization for Hispanics, covering over 75% of its operating costs through NSF, NIH and State funding research grants to the institute.

The Gene Therapy Institute Cancer Research will be one of the priority programs, and includes future plans to be designed as a Hispanic Cancer Research program by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The Cancer Research scientists will be applying for grants to develop: (1) better drugs with less side effects against breast and prostate cancers, (2) Innovative Gene Therapies against prostate cancer, (3) DNA vaccines against cervical cancer, and (4) technology to create nanoparticles loaded with anti-cancer drugs to fight breast cancer. These different projects will be accomplished in collaboration with scientists of neighbor research Universities, Berkeley, Stanford and Davis, and both Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL).

The goals of our cancer scientists will be to develop: (1) faster and improved clinical diagnostic tests for detection, including the early prostate cancer antigen (EPCA) and prostate specific antigen (PSA), (2) efficient PCR-based Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) test for cervical cancer screening, (3) genetically engineered vector DNA therapies for cancer, (4) more accessible drugs to support breast and prostate cancer therapy, and (5) the first DNA-vaccine for other cervical cancers such as HPV-16.

The Gene Therapy Institute Aging Research program will focus on degenerative diseases in particular heart disease, Parkinson and Alzheimer. Research in this program will be to elucidate the molecular and physiological mechanisms of aging to protect cells from aging, replacing dead cells through stem cell therapies developed at Gene Therapy Institute. The cell protection therapies to be developed by the Gene Therapy research team will include genetically produced: (1) cholinesterase inhibitor drugs for Alzheimer's disease, (2) statins, cholesterol-reducing agents, (3) anti-clotting drugs for preventing a recurring stroke, (4) angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and diuretics, ACE inhibitors to be used to treat high blood pressure, and (5) exploratory therapies in nerve cells using Nogo-A brain protein, to restore nerve cells after a stroke-damaged brain, and early growth response gene 2 (EGR2) involved in nerve fatty coating by myelin protein, keeping nerve electrical signals functional.

The Gene Therapy Institute will produce biochemical and genetic studies of the apolipoprotein-E (APOE) gene, which can be used to predict Alzheimer's disease. There is a risk of up to 75 percent for developing Alzheimer's when genetically determined. The action of the APOE gene, involved in cholesterol transport has been associated with the development of late-onset Alzheimer's. The Institute scientists will apply for grants to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to fund these projects.

The Gene Therapy Institute will get involved in stem cell research focusing on human umbilical stem cell, through grants awarded by NIH and State agencies. The Institute will establish an innovative facility, following regulations for stem cell research. We plan to create in 2008 the Stem Cell Research program, which will include the cutting-age technology for developing new stem cell lines that will be available to the medical community for research purposes.

The Gene Therapy Institute Skin Research program will concentrate its effort in basal and squamous cell carcinomas, and skin disorders, Psoriasis and Eczema, through grants awarded by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin (NIAMS). The Institute scientists will develop drugs genetically produced to have less toxic effects: (1) safer antibodies against HER-2 protein to fight breast cancer, (2) genetically produced immunosuppressive antibodies for leukocyte function antigen-1 (LFA-1), and interferon and β-blockers to treat psoriasis, (3) new immunomodulators, steroid-free topical therapies to treat eczema, and (4) therapeutic vaccination with MAGE peptides for melanoma treatment.

The Gene Therapy Institute Biotechnology Research programs will include the following: (1) Vaccine Vector Program, to engineer novel DNA plasmid vaccines against cancer and skin diseases, (2) Therapeutics program, to be funded by National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGR) for establishing high-tech systems for screening large numbers of chemicals in order to facilitate fast therapeutic drug discovery, (3) Genomics Program, to understanding the genetic basis of skin diseases such as eczema, so that scientists can develop better therapies, to be funded by National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering (NIBIB), and (4) Biomedical Engineering Program, expected to be also funded by NIBIB to generate technological tools for proteomics and protein modeling, to predict the tertiary structural conformation of protein-drug and protein-antibiotics interactions, generating knowledge about the mechanism of gene regulation and providing the basis to design safer therapeutic drugs.

The Gene Therapy Institute Diabetics Research program will focus on finding new therapies for diabetic diseases. Research in this program will be directed to (1) Type I-diabetes, the failure to produce insulin, often called juvenile diabetes, (2) Type II-diabetes, resulting from insulin resistance, often called adult diabetes, and (3) Pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when blood glucose levels are higher than normal. Our objectives will be to develop: (a) Protein Therapy, to block cell death signals by introducing specific peptides, and increasing islet survival and directing stem cells to become insulin-producing islets, (b) Tissue Engineering, to design physical barriers between transplanted islets and the immune system to protect the cells, (c) Gene Therapy researchers will investigate several methods to introduce genes into islets to make them stronger and prevent cell death.

The Gene Therapy Institute Health Education program will aim to provide information specific for Hispanics to have a healthy life and disease prevention. The Gene Therapy Institute will work together with local and State organizations to distribute information as follows: Health Fairs, seminars and printed information about: (1) mental health issues, including aging, eating disorders and AIDS prevention, (2) disease and health patterns. For Hispanics, diabetes, obesity and cancer are some of the worst diseases affecting Latinos in the United States.