世界醫藥創新論壇 5/2-4日在波士頓舉行 今年主題基因和細胞療法(圖片)

 

DAY ONE RECAP | May 2, 2022 The 2022 World Medical Innovation Forum returned as an in-person event with a partnership between Mass General Brigham and Bank of America. Now in its eighth year, the Forum provides an unprecedented three-day immersion into the world of gene and cell therapies (GCT) and the investment opportunities emerging from this astonishing field. First Look Sessions Day 1 began with two sets of First Look sessions—rapid-fire presentations showcasing the next wave of GCT breakthroughs from 16 investigators across the Mass General Brigham system. Topics included host-microbiome interactions in health and disease; using reprogrammed stem cells to test strategies for the targeted degradation of tau as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease; alternatives to immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of transplanted organs and a 3D organoid platform to model the blood-brain barrier, among others. All of the First Look abstracts can be found here. The Doctor is In A new feature for the WMIF in 2022, a series of lunchtime “The Doctor is In” sessions provided attendees with an opportunity to take deeper dives into the scientific challenges and opportunities in GCT. Florian Eichler, MD, Director of the Center for Rare Neurological Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, discussed research and therapeutic efforts into single-gene correction in the brain. In a question and answer session with Tazeen Ahmad, Managing Director, Global Research, BofA Securities, Eichler was asked what criteria should be used to determine the safety of treatments and the tolerability of side effects, particularly when it comes to diseases that are often fatal when untreated. “Safety is always first and foremost on our mind as treating physicians who are engaging with patients” Eichler said. “As we work in this space, we’re constantly counseling families to weigh the risk-benefit of treatment to understand what to expect.” Lee Greenwood, whose child is being treated by Eichler for Canavan disease, expressed his heartfelt appreciation for Eichler’s efforts to identify and test new treatments and his openness about the risks involved. “My family, we certainly know the pros and cons,” Greenwood said. “We’re going into this with our eyes wide open. But we know what the path is when there is no hope, there is no treatment, and that path is awful. To have something, anything, where we can give our child some hope—it was an easy choice, honestly.” Opening Remarks The afternoon session began with a conversation with Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO of Mass General Brigham, and Brian Moynihan, Chair and CEO of Bank of America that was moderated by CNBC reporter Bertha Coombs. The discussion highlighted the need to improve data sharing within and across health care systems; the importance of preventive care and wellness initiatives to lower healthcare costs; and the need to work collectively to accelerate the development of new GCT treatments—and make them available to all patients. “It is bringing together the clinicians, the researchers, and the patients and being able to look at it from that perspective,” said Klibanski. “What are the right targets? What are the right first-in-human studies? How do we navigate this together in partnerships with industry, with venture, with government, with others, to really move this forward?” Co-Chair Panel In a panel discussion of WMIF co-chairs, several themes emerged—the excitement surrounding new therapies for previously untreatable diseases, the importance of collaborating across disciplines to move new treatments forward in the most cost-effective ways, and the need to engage patients as partners in the research process. “What’s so exciting about GCT is it is potentially curative,” said Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Director of the Cellular Immunotherapy Program at the Mass General Cancer Center. “There are so many things in medicine where it is palliative, or where we treat symptomatically, or try to modify the outcome of disease without really getting at the fundamental mechanisms of the disease. You can get at that with gene and cell therapy.” The sentiment was echoed by Ravi Thadhani, MD, Chief Academic Officer of Mass General Brigham. “That’s what exciting about these next few days,” Thadhani said. “The opportunity to make a difference in those diseases that otherwise have been neglected or we had no therapies to deliver.” It was also clear from the discussion that more work needs to be done to accelerate the development process, identify new funding models and lower the cost of treatments. “We still have to answer questions on regulatory; we still have to answer questions on manufacturing,” said Geoff Meacham, PhD, Managing Director for Global Research for Bank of America Securities. “We can take something from the bench—can we go to the bedside? And beyond that, how do we get these things approved?” “We can’t do it alone. We need partnership,” said Miceal Chamberlain, President of Massachusetts, Northeast Regional Executive, Bank of America. “Everyone has to be aligned in this ecosystem in order for this to work.”

憲法營2017年在市府升基督教旗訟案勝訴 波士頓市府將制定升旗政策

             (Boston Orange 編譯) 美國最高法院5月2日裁定，波士頓市政府在2017年時拒絕讓有個十字的基督教旗幟在波士頓市府廣場升旗台上升起，是違反了一名西洛士百利人的憲法第一修正案權利。

             在退休中法官Stephen Breyer撰寫的裁定中，美國最高法院的所有9名法官都同意，波士頓市政府不應該不讓Harold Shurtleff的旗幟在市政府廣場升旗台上升起。

             曾是哈佛大學法學院教授既波士頓聯邦法院法官的Stephen Breyer寫道，”我們的結論是，波士頓市並不會以升起或飛揚一個私人集團的旗幟，作為政府言論的一種形式”。那意味著，波士頓市因為Shurtleff及憲法營 (Camp Constitution)的宗教觀點，拒絕升他們的旗幟，是限制了他們的言論自由。

            Harold Shurtleff是憲法營的領導，他在法院文件中辯稱，1787年的9月17日，美國憲法在費城簽署通過，該日成為憲法日該集團2017年向波士頓市政府申請許可，要在市政府廣場升旗台上升起基督教旗，是為紀念這日子。

            Harold Shurtleff早前在美國地方法院及上訴法庭第一巡迴庭申訴時，都敗訴了。

            美國最高法院在5月2日這天卻堅實的站在了Harold Shurtleff這邊。和Stephen Breyer一起簽名的法官還有John Roberts 、Sonia Sotomayor、Elena Kagan、Brett Kavanaugh、Amy Coney Barrett、Justices Samuel Alito、Clarence Thomas等法官，Neil Gorsuch法官發表了他自己的意見，Thomas. Kavanaugh也另外發表了同意的意見。

             根據Stephen Breyer的裁決文，在2005道2017年間，波士頓市府批准了284個非常多樣化的企業及組織升起旗幟，Harold Shurtleff的升旗要求是波士頓市府拒絕同意的唯一一個。

                       Stephen Breyer說，"我們必須回答的第一個基本問題是，波士頓的升旗是否會成為政府言論，如果是的話，波士頓可以根據觀點來拒絕旗幟。第一修正案的” 言論自由” 條款並未限制政府拒絕表達一種觀點，政府要運作也必須有觀點。由於波士頓市政府過去以來沒有積極參與旗幟挑選或訊息設計，讓法官們相信，升旗表達的是私人觀點，而不是政府觀點。在這樣的前提下，波士頓市政府基於宗教觀點拒絕讓Harold Shurtleff及憲法營升旗，就違法了第一修正案權利中的自由言論條款。

             波士頓市長吳弭 (Michelle Wu)接任市長，也承接了這問題。她的辦公室表示，她們現在會為在波士頓廣場升旗制定政策。他們將仔細檢視法院的決定，以及其對市政府經辦類似活動權力的認可。在波士頓市府考慮下一步之際，將確保波士頓的活動因應這一決定。

波士頓兒童博物館慶祝波士頓杭州姐妹市40週年

波士頓兒童博物館推出「杭州日」慶祝波士頓和杭州結為姊妹市40週年。(周菊子攝)

                    (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導) 波士頓兒童博物館今 (1) 日下午在波士頓海港區的館址內，慶祝波士頓市和杭州結為姊妹市40週年，宣佈5月1日為，「波士頓杭州日」。

                   根據波士頓市府的公告文，波士頓和杭州早於1982年，當年的波士頓市長Kevin White訪問杭州2星期時，就已結為姊妹市，

   駐紐約中國總領事館總領事黃屏(左)從波士頓市長吳弭手中接過波士頓市府發的公告，

2008年杭州市長蔡奇也曾率團親訪，拜會波士頓市長Tom Menino後，由時任波士頓計畫長，目前在麻省理工學院任教的沈其樂，以及當年在波士頓兒童博物館擔任研究員的史凌雲與亞洲部經理汪剛柳陪同，出席波士頓兒童博物館舉辦的「杭州少年、中美互聯」活動。

                    2019年，則有杭州市外辦副主任孔德勝率團訪問。那次他們在華人前進會榮譽主席李素影和美中交流協會主席梁利堂陪同下，和波士頓市議員Ed Flynn，以及其父，曾任波士頓市長的Ray Flynn晤談。

   駐紐約中國總領事館總領事黃屏(左)一起欣賞波士頓兒童博物館執行長Carole Charnow
展示她送給波士頓市長吳弭的「杭州日」畫冊。(周菊子攝)

                    今年，由於新冠病毒疫情未消之際，雖然是2市締結姊妹市的40週年，杭州並未派員出席，整個慶祝活動由波士頓兒童博物館和波士頓的地方民間組織合作，安排了2個小時的民間社團表演，包括巾幗醒獅隊舞獅，以及舞虎，創作歌曲及越曲演唱，二胡、葫蘆絲、古箏演奏，漢服舞蹈等表演。

               駐紐約中國總領事館總領事黃屏，富總領事李仕鵬，政治處副領事朱韶鼎等三人在波士頓兒童博物館執行長Carole Charnow的陪同下，全程參與。

波士頓市議會議長Ed Flynn應邀出席「杭州日」慶祝。(周菊子攝)

                   波士頓市議會議長Ed Flynn在活動進行到一半時，先行離席。波士頓市長吳弭 (Michelle Wu) 則是在表演結束後來到會場，簡短致詞，表示樂見2市繼續合作，圍繞著歷史，文化，交流令人振奮的發展。

             在波士頓兒童博物館執行長Carole Charnow送給吳弭市長一份杭州日畫冊，駐紐約中國總領事館總領事黃屏送給吳弭市長一盒毛筆後，在人頭紛亂鑽動的會場中，不斷有人要求和吳弭市長合照，她也非常親切的有求必應。

               波士頓市經濟發展及包容局全球事務組國際夥伴經理James Reginald Colimon表示，姊妹市原則上是一國一市，目前波士頓市共有11個姊妹城市，在中國大陸的姊妹城市是杭州，在台灣的姊妹城市是台北，另外波士頓市還在2014年時和廣州市簽署了著眼於商務的合作備忘錄。

            波士頓市長吳弭還特地為波士頓杭州日發了一份公告，說明1980年2市就開始探索雙邊合作可能，1982年Kevin White市長訪問杭州，正式落實2市姊妹關係，之後1983到85年間，30名波士頓高中生在大慈善機構及波士頓公司資助下，參加了波士頓杭州研究之旅活動。1985年杭州市長訪問波士頓，了解波士頓的經濟，教育，科學和文化資源，為未來交流做準備。在1982到1987年間，曾有許多文化交流活動，包括波士頓兒童博物館和杭州少年宮之間的交換展覽。在1987年到2011年間，有幾名市長共四度來訪，分別由Ray Flynn和 Tom Menino市長接待。在2008到2017年間，波士頓兒童博物館和杭州市及道富集團合作推出「杭州少年」，「連結中國」巡迴展，在中美兩國共吸引了不下400萬人次欣賞。

              根據杭州市網站，該市今年9月將承辦亞洲奧運會。