Press release: CBD Solutions 2nd Scientific Investigators Meeting, 27 February 2015, London

CBD Solutions recently brought together leading scientists in this very special field of medical research at its 2nd Scientific Investigators Meeting. This meeting was held on the 27th February at the impressive Dorchester Library at the Royal College of Physicians in London and was attended by researchers from Germany, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

The workshop was preceded by an evening dinner reception on the 26th February in the elegant period décor of Chandos House, part of the Royal Society of Medicine in London. This gathering served as an excellent networking opportunity for the various researchers to meet co-workers and share experiences in an informal setting over dinner. Prof Peter Davies of the Feinstein Institute, gave a brief light-hearted talk on TAU to add to the ambience of the evening.
 
Most specifically, the purpose of this meeting was to bring together all scientists, who are receiving support from CBD Solutions from their respective studies in CBD patients, to share and discuss how we can best influence science to increase our understanding and provide new ways to prevent, treat and cure this disease.
 
Concluding this meeting, the participants, about 45 in total, appeared to have gained new knowledge from the ongoing work being done on various research studies around the world (as listed below) and this has hopefully facilitated peer-to-peer interactions for future collaborative work. It was most fascinating to hear the encouraging comments from investigators who meet CBD patients in their clinics informing them that CBD Solutions is sponsoring studies to find and treat this very rare disease which provides a ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel.
 
Research studies presented at the Scientific Meeting on the 27th February in London focused on i) understanding disease mechanism, ii) development of new models, iii) search for biomarkers and iv) clinical studies.

The following are the studies presented at the meeting;

Disease Mechanisms:

• Understanding Disease Progression in Corticobasal Degeneration.
Helen Ling, Karen Davey, Janice Holton, Huw Morris, Tom Warner, Tamas Revesz, University College London
• Whole Genome Analysis of CBD
 Kin Mok, Helen Ling, Nick Wood and John Hardy, University College London, and Gerard Schellenberg University of Pennsylvania
• Genome-wide association study of quantitative tau neuropathology to identify new genes involved in the CBD disease process
 Naomi Kouri, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Models:

• Investigating Cortico-Basal Degeneration (CBD) in neurons derived from induced pluripotential stem cells (iPSCs).
Tom Warner, Selina Wray, Nuria Seto-Salvia, John Hardy, University College London
• Development of animal models with relevance for CBD for preclinical studies of potential therapies
Per Sveningsson, Kalicharan Patra, Therese Fagerqvist, Karolinska Institutet
• Development of Anti-Tau Encapsulated Cell (EC) Therapy for Cortico-Basal Degeneration
Lars Wahlberg, Peter Davies, and Johan Lundkvist; NsGene, Feinstein Institute and Alzecure Foundation

Biomarkers and Cohort:

• Development of diagnostic and prognostic wet biomarkers in CBD patients
Per Svenningsson, Hans Grönlund, Andrea Armstrong, Sara Lind Enoksson, Karolinska Institutet, and Katarina Kågedal University of Linköping
• Characterization in brain tissue section and homogenates to compare binding properties of different tau PET imaging tracers
Makoto Higuchi, Naruhiko Sahara, Tetsuya Suhara, National Institute of Radiological Science, Japan
• A European Registry and Longitudinal Study of Cortico-Basal Syndrome
Huw Morris, Jonathan Rohrer, Andrew Lees, University College London

Clinic studies

• Development and validation of a CBD Functional Rating Scale (CBD-FS)
Anthony E Lang, University of Toronto and Adam Boxer, University of California, San Francisco
• A Phase 1b multiple ascending dose study of the microtubule stabilizer TPI-287 for CBD and PSP
Adam Boxer, University of California, San Francisco
• Immunotherapy Targeting Tau
Joel Braunstein, C2N Diagnostics

In conclusion, Samuel Svensson, CEO, CBD Solutions, thanked all the investigators and co-workers for their contributions at this meeting and special thanks to the scientific advisory committee for their input to bring out the best at the various discussions that followed the presentations.