Roger Engemann Becomes President of HMRI Board of Directors

Roger Engemann is the new president of HMRI's board of directors, succeeding William G. King III of San Marino.  Other officers elected at the January 30, 2002, meeting were Michael C. Doyle vice-president, John W. Russell secretary, and Harold J. Meyerman treasurer.  Engemann has served on the HMRI board since 1988 and has been vice president, secretary and chairman of the Executive Committee.

Neural Engineers - HMRI Leads in Microelectrode Technology

HMRI's Neural Engineering Laboratory has made a substantial contribution in the fields of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, hearing loss, spinal cord injury, and blindness. Under the leadership of Drs. William Agnew and Doug McCreery, they are ready for more challenges.

"Glorious, Glorious" Altadena Home Tour

The 51st annual Altadena Guild Home Tour to benefit HMRI will take place Sunday, May 5, 2002, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.   Four magnificent homes will carry out the theme - "Glorious, Glorious Altadena" - and will provide a glimpse into Altadena's past with current renovations to accommodate today's lifestyle.  Homes on tour include a California Craftsman built by George Webster in 1909 which resembles the historic Gamble House in Pasadena; a 1912 Colonial Revival designed by Joseph Blick which sits on nearly one-and-a-half acres and is a replica of the first owner's original home in Boston; a completely restored 1927 Craftsman with guest house and a professionally landscaped yard; and a 1929 classic Mediterranean featuring a professional kitchen and an extensive area of rose bushes, fruit trees and mature oaks.

Donors Help Celebrate Opening of New Facilities in Molecular Neurology Laboratory

On November 15, 2001, HMRI scientists and clinical research participants in the Molecular Neurology Program celebrated the opening of reception and recovery areas in the facility at 99 N. El Molino Avenue.  The new construction was made possible by the generosity of HMRI donors who were also there to hear an update on the laboratory's important studies on brain disease.

Dr. Albert Fonteh joins Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Biochemist Studies Brain Lipids

Alfred N. Fonteh, Ph.D., has joined HMRI's Molecular Neurology Program.  Fonteh, from Camaroon, Africa, earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London, completed his postdoctoral studies at the Johns Hopkins University Asthma and Allergy Center, and spent ten years at Wake Forest University School of Medicine as Instructor and Assistant Professor of Medicine.  For more than 15 years he has done research on drug interactions with membrane lipids, receptors and enzymes.  His studies were funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scientists and Students Share Knowledge and Experience

The summer of 2001 found 16 top science students from southern California helping HMRI's  scientists with their work, learning sophisticated research techniques, and taking part in seminars with their mentors and peers.  Headed by Michael G. Harrington, M.D., director of the Molecular Neurology Laboratory, the program is supported in part by the Mitchell B. Howe and Lucile H. Howe Foundation, the Altadena Guild and Caltech's Summer Undergraduate Research Fund.  "HMRI has been welcoming students into our labs for 46 years," said Dr. Harrington.  "Each year the students seem brighter and better equipped to handle medical research, and this year is no exception."

HMRI Employees are Recognized for Service Totaling 150 Years, Congratulations on Job Well Done

Scientists and staff members of HMRI celebrated service anniversaries in 2001 at a luncheon on November 20, 2001.

2001 Honorees
40 Years: Robert Olson, Manager, Technical Services; William Opel, Ph.D., Executive Director
35 Years: Leo Bullara, Electrode Engineer, Neural Engineering
15 Years: Edna Smith, Animal Resources Manager
10 Years: Cheryl Long, Secretary, Neural Engineering
5 Years: Xindong Liu, Ph.D., Research Associate, Neural Engineering; Al Lossinsky, Ph.D., Neuropathologist, Neural Engineering

HMRI Salutes Donors and Patients in Prostate Drug Trials

Like all institutions having close ties between laboratory research and clinical application, HMRI depends on clinical trials and on those who voluntarily participate in them to test potential new therapies, and to enable basic research on certain diseases.

At the November 8 meeting of HMRI's Medical Research Council, Lawrence W. Jones, M. D., director of prostate research, presented an update on ongoing clinical trials of a prostate cancer drug and discussed the San Gabriel Valley Community Prostate Network (CPN).  Dr. Jones organized the CPN as a mechanism to link men who have prostate cancer with sources of information about clinical trials and other research in their area.  He said that fewer than five percent of cancer patients in this country ever take an active part in a clinical trial and emphasized the need for local volunteers who meet the research criteria, in order to complete all phases of clinical trials and satisfy FDA requirements.  Each year nearly 200,000 American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 40,000 die of the disease.

Altadena Guild Members Learn ABCs of AEDs

President Sis Manning welcomed HMRI Executive Director William Opel, Ph.D., who expressed appreciation to the members for their 50 years of support through the annual home tour, for maintaining the HMRI libraries, sponsoring summer students in the laboratories, volunteering as hostesses for participants in the Molecular Neurology Laboratory research studies and, most recently, presenting the ninth annual Lynn Smith Memorial Golf Tournament.

Dr. Opel then introduced Paul E. Johnson, M.D., a Pasadena pediatric cardiologist and former research associate in Dr. Richard Bing's HMRI laboratory.  Dr. Johnson, with Development Director Brian Flynn, gave a presentation on automated external defibrillators (AED), emphasizing that the timely use of these portable, user-friendly devices greatly increases chances of survival in the event of sudden cardiac arrest.  Guild members Anne MacPherson and Carla Partma, who had previously attended an HMRI-Red Cross training class, demonstrated how easy it is to use the AED.

Ninth Annual Lynn Smith Memorial Golf Tournament

The Lynn Smith Memorial Golf Tournament took place on October 22, 2001 and raised $38,500 for the Huntington Medical Research Institutes.

In Memoriam

Contributions in memory of the following individuals were received from August 2001-February 2002