Rivers are Life Premieres ‘The Captain & the Super Clams’
MIDLAND, Mich., June 5, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Today, Rivers are Life proudly premieres its newest film "The Captain & The Super Clams'' which takes viewers to the east coast of Florida to Indian River Lagoon. This journey brings us alongside River Heroes Dr. Todd Osbourne and fishing legend Captain Blair Wiggins, as they work to restore the clam population that was decimated by unregulated commercial clamming in the 1990s.
From being on the water each day, Captain Blair noticed a dramatic decrease in the local clam population. Clams work as natural filtration systems and the water quality began to deteriorate in their absence, creating mass algae blooms that blocked sunlight from reaching the seagrass, which is a vital part of the Indian River Lagoon’s ecosystem. Captain Blair knew that action needed to be taken to bring the clams back, so in 2019, he teamed up with Dr. Todd Osbourne and the Indian River Clam Restoration Project.
After days of searching for surviving clams, the team was only able to find 39 that survived in an area that once hosted over 9 billion clams. These 39 “super clams” were then transported to the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory where the team carefully bred them, producing millions of clams that were ready to be returned to the lagoon. The Indian River Clam Restoration Project team continues to carefully monitor the quality of the ecosystem by collecting data and conducting scientific water tests regularly. The team is also taking an innovative approach to building new breeding areas within the lagoon, such as using a drone to spread new clams across large areas which used to be done by hand.
"As an avid outdoor enthusiast, what was happening here in the lagoon was easily noticeable and we knew that changes needed to be made," said Dr. Todd Osbourne. "Teaming up with Blair and the Indian River Clam Restoration Project has allowed us to take a scientific approach while incorporating local knowledge and grassroots efforts from folks who love living and fishing here."
"The Captain & The Super Clams" showcases the positive impact that a local community can have on their natural surroundings. By monitoring and noticing the negative changes in the lagoon over time, the Indian River Lagoon community was able to pivot and provide resources that will help restore their local waterway, bringing a thriving clam population back to naturally filter the water.
"The Captain & The Super Clams" premieres June 5, 2024
Watch "The Captain & The Super Clams" here.
Contact Information:Katie Horning
Head of Brand, Rivers are Life Brand Division, BeAlive Inc.
khorning@gobealive.com
989-491-1019
Original Source: Rivers are Life Premieres 'The Captain & the Super Clams'
Education
Gratz College Launches America’s First Master’s Degree in Antisemitism Studies
PHILADELPHIA, February 22, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Gratz College is launching the first Master of Arts degree program in Antisemitism Studies in the United States in Fall 2024. This ground-breaking program will help fill the vacuum of knowledge about antisemitism across Jewish, non-Jewish, and governmental organizations responsible for generating policy to combat prejudice at a time of unprecedented Jew hatred.
It will:
• Provide an academic home for those seeking to develop both a deep theoretical and practical understanding of antisemitism;
• Help generate new and impactful research on the factors that contribute to growing antisemitism and test interventions that can successfully combat it; and
• Arm educators and practitioners with the most effective antisemitism pedagogy and programming.
Through degree concentrations in teaching, advocacy and research, graduates of this program will be uniquely qualified for prominent careers in education, think tanks, government relations, public policy, and community organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish).
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is eager to see this program take shape:
“We’re seeing a dangerous rise in antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry across our country – and it’s more important than ever that Pennsylvanians be equipped with a thorough knowledge of our shared history and the skills to discern fact from fiction. Gratz College is already renowned for its Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs, and I am encouraged the College is expanding upon that work with a new Master’s degree in Antisemitism Studies. I wish the faculty, staff, and especially the inaugural class of Antisemitism Studies students, great success in their work.”
The program is directed by Dr. Ayal Feinberg, antisemitism studies expert and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College. The program boasts a distinguished interdisciplinary faculty from academia and leading public advocacy organizations. Despite its infancy, the degree has been endorsed by nearly one hundred scholars and public policy experts from around the world. Professor of Political Science at Kalamazoo College R. Amy Elman asserts, “With an emphasis on operationalizing knowledge, informed teaching and ethical advocacy, Gratz’s innovative graduate program fulfills a deep need in countering antisemitism.”
Gratz’s Antisemitism Studies program is also establishing ground-breaking partnerships with the world’s most prominent Jewish organizations and programs to combat antisemitism in the classroom, on campus, and in professional workspaces. In the first such partnership, Gratz and The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History have joined forces to launch the National Education Fellowship on Antisemitism. The aim of this fellowship is to generate and assess paradigm-shifting middle and high school curriculum to reduce Jew-hatred and prejudice more broadly.
As an early adopter of online education, a 128-year history of Jewish learning, and home to the world’s largest graduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Gratz is uniquely qualified to take on this necessary and overdue program.
On March 4, 2024, the master’s degree program will kick-off with a series of public lectures, including by scholars serving as affiliate faculty for the program. On April 2, 2024, Dr. Avinoam Patt, inaugural director of NYU’s Center for Study of Antisemitism and the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, will deliver a keynote lecture, titled, "Awake My People": Jewish Responses to Antisemitism in the Modern Period.” Additional talks will take place before the program officially begins in August.
Prospective students eager to start may apply now and take courses as early as March 2024 with electives in Antisemitism Studies already developed as a preview to the program.
Gratz College is grateful to the Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation for generously supporting the launch of the Antisemitism Studies program. Jay Myers, Board Chair, shared: “The Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation, a family foundation guided by Jewish American values, sees great worth in educating future generations about the roots of Antisemitism, and by doing so, working to combat it. This degree program will create scholars who can devote their talent to meet this challenge. Our Foundation is proud to support this work and by so doing, meet our obligation to help repair the world.”
Contact: lcohen@gratz.edu for more information.
Contact Information:Lori Cohen
Director of Marketing and Design
lcohen@gratz.edu
215-635-7300 x182
Original Source: Gratz College Launches America's First Master's Degree in Antisemitism Studies
Latest Fit News
Successful 2022 Milestones Support Value of Gb Sciences’ AI-Enabled Drug Discovery Platform
LAS VEGAS, March 7, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Gb Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB:GBLX), a leading cannabis- and plant-inspired biopharmaceutical research and development company, issued a letter to shareholders today from President, Chief Science Officer, and Director Dr. Andrea Small-Howard and Chairman and CEO John Poss summarizing key developments from 2022 and providing strategic plans for 2023. Full text of the shareholder letter follows.
A MESSAGE FROM BOTH THE PRESIDENT AND THE CHAIRMAN OF GB SCIENCES, INC.
To Our Shareholders:
In 2022, Gb Sciences achieved significant milestones advancing our plant-inspired drug development pipeline for the treatment of a broad spectrum of critical and prevalent diseases, which supports the value of PhAROS™, our proprietary AI-enabled Drug Discovery Platform. Gb Sciences is entering 2023 with very good reason for excitement and optimism for our shareholders and for the potential to develop first-in-class drugs to treat serious disorders such as: Parkinson's Disease, Advanced Heart Disease, Chronic Pain, Inflammation, Anxiety and Depression. In addition, our intellectual property portfolio currently contains six issued U.S. and four issued foreign patents, as well as 15 U.S. and 49 foreign patent-pending applications that cover our novel AI-enabled drug discovery platform and proprietary therapies for more than 65 different disorders.
Recognizing the value of our PhAROS™ Drug Discovery Platform for expediting our novel plant-inspired drug pipeline, we also realize that PhAROS™ has the potential to be of high value to other drug development biotech and pharmaceutical companies. With its data analytics and machine learning capabilities providing a breakthrough in drug discovery, our PhAROS™ Drug Discovery Platform greatly reduces the time and money required to discover and bring novel formulations to market. Therefore, in addition to developing our own biopharma pipeline, we plan to monetize PhAROS™ by pursuing potential licensing and/or partnerships with other drug developers that offer the potential to generate substantial, recurring, high-margin revenues to Gb Sciences.
While other drug developers pursue conventional drug pathways, Gb Sciences is developing novel Minimal Essential Mixtures derived from the active ingredients found within traditional plant-based medicines that are still commonly used across the world. Traditional medicines that are mostly plant based have been used for centuries and are composed of all the ingredients for specific plants which can number in the hundreds or even thousands. Gb Sciences uses our novel PhAROS™ Drug Discovery Platform to determine which three ingredients of the hundreds of ingredients found in each plant are the most effective and with the fewest adverse side effects.
In 2022, Gb Sciences has successfully prepared our lead program in Parkinson's disease for a first-in-human trial through the following essential steps: a) creating clinical prototypes by combining our proprietary Parkinson's formulas with a convenient oral delivery system; b) performing a dose response study in rodents to establish the correct range of active ingredients for our first-in-human trial; c) performing necessary ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicology) tests on the clinical prototypes; and d) selecting a Contract Research Organization (CRO) to prepare an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. FDA to begin our first-in-human trial.
Working with Catalent Pharma in 2022, Gb Sciences has successfully prepared the clinical prototypes of our proprietary cannabinoid-based formulations for Parkinson's disease in Catalent Pharma's proprietary Zydis® delivery system. Catalent Pharma's Zydis® delivery system is an Orally Disintegrating Tablet format that should be ideal for delivering our cannabinoid-ratio controlled formulations to Parkinson's patients. More than 50% of Parkinson's patients have trouble swallowing, but the Zydis® format delivers the active ingredients into the mouth by dispersion without needing water or the ability to swallow.
In February of 2023, the University of Lethbridge has successfully completed our dose response study in rodents, which helps us to establish the correct dosing of our cannabinoid-containing Parkinson's formulations in our first-in-human trial. The results of this important study will be delivered to Gb Sciences from the University of Lethbridge within the next six weeks.
Prior to filing our IND application for our first-in-human trial on our Parkinson's formulations, Gb Sciences must conduct ADMET testing on the clinical prototypes being formulated for us by Catalent Pharma. Gb Sciences has selected Labcorp Drug Development, formerly Covance, to perform our IND-enabling studies due to their expertise and testing locations in the United Kingdom near to where the ODT tablets are being manufactured by Catalent Pharma.
In the IND application for our Parkinson's disease therapeutics, the ADMET testing data from Labcorp will be combined with the Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) data prepared by Catalent Pharma and our proof-of-concept data from the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. In the near future, we expect to announce the selection of the Contract Research Organization that will write the IND application and run the first-in-human trials for our novel treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Gb Sciences has four other promising late-preclinical stage programs, including our COVID-related cytokine release syndrome (COVID-CRS) formulations and our time-released oral nanoparticle formulations for chronic pain. We have achieved preclinical proof-of-concept for our COVID-CRS formulas in studies performed by Michigan State University. Our chronic pain formulations are being validated in animal trials at the National Research Council of Canada. Recently, we have announced that our kava-inspired formulas for anxiety have achieved animal proof-of-concept. Gb Sciences is now preparing its non-psychedelic, kava-based anxiety formulations to treat the growing global need for anxiety and depression relief.
In closing, we would like to thank those shareholders who have supported our company this year and in past years. Our goal remains to produce maximum shareholder value while also providing innovative new therapeutic options for patients that need them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard
President, CSO & Director
Gb Sciences, Inc.
John Poss
Chairman & CEO
Gb Sciences, Inc.
To learn more about Gb Sciences, visit www.gbsciences.com.
About Gb Sciences and GbS Global Biopharma
Gb Sciences, Inc. is a plant-inspired, biopharmaceutical research and development company creating patented, disease-targeted formulations of cannabis- and other plant-inspired therapeutic mixtures for the prescription drug market through its Canadian subsidiary GbS Global Biopharma, Inc. The "plant-inspired" active ingredients in its therapeutic mixtures are synthetic homologues identical to the original plant compounds but produced under current Good Manufacturing Practices. Gb Sciences' intellectual property portfolio contains six issued U.S. and four issued foreign patents, as well as 15 U.S. and 49 foreign patent-pending applications. In its drug development pipeline, Gb Sciences has five preclinical phase product development programs. Gb Sciences' lead program for Parkinson's disease is being prepared for a first-in-human clinical trial. Gb Sciences' formulations for chronic pain, anxiety and depression are currently in preclinical animal studies with researchers at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The company also received positive preclinical proof-of-concept data supporting its complex mixtures for the treatment of Cytokine Release Syndrome, and its lead candidates will be optimized based on late-stage preclinical studies at Michigan State University. Gb Sciences' productive research and development network includes distinguished universities, hospitals, and Contract Research Organizations. To learn more, visit www.gbsciences.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain statements relating to future results or events, which are forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "may," "could," "should," "anticipates," "likely," "believes" and words of similar import may identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the Company's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. It is possible that the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further, information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's business and financial and other results, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware.
Contact Information:Alexis Quintal
grow@rosarium.work
Original Source: Successful 2022 Milestones Support Value of Gb Sciences' AI-Enabled Drug Discovery Platform
