Monday, December 9, 2019

Evan Smith Named Captain of Yale Men's Hockey Team

Evan Smith
Photo from: yalebulldogs.com

The recipient of a master's degree in economic history from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Warren Lammert has served as the CEO and chief investment officer at Granite Point Capital since 2004. Prior to earning his master's degree, Warren Lammert completed his bachelor's degree at Yale University, where he was a member of the school's junior varsity ice hockey team.

Last April, the Yale University men's hockey team named Evan Smith as its captain for the 2019-20 season. A 6-foot, 190-pound native of Ontario, Canada, Smith is embarking on his senior season at Yale, where he recorded a combined 42 points through 96 games in his first three seasons with the team. He finished fifth on the team in scoring last year with 15 points. The year prior, he scored 4 of his 10 goals in a single game against Princeton, becoming the first Yale player to achieve that distinction since Brian O'Neill in 2012.

Smith, who has captained multiple teams in the past, won two New England Championships at Salisbury School and reached the USHL Clark Cup finals with the Dubuque Fighting Saints before enrolling at Yale. He is joined at Yale by his identical twin brother Mitchell Smith, who has accumulated 24 points throughout 90 career games.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The NHL's Three Most Recent Hart Trophy Winners

Man holding a hockey stick
Man holding a hockey stick
Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash

Warren Lammert is a Boston, Massachusetts-based financial executive who founded Granite Point Capital in 2004 and currently serves as its CEO and chief investment officer. Outside of his endeavors in the financial sphere, Mr. Lammert is the co-founder of the community website Epilepsy.com and the Epilepsy Therapy Project, both of which operate under the umbrella of the Epilepsy Foundation, of which he is a former chairman. In his free time, Warren Lammert enjoys playing and watching hockey.

The top individual prize in the National Hockey League (NHL), awarded to its most valuable player, is the Hart Memorial Trophy. Wayne Gretzky has won the award a league-best nine times, while Gordie Howe and Eddie Shore rank second and third with six and four trophies, respectively. Below are the three most recent recipients of the award:

1. Nikita Kucherov (2019) - A three-time NHL All-Star, Kucherov won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2019 after finishing the season with 41 goals and 87 assists for a league-best 128 points. He also won the Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.

2. Taylor Hall (2018) - Hall won the Hart Memorial Trophy in his second season with the New Jersey Devils following a six-year stint with the Edmonton Oilers. He finished the 2017-18 season with 39 goals and 54 assists for 93 points in 76 games.

3. Connor McDavid (2017) - At just 20 years old, McDavid won the Hart Memorial Trophy after registering 100 points in 82 games. He also won his first of back-to-back Art Ross Trophies.

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Seattle Children’s Hospital Targets Protein Involved in Epilepsy

Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash
An experienced finance executive, Warren Lammert is the CEO of Granite Point Capital in Boston, a hedge fund which manages more than $250 million in assets. His daughter was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome as a baby, which inspired him to cofound Epilepsy.com and the Epilepsy Therapy Project in the early 2000s. The Epilepsy Therapy Project subsequently merged with the Epilepsy Foundation, of which Warren Lammert is a former chairman.

In a new development in epilepsy treatment, a team based at Seattle Children’s Hospital announced the potentially life-changing effects of their experimental work targeting mTOR, a protein pathway that becomes overactive in people with the condition.

The researchers focused on altering the protein's behavior in the bodies of young people diagnosed with refractory, or treatment-resistant, epilepsy. Early results reported in 2019 showed that patients who received an initial form of this treatment displayed a noticeable improvement in symptoms.

Those who participated in a phase 1 trial received three weekly infusions of Nab-rapamycin (ABI-009), which physicians believed would block the mTOR pathway and lead to a decrease in symptoms. Nab-rapamycin is a drug developed by Aadi Bioscience.

Monday, September 30, 2019

The Purple Camp Makes Summer Fun for Kids Living with Epilepsy

Human nerves
Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
Granite Point Capital founder and CEO Warren Lammert is a strong supporter of organizations that assist people with epilepsy. The parent of a young woman who was diagnosed with a rare form of the condition as an infant, he has established nonprofits and research groups that investigate the causes of epilepsy and pioneer innovative treatments. These include the Epilepsy Therapy Project and Epilepsy.com, both which have since been folded into the Epilepsy Foundation, of which Warren Lammert is an immediate past chairman.

The Epilepsy Foundation’s numerous chapters educate, raise funds, and advocate at the local level, as well as operate programs and activities that cater to the particular needs of children with epilepsy and their families. The Epilepsy Foundation New England’s initiatives include The Purple Camp.

At the week-long sleepaway camp, children with epilepsy can enjoy their summers simply being kids. It provides a nurturing environment, designed with consideration for the health and safety needs of young people with epilepsy, where campers can go kayaking or boating, practice archery skills, scale climbing towers, and express their creativity through arts and theater projects.

The network of local camps that belong to The Purple Camp project also employ a staff of nurses and an on-call neurologist to ensure that campers have access to needed medical support throughout their stay.

Monday, July 29, 2019

November Marks National Epilepsy Awareness Month

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Sleeping Recommendations for People with Epilepsy


Financial services professional Warren Lammert serves as the CEO and chief investment officer of Boston-based Granite Point Capital, which he founded in 2004. Additionally, Warren Lammert is a dedicated philanthropist who serves on the boards of a variety of companies and nonprofit organizations that aim to advance epilepsy research.

Crucial to improving overall health and wellness among all people, sleep is particularly important for those living with epilepsy. Seizures are sensitive to sleep patterns, and a lack of good, regular sleep can trigger an increase in the frequency, intensity, and length of seizures. Some forms of epilepsy, such as autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy and benign rolandic epilepsy, are especially tied to sleeping patterns, as they generally involve seizures that occur at night. These types of epilepsy, in particular, can make it even harder to get a good night’s sleep and feel well-rested in the morning, which can result in worse seizures.

The Epilepsy Foundation recommends not only maintaining a realistic bedtime schedule, but also turning off all electronic devices at least an hour before going to sleep. Doing so ensures the proper production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone that is also produced by exposure to sunlight. Other things to consider to ensure that you receive the proper amount of sleep at night include exercising regularly, taking a warm shower before bed, and limiting caffeine and alcohol consumption at night.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Amid Uncertain World Economic Climate, China Continues to Show Growth


Warren Lammert graduated with distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science with an MS in economic history. He has since garnered substantial experience as a financial analyst and portfolio manager that has informed not only his leadership of Granite Point Capital as its CEO and chief investment officer, but also his insights into world economic patterns over time. Moreover, Warren Lammert speaks Chinese and maintains a particular interest in the economic history of China.

In January 2019, the International Monetary Fund held to its October 2018 projections for the continuing steady economic growth of China for 2019, even as it adjusted its overall forecast for global growth downward.

The IMF forecasts that China will grow its economy by more than 6 percent in 2019. Anticipated sustained consumer demand on the domestic side, as well as Chinese government policies designed to spur such demand, are leading factors supporting that conclusion.

Even so, such an optimistic projection comes after recent slower-than-usual performance. China’s overall industrial and export activity has moderated. This comes at a time of growing trade-related tensions, with the international trade pieces of the puzzle still unclear.

The CNBC news network reported in January 2019 that China’s economy grew by only 6.6 percent over the previous year, the slowest such pace on record for almost three decades, a finding anticipated by a range of economists.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Epilepsy Research Advocate Warren Lammert

Granite Point Capital founder, CEO, and chief investment officer Warren Lammert co-founded the community website Epilepsy.com and the nonprofit Epilepsy Therapy Project in the early 2000s after discovering that his daughter was living with a rare epileptic disorder known as Dravet syndrome. While the Epilepsy Therapy Project merged with the Epilepsy Foundation in 2013, Warren Lammert continues to pursue a cure for rare epileptic disorders through his entrepreneurial endeavors and involvement in the biomedical research sector.

In this regard, Warren Lammert serves as the chairman of the board of directors of Tevard Biosciences, a gene-therapy firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that he co-founded in 2017. He further engages in epilepsy research in his capacity as the chairman of the board of Colorado-based Cerebral Therapeutics, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on neurologically based illnesses. Mr. Lammert also serves on the board of directors of Engage Therapeutics, which developed Staccato Alprazolam, a handheld drug device that is being tested for use as a method of treating individual epileptic seizures as they occur.

Warren Lammert has been quoted on epilepsy research-related subjects on CBS Denver and MSNBC, as well as in The New York Times. Due to his longtime dedication to the cause, he was honored in 2007 by the NYU group Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures (FACES). Mr. Lammert’s work also earned him recognition as an honoree at the Epilepsy Foundation 2013 World Changers: Art of Innovation Gala and as a recipient of the Epilepsy New England Lifetime Achievement Award.