Dateline BTB - Archive
03/11/2011 - The Blazeman Foundation for ALS consulted with Ron Zielke on their effort to enhance research on ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) through tissue donation from individuals with ALS to the Bank. The foundation is named after Jonathan “Blazeman” Blais, the only athlete with ALS to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. Jon managed to complete the race by rolling on the ground across the finish line. In so doing, he created what has become known as the “Blazeman Roll”. In honor of Jon, other athletes now use the “Blazeman Roll’ at the end of triathlon events. The Blazeman Foundation has the support of fellow athletes from around the world in its goal to raise awareness of ALS and to support cutting edge research.
02/22/2011 - 02/25/2011 - Drs. Ling Li and Ron Zielke are attending the 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Chicago, IL. The Bank works closely with medical examiners and coroners throughout the USA for tissue donations.
SUDI - Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy - For over a year the Bank has been working with the American SIDS Institute in initiating a tissue donor program in Florida for the study of SUDI. The project is overseen by Dr. Kathleen Currey and requires specialized IRB approved consent forms and updated tissue sectioning protocols.
02-02-2011 - Drs. Elaine Shen and John Phillips of the Allen Institute for Brain Science visited the Bank and gave a presentation on the Allen Human Brain Atlas project at the Maryland OCME. Currently, the atlas consists of more than 90 million data points from some 1500 sampled regions utililzing tissue from the NICHD BTB. The NICHD BTB continues to work with the Allen Institute to provide tissue that meets the strict guidelines required of the project. The Allen Human Brain Atlas is an extraordinary endeavor to provide a comprehensive brain and genome map of the human brain. Learn more!.
February 2011 - Drs. Ling Li and Ron Zielke continue to provide extensive information on tissue banking, especially regarding seizure disorder cases already donated to the Bank, to a consortium of researchers who are participating in SUDEP research.
01-25-2011 - Our yearly letter and questionnaire have gone out to more than 200 researchers who have received tissue from us over the past 2 1/2 years. Please let us hear from you before the February 14th deadline. With the information you provide, we can update the ever growing list of more than 850 publications (papers and abstracts) utilizing tissue received from the NICHD BTB. You can fax or email your response.
12-02-2010 - Dr. Kathleen Currey presented "Spells, Spasms, Stare Offs, Fit and Falling Out - It's not always what it seems." at Pediatric Grand Rounds at the University of Maryland. She discussed the basics of EEG interpretation and some of the common epilepsy syndromes. She also showed four cases with video accompanied by EEG tracings where the final diagnosis was different than the initial impression, thus demonstrating the significant usefulness of this technology to often clarify difficult problems.