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- Posted Friday April 24, 2015
TGen Associate Professor is keynote speaker April 29 at AZBio Expo in Phoenix
Dr. Matt Huentelman discusses innovative Alzheimer's research through engaging social media test called MindCrowd
PHOENIX, Ariz. - April 24, 2015 - Dr. Matt
Huentelman, an Associate Professor of Neurogenomics at the Translational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen), is the keynote speaker at
the 2015 AZBio Expo.
Billed as "Arizona's premier bioscience event," this year's Expo,
sponsored by the Arizona BioIndustry Association, will present
"Focus on Clinical Trials," an all-day event, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. April
29 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 340 N. Third St.
At the luncheon keynote address scheduled at noon, Dr. Huentelman
will discuss how TGen's MindCrowd program is a prime example of
using online crowdsourcing to recruit voluntary individuals for
scientific studies and clinical research.
At www.MindCrowd.org, participants take
a simple and fun 10-minute test that measures their reaction time
and word-association memory. More than 53,000 people have taken the
test, already making it one of the largest such scientific studies
of its kind. The goal is to have 1 million participants, thereby
examining a highly statistically significant population.
"The concept is that, through the use of the Internet, we can
reach out and recruit voluntary individuals - as well as collect
data - which we then can use to expand on those individuals whose
data we study in the lab and in the clinic," said Dr. Huentelman,
who is Division Head of TGen's Neurobehavioral Research Unit.
"MindCrowd likely will enable us to vastly improve the
applicability of our data."
At TGen, Dr. Huentelman oversees research programs focused on
sensory disorders, including hearing and vision loss, and on aging
and age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, as well as
the genetics of learning and memory, highlighted by the MindCrowd
project.
Dr. Huentelman also is co-director of TGen's Dorrance Center for
Rare Childhood Disorders, which uses genomic sequencing - spelling
out the billions of pieces of genetic information in each
individual's DNA - to investigate uncommon, and often previously
undiagnosed, neurologic problems among children.
Also featured at the 2015 AZBio Expo are talks by: Dr. Mark
Slater, Vice President for Research at HonorHealth in Scottsdale;
and Dr. Glen Weiss, Director of Clinical Research at Cancer
Treatment Centers of America at Western Regional Medical Center in
Goodyear, Ariz.
Dr. Huentelman and Dr. Weiss were both selected in 2013 by the
Phoenix Business Journal for its annual "40 Under 40" awards, which
recognize 40 local up-and-coming professionals under 40 years
old.
"Arizona's bioscience industry isat the forefront of efforts
to solve some of medicine's most pressing challenges," said Joan
Koerber-Walker, President and CEO of the Arizona BioIndustry
Association. "This year's speakers and panelists at the AZBio
Expo are all leaders in their fields and will provide new insights
for the business leaders, elected officials, clinicians, patients,
and researchers who are coming together to learn more about this
critical mile marker along the road from discovery to development
to delivery."
For more information about the Expo, visit: www.azbio.org.
# # #
About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with cancer, neurological disorders and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]
