Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute

The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor–UCLA Medical Center is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street within the unincorporated Los Angeles County area of West Carson, California...

(LA BioMed or LABioMed) is one of the largest independent, nonprofit biomedical research institutes in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Founded more than 56 years ago, LA BioMed conducts biomedical research, trains young scientists and provides community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

services, including childhood immunization

Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent ....

and nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

assistance.

It has more than 150 researchers conducting more than 1,000 studies in cardiovascular disease, emerging infections, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, dermatology, reproductive health, vaccine development, respiratory disorders, inherited illnesses and much more.

LA BioMed is academically affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and works in partnership with Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The institute is an economic engine for Southern California, generating $155 million in economic activity and nearly 1,500 jobs.

Basic Facts (2010)

• Independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute
• More than 1,000 ongoing studies
• More than 150 researchers
• Founded 56 years ago
• Located on Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor–UCLA Medical Center is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street within the unincorporated Los Angeles County area of West Carson, California...

campus near Torrance

Torrance

-Places:*Torrance, Ontario, Canada*Torrance, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland*Torrance, California, United States*Torrance County, New Mexico, United States-People:Torrance is a surname, and may refer to:...

• Academically affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

LA BioMed Innovations

• The modern cholesterol

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...

test
• The thyroid

Thyroid

The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...

deficiency test
• A testing and outreach program that has virtually eliminated new cases of Tay-Sachs disease in high-risk populations
• An enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

replacement therapy for Hurler-Scheie Disease
• New approaches to exercise rehabilitation

Physical therapy

Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...

for victims of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , also known as chronic obstructive lung disease , chronic obstructive airway disease , chronic airflow limitation and chronic obstructive respiratory disease , is the co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases...

• The paramedic

Paramedic

A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...

model for emergency care, transforming emergency medical services around the country
• The world’s first ovum transplant, the groundwork for a procedure that’s resulted in more than 47,000 births to infertile couples in the U.S. alone
• A technique for interrupting conduction in the heart that led to the effective treatment of life-threatening arrhythmias
• Neonatal screening of hypothyroidism, enabling earlier intervention to prevent developmental impairments

Ongoing Studies

• A major effort on the next generation of antibiotics
• New therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to lung disease
• Refinded methods for earlier identification of Type II diabetes
• The relationship between cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases
• Development of enhanced breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

detection technology
• A novel therapy to treat Sickle Cell disease
• Preventing blindness

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

in children in developing nations

Five Decades of LA BioMed Achievements

From creating the paramedic model to developing diagnostic tests that remain the standard today, LA BioMed researchers are constantly exploring advances in health care that can transform the lives and the health of all of us. Here’s a look back at some of the most significant achievements.

1960s

LA BioMed scientists achieved successful fertilization through artificial implantation of the ovum, a breakthrough that would lead to the world’s first ovum transfer birth some 20 years later. The Institute’s investigators created the paramedic model for emergency care that is now a life-saving standard nationwide and identified the genetic basis for the skin disease, x-linked ichthyosis.

1970s

LA BioMed’s renowned developmental biology research team discovered the key to stimulating human growth. Other teams of LA BioMed investigators pioneered diagnostic tests that remain the standard today, including the modern cholesterol test. They created a testing and outreach program that has virtually eliminated new cases of Tay-Sachs disease in high-risk populations. They also developed a thyroid deficiency test for infants now used in most of the industrialized world to help prevent irreversible developmental disabilities. In addition, the Institute patented an implant that helped surgeons reconstruct severely injured jaws.

1980s

Enormous technological advances and growth for the campus came in the 1980s, including the establishment of a Perinatal Clinical Research Center, one of eight in the United States dedicated to research involving mothers and infants. LA BioMed investigators helped develop refined synthetic surfactants that have saved the lives of thousands of premature babies, and they evaluated vaccines for influenza, herpes simplex and much more. They also performed the first ovum transfer, laying the groundwork for a procedure that’s resulted in more than 47,000 births to infertile couples in the U.S. alone.

1990s

Continuing to pioneer treatments and technologies to improve human health in the 1990s, LA BioMed advances included the use of new, non-invasive techniques for detecting breast cancer, the development an inexpensive treatment for eye diseases that’s saved the sight of thousands of children in underdeveloped nations, the use of antiviral medications to treat HIV infections, stent technology to treat surgically devastating abdominal aneurysms and an enzyme replacement therapy to help young victims of a devastating genetic disorder, Hurler-Scheie disease. The Institute’s scientists also played key roles in the development of innovative approaches to prenatal care which have virtually eliminated in this country maternal-fetal transmission of the virus which causes AIDS.

2000 & beyond

LA BioMed investigators developed new rehabilitation strategies for millions of sufferers of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and other disorders. The Institute spawned four new biotechnology startups, which are already generating $6 million in economic activity in the region. As the Institute enters the next decade, its 150 researchers continue the quest for new treatments and cures. The Institute’s investigators are engaged in more than 1,000 studies including a major effort to develop the next generation of antibiotics, new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to lung disease, refining methods for earlier identification of Type II diabetes, studies in the relationship between cardiovascular and kidney diseases, development of enhanced breast cancer detection technology, a novel therapy to treat sickle cell disease and advances in male infertility treatments and male contraceptives and much more.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.