Pre-clinical development

The lifecycle of a drug is its path from discovery to market. This journey involves basic research, the discovery of a compound, preclinical development, increasingly complicated clinical trials in human subjects, regulatory approval, and post-market surveillance. This entire process can take up to 15 years and cost hundreds of millions of euro. (1) For every drug that gets approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, 5,000 to 10,000 compounds don't make it through the process, making the whole process very costly and financially risky. (1) A drugs lifecycle ends when or if it is taken off the market unless as in the case of natalizumab it is put back on the market again. The development of natalizumab is a unique story. It is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the α4 integrin and is used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). It was granted approval in 2004 by the FDA, only twelve years after its molecular target was cloned. (2) Unfortunately, several patients treated with natalizumab were diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after its initial approval, and the sale of natalizumab was suspended. The drug was reintroduced to the market in…

Introduction HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening liver disorder thought to be a type of severe preeclampsia during pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a disorder of pregnancy that causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It develops after the 20th week of pregnancy. The name HELLP stands for: H – hemolytic anemia, hemolysis (destruction of blood cells). EL – elevated liver enzymes (sign of liver damage). LP – low platelet count (blood cells that help stop bleeding). HELLP syndrome often…

just slapped me in the face and made things worse. I met with a UNM academic advisor, and I would say that I do not particularly like him because he made me question myself as to why I am even going to school and he basically made me feel like I would not be able to succeed as a pre-med student. I got offered a transfer scholarship and a grant from UNM; the catch is that I have to be enrolled in 15 credit hours there and I cannot use a consortium agreement, which basically states that I am…

Hollywood challenged television with its innovative technical advances to win back its lost audience to TV. The experimentation began with the release of the promo This is Cinerama in 1952, designed to introduce the wide screen process Cinerama, which became a landmark in film history. This was an attempt to show the wonders of the new widescreen format using three separate but synchronised camera images to create an enveloping picture through an arc of 146 degrees. It made the audience felt…

After watching the movie "A Beautiful Mind" i learned a wide range on how critical thinking can take form in many quiet and sneaky ways and just how important it really is. This movie would be very helpful to a student of Critical Thinking because of those reasons. It shows the hit/effect critical reading has with a practical example and shows how it can affect us in or day to day lives and how much we can benefit from thinking critically and how much we can loss by having a "dull" mind. In the…

As a movie fanatic and today's film curator i think it's important to spread the indie spirit. The definition of Independent films comes from its rebellious relationship with the origins of american cinema itself. Indies are defined as being made outside of the studio system but the connotations of what that actually means are usually blurred. Today i will convince my audience to watch more independent films instead of commercial films. My three main points are that Indies are more personal,…

within the narrative. Early on, pre production, we did not distribute roles to each individual because we wanted everyone to share responsibilities; However, towards the end we agreed on roles based on what occurred in production. The idea behind not giving each other roles was to offer different perspectives, a new set of eyes with the desire to improve the final product. In a larger project, switching roles frequently would not work, but because we are…

As an avid book reader, my response to “book or movie,” is always book. The book has free reign to take one where the author intended for one to go. A movie has no such ability. It is constrained by social obligations and media requirements. Often, the director of said movie is unable to dig into the details and moments the author has laid before one. This is additionally accurate for those telling a true story. Many vital parts of the story line are left out because the director saw them not…

Dakota is a 17yo, primigravida, who is currently 32 weeks 0 days. She has been admitted for the last 1 ½ weeks due to preeclampsia without severe features but with significant proteinuria. At admission, a 24-hr urine had increased from 500 to 1000 mg within 4 days’ time. We repeated a 24-hr urine over the weekend that returned at 4108 mg. Her preeclampsia labs have been stable. She has not had any severe features in terms of maternal symptoms or severe range pressures. She currently is staying…

imagine attending: the University of Alabama at Birmingham. When fall of 2015 finally came, I discovered the realities of being a full-time pre-medical and Honors College student. Now, as a student who is on the verge of completing freshman…