{"581621":{"#nid":"581621","#data":{"type":"news","title":"UCB Opens Innovation Center in Tech Square","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUCB officially opened this week its UCB Solution Accelerator \u0026ndash; a unique environment designed to drive collaboration between UCB and the Georgia Tech community to develop solutions that will positively impact the lives of those living with severe diseases. The 2,500-square foot innovation center will be located in the Centergy Building at Technology Square, part of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s innovation neighborhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith its North America Headquarters in Smyrna, GA, UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to treat severe diseases of the immune and central nervous system. As the first pharmaceutical company with an innovation center in Technology Square, UCB will be able to tap into Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s state of the art machine learning and advanced analytics resources to improve patient care as well as the patient experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Establishing a presence in Technology Square is a natural extension of our existing relationship with Georgia Tech,\u0026rdquo; said Jeff Wren, head of UCB\u0026rsquo;s Neurology Patient Value Unit. \u0026ldquo;We are thrilled to join this vibrant innovation community to learn and grow our own capabilities. We are confident that co- location and proximity to the Georgia Tech community will enable us to quickly develop quality solutions that will create real value for the patients we serve.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the past year, UCB has collaborated with Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Interoperability \u0026amp; Integration Innovation Lab (I3L) in using predictive analytics to answer the question: how can we better fit medications to patients and positively impact patient care?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are delighted to welcome UCB as the first pharmaceutical company to join the growing innovation ecosystem in Tech Square,\u0026rdquo; said Georgia Tech President G. P. \u0026ldquo;Bud\u0026rdquo; Peterson. \u0026ldquo;We have already begun several collaborations with the company, and look forward to future opportunities for Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff to help develop solutions to positively impact patient care for those living with chronic, severe diseases.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUCB expects the space to be used by multiple collaborators from Georgia Tech researchers, faculty and students, to UCB interns and staff from its North America headquarters as well as from its global headquarters in Brussels Belgium.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUCB, a global biopharmaceutical company, is the first pharmaceutical company with an innovation center in Technology Square. The company plans to\u0026nbsp;tap into Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s state of the art machine learning and advanced analytics resources to improve patient care as well as the patient experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The global biopharmaceutical company is the first pharmaceutical company with an innovation center in Tech Square."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2016-09-23 09:21:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:45","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"581591":{"id":"581591","type":"image","title":"UCB Solution Accelerator Ribbon Cutting","body":null,"created":"1474665531","gmt_created":"2016-09-23 21:18:51","changed":"1475895393","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:33","alt":"UCB Solution Accelerator Ribbon Cutting","file":{"fid":"207380","name":"ucbribbon.cutting.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ucbribbon.cutting.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ucbribbon.cutting.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":782203,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ucbribbon.cutting.jpg?itok=CFjE0x_y"}},"581611":{"id":"581611","type":"image","title":"UCB, Georgia Tech Collaborators","body":null,"created":"1474665531","gmt_created":"2016-09-23 21:18:51","changed":"1475895393","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:33","alt":"UCB, Georgia Tech Collaborators","file":{"fid":"207381","name":"ucb.gtcollaborators.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ucb.gtcollaborators.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ucb.gtcollaborators.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":465866,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ucb.gtcollaborators.jpg?itok=pKVS0enx"}}},"media_ids":["581591","581611"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/innovation-ecosystem","title":"Innovation Ecosystem fueled by Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9040","name":"EI2"},{"id":"172371","name":"innovation neighborhoods"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the innovation centers in Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s Tech Square please contact Greg King, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:greg.king@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Egreg.king@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the UCB Solution Accelerator please contact Kristie Madara, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristie.madara@ucb.com\u0022\u003Ekristie.madara@ucb.com\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"579871":{"#nid":"579871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Inflammatory Autoimmune Disease Research at Georgia Tech awarded $2.3 Million NIH Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gibsongatech.wordpress.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elab of Greg Gibson\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at the Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded a grant of $2.3 million to study the subtle genetic underpinnings of autoimmune-related diseases by taking a computational approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe National Institutes of Health\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.genome.gov\/27566612\/2016-news-feature-nih-supports-new-approaches-to-discovering---dna-differences-in-the-genomes-regulatory-regions-that-affect-disease\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emade the award as part of an $11.1 million total investment in research funds slated for five institutions\u003C\/a\u003E, including Georgia Tech. The researchers\u0026rsquo; work could increase understanding of the causes of diabetes, Crohn\u0026rsquo;s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, forms of heart disease, and more afflictions where inflammation is at issue, and where there may be a connection to autoimmunity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;We know that hundreds of genes impact autoimmunity, but the challenge is to narrow down the actual DNA sequence changes that have an impact. This grant combines our statistical genetics expertise with evolutionary genetics and genome editing by collaborators,\u0026rdquo; said Greg Gibson, a professor at Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn its research, Georgia Tech will work together with Rice University in Houston and Temple University in Philadelphia. Gibson\u0026#39;s researchers will handle statistical analysis and interpretation; Rice\u0026#39;s scientists will carry out gene editing, and evolutionary geneticists at Temple will contribute insights on which gene sites should or should not be variable in the human genome.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAttacking friends: Autoimmunity\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOur cells work together with masses of microbes that are an integral part of the human body, but the immune systems of people with related diseases can attack the microbes and healthy human cells, and lead to inflammation. \u0026ldquo;Lymphocytes, for example, could be attacking the body,\u0026rdquo; Gibson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re looking at genes that regulate the immune system,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;ve all got subtle effects. What counts is that they all work together. We\u0026rsquo;re looking for sections of genetic code that work a little oddly.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers will put data through algorithms to better identify genetic variants in sections of the human genome that do not encode proteins, but have regulatory functions, the NIH said in a news release. These are sections of DNA that, for example, turn encoding genes on and off.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESubtleties multiplied: Susceptibility\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey have been lesser studied but are known to be critical and could provide new information on yet undiscovered pathways composed of multiple faint characteristics that add up to disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Taken alone, some small characteristic may appear indistinct, and at the same time, it\u0026rsquo;s really hard to read how a big group of them work in total,\u0026rdquo; Gibson said. \u0026ldquo;But their cumulative effect is dramatic, and unfortunate.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecent genomic research methods have compared the complete genomes of patients with diseases to those without them, leading to thousands of statistical hints. Now new data and interpretive approaches are needed to effectively sift through these to see the foundations of diseases, or make predictions of who is most at risk, and what people can do to reduce the risk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NIH hopes statistical methods will allow prediction of possible effects some variants have on susceptibility to disease and on drug response. The funding comes from the NIH\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;National Human Genome Research Institute (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.genome.gov\/27534788\/about-the-institute\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENHGRI\u003C\/a\u003E)\u0026#39;s Non-Coding Variants Program, and the National Cancer Institute (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENCI\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Greg Gibson\u0027s group will develop strategies to evaluate the function of genetic variants that predispose people to autoimmune related disorders"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Autoimmunity can contribute to heart disease, diabetes and Crohn\u0027s disease. Georgia Tech has been awarded a $2.3 million NIH grant to employ computation in the study of genetic variants and their influence on susceptibility."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-09-20 14:01:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:41","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"579791":{"id":"579791","type":"image","title":"Greg Gibson School of Biological Sciences computational genetics","body":null,"created":"1474392374","gmt_created":"2016-09-20 17:26:14","changed":"1475895391","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"218388","name":"greg_gibson2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1010676,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/greg_gibson2.jpg?itok=0GWeFJmQ"}},"579761":{"id":"579761","type":"image","title":"Greg Gibson School of Biological Sciences","body":null,"created":"1474392187","gmt_created":"2016-09-20 17:23:07","changed":"1475895391","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:31","alt":"Greg Gibson School of Biological Sciences","file":{"fid":"218387","name":"greg_gibson.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/greg_gibson.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":894139,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/greg_gibson.jpg?itok=7pdxtyoo"}}},"media_ids":["579791","579761"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1182","name":"General"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"1300","name":"Institute Communications"},{"id":"47398","name":"GCR (Office of Government and Community Relations)"},{"id":"65425","name":"IBB Center - SCEC"},{"id":"346461","name":"Bioinformatics"},{"id":"559811","name":"EBB Events and News Public"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"140461","name":"Computational Biology"},{"id":"1041","name":"dna"},{"id":"7481","name":"genetic disease"},{"id":"170715","name":"genetic health"},{"id":"34691","name":"genetics health and computational biology"},{"id":"10645","name":"Greg Gibson"},{"id":"170714","name":"variant"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and contact: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}