Prime Time Living 6.18.25 - Flipbook - Page 24
24 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Depression, continued from page 4
mRNA promise, continued from page 9
oping a broad range of mRNA medications.”
in appetite or sleeping patterns, and/or
poor concentration and memory.”
The researchers are actively seeking
participants for this new study. If you are
between 60 and 80 years of age, in good
physical health, feeling depressed and
not taking an antidepressant, you may
be eligible to participate in this research
study involving treatment.
Smith explains what they consider
“good physical health.” “We use that
expression to refer to individuals who
are medically stable, who have conditions such as high blood pressure and
diabetes that are well controlled by medication.
Qualified people will participate at no
cost to them and will be compensated
for their time. Transportation will be provided. For more information about the
research study, please call 410-550-4192
or email BrainImagingStudy@lists.johnshopkins.edu.
Once participants are enrolled and
before any treatment is implemented,
Smith and Nowrangi will do a comprehensive assessment that includes initial brain scans, including a PET scan,
examine their memory and cognitive status, and complete an evaluation of their
psychological state, including anxiety
and apathy. These are not typically done
when treating depression. Having initial
benchmarks will assist in understand-
ing what benefits were attained in using
antidepressants, and what is missing so
they can design future studies.
In her 2024 study, Smith found that
lower levels of serotonin in parts of the
brain of those with cognitive impairment may contribute to memory problems. This is the thought process behind
including an antidepressant that increases the amount of serotonin in the body in
this new study.
As you can see, this assessment is
much more comprehensive than most
physicians have time to do. As results are
evaluated, the study can provide better
guidance in the future on treating MDD
and to stave off dementia.
Volunteering to be part of a medical
study is a generous deed. Without volunteers, we would not have much of what
we know about medicine today. It’s an
incredibly selfless act. As a participant,
you are contributing to advancing medical knowledge.
The National Institutes of Health
(www.nih.gov) encourages participation in clinical trials and studies. “It’s
your involvement,” it says, “that helps
researchers to ultimately uncover better
ways to treat, prevent, diagnose, and
understand human disease.” Consider
participating in this study today.
What are the other benefits?
“mRNA is a lot less expensive,” says
Coller. “We used to make proteins in the
lab to heal some illnesses. With mRNA,
your body makes the protein, so we’ve
eliminated the ‘middle man’: the hamster
that gave his cells, the machine we used
to purify the hamster cells to get the protein, and the medication that we injected
into those cells. We can also custom tailor
mRNA in one day. Before, once we had a
design, it would take a year. Now, it’s even
better because the body does the work,
and that means fewer, if any, side effects.”
There are so many applications where
mRNA will thrive:
• Infectious diseases: Norovirus,
Coronavirus, Ebola, HBV RSV,
human immunodeficiency virus, zika
virus, rabies virus.
• Metabolic and Genetic diseases:
Cancers, kidney disease, diabetes,
Tay-Sachs, pancreatic cancer, head
and neck cancers, cystic fibrosis,
sickle-cell.
• Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular
diseases: cardiovascular disease,
coronary artery disease, heart failure,
stroke, and peripheral artery disease.
Ongoing clinical trials are in progress
for the following: prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, advanced malignant tumors,
gastric, esophageal, and liver cancers,
leukemia, and glioblastomas.
However …
Coller warns, “Despite the promise
shown, we are risking squandering our
lead in this space in the 21st century and
based on what we are seeing in other
research areas across the country, this
administration may halt funding for the
over 700 projects that are in development and could become the next breakthroughs in mRNA therapeutics in cancer
and other lethal disorders. China is not
very far behind us.”
Coller is one of the founders of a new
organization, Alliance for mRNA Medicines
(AMM), formed in 2023. AMM is a consortium of over 75 of the most recognized
mRNA innovators in the field. Bringing the
best minds together, it aims to overcome
the most critical obstacles inhibiting the
advancement of mRNA research, development and manufacturing.
“The Alliance for mRNA Medicines is
the leading global organization dedicated
to advancing and advocating for mRNA
and next generation encoding RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the benefit of
patients, public health, and society. Our
mission is to propel the future of mRNA
medicine, improve patients’ lives, and
advance scientific knowledge by convening and empowering mRNA industry leaders, innovators, scientists, and other key
stakeholders,” according to its website.
“Threats to mRNA put jobs, cures,
national security, and US biomedical leadership at risk,” says Coller. “In addition to
using mRNA to treat infectious diseases
like COVID and other viruses, mRNA is
now being explored to do other interventions, including the treatment of cancer,
metabolic, genetic, and rare disorders,
and cardiovascular diseases, and so it
goes well beyond its use in vaccines. A
particular example of that is in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. A recent report
in Nature demonstrated that a personalized mRNA vaccine generated a strong
anti-tumor immune response in over half
the participants. Similar results are being
shown in other solid state tumor cancers
like melanoma and diseases like cystic
fibrosis and muscular dystrophy.
“The people who helped make us the
epicenter of mRNA research and advancement have been cut, which leaves us with
significant questions about the future of
the United States and our leadership in the
biomedical sector. We are also seeing that
information on this technology is poorly
understood by the community. There are
a number of states that have legislation on
the docket that either bans or restricts the
use of mRNA in treating various disorders.
This isn’t a partisan issue; it’s a bipartisan
issue because it is about the health of all
people. The Texas Conservative Coalition
highly recommends supporting mRNA as
it is a life-saving technology.”
mRNA therapeutics are the next great
invention, the next “miracle,” tackling
some of the worst diseases humans
experience and providing solutions. We
hope the advancements will stay in our
country and benefit us as we meet future
challenges.
