Online Smart School

Over the last 15 years, the annual number of approved new drugs has been declining dramatically. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry, as well as academic and government researchers, have dramatically increased the amount of money spent on drug discovery and development. Why is the large increase in funding not translating into new medicines?—Brent Stockwell

In an essay for Rorotoko, Brent Stockwell, author of The Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines, examines the challenges confronting scientists and pharmaceutical companies. Stockwell explains, Drugs function by interacting with, i.e. attaching to, specific proteins within the body, which are called drug targets. However, only 2% of the proteins found in humans have been targeted with drugs. He continues, The majority of proteins are considered undruggable. These proteins control nearly every disease process, from many types of cancer to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s, to many other diseases.

In an effort to spur the development of new medicines the Obama administration has created a new center within the National Institutes of Health. While this is encouraging and will help bridge the gap between expensive research and commercial use, Stockwell warns that there are challenges:

But there is a more significant challenge to discovering new medicines than simply bringing basic discoveries to market. So if the new NIH center were to focus on a simple catalyst role, it would represent a lost opportunity.

The more fundamental challenge to discovering new drugs involves the basic science issue of protein druggability. It is this that could have a far more significant impact on the number and type of future medicines.

It is possible that new technologies and approaches could solve the challenging problem of protein druggability. However, if we abandon the undruggable proteins, we abandon the hope for truly transformative medicines. We must be able to translate the vastly detailed molecular networks emerging from basic science studies into therapeutics.

Currently, many of the root causes of diseases are considered undruggable and cannot be addressed directly with medicines. If we could solve the mystery of protein druggability, we could open up a vast number of possibilities for new medicines, and ultimately end the drug discovery crisis.

The marriage of medicine and technology has finally reached the point where a menu of licensed and highly regarded physicians and other health care professionals are available for consultation via the internet. Thanks to new ventures such as 2nd MD, patients can have access to a wider range of medical expertise. This new online website allows those seeking help or medical information to make appointments with health care specialists to explore and discuss their health-related concerns, as well as get a second opinion from specialists in a particular field.

A user can just log onto 2nd MD and select a doctor based on the information available on the website’s database. Once a selection is made, the next step is to make an appointment with the selected physician or health care professional for an online session.

Clint Phillips, founder and CEO of 2nd.MD, believes that everyone should have access to a specialist when they need one. Frustrated when he and his wife couldn’t locate a pediatric neurologist for their four-month-old daughter without extensive travel and hardship, he decided to change things for other people in his shoes. Phillips claims that he launched 2nd. MD on the simple premise that everyone was entitled to access to the world’s leading doctors when they need them the most.

The user of this unique service can access a pull-down menu to bring up doctors by specialty, or type a condition or symptoms into the search bar and information and a list of appropriate physicians is provided.

Users of the service are able to access considerable information on a given doctor, see a bio, picture, and more in-depth information about educational experience, state in which the doctor is licensed to practice and the types of diseases or conditions he or she specializes in treating.

According to consumers, the doctors listed in the data base all appear to be well-qualified. The biographical material is comprehensive and indicates that the participating physicians have put considerable effort in creating a profile for their potential virtual patients.

However, there are some things to take into consideration before logging on. There are huge variations in prices charged for access to individual doctors. Fees ranged from $80 for 20 minutes for one doctor’s time, to a pricey $1332 for a 20 minute consultation with another physician. While MDs on the site are billed as “some of the world’s best doctors,” there is no attribution to substantiate that claim, and an individual user of the service would be well advised to check credentials before making an actual online appointment. For example, a Google search seems to corroborate that the $1332 guy is actually the Chief of Neurology at a hospital.

Remember, this is an “information” site providing neither treatment nor physical examination. Your selected doctor should, however, provide the expertise to help you have a level of confidence and understanding with regard the condition that induced you to seek help. 2ND MD gives you the ability to access professional expertise, submit the information you want the selected physician to view and discuss his assessment of your situation online via video conference from the comfort of your own home. Also, it is important to note that 2ND MD is not covered by health insurance. This one is on you, but the expense could be worth it if you are getting access and expertise not usually available.

One of the myriad of consequences for families affected by the economic downturn in the last few years is the lack of money to help pay for college. As a result, many incoming college freshmen turn to student loans to help cover the cost of tuition, boarding, and other expenses.

For the majority of these borrowers, paying for their education will be their first major purchase, and their first major exposure to the lending and payback process. The average student who utilizes student loans will borrow an average of over $20,000 to pay for their educational expenses, according to a recent report by The Project on Student Debt. While taking out student loans is a necessity for many students, how educated are these young people about the responsibility they are taking on? For example, how many students know the APR rate for the loans they apply for, or take the time to calculate what their payment amounts will be when they graduate and enter the repayment period?

The percentage of students who are able to secure employment immediately following graduation continues to drop. The Project on Student Debt also reveals sobering numbers on the job front for new graduates, as well. Unemployment for new college graduates is currently around 8.6%, near the same as the rate for the entire country. It is estimated that there are over 2 million recent college graduates currently unemployed or underemployed. The six month grace period for student loan repayment runs out quickly. How many students know what their options are if they find themselves unable to meet their student debt repayment obligations? How many students know what it means to default, or what the consequences of defaulting on a loan can mean for their immediate and long-term futures?

Parents of students who take out student loans should take the time to discuss the obligations and implications of student loan debt with their children. If parents co-sign for private loans (federal loans dont require a co-signer), they will be just as liable for loan payments as the students.

Summertime is the perfect time to research the types of student loans available and to educate students regarding the responsibilities they entail.

The City of Durham has formally appealed a federal court ruling that kept alive three lawsuits against the city by former Duke University lacrosse players and has asked the court to dismiss “all claims.”

The appeal was sent to a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va. The city submitted a notice it would appeal in May, after U.S. District Court Judge James Beatty’s March ruling that the players’ suit could continue.

The City of Durham is a named defendant in the suits, along with City Attorney Patrick Baker — who was Durham’s city manager when the lacrosse case began — former Police Chief Steven Chalmers and a number of city police officers.

In the 353-page appeal, the defendants deny all plaintiffs’ claims, which include violations of due process and “false public statements.” The city claims immunity as a government and the other defendants claim immunity as government employees.

Attorneys Reginald B. Gillespie of Durham, Patricia P. Shields and D. Martin Warf of Raleigh, and five lawyers from the Washington firm of Steptoe & Johnson are representing the city in the lacrosse suits.

The suits stem from thecity’s 2006 investigation of dancer Crystal Mangum’s 2006 claim that three Duke lacrosse players raped her at a team party. Three players — Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans — were indicted, but later cleared of all charges by state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Mike Nifong, the district attorney who prosecuted the players, lost his job and his law license for misconduct in the case.

Democrats in Congress are urging still more aid to state and local governments to forestall cuts in personnel. But according to the latest figures from the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York, overall state-local government employment is now 2 percent below its level at the start of the recession, while private employment is down 5.8 percent over the same period.  Our president has rightly called for an equitable sharing of the pain caused by the economic downturn.  It is time for the public sector to step up.  If the right cuts are made, the public sector can remain equally effective but operate in a more efficient manner.

NASAAstronaut Michael Foreman, a 1975 graduate of Wadsworth High School, spoke to middle-school students on Wednesday at Cleveland State University.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — NASA brought almost 400 minority middle school and high school students to Cleveland this week hoping to lure them into science, technology, engineering and math careers.

On Wednesday, the students from eight states and Puerto Rico gathered for programs and activities at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University. Clearly the stars of the show were a pair of guys bouncing around on the podium in blue spacesuits.

Astronauts Michael Foreman and Leland Melvin both were on the most recent shuttle flight. The shuttle is in space now on its last trip, but the milestone does mean the end of astronauts. NASA will always need them, they said.

This was the space agency’s second forum like this, but the first in Cleveland.

Achievement scores posted by U.S. students in math and science continue to trail those of students in many other developed countries and even in some undeveloped ones. Scores of minority students in this country are lower than the national norm, often because the kids attend sub-par schools.

“This program targets students who are often left behind in their school districts, districts who don’t have the funding to have robust science and math programs,” said Robyn Gordon, director of center operations at NASA Glenn.

NASALeland Melvin

“This is hands-on, where they [students] can see people who look like them, who have gone through the same things they’ve been through,” she said.

Melvin was drafted by a National Football League team as a receiver, but an injury ended his playing days before he could play in a regular season game. He told his listeners he was glad to have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a masters degree in materials science engineering to fall back on.

But there was a perceived obstacle to becoming an astronaut he was told he could not surmount.

A cab driver pointed it out to him on their way to an interview with NASA officials. The cabbie told Melvin he couldn’t be an astronaut because he was black.

Melvin told the crowd: “The problem with ‘you can’t’ is the apostrophe and t. When you remove them, you have ‘you can.’ ”

His listeners cheered that remark and many others that he and Foreman made.

Foreman, who is white and a Wadsworth native, said he applied eight times to be an astronaut before landing the job in 1998.

“No matter how many rejections you may receive, dust yourself off. Never give up on your dreams,” he said.

The students went to the Great Lakes Science Center on Tuesday, as well as touring NASA Glenn.

Most got invited to the two-day forum through clubs at their schools affiliated with colleges in their area.

Cindy Polynice, 15, from Salisbury, Myd. said, “I liked the astronaut part of this. They didn’t try to belittle us, when they were talking to us.”

Jocelyn Coronado, 11, from Long Beach, Calif., said the forum made her more motivated than ever to becoming an engineer.

“I know I can,” she said.

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