TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The increasing frequency of natural catastrophes and their uneven impact on vulnerable populations calls for the development of disaster Resiliency Hubs. Now, through a grant from the National Science Foundation, a multidisciplinary team of Florida State University researchers is looking to utilize a commonly underrecognized space in disaster response: public libraries. 
 
Focusing on Calhoun County, Florida, a region that remains devastated by 2018’s Hurricane Michael, the researchers will collaborate with public librarians and community members to establish a transferable design and assessment process that will enable rural public libraries to be Resiliency Hubs. 
 
Resiliency Hubs are community-serving facilities tailored to support residents, coordinate communication, distribute resources and provide technical assistance while enhancing the quality of life. They offer an opportunity to effectively work at the nexus of community resilience, emergency management, climate change mitigation and social equity while also providing opportunities for communities to become more self-determining, socially connected, and successful before, during and after disruptions.
 
Marcia A. Mardis, professor and associate dean for research in the College of Communication and Information, will lead the project as principal investigator. The interdisciplinary project also includes researchers from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and colleges of Medicine, Social Sciences and Public Policy, and Social Work.
 
“We’re bringing together multiple disciplines and engaging multiple stakeholders, including citizens, to forge deep collaborative relationships that help us and our community partners better understand the key elements of disaster resilience,” Mardis said. “This project might not be long in duration, but it is sizable in opportunity and reach.”
 
The researchers will inclusively design tailored rural Resiliency Hubs in all five districts of Calhoun County and identify opportunities to expand and strengthen community collaborations. 
 
“Our public librarians support Calhoun’s citizens in good times and bad,” said Rita Maupin, director of the Calhoun County Public Library System. “We are so pleased to continue our relationship with FSU so that our support best meets the community’s needs.”
 
The project is part of Stage 2 of the Civic Innovation Challenge, a multi-agency, federal government research and action competition that aims to fund ready-to-implement, research-based pilot projects that have the potential for scalable, sustainable and transferable impact on community-identified priorities.
 
“Rural Resiliency Hubs: An Integrated, Community-Centered Approach to Addressing the Resiliency Divide through Rural Public Libraries'' was one of 52 projects and the only one in Florida awarded planning grants in Stage 1 and is one of 17 projects selected for Stage 2. The FSU project was awarded $581,226 over 12 months in Stage 2. 
 
The findings from this project will help to improve understanding of emergency response operations and contribute to the development of new disaster-related policies and plans for public libraries throughout the United States. The Florida Institute of Government will collaborate with the research team and civic stakeholders to disseminate research findings and recommendations to all 67 Florida counties and other localities to address the resiliency divide rural citizens often experience during and in the aftermath of disasters. 
 
The FSU research team also includes Associate Professor Eren Erman Ozguven of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and director of Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center; Associate Professor Scott M. Pickett and Assistant Professor Jessica De Leon of the College of Medicine; Professor Mark Horner, Department of Geography chair in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy; Assistant Professor John Mathias, and Ellen Piekalkiewicz, director of the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families, and Children, both from the College of Social Work; and Senior Research Associate Faye R. Jones from the College of Communication and Information. 
 
Jeff Hendry of the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government at FSU is leading project evaluation. The researchers have also partnered with Cellint Traffic Solutions to provide locations and movements of people evacuating and sheltering in Calhoun County and surrounding counties during hurricanes.
 
To learn more about the project, visit nsf.gov. For more information about the NSF Civic Innovation Challenge, visit nsfcivicinnovation.org.

-- Kelsey Klopfenstein, University Communications

 

Company co-founder Michael Blaber developed technology that could lead to reversing vision loss for some

AN DIEGO, Calif. - Trefoil Therapeutics today announced that after review of the interim clinical data from the INTREPID and STORM studies, the Series A investors have funded the third tranche of its $28 million Series A financing to support the development of its engineered FGF-1, TTHX1114 products for the regenerative treatment of corneal diseases. This funding allows Trefoil to expand the STORM clinical program and initiate a clinical trial of the topical formulation.

Christy Shaffer, PhD, General Partner of Hatteras Venture Partners and Trefoil board member commented: “Trefoil has exceeded our expectations. They are defining a new category for the treatment of corneal endothelial dysfunction. With the clinical data the company has generated, Trefoil has the potential to transform how diseases like Fuchs dystrophy are treated. My co-investors and I are proud to have backed this highly focused management team that is advancing innovative science to the benefit of patients who currently have limited treatment options.” 

“The funding for this tranche reflects the significant clinical advances we have made with our intracameral product for Fuchs and other corneal endothelial dystrophies, as well as progress in our preclinical program for topical TTHX1114 for the treatment of corneal ulcers,” said David Eveleth, PhD, Trefoil’s, CEO. “Over the last 15 months, we completed the first-in-human, Phase 1/2, INTREPID, safety trial of TTHX1114. We are now nearing completion of the Phase 2 STORM trial to evaluate our product’s potential to enhance corneal recovery and improve visual acuity in Fuchs patients undergoing Descemet Stripping Only (DSO) procedures.”

TTHX1114 is a patented, engineered form of FGF-1 designed to leverage the protein’s natural activity to stimulate cell proliferation and migration as well as protect cells from injury and stress. Trefoil’s clinical program for TTHX1114 in Fuchs and other corneal endothelial dystrophies (CED) is aimed at regenerating corneal endothelial cells lost due to the disease and thereby improving vision. Fuchs Dystrophy is the leading cause of corneal transplantation in the U.S. Corneal transplant is currently the only treatment option for many people with CED. Although transplant surgery with human donor corneas may be effective in restoring vision, post-surgical recovery can be challenging, and most patients require long term immune suppression therapy to minimize the risk of graft rejection. TTHX1114 has also shown in animal models a reduction in the severity of both chemical and herpes-induced corneal damage. Trefoil’s clinical program for the topical formulation of TTHX114 will assess the decrease in corneal opacity associated with these conditions and corneal ulcers in general. 

About Trefoil Therapeutics 
Trefoil Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on leveraging its engineered FGF-1 protein technology platform to develop first-in-class pharmacologic treatments for serious corneal endothelial diseases and epithelial disorders. Trefoil’s lead product candidate is TTHX1114, an engineered form of naturally occurring FGF-1 designed to stimulate corneal endothelial cell proliferation and migration, thereby reversing vision loss caused by CED. The technology underlying Trefoil’s platform was developed by co-founder Michael Blaber, Ph.D., and is licensed from Florida State University. Learn more at www.trefoiltherapeutics.com.  

Safe Harbor Statement
The research discussed in this press release is preliminary and the outcome of such studies may not be predictive of the outcome of later clinical trials. Future clinical trial results may not demonstrate safety and efficacy sufficient to obtain regulatory approval related to the nonclinical research findings discussed in this press release.

 
Contact: Robert Gottlieb
RMG Associates, LLC
857-891-9091 (mobile)
Robertmg52@gmail.com
 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New research from the Florida State University College of Medicine found that infants with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate social-communication differences with their peers by nine months.
 
The research, which was published in Child Development, showed three unique patterns of social-communication development in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and points to a crucial window for intervention.
 
“If a parent or caregiver is aware of differences in social communication, they can learn how to use intervention strategies that create opportunities for social interaction and communication development early on,” said study co-author Amy Wetherby, the Laurel Schendel Professor of Communication Disorders at Florida State University and director of the Autism Institute in the College of Medicine. “This can provide parents or caregivers with support to enrich the language environment that may help shift developmental trajectories for infants with ASD.”
 
Researchers measured the social skills, speech skills and symbolic communication skills of infants at nine months and at 12 months. When the infants were 24 months old, researchers tested them for ASD.
 
The study showed that infants who would later be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder exhibited fewer social and early speech skills at nine months than their typically developing peers. When researchers measured again three months later, they found several patterns:
 
•    Infants with ASD scored consistently lower for things such as communicating with eye gaze, facial expression and sounds.
 
•    The symbolic use of objects — for example, being creative with toys — was similar in both groups at nine months. But by 12 months, the ASD infants showed a delay in development.
 
•    Infants with ASD used gestures and communicated less frequently overall compared to their peers at nine months of age. By 12 months, the gap between the two groups had increased.
 
By identifying specific skills that are different in infants with ASD, the researchers hope to provide effective targets for intervention.
 
“When infants are starting to learn and use symbolic communication, that’s when intervention that takes advantage of their existing communication skills can help them develop on trajectories that are more like those of their peers,” Wetherby said. “Giving parents the tools to intervene effectively can make a big difference.” 
 
Researchers from the University of South Carolina, Emory University School of Medicine, Marcus Autism Center, Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh were co-authors on this study.
 
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of South Carolina. Additional support was provided by the Marcus Foundation, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation and the Georgia Research Alliance.

Contact Bill Wellock at wwellock@fsu.edu