APHL joins Lab Tests Online

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL; Washington) is the latest medical laboratory organization to join Lab Tests Online (www.labtestsonline.org), the patient education web site for laboratory testing information. With monthly traffic averaging more than 600,000 visitors, Lab Tests Online is the laboratory community’s most visible contribution to personal health management. Sixteen laboratory organizations now support the site.

APHL represents public health laboratories, reference institutions that are responsible for detection, identification and control of diseases and other public health threats. The association works closely with member labs from across the country to link them with federal agencies, clinical laboratories, public health organizations and partners within their jurisdiction.

In supporting Lab Tests Online, APHL will appoint a member representative to the site’s editorial review board.

ITN laboratory opens at Beckman facility

Beckman Coulter (Fullerton, California) reported the opening of the Immune Tolerance Network (San Francisco) laboratory at the company’s facility in Miami. The lab was established to develop, standardize and automate cell-based tests for clinical trials, with Beckman Coulter having right of first refusal to commercialize any of the newly developed tests.

“Standardizing complex assays is key to generating reproducible results which can speed the biopharma process for developing new tests and therapies,” said Elias Caro, executive vice president at Beckman Coulter. “The establishment of this lab will enable us to take a leadership role in clinical trial testing and takes advantage of our skill and experience in standardization and automation.”

Together with staff from the Immune Tolerance Network, Beckman Coulter will work with investigators from the U.S. and Europe to standardize and validate ITN-defined assays currently in use in clinical trials related to transplantation.

“The ultimate goal of this research is to achieve transplantation tolerance, allowing the transplantation of tissues and organs without the need for life-long immunosuppression,” said Hugh Auchincloss, chief operating officer of the ITN, an international research collaboration focused on accelerating clinical development of tolerance therapies through clinical trials and parallel mechanistic studies.

ITN is headquartered at the University of California, San Francisco.

Study set on DNA tests for SCID

The Jeffrey Modell Foundation (JMF: New York), the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) reported that they will work together to develop two molecular DNA tests that they said could ultimately help save the lives of children born with severe combined immunodeficiency and other primary immunodeficiency (PI) disorders. The JMF, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education on primary immunodeficiencies, will fund the joint collaboration between these public, private and non-profit organizations.

Primary immunodeficiencies are genetic disorders that lead to an increased susceptibility to infections and currently affect as many as one million Americans and 10 million people worldwide. Experts have identified more than 130 genetic defects that can result in PI. Children born with these defects have immune systems that either lack or have a diminished capacity to fight off infection. However, early diagnosis and treatment can often prevent the recurring infections from causing permanent damage and death.

JMF was established by Vicki and Fred Modell in memory of their son Jeffrey, who died of PI at the age of 15.