BLI News 97 #3
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IN THE NEWS Director’s Message 2 LASER Patient Turns Her Life Around 3 Eggs Aid Research 4 BECKMAN LASER INSTITUTE W i n t e r 1998 UCI faculty recently submitted a biomedical nanoscale systems, and bio- Biomedical proposal to the Whitaker Foundation to medical computational technologies. establish a biomedical engineering pro- Much of this work currently occurs at gram. BLI, the School of Engineering, the Col- Program The $3 million proposal, if funded, lege of Medicine, the Department of In- will accelerate the development of a bio- formation and Computer Science, and medical engineering center and, ulti- at the Schools of Biological and Physi- Moves Forward mately, a full department. The new, in- cal Sciences. terdisciplinary center will span many “The Whitaker proposal would con- existing departments and programs. solidate and amplify these efforts,” ex- Research will focus on biophotonics, plains Institute Director Michael Berns, Ph.D. He and Assistant Engineering Professor Steve George, M.D., Ph.D., initially would head the program. The department would include un- dergraduate and graduate degree pro- grams and 12 new tenure track faculty positions. An undergraduate minor could be available by fall 1999. Dr. Berns says the proposal builds on Whitaker-funded research taking place campuswide. In fact, BLI’s own Drs. Nelson, Tromberg and Chen, along with Dr. George, are Whitaker recipients. Whether the foundation funds it or not, Dr. Berns is upbeat about the bio- medical program’s prospects. “We hope Whitaker will approve our proposal,” he says, “but the campus will move forward regardless. Simply pre- paring the proposal has brought faculty members together and has helped to de- fine the program,” he notes. Foundation representatives have Dr. Yona Tadir’s article recently was featured scheduled a peer-reviewed site visit on on the cover of Contemporary OB/GYN. campus for mid-December. ■ SCIENTIST MERITS COVER STORY Tadir discussed the on-going impact of Newsbriefs An article by BLI faculty member laser technology on assisted reproduc- Yona Tadir, M.D., professor of gynecol- tion. ogy at UCI, recently was featured on the He noted how reproductive special- cover of Contemporary OB/GYN. ists employ lasers to trap and manipu- In “Ten Years of Laser-assisted Ga- late sperm. They even use lasers to drill mete and Embryo Manipulation,” Dr. holes in the zona pellucida of the em- (Continued on pg. 8) F R O M T H E D I R E C T O R Since the Beginning by Michael W. Berns, Ph.D. sented to him Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor in February 1982. aving recently assembled an This docu- Haccount of the founding of the ment was the Beckman Laser Institute for the new first written UCI Chancellor, Ralph Cicerone, I plan that de- thought our history would be of in- scribed an in- terest to others. terdiscipli- nary laser re- The BLIMC’s Inception search medi- The idea of an interdisciplinary re- cal clinic that search and clinical program under one would pro- roof and focused around the use of vide: “(1) the light (photons generated from laser best state-of- systems) germinated as a result of the-art laser three things that occurred in 1980 and and accessory early 1981. instrumenta- Arnold Beckman and Michael Berns in 1991. First, an award was received from tion, (2) a the National Institutes of Health team of laser technological and medi- ing discussed between the community (NIH) to establish the Laser Micro- cal experts second to none, and (3) and the university. beam Program (LAMP) as a national basic and applied clinical laser re- biotechnology resource center at UC search to support and augment the A Non-profit Formed Irvine. delivery of laser therapy.” After numerous meetings and dis- Second, Arnold O. Beckman, then The proposal was purposely vague cussions with UCI officials, Arnold CEO and Chairman of Beckman In- with respect to the general organiza- Beckman decided to fund the estab- struments, visited an open house at tion framework. At that time, it was lishment of the Beckman Laser Insti- UCI to see the LAMP facility in op- not clear where the money would tute and Medical Clinic (BLIMC). It eration. come from to fund the facility, and was envisioned as a separate Califor- Third, the LAMP program was ex- whether the facility would be a not- nia 501(c)3 non-profit corporation panded to include translational and for-profit, a for-profit, or a combina- with its own board of directors. The clinical components in collaboration tion of both. In fact, one prominent Board’s primary, though not exclu- with the UCI Department of Surgery local businessman wrote to Chancel- sive, purposes were: (1) to raise on the use of lasers and light-activated lor Daniel Aldrich: “One option is to money, (2) to manage the money with drugs for the treatment and diagno- develop such a clinic in association respect to investment and program- sis of cancer (photodynamic therapy: with the University of California. I matic allocation, and (3) to provide PDT). This new clinical-based pro- would like to know what incentives advice to the university on operation gram was funded by the NIH as a the University could provide if I were of the program. A “Statement of Prin- combined basic science and clinical to raise the capital funds for such a ciples,” signed on August 29, 1984, by study. clinic.” Arnold Beckman and Chancellor A formal letter and draft prospec- Aldrich, was the BLIMC’s culminat- A Proposal to Arnold Beckman tus was sent to Arnold Beckman on ing, seminal document. Construction As a result of the above three oc- June 30, 1981, requesting $2.5 million of the BLIMC started in 1984. Our currences, Brian Demsey, my friend for the establishment of a $5 million doors opened in June 1986. and an original BLIMC board mem- laser research clinic at UCI as an ex- Since that time, almost 40,000 pa- ber, and I developed a business and tension of the LAMP program. His re- tients have been seen at the BLIMC, programmatic plan to show to Arnold ply on July 7, 1981, was to postpone $32 million has been raised in private Beckman that proposed a “Laser Re- the decision while a variety of issues donations, and over $30 million of search Clinic.” concerning the future of the medical federal research funding has been The 19-page proposal was pre- school and hospital facilities were be- awarded to the BLIMC faculty. ■ 2 C O M M U N I T Y U P D A T E Tattoo Removal Can Change Lives ngela* joined the Monrovia gang Aat 12. She was tattooed for the first time at 15. By 18, six amateur and pro- fessional tattoos marked her wrist, fin- ger, chest, ankle and back. The largest is almost seven inches wide; the small- est, three black dots, means “my crazy life” to other gang members. Angela tattooed the name of her boyfriend, a fellow gangbanger, on the inside edge of her finger. She said peer pressure kept her in the gang. After her boyfriend held a gun to her head and beat her repeatedly, Angela wanted out. “I feared for my life everyday,” she says. “I was going nowhere.” Almost two years ago, Angela be- came an informant for the Monrovia Police Department and turned in her boyfriend. The police have him in cus- tody for three shootings. Dr. Nelson treats Angela’s tattoos with the YAG laser. “Turning in her boyfriend was her way of saying she was done with the Angela says. “Now, they’re embar- and rehabilitating kids like Angela,” gang,”says Officer William R. Couch, rassing.” he explains. Monrovia Youth Services Officer. But aesthetics, Officer Couch Help, hopefully, will be forthcom- The 18-year veteran remembers points out, aren’t why he is helping ing from the David and Lucile Pack- meeting 10-year-old Angela for the her. “Members of her former gang or ard Foundation. The Institute’s recent first time in a D.A.R.E. class. a rival gang will attack her if they see proposal to the Foundation would “Maybe D.A.R.E. didn’t keep her those tattoos,” he says. partially fund tattoo removal and out of the gang,” he says, “but when He contacted Institute Associate counseling. she wanted to change her life, she Director J. Stuart Nelson, M.D., Ph.D. “We want to attend to the psycho- knew our program was there for her.” Dr. Nelson, along with other BLI phy- logical and social needs of these While “mending lives” is his goal, sicians, currently volunteers his time youths, along with removing their tat- the youth services officer is selective removing the tattoos of juveniles from toos,” says Dr. Berns. about whom he will help. the Orange County Probation Depart- “Many former gang members “First, they have to convince us ment. aren’t as fortunate as Angela,” he they want out of the gang,” he ex- To date, Dr. Nelson has treated adds. “They may not have access to plains. A personal essay and school Angela’s tattoos three times. The ones the rehabilitation necessary to help records also are required. on her finger and wrist are almost in- them get back on their feet.” Angela wrote to Officer Couch de- visible. Dr. Nelson says more sessions The program, as Dr. Berns de- scribing how she had changed her life. are needed, especially for the black scribes it, would rely on a network of She was living in a domestic violence tattoo on her back.