Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,
When I cook dinner, the TV in the room adjacent is tuned to cooking, for inspiration and company. I love the coziness of it, but I also like the Ads. Direct to Consumer Advertising of prescription drugs is legal only in the US and New Zealand and is regulated. It seems great that people know their options for treatment and the Ads are required to come with warnings, but advertising is advertising, and it’s about selling the product. There are even compilations of the top new prescription drug Ads. Disorders targeted run the gamut: including migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, HIV infection, eczema, asthma, psoriasis, allergies, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, macular degeneration, cancers.
For me, each Ad is an opportunity to understand what compounds are involved in each medication and their mechanism of action. I spend time looking at their scientific discovery, almost always many decades in the past, almost always from curiosity-based research. AI informed drug targets and those from cell-based screens are leading to more recent discoveries, but all draw on scientific knowledge that has taken a long time to develop.
Nurtec for migraine treatment is a great example, and the company has Lady Gaga as a spokesperson. In a search, I learned that the medicine is thought to act by blocking the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. I found that CGRP is a 37-amino acid peptide discovered around 1984. And what is calcitonin, you might ask? That takes you back to 1962, where calcitonin was discovered as a regulator of blood calcium levels. And calcium is an element discovered in 1808. It’s hard to overstate the importance of calcium: it’s indispensable for life - to build our bones, for cellular chemistry, and for nerve cells to communicate. There have been millions of research hours involved in understanding the function of calcium, almost all involving fundamental, curiosity-based research. And this effort is why, more than two centuries later, Nurtec is an approved migraine medication.
The work we do in the Northeastern University College of Science to build the Good Power of Science is detailed, step by step, and significantly contributes to development of therapeutics. It’s a high impact, fascinating, challenging landscape. Last week we were thrilled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Barnett Institute, that contributes groundbreaking analytical methods to biotechnology and pharmaceutical development. Thank you! for your brilliant research that moves towards outcomes that benefit society and enriches our lives. Congratulations! to everyone who is contributing - faculty, staff, postdocs and students. Thank you!
Warm wishes to everyone.