Sunitha Chari

Coinciding with the World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Week, the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC) once again co-hosted the third annual AMR Symposium on November 19 and 20 empowered by bioMérieux Canada and an amazing cast of partners.
The two-day event brought together over 400 clinicians and researchers in human and animal health, along with industry and government representatives, to discuss innovative research developments, challenges and opportunities to address the AMR health crisis.

December 1, 2024, marked World AIDS Day, and forty years since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its causal link to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). With current treatment, AIDS is no longer the public health emergency that it once was and tremendous strides in HIV research over the last forty years have given us antiretroviral (ARV) therapies that enable people with HIV to have a normal life span and live normal lives.
In addition, ARV medications can be used effectively to prevent HIV transmission.

As communities around the world marked World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week from November 18 to 24, 2024 we shine the spotlight on members of the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC) who are leading the fight against AMR.
These researchers are pioneering approaches that extend across different disciplines of basic and clinical research aimed at improving drug resistance monitoring and developing treatment strategies to lessen the AMR burden.

By, Sunitha Chari
Developing effective pandemic preparedness approaches relies on cross-disciplinary research collaborations to fuel discoveries and technologies, closing the equity gap between resource- rich and -scarce regions and implementing lessons learned from past outbreaks. The aim must be to build strong local and globally connected communities capable of effectively working together when facing present and future infectious threats.

A look at the past, the present, and the promising future of treating diabetes
Sunitha Chari, Biology & Life Science co-editor
Think of some of your favourite foods: pizza, pasta, bread – or perhaps you have a sweet tooth and enjoy desserts and chocolates. Ever wondered why these foods are so appealing? The answer is sugar, particularly glucose, which acts as our cells’ fuel. It circulates through our bodies as blood sugar and is taken up by our cells to produce energy or stored for later use...

BioSpace
As their name suggests, natural killer (NK) cells intrinsically recognize and kill stressed cells, such as cancer cells. NK cells are not a new approach to treating cancer, but a novel class of antibodies is giving them a leg up in the fight, and drugmakers, including 23andMe and Innate Pharma, are leveraging this approach to develop cell therapies for a range of cancers.
NK cells have a number of receptors that recognize specific stress ligands present on cancer cells, Lewis Lanier,...

Pictured: Cancer cells and IV bags over an abstract background/Taylor Tieden for BioSpace
As the oncology space moves away from single oncogene-targeted treatments, immunotherapies that aim to prevent immune fatigue and enhance immune cell engagement are emerging as promising therapeutic trends, experts told BioSpace. But these therapies are not always intended to be deployed on their own. Increasingly, scientists and clinicians are mixing and matching therapeutic strategies based on patient ...

Pictured: Resume being graded and shredded/Nicole Bean for BioSpace
It would likely come as news to no one in biopharma that the industry’s job market is currently a difficult one for candidates. “We are in a saturated job market, and navigating the job search process requires strategic thinking,” said Krystal Hicks, a career strategist and founder of the career counseling service Jobtalk. “Candidates have to stand out from the volume and position themselves as a great candidate.”
Oftentimes,...

AI in applicant tracking system

Use of psychometric tests in hiring

Pictured: Illustration including a brain, the Earth, a lock and other images/iStock, Bulgnn
AbbVie’s Humira, an injectable biologic for treating the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, is one of the best-selling drugs worldwide with over $20 billion in sales in 2022. Humira also stands out for a different reason: more ancillary patents have been filed for it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) than for any other drug, according to a recent analysis. Such patents enable companies to ...