Here's a link to some interesting statistics on the SBIR site. The most interesting being the months between the different stages going from proposal, selection to the start of the awards.

 

http://www.sbir.gov/competitiveness

 

For the most part all of the agencies funding the projects through SBIR have roughly a year to year and half timetable from the proposal time to phase II awards being dispersed. Hopefully Gerecht has already gotten the ball rolling on the proposal step and some of those months have been trimmed off already.

 

 

I think she need s startup to get SBIR. the PI of the SBIR funding has to be employed 51% by the startup company, and cannot be JHU full time employee.She needs hire someone...It won't be a possible solution for her

 

As has been stated previously on this forum, Dr. Gerecht is trying to setup a startup company. If you read SBIR's FAQ it doesn't say that the PI can't be a full-time professor. Here's the direct answer from the site:

Can I apply for an SBIR if I am working full-time at a University or a large corporation?

Yes. However, the for-profit firm must be established to receive the award, and it must be the primary place of employment for the proposed projects principal investigator.

Now, as far as it being her primary place of employment they don't really specify how that is quantified but I'm guessing it's a pretty lax system since a lot of the startups SBIR has provided funding for have a full-time professor as their PI. The 51% only dictates that the company be majority owned by US citizens or controlled by another business concern that is itself 51% owned by US Citizens. I'm guessing that listing the startup as her "primary place of employment" would be more of a formality and keep it from appearing that funds might be going to the university instead of the startup.

Again, we know from contacting Sun that this is exactly what Gerecht is trying to do. And why wouldn't she set up her own startup? She owns the patent and stands to make a lot of money from commercialization of the hydrogel should it be proven to work for humans.

@chuckstonchew, I wholeheartedly agree that more needs to be done than just posting about it on here. I'm willing to help any way I can but until we talk to Dr. Harmon, or preferably Gerecht, it's hard to know how we could best help. Knowing a $ amount they need and what they see a group like ours involvement being would help us focus our efforts to be more effective.

It is frustrating but hopefully Harmon can tell you these specifics when you talk to him after Labor Day. When he does I'll be the first to help any way I can.

@seabs, but bringing it up on here won't be enough. We have to bring it up on a bigger scale. We have to bring it to the attention of the higher ups, the philanthropists, etc.

 

Thats correct it needs investment now and it needs a bigger scale. 8month plus for funding, is to long a wait imo.

 

 

Here's a link to some interesting statistics on the SBIR site. The most interesting being the months between the different stages going from proposal, selection to the start of the awards.

 

http://www.sbir.gov/competitiveness

 

For the most part all of the agencies funding the projects through SBIR have roughly a year to year and half timetable from the proposal time to phase II awards being dispersed. Hopefully Gerecht has already gotten the ball rolling on the proposal step and some of those months have been trimmed off already.

 

 

I think she need s startup to get SBIR. the PI of the SBIR funding has to be employed 51% by the startup company, and cannot be JHU full time employee.She needs hire someone...It won't be a possible solution for her

 

 

As has been stated previously on this forum, Dr. Gerecht is trying to setup a startup company. If you read SBIR's FAQ it doesn't say that the PI can't be a full-time professor. Here's the direct answer from the site:

 

 

Can I apply for an SBIR if I am working full-time at a University or a large corporation?

 

Yes. However, the for-profit firm must be established to receive the award, and it must be the primary place of employment for the proposed projects principal investigator.

 

Now, as far as it being her primary place of employment they don't really specify how that is quantified but I'm guessing it's a pretty lax system since a lot of the startups SBIR has provided funding for have a full-time professor as their PI. The 51% only dictates that the company be majority owned by US citizens or controlled by another business concern that is itself 51% owned by US Citizens. I'm guessing that listing the startup as her "primary place of employment" would be more of a formality and keep it from appearing that funds might be going to the university instead of the startup.

 

Again, we know from contacting Sun that this is exactly what Gerecht is trying to do. And why wouldn't she set up her own startup? She owns the patent and stands to make a lot of money from commercialization of the hydrogel should it be proven to work for humans.

 

@chuckstonchew, I wholeheartedly agree that more needs to be done than just posting about it on here. I'm willing to help any way I can but until we talk to Dr. Harmon, or preferably Gerecht, it's hard to know how we could best help. Knowing a $ amount they need and what they see a group like ours involvement being would help us focus our efforts to be more effective.

 

It is frustrating but hopefully Harmon can tell you these specifics when you talk to him after Labor Day. When he does I'll be the first to help any way I can.

 

"However, the for-profit firm must be established to receive the award, and it must be the primary place of employment for the proposed projects principal investigator" doesn't it mean she has to contribute more time to the startup (as her primary place of employment) to get the funding if she is the PI? I heard some PI contribute 51% to the company ,and 49% to the university...

@skinregenerator

We found out from Sun, another researcher on the hydrogel whose name appears first on the published paper, that Gerecht is trying to go through SBIR for funding so it makes logical sense that she is setting up a for-profit company in order to receive the award. And as I wrote before, she has a ton of monetary incentives to do just that.

As far as the delineation between hours spent at the university and as the PI for the startup, I have family that are professors and higher at university's and after asking them they said a full time course load for a professor is typically 4-5 courses per semester of about 3 hours each. So, that's 12-15 hours of teaching and in most cases the professor will have a TA to dramatically reduce the amount of time needed for grading papers, clerical work like copying information and scheduling meetings with students. So with that in mind they're looking at around 5-10 hours a week (and that's somewhat of an overestimation) spent attending faculty meetings, planning special events etc.

So yes, a full-time professor would have no problem devoting more time to the startup than they do the university. And again, I'm still dubious that this is something SBIR actively regulates. In all likelihood they just look at the course load for the professor in a given year and decide if it's possible for them to devote more time to the startup. And then after the award has been given they probably do very little in anything to follow-up. Nowhere on the SBIR site could I find the 51% must be devoted to the startup (that is the percentage that must be owned and controlled by a US citizen or other business interest that is also US based). The only thing they have about the time that must be devoted is to say that the startup must be the professor's primary place of employment. So maybe that means more than half the hours must be spent working at the startup or maybe it's more of a formality in order to distinguish the funds that go to the startup and not the university so there isn't as much room for a conflict of interest.

So golfpanther, I know you've mentioned pages like kickstarter on numerous occasions...

I've been looking into that and I think that could be a great idea. I say we make a kickstarter page. I'll speak with Harmon about it.

We're going to need a very good video. How capable of this would you be? Are you located anywhere near Baltimore? I'm half tempted to hire a professional for it.

From there, we'll spread the kickstarter page like wildfire - everyday. We'll get a facebook and twitter page with links to the kickstarter as well.

If we can get the attention of a couple celebrities or something, it will take off in a heartbeat.

From what I've read, it's not uncommon for people to surpass $ 1 million on Kickstarter. What do you guys think they'll need? I'm guessing about $ 5 million, but I don't know. (Which is absurd considering they're literally testing a solution composed of 80% water and 20% of a gum produced by fermented sugar.) But I digress.

Again, if we can start getting some money coming in on Kickstarter, and then get the word out to a few celebrities (which should be relatively easy honestly) - We can do it.

Thoughts?

.............Just came across this new video game system in development trying to raise funds on Kickstarter. It's called Ouya. They raised $ 8.6 million on Kickstarter alone.

I would love to use kickstarter but it can't be used for medical research, only artistic projects. I was basically using it as an example that people will donate to things they believe in. However, there are sites that DO allow researchers to post their projects and ask for money. Here are a few:

www.petridish.org

http://www.medstartr.com/

https://www.microryza.com/

The most successful kickstarter campaign ever was actually for a fitness device but they managed to circumvent kickstarter's rules by presenting it purely as a commercial product. Any of the three sites above (or the others that are out there) would probably accept what we are doing. Unfortunately, these sites don't have the traffic that kickstarter does...yet. Most have just started and I doubt many, if any at all, would have a group of people working to help promote the idea of funding the research like we would.

Ok chuckstonchew no offense, but honestly you sound silly, so childish, please don't bother dr Harmon with such nonsense...

sorry but finance and science are a bit more complicated things than you think... so if you start telling him all that stuff with celebrities and millions of dollars collected through donations it could sound cute to him but there is a risk that he may be bored (it depends on what kind of person he is)

anyway if you're the only one who has made contact with dr Harmon then don't mess it up, you have a great chance to get all information, just ask him:

-whether dextran hydrogel would be useful for all kinds of scars? (acne scars, injuries, hypertrophic scars,...)

-whether it will be able to regenerate perfect scar free skin with perfect-looking skin textures?

-whether it will be able to regenerate sweat glands?

then ask him:

-whether they will set up their start-up business and where they will seek funding? (NIH, SBIR, DoD or private investors/venture capital funds)

-whether that new legislation is relevant for dextran hydrogel approval? ('FDA Safety and Innovation Act')

-whether it will be approved in Europe before America?

and listen him carefully about all other things what he will say to you.

Nice greetings!

Haha! Silly and childish eh?

Right.

Thing is, what got Harmon interested in the first place was when I started talking to him about us attempting to help with funding and spreading interest, word and demand for the hydrogel. Although I've said a lot more, all I was saying about getting big name celebrities, philanthropists and rich people involved is that -

A. They are loaded. If they have interest in the hydrogel (which many of them support regenerative medicine pursuits) they could easily help with lots of funding. I mean, a million dollars is nothing to a billionaire. And someone is bound to see this hydrogel's potential and drop a little bit of their cash for the cause. Especially if they see that people are demanding it. Which they will be if we spread the word.

B. They have the ability to EASILY spread the word. If it grabs the attention of literally one rich/famous person, it's practically over. 1-5 million will be easily attainable.

Also - I'm not sure how me asking Harmon tons of questions would 'keep his interest'. His interest was gained by me initially saying that we wanted to help move the hydrogel forward and help it get funding and support. THAT is why he wants to talk to me. THAT is why I am talking about such things. What are the best ways to get quick funding and quick support? - People with big names and big pockets that have big influence. Regenerative medicine is all the rage right now and this is potentially one of it's first real products to yield real regenerative results. It could get the support of many very quickly if people hear about it.

So Vlad, I'm afraid it is you that is being silly. Harmon does not want to sit on the phone with me while I ask him all of these questions. He wants to make moves. He wants this thing to move forward just as we do. That's the whole reason he wants to talk to me and be involved with us in the first place.

Ok chuckstonchew no offense, but honestly you sound silly, so childish, please don't bother dr Harmon with such nonsense...

sorry but finance and science are a bit more complicated things than you think... so if you start telling him all that stuff with celebrities and millions of dollars collected through donations it could sound cute to him but there is a risk that he may be bored (it depends on what kind of person he is)

anyway if you're the only one who has made contact with dr Harmon then don't mess it up, you have a great chance to get all information, just ask him:

-whether dextran hydrogel would be useful for all kinds of scars? (acne scars, injuries, hypertrophic scars,...)

-whether it will be able to regenerate perfect scar free skin with perfect-looking skin textures?

-whether it will be able to regenerate sweat glands?

then ask him:

-whether they will set up their start-up business and where they will seek funding? (NIH, SBIR, DoD or private investors/venture capital funds)

-whether that new legislation is relevant for dextran hydrogel approval? ('FDA Safety and Innovation Act')

-whether it will be approved in Europe before America?

and listen him carefully about all other things what he will say to you.

Nice greetings!

I honestly don™t think you meant to throw an insult vlad. But if you did, then, one thing I'd like to say, chuckstonechew has never in a million years sounded childish. In fact I don't think anyone has acted childish on this messageboard, or the whole topic 'in the main' (unless they are trying to distract, or if they use playground insults). Basically, in the main, people come onto acne.org and this thread as they are concerned about their scars. Besides, what is childish? Talking about cartoons? Bouncing a ball? Calling someone names? You called someone who is getting off his ass and being proactive a name, someone who is keeping people to account a valuable role in society imo? So why the ad hominem on someone pushing things along? To me it is almost as if you are trying to distract him for being seriously proactive, if say, you meant the insult?

If childish is trying to push this 8020 along then I'm childish too. I'm like chuckstonchew, Im like skinregenerator, I'm like golfpanther, I™m like (you?) whomever else pushes this along (I'm sparticus). Things don™t move along by themselves

To me all he is doing is focusing on getting funding, and if it takes us to using twitter or facebook and other promotional tools in order to get the funding then I'm behind it. And I sense this will take off.

BTW this works on a full thickness wound (it does, it reepithilises before day 14 (before day 21)), it will work on any wound; this is factual and logic. And all scars are the same, an over production of collagen that blocks of regeneration, all regeneration is the same regeneration that stops scarring and necrisis so tissue functions. BTW I was going to critique you question œ-whether dextran hydrogel would be useful for all kinds of scars? here, but now imo I honestly think this question in particular is good. As if Harmon discriminates and says there are wound type or scar type discriminations then I™d know he was seriously fallacious, completely outside of the logical framework, and I™d probably move on. (e.g. this completely regenerates a full thickness wound, and a 3^rd degree burn -and it does- then how can anyone state fallaciously it won™t work on other wounds like partial thickness wounds? <<<< can you see the fallacy if he claimed yes it would work on a 3^rd degree burn or a full thickness wound “ which is the worst damage a tissue can get- and then claim it wont work on lesser wounds? (It degrades in under 7days and reepithilizes, then by default it will do the same to other wounds.))

To chuckstonechew, as a scarred person I can say what you are doing is brilliant imo. We need to move this along asap imo.

Ok chuckstonchew no offense, but honestly you sound silly, so childish, please don't bother dr Harmon with such nonsense...

sorry but finance and science are a bit more complicated things than you think... so if you start telling him all that stuff with celebrities and millions of dollars collected through donations it could sound cute to him but there is a risk that he may be bored (it depends on what kind of person he is)

anyway if you're the only one who has made contact with dr Harmon then don't mess it up, you have a great chance to get all information, just ask him:

 

-whether dextran hydrogel would be useful for all kinds of scars? (acne scars, injuries, hypertrophic scars,...)

Nobody can tell unless after the hydrogel is tested. If someone tells you YES, then he/she is lying to you

 

-whether it will be able to regenerate perfect scar free skin with perfect-looking skin textures?

With mice, yes, but nobody knows on pigs or even human so far. that's why we need money to move forward...

 

-whether it will be able to regenerate sweat glands?

Again, unless the hydrogel is test, nonbody will know, since only mouse test was done, but mice do not have sweat glands.

 

then ask him:

-whether they will set up their start-up business and where they will seek funding? (NIH, SBIR, DoD or private investors/venture capital funds)

Dr Harmon has business( http://www.manta.com...x/john-w-harmon )

 

-whether that new legislation is relevant for dextran hydrogel approval? ('FDA Safety and Innovation Act')

You may ask him?

 

-whether it will be approved in Europe before America?

and listen him carefully about all other things what he will say to you.

Nice greetings!

 

Well ok, if dr Harmom says that we can help we will certainly help him, we will do whatever he asks us, of course I'm in, but do you really think that dr Harmon will rely more on us for collecion of money from charities for his research than on NIH, SBIR, DoD, venture capital firms?

Of course it would be nice if we could change something but I'm sorry, we can't.

And it is very well known how all other research projects in the field of regenerative medicine are funded - certainly not through web sites, facebook and twitter groups, involvement of celebrities, campaigns, videos and petitions... just look at all other companies in the field of regenerative medicine (like InVivo Therapeutics, Halscion, Avita Medical, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, RXi Pharmaceuticals,...) and how they got funding...and only a small fraction of medical research is funded by charities and most of that money is given to cancer and AIDS research projects and to stuffs that cannot be patented, here you can read about that:

http://en.wikipedia....esearch#Funding

In the United States, the most recent data from 2003[2] suggest that about 94 billion dollars were provided for biomedical research in the United States. The National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies collectively contribute 26.4 billion dollars and 27.0 billion dollars, respectively, which constitute 28% and 29% of the total, respectively. Other significant contributors include biotechnology companies (17.9 billion dollars, 19% of total), medical device companies (9.2 billion dollars, 10% of total), other federal sources, and state and local governments. Foundations and charities, led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, contributed about 3% of the funding.

http://en.wikipedia....Funding_sources

Most research funding comes from two major sources, corporations (through research and development departments) and government (primarily carried out through universities and specialized government agencies). Some small amounts of scientific research are carried out (or funded) by charitable foundations, especially in relation to developing cures for diseases such as cancer, malaria and AIDS.

http://en.wikipedia....esearch#Funding

Most funding for cancer research comes from taxpayers and charities, rather than from profit-making businesses. In the US, less than 30% of all cancer research is funded by commercial researchers such as pharmaceutical companies.^[18]

Some substances, like dichloroacetate (DCA)^[19] cannot be patented and thus would not garner the investment interest towards research from the pharmaceutical industry, though in the case of DCA it would be cheap and easy to manufacture.

BTW here are some interesting news:

http://finance.yahoo...-121611309.html

Oculus enrolls 1st patient in study of Microcyn Hydrogel in management of scars

Thu, Aug 16, 2012 8:16 AM EDT

Oculus Innovative Sciences announced it has enrolled the first patients in its double-blind, randomized clinical study evaluating an advanced Microcyn hydrogel for management of hypertrophic or keloid scars under an FDA-reviewed protocol. The company plans to complete its 40-patient trial and provide top-line data by mid-2013 calendar year. The study design calls for recruitment of up to 40 patients at four different U.S. sites, which are Albuquerque, NM, High Point, NC, Austin, TX and College Station, TX. Upon completion of the study, the data will be submitted to the FDA in support of the 510k application. The FDA's published key performance index indicates the standard review time from submission to clearance is ninety days, although industry averages suggest this process can take up to six months.

And their microcyn hydrogel is approved by chinese FDA, are there any photos from trials?

http://ir.oculusis.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=690398

Oculus Innovative Sciences Receives Chinese SFDA Regulatory Approval of Microcyn Hydrogel

 

PETALUMA, Calif., July 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCLS) today announced that the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved Microcyn Hydrogel for moistening, repairing and healing of acute and chronic wounds in China. This approval allows Oculus' Chinese partner, Shanghai Sunvic, to market Microcyn Hydrogel in both the over-the-counter and professional healthcare markets in China. Shanghai Sunvic plans to launch the Microcyn hydrogel in the third quarter of 2012.

This approval follows successful completion of randomized trials at five major Chinese hospitals for use of Microcyn Hydrogel in the treatment of acute wounds, diabetic foot care and post-surgical incisions.

"The randomized trials in China followed by the SFDA approval provides Oculus with a significant business opportunity underwritten by a very strong partner in Shanghai Sunvic," said Bruce Thornton, vice president of international sales for Oculus Innovative Sciences. "With nearly 1.3 billion people, China represents a major healthcare market opportunity for Oculus and our partners."

Oculus Innovative Sciences entered into an agreement with Shanghai Sunvic in 2011 for the distribution of Microcyn-based products in China. The partnership allows Oculus and the Microcyn Technology to gain a foothold in China via new product launches supported by Shanghai Sunvic Technology Company's national sales network.

"As one of the major medical device groups in China, we believe our medical community will enthusiastically embrace an anti-infective technology that is proven both safe and effective in treating topical infection," said Water Chang, president of Shanghai Sunvic. "We see the SFDA's rapid approval indicative of a marketplace eager for an anti-infective that works as promised without promoting bacterial resistance as is the case for many of today's antibiotics."

Well ok, if dr Harmom says that we can help we will certainly help him, we will do whatever he asks us, of course I'm in, but do you really think that dr Harmon will rely more on us for collecion of money from charities for his research than on NIH, SBIR, DoD, venture capital firms?

Of course it would be nice if we could change something but I'm sorry, we can't.

And it is very well known how all other research projects in the field of regenerative medicine are funded - certainly not through web sites, facebook and twitter groups, involvement of celebrities, campaigns, videos and petitions... just look at all other companies in the field of regenerative medicine (like InVivo Therapeutics, Halscion, Avita Medical, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, RXi Pharmaceuticals,...) and how they got funding...and only a small fraction of medical research is funded by charities and most of that money is given to cancer and AIDS research projects and to stuffs that cannot be patented, here you can read about that:

 

 

 

The dextran 8020 is a device, which as a device, costs a fraction for approval. I want to see what is said about the funding aspect from Harmon, IMO this will get funded; the results are clear. If not, it would be way out of left field.

Honestly, I don't understand all the negativity. And I'm sure quoting statistics from Wikipedia is not the most reliable source of information. I find it odd that they don't even have citations for most of their claims.

But I'll take them at their word and agree with them in the sense that in the past these are relatively accurate statistics. But let's say that the statistics are from 2005. You know what wasn't around at all in 2005? Crowdfunding. Let's say it was from 2009. You know what was just getting started then? Crowdfunding. So it's impossible to know if these statistics are at all true now or will be true in the future.

Dismissing something that is a relatively brand new source for funding projects of all kinds is a bit illogical. I definitely think some skepticism should be there but let's just look at the facts. Kickstarter is a massively successful crowdfunding site that has funded projects for millions of dollars. Does this mean I think the same will hold true for involvement with this? Not at all, but there is data to support that it is possible to promote something and get people to donate for no other reason than to see the project move forward. Optimistically, I see our contribution being in the 2-5% range of the overall goal for the researchers. That doesn't mean I won't try to get more but just because we probably won't single-handedly fund the project, we shouldn't try? That's absurd. What progress would ever be made if people picked apart new ideas and stuck with the status quo? Not a whole lot.

Certainly the guys over at kickstarter didn't have that outlook when they started their site and are now raking in 5% of ALL donations. Bottom line, innovation breeds success. Much like the very hydrogel we're supporting has a chance to revolutionize would care, researchers are looking for innovative ways to revolutionize and simplify the funding process. Kickstarter has provided the template for success and now other entrepreneurs are setting up nearly identical sites for the scientific community.

I know were all on the same team here and I know all of us have been burned before (i.e. Renovo). But while I certainly like a good venting session, I would much prefer doing something about it.

As far as the questions you want him to ask vladislav, there is no way Dr. Harmon can answer most of them as skinregerator points out. The best (and actually probably the worst) he could do is speculate since it's only been tested on mice's backs that don't have sweat glands. No other body part was even tested on mice let alone humans. So while it should in theory work on anything, it would be unethical for him to say yes or no to something that hasn't been tested.

I agree with seabs135; the hydrogel will be funded one way or another because of the promise it holds. But I'd still like to do whatever I can to help that happen as quickly as possible. Even if that's just getting them a modest sum of money while helping spread the word so that potential big time investors will find out about it and want to invest for a profit. The one thing that worries me is Dr. Gerecht. She is MIA in all of this and she controls the patent for the hydrogel. At some point she will need to be brought into the fold and give her okay. I say that because for all we know she's having meetings with investors right now that she might feel would come into jeopardy if she suddenly worked with people on a donation website. That being said, the less money coming in for funding with no strings attached the better it is for her bottom line in the end.

We all want this, so I understand everyone being so passionate. But it doesn't hurt to try.

Hey many of you are from the US, so are there in the US any associations of veterans from wars in Iraq and Afganistan? I have read that there are 35.000 injured US soldiers from Iraq and 15.000 from Afganistan, so I guess that it is possible that many of them have 3rd degree burn wounds (typically from IEDs and RPGs), I'm pretty sure that they don't know that there is a potential cure for 3rd degree burns, so you should try to contact them because they could have potentially a very large impact on DoD funding.

I agree with seabs135; the hydrogel will be funded one way or another because of the promise it holds. But I'd still like to do whatever I can to help that happen as quickly as possible. Even if that's just getting them a modest sum of money while helping spread the word so that potential big time investors will find out about it and want to invest for a profit. The one thing that worries me is Dr. Gerecht. She is MIA in all of this and she controls the patent for the hydrogel. At some point she will need to be brought into the fold and give her okay. I say that because for all we know she's having meetings with investors right now that she might feel would come into jeopardy if she suddenly worked with people on a donation website. That being said, the less money coming in for funding with no strings attached the better it is for her bottom line in the end.

 

We all want this, so I understand everyone being so passionate. But it doesn't hurt to try.

 

One issue is that the dextran based hydrogel is originally developed by Dr Sun since his PhD, so he knows better than anybody else about this hydrogel, but now he is not working at Hopkins any more...

 

I agree with seabs135; the hydrogel will be funded one way or another because of the promise it holds. But I'd still like to do whatever I can to help that happen as quickly as possible. Even if that's just getting them a modest sum of money while helping spread the word so that potential big time investors will find out about it and want to invest for a profit. The one thing that worries me is Dr. Gerecht. She is MIA in all of this and she controls the patent for the hydrogel. At some point she will need to be brought into the fold and give her okay. I say that because for all we know she's having meetings with investors right now that she might feel would come into jeopardy if she suddenly worked with people on a donation website. That being said, the less money coming in for funding with no strings attached the better it is for her bottom line in the end.

 

We all want this, so I understand everyone being so passionate. But it doesn't hurt to try.

 

 

One issue is that the dextran based hydrogel is originally developed by Dr Sun since his PhD, so he knows better than anybody else about this hydrogel, but now he is not working at Hopkins any more...

 

Someone on this board, I believe chuckstonstew, did get in touch with Sun. He expressed is disappointment that the project had not moved farther forward due to funding and was himself a victim of funding since the lack of it at Johns Hopkins necessitated that he be let go. Here's the patent. He is listed as one of the inventors and as a result holds all the same rights as Gerecht in terms of denying its use.

Gerecht's patent

We know from talking to him that he wants this to move forward as much as we do so I doubt he'd be a problem, or Gerecht for that matter, but it is something to keep in mind.

Hey many of you are from the US, so are there in the US any associations of veterans from wars in Iraq and Afganistan? I have read that there are 35.000 injured US soldiers from Iraq and 15.000 from Afganistan, so I guess that it is possible that many of them have 3rd degree burn wounds (typically from IEDs and RPGs), I'm pretty sure that they don't know that there is a potential cure for 3rd degree burns, so you should try to contact them because they could have potentially a very large impact on DoD funding.

 

Absolutely! Contacting the Veterans Administration should be one of the first targets to spread the word to. I'll do some digging and see if I can find the appropriate channels to go through in order to talk to them about the hydrogel.

I contacted the DAV today as well as like every other foundation for wounded veterans or burn victims.

I'm also in contact with the media manager of JR Martinez to see if he'd be interested in helping. If you guys don't know who that is - he's a celebrity burn victim. He's an actor/veteran/motivational speaker and was on Dancing With the Stars.

I talked to Dr. Sun again today too. He said Gerecht hopes he can continue to work with the hydrogel if it gets funding by next year as he's been working with dextran for the past 10 years so he knows it better than anyone. But he does start his new position away from Johns Hopkins next month.

He also said that with the 501k process, he thinks the hydrogel could get FDA approval in as little as 3 months. He said they just need one more preclinical test (with pigs - which in his 10 year experience he says regenerate better than mice). He also said that he is confident that it will work on humans if there is funding...

@chuckstonchew

''He also said that with the 501k process, he thinks the hydrogel could get FDA approval in as little as 3 months. He said they just need one more preclinical test (with pigs - which in his 10 year experience he says regenerate better than mice). He also said that he is confident that it will work on humans if there is funding... ''

WOW!

That sentence has made my day!

That's VERY interesting - I guess now the next bit of info we all need is how much the next tests would cost - and then see from there what we could possibly do!!

Thanks to anyone who's took the effort to contact the lab Nothing ever got done without doing it!

I talked to Dr. Sun again today too. He said Gerecht hopes he can continue to work with the hydrogel if it gets funding by next year as he's been working with dextran for the past 10 years so he knows it better than anyone. But he does start his new position away from Johns Hopkins next month.

 

Interesting that Dr. Sun is leaving John Hopkins despite having worked 10 years with dextran. You'd think he would be staying if the dextran hydrogel is such a large investment opportunity. Perhaps he knows it's not effective? Who knows.

I contacted the DAV today as well as like every other foundation for wounded veterans or burn victims.

 

I'm also in contact with the media manager of JR Martinez to see if he'd be interested in helping. If you guys don't know who that is - he's a celebrity burn victim. He's an actor/veteran/motivational speaker and was on Dancing With the Stars.

 

I talked to Dr. Sun again today too. He said Gerecht hopes he can continue to work with the hydrogel if it gets funding by next year as he's been working with dextran for the past 10 years so he knows it better than anyone. But he does start his new position away from Johns Hopkins next month.

 

He also said that with the 501k process, he thinks the hydrogel could get FDA approval in as little as 3 months. He said they just need one more preclinical test (with pigs - which in his 10 year experience he says regenerate better than mice). He also said that he is confident that it will work on humans if there is funding...

 

If he says so it is great news!

BTW this works on a full thickness wound (it does, it reepithilises before day 14 (before day 21)), it will work on any wound; this is factual and logic. And all scars are the same, an over production of collagen that blocks of regeneration, all regeneration is the same regeneration that stops scarring and necrisis so tissue functions. BTW I was going to critique you question -whether dextran hydrogel would be useful for all kinds of scars? here, but now imo I honestly think this question in particular is good. As if Harmon discriminates and says there are wound type or scar type discriminations then Id know he was seriously fallacious, completely outside of the logical framework, and Id probably move on. (e.g. this completely regenerates a full thickness wound, and a 3^rd degree burn -and it does- then how can anyone state fallaciously it wont work on other wounds like partial thickness wounds? <<<< can you see the fallacy if he claimed yes it would work on a 3^rd degree burn or a full thickness wound which is the worst damage a tissue can get- and then claim it wont work on lesser wounds? (It degrades in under 7days and reepithilizes, then by default it will do the same to other wounds.))

To chuckstonechew, as a scarred person I can say what you are doing is brilliant imo. We need to move this along asap imo.

 

I guess you're right, I thought the same thing but I just wanted conformation.

 

I talked to Dr. Sun again today too. He said Gerecht hopes he can continue to work with the hydrogel if it gets funding by next year as he's been working with dextran for the past 10 years so he knows it better than anyone. But he does start his new position away from Johns Hopkins next month.

 

 

Interesting that Dr. Sun is leaving John Hopkins despite having worked 10 years with dextran. You'd think he would be staying if the dextran hydrogel is such a large investment opportunity. Perhaps he knows it's not effective? Who knows.

 

He's not leaving by choice - He's leaving because his research/position is no longer being funded. He's stated numerous times that he's confident it will be effective. He's also stated (like I said) that Gerecht hopes he can still be involved with the hydrogel if and when they get funding.

He also said that with the 501k process, he thinks the hydrogel could get FDA approval in as little as 3 months. He said they just need one more preclinical test (with pigs - which in his 10 year experience he says regenerate better than mice). He also said that he is confident that it will work on humans if there is funding...

Interesting.

I'm also in contact with the media manager of JR Martinez to see if he'd be interested in helping. If you guys don't know who that is - he's a celebrity burn victim. He's an actor/veteran/motivational speaker and was on Dancing With the Stars.

 

Here is an interesting story about transplantation of the whole face, the most successful case so far, I watched it on TV a few months ago:

http://www.dailymail...US-doctors.html

I assume that the whole face transplantation with perfect or near perfect results would be possible in the future if surgeons could solve only two problems:

1.the problem with that area around the eyes that still doesn't look very natural

2.the problem with scars, of course.