A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF; New York) reported $2 million in grants awarded under the third round of Biomarkers, its program supporting the discovery of objective biomarkers, or “biological fingerprints,” of Parkinson’s disease.

“Biomarkers remain a priority for the foundation because the ability to definitively diagnose PD and to measure its progression is inextricably linked to the ability to conduct better, faster clinical trials. In particular, biomarkers would greatly accelerate the development of neuroprotective therapies that could slow or stop the disease, something of tremendous importance to PD patients and our Foundation,” said Katie Hood, CEO of MJFF.

Four of five projects under the 2007 initiative are extensions of projects that showed distinct promise when they were funded in earlier rounds of the Biomarkers program.

A team at DiaGenic (Oslo, Norway), under the leadership of Anders Lonneborg, PHD, will explore gene expression as an early detector of Parkinson’s, building on exciting discoveries by past Biomarkers awardee Clemens Scherzer, PHD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston).

Scherzer developed a set of gene expression markers from blood of PD patients that hold potential to be further developed into a simple blood test for Parkinson’s. The new project will expand the work of Scherzer’s original project, analyzing 500 genes previously found to be differentially expressed in PD blood. The aim is to distill results into a smaller set of markers. These markers will be tested for their ability to distinguish PD from healthy and other neurological disease controls.

Norbert Schuff, PHD, of Northern California Institute for Research and Education (San Francisco) will lead a study that aims to establish objective markers of Parkinson’s disease based on MRI that allow accurate disease detection and reliable assessment of progression and response to treatment. Schuff will examine several MRI-based markers that measure tissue structure, blood flow, nerve fibers and brain iron levels to determine whether a pattern of such markers is diagnostic for PD or its progression.

Founded in 2000, The MJFF says it has funded over $106 million in research to date, either directly or through partnerships.

In contract news:

• Dialog Medical (Atlanta) a provider of informed consent and patient education systems for hospitals and physician practices, reported a contract renewal with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which includes a base period of 12 months and nine 12-month option periods. The VA signed a national licensing agreement for Dialog Medical’s iMedConsent application in May 2004 and installation across all 158 VA medical centers was completed in 2005.

iMedConsent includes procedure-specific consent forms for more than 2,100 medical and surgical procedures; patient education documents for thousands of diagnoses and treatments; and an extensive anatomical image gallery that allows the physician to annotate images and simplify complex topics for the patient. In addition, the application automates the completion of patient documentation ranging from HIPAA disclosures to advance directives, including the digital capture of signatures, paperless storage of signed documents and electronic notation in the patient’s electronic medical record.

iMedConsent serves as the backbone for the VA’s Electronic Support for Patient Decisions (ESPD) initiative – helping VA healthcare facilities establish a standard of care as it relates to educating patients about conditions, treatment alternatives, benefits, and procedure risks.

“The Department of Veteran Affairs’ decision to renew its contract speaks volumes about the organization’s commitment to improving patient safety and enhancing patient understanding,” said Michael Burke, president of Dialog Medical.

Dialog says that its iMedConsent application is currently used by more than 15,000 physicians in over 175 hospitals and in thousands of physician practices nationwide.