Category Archives: David Sinclair

As we approach the last days of 2019, OZY is proud to celebrate being first first to bring you stories about scientific breakthroughs, life-changing tech and researchers working at the forefront of their fields. From virtual reality to robots, blockchain to breast cancer, science and tech are racing forward at a breakneck pace and OZY is right there to keep you informed. Today were devoting OZYs Daily Dose to recent articles in which we were ahead of the curve in science and technology.

As part of our Robots of Tomorrow series, we reported on how fitness firms are turning to artificial intelligence to offer affordable, personalized at-home training, relying on technological advances unavailable at the start of the decade.

Venturing farther into the health and wellness space, we introduced you to David Sinclair, a genetics professor at Harvard whose lab is working to develop a drug that interrupts the aging process, with an eye toward preventing age-related diseases such as cancer, dementia and osteoporosis. OZY was the first to show you a new fabric that promises to slim your body and to consider what impact AI might have on reversing the climbing rates of suicide (which hit a 50-year high in the United States in 2017). Now, artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing are spawning a growing number of startups that are tailoring mentalhealth care to an individuals needs and circumstances in ways unimaginable just five years ago.

The next AI frontier? Academia. With evidence that graduation rates at U.S. universities have been plummeting for half a century, colleges are turning to artificial intelligence and data crunching to help turn the tide by using predictive tools to reach students and address their concerns faster, at times even before the students approach college authorities withtheir problems. AI has even found its way onto your plate via apps and personalization platforms that use artificial intelligence to give restaurant brands and their customers the option to customize their menu and food choices.

And for those who prefer to cook at home but dont relish the drive to the grocery store? OZY was the first to report on a growing number of designers working to bring the grocery store (or office or retail shop) to you. Think of it as a future where spaces for retail, play and work will deliver whatever you order like autonomous cars, but bigger.

In our global coverage of science and tech, we wrote about Chinas turn to robot policing; Brazil, where leading researchers and academics are fleeing the nation in record numbers, hobbling the countrys sciences while helping those abroad; and Togo, where entrepreneurial youth are using rudimentary engineering skills to develop printers, robots, computers and games all from electronic waste.

As another year comes to a close, we celebrate the advances and innovations that science and technology make possible. Theres much more to come in 2020, so stay tuned, OZY fans.

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OZY Takes You Ahead of the Curve in Science and Technology - OZY

To her long list of medical accomplishments, Jackson ob-gyn Dr. Freda McKissic Bush can now add celebrated research subject.

She recently became the subject of a scientific paper entitled: Lazarus Effect of High Dose Corticosteroids in a Patient with West Nile Virus Encephalitis: A Coincidence or a Clue?

Published in Frontiers of Medicine, the article is co-authored by neurologists Dr. Art Leis of Methodist Rehabilitation Center (MRC) and Dr. David Sinclair of Mississippi Baptist Medical Center.

While Bushs recovery is the focus of the treatise, its a bit of poetic license to compare her experience with that of the Biblical Lazarus. She was not raised from the dead.

But the 71-year-old retired physician said she was on my way out.I was going to die, it was as simple as that, she said.

Bush was suffering from West Nile virus (WNV) encephalitis, a swelling of brain tissue that is one of three neuro-invasive forms of WNV infection.

In the years since WNV first arrived in the United States in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention has recommended treating infections with only standard supportive care.

But during 16 years of studying neuro-invasive forms of the disease, Leis came to favor prescribing high-dose steroids for the most severe forms of the disease.

The approach seems to quell the bodys immune system attack of inflammation on healthy tissue. But Leis was cautious about using it at first. It is counter-intuitive to weaken the immune system when a patient has encephalitis, Leis said.

To be on the safe side, Leis initially delayed steroid treatment until at least two weeks from the onset of WNV. By 2018, hed begun to rethink that timeline.

The CDC had found that WNV rapidly cleared the body in people with normal immune systems. And Leis own experiences with immune-suppressive treatments had not raised any red flags.

To my knowledge we dont have any cases where treatment with high-dose steroids initiated acute worsening that would suggest the virus had spread, Leis said.

When he was consulted on Bushs case in July 2018, Leis believed her condition demanded an aggressive approach, as did Sinclair.

She was in the ICU in a semi-comatose state for a while, Sinclair said. It was very clear her whole brain was involved and the risk of disability at that point was extremely highif not death.

Leis and Sinclair say they sought to publicize Bushs case because they believe scientific scrutiny of the approach is needed.

Were trying to look at deciding whether patients will improve spontaneously or if steroids are helpful, Sinclair said. This really needs to be studied in a manner where we have a control group who receives the current standard of care intervention.

In the meantime, Leis will continue to contribute as a scientist who has long been on the front lines of WNV research.

In 2002, he and fellow MRC scientist Dr. Dobrivoje Stokic were the first in the world to link WNV to a polio-like paralysis. And over the years, MRC has been a valuable resource for physicians treating West Nile virus infection, as well as a support group site for survivors and their families.

Leis knows well the lifelong impact WNV infection can have. In his office is a five-drawer file cabinet full of patient data, as well as thank-you notes from people hes helped.

For those who have the more severe forms of West Nile virus infection, over half have persistent or delayed symptoms, such as severe, disabling fatigue, persistent headaches, sleep disruptions and trouble concentrating, Leis said.

Some even experience disruption of their autonomic reflex system, which controls everything from blood pressure, cardiac rhythm, sweating, bowel and bladder control to gastrointestinal mobility.

Recently, Leis obtained disease-specific privileges at several metro Jackson hospitals, which will make it easier for him to consult with acute care physicians.

And Sinclair, for one, believes theres no one better than Leis to help guide the care of WNV patients.

I think Im one of a dozen young neurologists in the state who look toward his expertise in the area of neuro-virology, Sinclair said. He has cared for the most West Nile virus patients and dealt with the most severe consequences of that illness. Hes someone I could turn to for advice on cases like that.

Like most long married couples, Lee and Freda McKissic Bush are deeply aware of each others moods.

So on the morning of July 17, 2018, Lee quickly realized something was amiss with his normally talkative wife.

The retired ob-gyn barely whispered yes or no to his questions. And she did not look well.

I stopped getting ready for work and starting paying her attention, he said. Her torso was really burning up.

After trying unsuccessfully to reach Fredas doctor, Lee decided to rush her to the emergency room at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson.

Much later she would ask him: Why didnt you call an ambulance?

Too slow, he said.

Freda was well-known at Baptist, having delivered babies there since 1987. But when she arrived that morning, none of the staff had ever seen her like thisnearly unconscious and going downhill fast.

Her medical team quickly began a litany of tests. But it would be almost a week before Lee learned the source of his wifes suffering.

She was diagnosed with West Nile virus encephalitis, a life-threatening form of the mosquito-borne disease.

Whats worse, Lee was being told the condition carried no treatment. They said wed have to wait and see what happens. And I said: Thats my wife youre talking about.

The couple had gotten married in 1969 after only three months of dating. In the years since, theyd reared four children, balanced two demanding careers and supported causes they believed in.

What loomed ahead was more opportunities to give back, as well as time to spend with their 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Surely, this wasnt to be the end of a union between two people whod shared so muchincluding the challenges of each growing up the fifth of nine children.

An engineer by training and a successful businessman, Lee went into problem-solving mode to save his wife.

He took matters into his own hands and said: Somebody has got to tell me something, Freda said.

After some networking, website searches and phone calls, Lee learned one of the nations foremost West Nile virus researchers worked just down the street at Methodist Rehabilitation Center.

Lee arranged a meeting with Dr. Leis, a senior scientist with MRCs Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery. And hell never forget seeing him for the first time.

He walked into this huge waiting room at Baptist and I said: Here comes my angel doctor. He said: Angel? Why did you call me that? I said: Because you are my angel. He said: I dont know if you know this, but my first name is Angel.

Leis advocated treating Freda with high-dose steroids, but he warned it could be risky.

He said steroids will stop her brain from swelling, but it will also stop her immune systemwhich is kind of dangerous, Lee said.

But Leis said he was willing to take the chance because he knew Lee would provide the close observation Freda would need during steroid therapy.

When anyone would urge Lee to leave his wifes side for a well-deserved respite, hed say: Ill leave when she leaves.

He made a decision that his job was taking care of me, Freda said. He wouldnt go to work, and he slept in a chair.

When I realized how much dedication he had given to me, I boohooed. I was overwhelmed. I tell people if I thought I loved him before, it doesnt compare to now.

As Freda began to regain consciousness, she didnt know who she was or where she was, but she was awake, Lee said.

And he made it his mission to keep her roused. I am playing spiritual music, dancing around and walking around her bed praying, he said.

Baptist staff offered spiritual support, too. Every doctor who came by said were praying for her, Lee said. They would pat me on the shoulder and leave out.

The Bushs adult children also came through for their parents. While their son took over for his dad at NCS Trash and Garbage, his three sisters rotated two-week caregiving shifts. And one of Fredas sisters traveled from Washington, D.C., to lend a helping hand.

Freda spent three weeks at Baptist, including 15 days in ICU. Next came another 24 days at MRC, working on skills to regain her independence.

It wasnt easy for the accomplished physician to acknowledge her deficits.

I spent a lot of time crying, she said. I had already retired from medicine, but I was still very active. I was on a lot of boards and was working with the Medical Institute for Sexual Health in Austin. And to think now I couldnt do anything, couldnt even remember. I spent a lot of time crying because I wasnt me.

Lee, on the other hand, never lost hope.

She is my miracle in slow motion, he said. The best thing for me was seeing in her eyes she was getting better and all the miracle steps in the right direction. When she could look at me and smile and say, I love you. Those were the nuances that kept me going.

Today, Freda continues to progress. And while shes chafing for more independenceshe and Lee laugh that they never spent so much time togethershes grateful for his commitment.

I have to give credit to the Lord, she said He put us together, and he kept us together. I say Im so sorry I got West Nile, but Im so glad God gave me Lee Bush.

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Lazarus Effect: Sixteen-year study by Dr. Leis resulted in recovery from West Nile for Dr. Bush - Northside Sun

A drug dealer was left counting the cost this week after police seized almost 44,000 worth of illicit substances following a raid on his flat at a Perth housing estate.

Perth Sheriff Court was told officers took possession of more than 1000 ecstasy tablets, in excess of 1300 grammes of cannabis and nearly 2000 grammes of amphetamine when they went to Kamil Morawaskis housing association flat in the Fairfield area of the city.

They also discovered more than 5000, stuffed in envelopes and hidden under a mattress, as well as other cash and euros totalling more than 500.

The 31-year-old was jailed for 54 months after he admitted being concerned in the class A and class B drugs at his first floor flat in McCallum Court, Perth, between January 31 and July 31, 2019.

His lawyer, David Sinclair, said extradition was awaiting him at the conclusion of the Perth proceedings and he would be returned to Poland to complete his sentence.

Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson said the prosecution had also raised proceeds of crime action against him in a bid to claw back some of the cash he had dishonestly obtained.

An earlier motion to forfeit the cash seized by police was withdrawn.

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Imposing the lengthy jail term, Sheriff Foulis noted Morawski had a previous conviction for a cannabis offense in his homeland.

If the matter had gone to trial, there would have been a very real prospect he would have been remitted to the High Court for sentence where lengthier jail terms can be imposed.

But he added: I am persuaded - just - that it can remain in this court.

You have held your hands up and accepted responsibility at the earliest stage...and you did not shy away from taking responsibility for your actions.

Nor, indeed, did you try to mask the reason for your actions in any way.

Such honesty is, bluntly, refreshing.

Mr. Sinclair explained his client had been involved in the drugs scene for around six months.

Any drugs sold were to people that he knew - predominantly in the Polish community - and others that he knew at the local level.

He has clearly acknowledged he was seeking to improve his family life but took the short way of doing so.

He recognizes, with the benefit of hindsight, this was a huge mistake and he regrets hes put his family in this position.

The court heard previously that police obtained a drug search warrant which they executed on July 31.

The accuseds house was searched and several tubs containing cannabis, ecstasy tablets and amphetamines were discovered.

Officers also found drugs paraphernalia, including a tick list, which indicated to officers he was supplying drugs on a commercial basis.

A total of 5140, contained in envelopes hidden under a mattress, along with 320 in cash, found on top of a chest of drawers, and 265 euros, discovered in a dressing table, were also seized.

The following substances were recovered: a total of 1120 class A ecstasy tablets, with a maximum illicit value of 11,200; 1309.76 grammes of Class B cannabis, worth 13,090; and 1945.08 grammes of class B amphetamines, with a street value of 19,450.

When interviewed by police, Morawski admitted he was a drug dealer and that he had been selling cannabis, ecstasy and amphetamine for around six months for financial gain.

Sheriff Foulis said the amount of drugs and cash recovered represented only a snapshot of the position at July 31.

He added: It does not - and cannot - give any indication as to the value of drugs which passed through your hands between January 31 and July 31 of this year.

He stated, however, that it would not have been insubstantial.

The jail term was backdated to August 1 when Morawaski was first remanded.

A preliminary hearing to consider the proceeds of crime action has been fixed for February 18.

Link:

Dealer jailed after raid uncovers 44k of drugs - Daily Record

It was modelled on the great Viking boats once found in the seas around Scotlandbut it lay broken on a beach for years after an enormous bull, who was being transported to the mainland, got a fright and put its hoof through the bottom.

Now, one of the last surviving examples of the Original Stroma Yoles is being sold at Sotheby's auction house next month after its remains were collected from the shore and painstakingly restored over a 20-year period.

The boat, called Bee, is expected to fetch up to 15,000 when it goes under the hammer with it being sold by The Berwickshire Maritime Trust, who have used it to teach traditional sailing skills to young people.

READ MORE: The eerie photographs of the abandoned island of Stroma

Built in 1904, the Bee is Nordic in design and closely related in shape to the Shetland Yoal and Sgoth Niseach of the Outer Hebrides, which were commonly used in the Orkney Islands and around the north of Scotland from the 8th and 9th centuries until well into the 20th century.

The people of Stroma, a tiny now-abandoned island which sits between Caithness and Orkney, took the Yole design and made it larger, fuller and heavier to cope with the treacherous waters of the Pentland Firth with the Bee serving as the island's only livestock boat for more than 50 years.

READ MORE: The odd case of the mummified bodies of Stroma

Lucy Brown, Head of Sothebys Edinburgh Office, said: The hull of Bee is one of the last remaining examples of the original Stroma Yoles.

"Sadly, so many wooden boats simply rot away but Bee was built to survive. Her design was purpose built for her environment; today, the tradition of building boats to suit local conditions has almost vanished, making Bees survival even more significant.

"That proceeds from the sale will benefit a maritime trust dedicated to the promotion of seafaring is a fitting follow-on chapter to Bees 100-year history.

Bee was built at Harrow near Mey in 1904 and registered to the Port of Wick in 1912 to owners 'David Sinclair and other residents of Stroma'.

The main occupations of islanders, which was abandoned in 1962, were long line fishing for cod and crofting.

In Anne Houstons book Lest We Forget Canisbay, there is a description of Bee being used to transport a horse to the island. The charge for transporting a beast was one shilling and it took 12 strong men to load horses or cattle onto the boat.

In 1941, a bull belonging to the Department of Agriculture was being transported back to the mainland aboard Bee

when the animal took fright and put its hoof through the bottom of the boat.

The crofters had to return to the island in a hurry and Sutherland Mason, who was a young boy living on the island at that time, remembers all the local families were given a joint of beef.

He also remembers Bee lying damaged on the beach at Stroma for many years.

When the island was abandoned, so was Bee but the boat was later rescued and bought in 1968 from descendants of the original owners for 1 and towed to the mainland for repair.

Bee was restored and cared for by John William Laird, Stan Anderson and Colin Heape with the boat now moored in Eyemouth Harbour.

She has sailed to the Summer Isles, through the Caledonian Canal, to Cromarty and Nairn on the Moray Firth and to the Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival.

Bee will be sold at the Sotheby's Art of Travel online auction, which from December 2 to December 12.

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Last surviving Viking-inspired boat that served a now- abandoned island goes up for auction - The Scotsman

A drug dealer who moved from Poland to set up his Scottish housing association flat as a drugs hub has been jailed for four and a half years.

Kamil Morawski who was described as refreshingly honest by a sheriff yesterday will also face extradition at the conclusion of his prison term.

Morawski, who has a string of Polish convictions, bluntly told police who raided his Perth home that he was a drug dealer and had been in business for months.

Perth Sheriff Court was told Morawski was given a housing association flat when he moved to Scotland and used it to set up a large-scale drug den peddling ecstasy, speed and cannabis.

Morawski, 31, was found with 40,000 worth of drugs after converting the flat into the centre of his drug dealing operation.

The father-of-one who had served prison terms in his homeland for drug-related crimes was caught with nearly two kilos of speed.

As well as the amphetamine worth nearly 20,000, he had more than 1,000 ecstasy tablets and more than a kilo of cannabis in the McCallum Court flat. When his home was raided by police, Morawski told them he was a drug dealer and had been selling a cocktail of illicit substances for several months.

Depute fiscal Charmaine Gilmartin told Perth Sheriff Court: He has offended previously in Poland but has no previous convictions in the UK.

This took place in a two-bedroom flat owned by a housing association. The accused was the sole tenant but resided with his partner and child.

The police received intelligence that the accused was supplying drugs from his home. A drugs search warrant was granted.

Mrs Gilmartin said 1,120 ecstasy tablets were recovered with a potential value of 11,200, along with 1,945 grams of amphetamine worth 19,450.

The total cannabis recovered weighed 1,309 grams and had a maximum value of 13,090.

Morawski had also stuffed more than 5,000 in cash under his mattress.

The accused gave full answers, stating that he was a drug dealer and sold cannabis, amphetamine and E.

He stated he had been dealing for around six months for financial gain. He said his partner had no knowledge or involvement.

Morawski, a prisoner at Perth, admitted three charges of being concerned in the supply of cannabis, amphetamine and ecstasy between January 31July 31 this year.

Solicitor David Sinclair, defending, said Morawski first arrived in the UK in 2010 to work on a farm but had since returned to Poland and served jail time.

Mr Sinclair said: He was seeking to improve his familys life and took a short way of doing so.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: You have held your hands up and accepted responsibility at the earliest stage. You do not shy away from taking responsibility.

Nor do you try and mask your reasons for your actions in any way and such honesty, to put it bluntly, is refreshing.

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Man with string of convictions in his native Poland came to Perth to set up drug den - The Courier

In this episode, David A. Sinclair, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging, provides insight into why we age and how to slow its effects based on his remarkable work on the role of sirtuins and NAD in health and diseases. He also presents the case that stabilizing the epigenetic landscape may be the linchpin in counteracting aging and disease.

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David A. Sinclair, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging.

He is best known for his work on understanding why we age and how to slow its effects. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney in 1995. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at M.I.T. with Dr. Leonard Guarente where he co-discovered a cause of aging for yeast as well as the role of Sir2 in epigenetic changes driven by genome instability. In 1999 he was recruited to Harvard Medical School where his laboratorys research has focused primarily on understanding the role of sirtuins in disease and aging, with associated interests in chromatin, energy metabolism, mitochondria, learning and memory, neurodegeneration, and cancer. He has also contributed to the understanding of how sirtuins are modulated by endogenous molecules and pharmacological agents such as resveratrol.

Dr. Sinclair is co-founder of several biotechnology companies (Sirtris, Ovascience, Genocea, Cohbar, MetroBiotech, ArcBio, Liberty Biosecurity) and is on the boards of several others. He is also co-founder and co-chief editor of the journal Aging. His work is featured in five books, two documentary movies, 60 Minutes, Morgan Freemans Through the Wormhole and other media.

He is an inventor on 35 patents and has received more than 25 awards and honors including the CSL Prize, The Australian Commonwealth Prize, Thompson Prize, Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Award, Charles Hood Fellowship, Leukemia Society Fellowship, Ludwig Scholarship, Harvard-Armenise Fellowship, American Association for Aging Research Fellowship, Nathan Shock Award from the National Institutes of Health, Ellison Medical Foundation Junior and Senior Scholar Awards, Merck Prize, Genzyme Outstanding Achievement in Biomedical Science Award, Bio-Innovator Award, David Murdock-Dole Lectureship, Fisher Honorary Lectureship, Les Lazarus Lectureship, Australian Medical Research Medal, The Frontiers in Aging and Regeneration Award, Top 100 Australian Innovators, and TIME magazines list of the 100 most influential people in the world. [medapps.med.harvard.edu]

David on LinkedIn: David A. Sinclair, Ph.D. A.O.

David on Twitter: @davidasinclair

(Boston, MA - 3/23/17) David Sinclair, director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School, discovered how to reverse aging in mice, Thursday, March 23, 2017. Staff photo by Angela Rowlings.

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#27 - David Sinclair, Ph.D.: Slowing aging sirtuins, NAD ...