Diagnosing Brain Injury in Football Players Before It’s Too Late: A New Radioactive Tracer Method

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Football season is again upon us! But as you cheer for your favorite team, did you know that football players may be at a greater risk for brain injury and trauma? Sam Gandy, a neurologist at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, hopes to develop a more accurate radioactive tracer technique to uncover the truth.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repetitive brain injury, with symptoms ranging from memory loss to mental instability. Diagnosable only after a patient has died, CTE is frequently found in the brains of deceased football players and raises controversy on the safety of football and other contact sports. Dr. Gandy hopes to detect CTE earlier in a living patient to find prevention methods and determine the real risk of CTE in sports.

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$100 Million invested into medical technology

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The American medical technology company, Becton Dickinson (BD), which produce more than two billion insulin syringes per year, have announced a $100 million research project to expand the company’s Nebraska research facility.

The investment will support new manufacturing equipment and technology to expand production for BD insulin syringes. Insulin syringes are used by approximately 40 percent of people with diabetes as part of their management regimen. This research investment will provide significant benefits to the diabetes population and underscores BD’s commitment to supply high-quality, industry-leading syringes to patients.

BD’s Nebraska facility is 350,000 square feet in size and was established in 1966. The facility houses more than 650 employees and manufactures 20 different products.

This is not the first time BD has significantly invested into research and development. In August 2016, after 60 years of running its facility in Utah, the company completed a $20 million facility upgrade. The upgrade allowed for more space and technology to produce IV catheters and valves, blood collection devices and surgical products.

The Utah facility was first purchased in 1956 and has since grown to 440,000 square feet in size and 1,200 employees. The research facility was the first to use renewable energy sources and later became landfill-free, where waste is reduced, recycled or converted into energy.

Companies like BD demonstrate the significant positive outcomes that result from investing in R&D. If you believe your company is incorporating research and innovation into its business activities, it may be eligible for an R&D tax credit. To find out more contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today for an assessment.

Kentucky launches center for cancer and metabolism research

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The University Of Kentucky has been awarded an $11.2 million prestigious Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant to assist with the study of cancer and metabolism.

The grant was received from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences and will fund the research and development project for the next 5 years.

The project aims to discover and prove a direct link between obesity and cancer. The need for research into this field is of high necessity, particularly for Kentuckians. Kentucky has disproportionately high incidences of both cancer and metabolic disorders and currently leads the nation in cancer deaths and obesity rates.

The University of Kentucky and its Markey Cancer Center have developed one of the strongest cancer research, prevention and treatment programs in the country. The awarding of the competitive grant is recognition of the University being a national leader in biomedical research.

Kentucky’s Center for Cancer and Metabolism (CCM) capitalizes on highly specialized institutional strengths in cancer and advancement metabolomics tools. This research focuses on the underlying mechanisms that link dysfunctional metabolism to cancer. Recent studies have shown that Mitochondria, the metabolic powerhouse of cells, can influence how aggressive a cancer becomes.

Research and development is at the core of economic and human development and it is why the University of Kentucky is the state’s instrumental change agent, health provider and economic engine.

The importance of the following R&D grant is largely significant to Kentucky, as the synergy and collaboration between researchers and clinicians to further studies in cancer could not be carried out without them.

To find out more about R&D or to determine whether your business is eligible for Kentucky’s .395 Research Facilities Tax Credit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D tax specialist.