ACE tRNA Treatments & Nonsense Mutations

In addition to his roles as founder, chief investment officer, and portfolio manager at Granite Point Capital and chairman of Cerebral Therapeutics, Warren B. Lammert previously served on the board of directors with Landover, Maryland’s Epilepsy Foundation. He is a current member of the board of directors with FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures at NYU). Since founding Epilepsy.com in 2001, Warren Lammert has remained abreast of the latest medical developments, including research into inherited diseases.

An abstract from the 2020 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting has been published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), the official ARVO journal. Researchers including Pawan Shahi and Bikash R. Pattnaik focused their work on the 10 to 15 percent of inherited diseases contracted as a result of nonsense mutations.

Nonsense mutations result in an abridged protein that can cause a number of severe pathological outcomes. For example, a nonsense mutation of gene KCNJ13, or the Kir7.1 protein, has been linked to the development of autosomal recessive Leber congenital amaurosis.

Despite many limitations, the response to nonsense mutations have largely involved genome editing, gene augmentation, and a few read-through drug options. The study published in IOVS, however, found that a complex ACE-tRNA treatment allowed for the development of a full-size Kir7.1 protein. Considering the fact that ACE-tRNA treatments must be code specific, scientists can design specific treatments for nonsense mutations impacting other proteins.

The complete abstract can be read online at iovs.arvojournals.org.

Epilepsy Statistics in the US

Warren B. Lammert is the founder, chief investment officer, and portfolio manager of Granite Point Capital in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as the chairman of Aurora, Colorado’s Cerebral Therapeutics. Warren Lammert also draws on his extensive knowledge of epilepsy from a variety of roles such as a former member of the board of directors with the Epilepsy Foundation, co-founder of Epilepsy.com and more recently, as member of the board of directors with FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures at NYU).

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that, without medical intervention, can lead to recurrent seizures that impact various parts of the brain. Epilepsy is a relatively common condition in the United States.

Research indicates that an estimated 1.2 percent of Americans live with an active epileptic disorder. This translates to 3.4 million individuals throughout the country, in addition to more than 65 million people around the world living with the condition. Roughly one in 26 people will experience epilepsy at some point in their lives, and the first seizure can come at any time. Medical professionals have diagnosed infants under the age of 2 with epilepsy, while others can live over 65 years before their first seizure.

In America, approximately 470,000 of the more than 3 million epilepsy cases involve children. Between 30 and 40 percent of children living with epilepsy have the disease but do not experience seizures. One in five children live with an intellectual disability, while as many as 50 percent have a specific learning disability. Only a small number of American children with epilepsy experience severe neurological conditions like cerebral palsy.

Epilepsy and Epileptic Seizures

Warren B. Lammert has served as portfolio manager and chief investment officer of Granite Point Capital since founding the Boston, Massachusetts, company in 2004. Warren Lammert also serves as a board member with FACES (Finding a Cure to Epilepsy and Seizures at NYU). He has led and been involved with organizations dealing with epilepsy since founding Epilepsy.com in 2001.

Epilepsy is a long-term, fairly common brain condition that manifests as sudden surges of electricity in the brain. These electrical bursts cause people to experience seizures. Different types of epilepsy lead to different types of seizures, which can impact the brain in various ways.

For example, generalized epilepsy results in generalized seizures. Not all generalized seizures are motor (that is, involving physical movements). That said, sudden muscle twitches, spasms, and other erratic movements can accompany generalized seizures. Non-motor generalized seizures, on the other hand, feature little movement beyond minor twitches and fluttering eyelids.

By comparison, people living with focal epilepsy experience focal seizures, which begin as a slightly nauseous feeling in the stomach. As symptoms progress, they can take the form of motor and non-motor seizures, though the seizures differ from those observed in people living with generalized epilepsy. Focal motor seizures sometimes consist of repeated movements, such as chewing or clapping, while symptoms of focal non-motor seizures range from waves of heat and cold throughout the body to a sudden change in emotions and thoughts.

Other individuals may live with combined generalized and focal epilepsy, or even unknown forms of epilepsy. Unsurprisingly, the latter can result in symptoms known as unknown seizures.

AES Prepares for 2022 Annual Meeting

Warren B. Lammert established Granite Point Capital in 2004 and continues to drive operations as the chief investment officer and portfolio manager. Furthermore, Warren Lammert is the co-founder of Epilepsy.com, a former member of the Epilepsy Foundation board of directors, and a current board member of FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures at NYU). He also engages with epilepsy organizations such as the American Epilepsy Society. The American Epilepsy Society (AES) will host the AES 2022 Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, between December 2 and 6. The meeting will serve as a gathering for professionals from a diverse range of industries and jobs, including health care professionals, scientists, business leaders, and advocates for epilepsy awareness and research. The 2022 meeting will focus on discussions about emerging science and high-quality medical education opportunities. Furthermore, close to 130 vendors will present the latest in diagnostic tools and treatment options. Those interested in attending the meeting can visit aesnet.org to learn about registration. The AES website also contains a catalog of abstracts from all past meetings, as well as sample lectures attendees can use to give themselves an idea of the quality and manner of information provided.

Genetic Mutation and Diseases

The founder, CIO, and CEO of Granite Point Capital, Warren Lammert, is a financial professional and portfolio manager who launched his financial career in 1984 as a research associate with Fred Alger Management in New York City. Leveraging his entrepreneurial experience, Warren B Lammert co-founded Tevard Biosciences, a company that studies gene therapies for Dravet syndrome and other rare genetic diseases.

While not all gene mutations result in disease, some debilitating diseases have been linked to a genetic mutation. A mutation is an abnormal alteration in the genetic makeup of an organism. Genes are expressed in cells when the specific arrangement of nucleotide bases (called codons) results in a definite sequence of amino acids, which results in a secondary protein structure.

Proteins carry out the function of the gene. In the case of mutation, the genetic sequence has changed, and the resulting protein may be different from what's supposed to be expressed. This change can be inconsequential, positive, or negative. If the change is negative, a genetic disease arises.

There are multiple debilitating diseases with subtypes that occur due to genetic mutations. Typical examples are cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Cancers and certain metabolic disorders are also consequences of genetic mutations.

The Limitation of Medications for DS

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A longtime financial executive in Boston, Massachusetts, drawing on a career that has spanned nearly four decades, Warren Lammert serves as the chief investment officer at Granite Point Capital. In addition to these endeavors, Warren B Lammert is a co-founder and chairman of Tevard Biosciences, a business exploring gene treatments for rare medical conditions such as Dravet syndrome.

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a rare disease called polymorphic epilepsy of infancy or severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy and is characterized by frequent episodes of prolonged seizures. This is a more aggressive form of epilepsy as other symptoms of DS include cognitive impairment, developmental delay, sleep disturbances, poor coordination (ataxia), and abnormally low muscle tone.

For the most part, medications designed to treat epilepsy cannot help manage DS. Some patients' seizures hardly respond to such medications. Even if the seizure is suppressed with medication, the associated neurological detriment resulting in cognitive impairments cannot be treated with such drugs.

Over the years, researchers have developed medications for these rare forms of severe seizures. These drugs are designed to prevent some of the symptoms, and they have to be taken regularly. Most DS patients take medicines more than four times daily.

Since medications prove to be partially reliable, finding a cure that targets the underlying mechanisms of the disease is necessary to combat DS. Scientists are turning to more advanced and rigorous forms of potential therapy, with gene therapy taking the spotlight.

Women in the Workforce in India

A financial executive based in Boston, Warren Lammert leads Granite Point Capital. Previously, Warren Lammert received a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University.

Yale University economists Charity Troyer Moore and Rohini Pande co-authored a June 2021 study which showed that women in India who were given control over their wages were more likely to enter the workforce. The study focused on women whose wages were directly deposited into their banking accounts. Moreover, the women received training in how to use bank kiosks. The researchers, who surveyed 4,300 women, found that women who felt financially empowered were more likely to earn more in the private sector.

Women who had more access to banking resources were also more likely to have positive views about women working outside of the home. In addition, the study demonstrated that boosting women’s control over their finances increased their autonomy.