#Florida University

[reasonsforhope]

"In a first-ever human clinical trial, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida successfully reprogrammed patients’ immune systems to fiercely attack glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor.

The results in four adult patients mirrored those in 10 pet dog patients suffering from brain tumors whose owners approved of their participation.

The discovery represents a potential new way to recruit the immune system to fight treatment-resistant cancers using an iteration of mRNA technology and lipid nanoparticles, similar to COVID-19 vaccines, but with two key differences: use of a patient’s own tumor cells to create a personalized vaccine, and a newly engineered complex delivery mechanism within the vaccine.

“Instead of us injecting single particles, we’re injecting clusters of particles that are wrapping around each other like onions,” said senior author Elias Sayour, M.D., Ph.D., a UF Health pediatric oncologist who pioneered the new vaccine, which like other immunotherapies attempts to “educate” the immune system that a tumor is foreign.

“These clusters alert the immune system in a much more profound way than single particles would.”

Among the most impressive findings was how quickly the new method spurred a vigorous immune-system response to reject the tumor, said Sayour, principal investigator at the University’s RNA Engineering Laboratory and McKnight Brain Institute investigator who led the multi-institution research team.

“In less than 48 hours, we could see these tumors shifting from what we refer to as ‘cold’—very few immune cells, very silenced immune response—to ‘hot,’ very active immune response,” he said.

“That was very surprising given how quick this happened, and what that told us is we were able to activate the early part of the immune system very rapidly against these cancers, and that’s critical to unlock the later effects of the immune response,” he explained in a video (below).

Glioblastoma is among the most devastating diagnoses, with median survival around 15 months. Current standard of care involves surgery, radiation and some combination of chemotherapy.

The new report, published May 1 in the journal Cell, is the culmination of seven years of promising studies, starting in preclinical mouse models.

In the cohort of four patients, genetic material called RNA was extracted from each patient’s own surgically removed tumor, and then messenger RNA (mRNA)—the blueprint of what is inside every cell, including tumor cells—was amplified and wrapped in the newly designed high-tech packaging of biocompatible lipid nanoparticles, to make tumor cells “look” like a dangerous virus when reinjected into the bloodstream to prompt an immune-system response.

The vaccine was personalized to each patient with a goal of getting the most out of their unique immune system...

While too early in the trial to assess the clinical effects of the vaccine, the patients either lived disease-free longer than expected or survived longer than expected. The 10 pet dogs lived a median of 4.5 months, compared with a median survival of 30-60 days typical for dogs with the condition.

The next step, with support from the Food and Drug Administration and the CureSearch for Children’s Cancer foundation, will be an expanded Phase I clinical trial to include up to 24 adult and pediatric patients to validate the findings. Once an optimal and safe dose is confirmed, an estimated 25 children would participate in Phase 2."

-via Good News Network, May 11, 2024

-video via University of Florida Health, May 1, 2024

[fuckingflorida]

Link to tweet bc I don’t pay for that shit to download the video. According to comments on the tampabaysds IG the sheriff’s office has been hanging up on people who call but the most recent comments have said to keep calling (as of last night). I can’t find any more info on UF currently but will post if I do!

[athleticperfection1]

Florida State Swim

[decolonize-the-everything]

At the University of Michigan on Wednesday, what was meant to be a peaceful pro-Palestinian die-in quickly turned violent after police ordered the students to disperse

[...]The immediate response by the police appeared to show a slightly different approach from the administration compared to last year, and protesters say law enforcement has become more emboldened to stamp out campus protests before they grow bigger. "We were surprised that they would commit such violence so brazenly and openly, with hundreds of new students watching, especially when it makes students feel so unsafe," the protester said. The university responded to the incident with a statement saying that it respects freedom of speech and expression but claimed the protesters were "violating university policy" by blocking traffic.

At the University of South Florida, all activities which may feature signs, tents or amplified sound now require prior approval. Likewise, at the University of California, which saw some of the most violent attacks on pro-Palestine protesters last semester, the university president ordered chancellors on all 10 campuses to ban student encampments and "overnight loitering". Using a mask to hide your identity or block walkways and university buildings is now also prohibited. According to the new directive, anyone not following the latest guidelines could face arrest. Students told MEE they perceived the policies as new layers of repression

"The university would rather focus on ways to perfect various means of both subtle and brutal repression of their students than engage and address the demands of disclosure and divestment," Mona, a student activist at UCLA, told MEE

Mona, who asked to be identified by her first name only, given the prospect of suspension and expulsion, said the policies being enacted are an attempt to bury the university's complicity in Israel's war on Gaza. "UCLA and many universities will claim to not have enough resources for a wide variety of social and health initiatives to benefit their students, but will stop at nothing to protect their role in furthering the genocide and occupation in Palestine. "There is a lot of rhetoric about the values that guide our campus, but the administration's reactions and policy implementations demonstrate that the values of equality and justice, which students are centring, are the farthest thing from their minds," Mona added.

*I can't find the source of the art to give credit, if anyone knows who it is pls let me know

If you are not at a university now is the time to start looking into how you can support campus protests; donating supplies/time, boosting bail funds, sharing posts about rights & law changes, etc.

[wingdingsandbrokenstrings]

Photos of Gozer the Gozarian, Dr. Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, and Phoebe Spengler in the new Universal Mega Movie parade at Universal Studios Florida

Photos by @motley-joey on Instagram

[mysharona1987]

What a horrific story this is.

“Would this have happened to Ron DeSantis’s wife? No, I guarantee it would not have. She’d have been treated right away.”

[ncaapeaches]

kayleebluffstone on Instagram

[theofficialastronomy101]

Actual view of Florida from the International Space Station

[inthedarktrees]

Robert W. Kelley, “From Displaced Person to College Queen,” Life, Dec 15, 1952

[shanelemagne]

horrible

[gabbydagoof]

Oggy and Jack !

Two absolute goofballs.

(Also Transmasc Oggy FUCKIN RULES!!!)

The Roaches

[my-midlife-crisis]

[academiario]

Life update: I’m in nursing school! The last time I posted was when I was in community college taking pre nursing classes, and now I am in university!!! I am officially a nursing student and I get to wear scrubs as school uniform!!

[athleticperfection1]

Florida State Swim

[silmecicle]

scu 100 days but it’s a visual novel: some screenshots.

i have to make a little game for class with like,,, different choices and routes, so my scu brain said “let’s just simplify 100 days as much as possible” AND ITS STILL SO MUCH PLS HELP…….

[wingdingsandbrokenstrings]

CEYING SOBBING THIS IS ALL I EVER WANTED AND MORE!!