Dublin City University

In the game of soccer (association football), goalkeepers have a unique role. To do the job well, they must be ready to make split-second decisions based on incomplete information to stop their opponents from scoring a goal. Now researchers have some of the first solid scientific evidence that goalkeepers show fundamental differences in the way they perceive the world and process multi-sensory information. In the game of soccer (association football), goalkeepers have a unique role. To do the job well, they must be ready to make split-second decisions based on incomplete information to stop their opponents from scoring a goal. Now researchers reporting in Current Biology on October 9 have some of the first solid scientific evidence that goalkeepers show fundamental differences in the way they perceive the world and process multi-sensory information. "Unlike other football players, goalkeepers are required to make thousands of very fast decisions based on limited or incomplete sensory information," says Michael Quinn, the study's first author at Dublin City University who is also a retired professional goalkeeper and son of former Irish international Niall Quinn. "This led us to predict that goalkeepers would possess an enhanced capacity to combine information from the different senses, and this hypothesis was confirmed by our results." "While many football players and fans worldwide will be familiar with the idea that goalkeepers are just 'different' from the rest of us, this study may actually be the first time that we have proven scientific evidence to back up this claim," says David McGovern, the study's lead investigator also from Dublin City University. Based on his own history as a professional goalkeeper, Quinn already had a feeling that goalkeepers experience the world in a distinctive way. In his final year working on a psychology degree, he wanted to put this notion to the test. To do it, the researchers enlisted 60 volunteers, including professional goalkeepers, professional outfield players, and age-matched controls who don't play soccer. They decided to look for differences among the three groups in what's known as temporal binding windows -- that is the time window within which signals from the different senses are likely to be perceptually fused or integrated. In each trial, participants were presented with one or two images (visual stimuli) on a screen. Those images could be presented along with one, two, or no beeps (auditory stimuli). Those stimuli were presented with different amounts of time in between. In these tests, trials with one flash and two beeps generally led to the mistaken perception of two flashes, providing evidence that the auditory and visual stimuli have been integrated. This mistaken perception declines as the amount of time between stimuli increases, allowing researchers to measure the width of a person's temporal binding window, with a narrower temporal binding window indicating more efficient multisensory processing. Overall, their tests showed that goalkeepers had marked differences in their multisensory processing ability. More specifically, goalkeepers had a narrower temporal binding window relative to outfielders and non-soccer players, indicating a more precise and speedy estimation of the timing of audiovisual cues. The test results revealed another difference too. Goalkeepers didn't show as much interaction between the visual and auditory information. The finding suggests that the goalies had a greater tendency to separate sensory signals. In other words, they integrated the flashes and beeps to a lesser degree. "We propose that these differences stem from the idiosyncratic nature of the goalkeeping position that puts a premium on the ability of goalkeepers to make quick decisions, often based on partial or incomplete sensory information," the researchers write. They speculate that the tendency to segregate sensory information stems from goalies need to make quick decisions based on visual and auditory information coming in at different times. For example, goalkeepers watch how a ball is moving in the air and also make use of the sound of the ball being kicked. But the relationship between those cues in time will depend on where the outfielder making the shot is on the field. After repeated exposure to those scenarios, goalkeepers may start to process sensory cues separately rather than combining them. The researchers say they hope to explore other questions in future studies, including whether players with other highly specialized positions, such as strikers and center-backs, may also show perceptual differences. They're also curious to know which comes first. "Could the narrower temporal binding window observed in goalkeepers stem from the rigorous training regimens that goalkeepers engage in from an early age?" McGovern asks. "Or could it be that these differences in multisensory processing reflect an inherent, natural ability that draws young players to the goalkeeping position? Further research that tracks the developmental trajectory of aspiring goalkeepers will be required to tease between these possibilities."

—Oncology industry veteran and skilled drug developer Michael L. Meyers, M.D., Ph.D. to join as Chief Medical Officer— —Daphne Karydas, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, promoted to President and Chief Financial Officer and Michaela Bowden, Ph.D., promoted to Chief Development Officer— —Jigar Raythatha appointed to Board of Directors— CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flare Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company targeting transcription factors to discover precision medicines for cancer and other diseases, today announced the appointment of Michael L. Meyers, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer, as well as the promotions of Daphne Karydas, formerly Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to President and Chief Financial Officer and Michaela Bowden, Ph.D., formerly Senior Vice President, Biology & Translation, to Chief Development Officer. In addition, Flare announced the appointment of Jigar Raythatha, venture partner at Third Rock Ventures, to its Board of Directors. "Our commitment to strengthening our team reflects the tremendous progress we have made to date and the pivotal year ahead of us as we transition into a clinical stage company," said Amit Rakhit, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Executive Officer of Flare Therapeutics. "We are excited to welcome Michael to the team as Chief Medical Officer; his long-standing and renowned expertise in the field of oncology will be instrumental to the progress of our therapeutic programs and pipeline. Daphne and Michaela were the first two executives onboarded following Flare's launch two years ago, and both have proven to be inspirational leaders in both internal and forward-facing capacities, bringing a diversity of perspectives and experiences that have proven invaluable." Michael L. Meyers, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer Before joining Flare, Dr. Meyers was Chief Medical Officer and SVP, Chief Development Officer at Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he had held senior-level roles at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), including Vice President, GU Oncology, Compound and Clinical Leader, and Vice President, Oncology Scientific Innovation in J&J's London Innovation Centre. He has actively led numerous early- and late-stage oncology programs culminating in world-wide regulatory approvals and successful launches, including for ZYTIGA® (abiraterone acetate) in prostate cancer and VELCADE® (bortezomib) in multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He also led the medical affairs program at Aventis that investigated TAXOTERE® (docetaxel) in breast, prostate, gastric, head and neck and non-small cell lung cancers, among others. Dr. Meyers served on the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, specializing in Clinical Immunology and Melanoma. He received his M.D. and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to apply my previous learnings from navigating clinical and regulatory milestones in oncology as we advance our lead program, FX-909, into a Phase 1 trial and further expand our library of compounds targeting transcription factors thought to be previously undruggable," said Dr. Meyers. "I look forward to working with the impressive Flare team to progress the company's precision oncology programs and bring much needed new therapeutic options to patients." Daphne Karydas, M.B.A., President and Chief Financial Officer Ms. Karydas has more than 20 years of experience in financial and operations leadership roles, bringing an interdisciplinary approach to implementing growth strategies for biopharmaceutical and asset management companies. Prior to joining Flare Therapeutics in October 2021, Ms. Karydas was Chief Financial Officer for Syndax Pharmaceuticals. Previously, she worked at Allergan in roles as Senior Vice President of Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis and Strategy, where she oversaw the company's long-term financial and business strategy until its acquisition by AbbVie in May 2020, and as Senior Vice President of Global Investor Relations and Strategy. Ms. Karydas received a BA and MS in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Michaela Bowden, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer Dr. Bowden is an accomplished research scientist with more than 15 years of interdisciplinary translational expertise spanning academia, biotech and biopharma. Prior to joining Flare in October 2021, Dr. Bowden was at Bristol Myers Squibb where she served as executive director of translational medicine and led the solid tumor team focused on addressing resistance to immuno-oncology therapies, supporting the next-gen drug development pipeline. She also held scientific leadership roles at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute establishing a multidisciplinary research model to meet future precision medicine-driven drug discovery needs. Dr. Bowden has expertise in patient-centric approaches to elucidating novel biology and biomarker insights to support clinical development, leveraging research partnerships across a diverse oncology network at the intersection of disruptive technology, real-world data and evidence and clinical diagnostics. Dr. Bowden has a BSc and Ph.D from Dublin City University and continued her post-doctoral professional training at Tufts University and as a research fellow at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. Jigar Raythatha, Third Rock Ventures Partner, Board of Directors Jigar Raythatha, venture partner with Third Rock Ventures, has joined the Board of Directors, bringing a wealth of expertise in precision oncology including previous leadership and board positions at Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Jounce Therapeutics and Triana Biomedicines, among others. About Flare Therapeutics Inc. Flare Therapeutics is a biotechnology company changing the paradigm in drugging transcription factors with an initial focus in precision oncology. Flare's proprietary engine is founded on the identification of novel druggable pockets, or 'switch sites', within transcription factor complexes that solve for where to drug and how to tune gene expression to discover small molecule precision medicines for cancer and other diseases. The team has rapidly advanced an emerging pipeline of assets and plans to advance its lead precision oncology program, FX-909, a small molecule inhibitor targeting PPARG into the clinic in 2023 in individuals with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. For more information, please visit . SOURCE Flare Therapeutics

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin, or does not use it efficiently. It is caused by the combination of a genetic predisposition to obesity, sedentarism and an unhealthy diet, and it affects millions of people around the world. Now, researchers have identified a molecular mechanism involved in the development of this disease. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin, or does not use it efficiently. It is caused by the combination of a genetic predisposition to obesity, sedentarism and an unhealthy diet, and it affects millions of people around the world. Now, researchers of the University of Barcelona (UB), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Networking Biomedical Centre (CIBERDEM), have identified a molecular mechanism involved in the development of this disease. The study, published in the journal Redox Biology, has described -- in patients and animal model samples of type 2 diabetes -- a decrease in mitochondrial proteins that synthesize complex subunits of the respiratory chain. This decrease in proteins is associated with an increase in intracellular nitric oxide which, according to the researchers, could be a method for diagnosing the disease. Mitochondria are the organelles that produce cell energy, and there is evidence relating dysfunctions in its functioning with insulin resistance, typical of type 2 diabetes. The aim of the study was to determine whether there were alterations in the complex subunits of the mitochondrial respiratory chain that could be associated with this mitochondrial dysfunction. Then, the researchers wanted to explore whether nitric oxide -- a present molecule in mitochondria that acts as a cell messenger in several physiological and pathological processes -- is involved in these alterations. To do so, the researchers analyzed muscular samples of obese patients with type 2 diabetes (it usually appears around the age of 55), obese patients with early diabetes (around the age of 25), and samples of model animals with diabetes. "In this study, conducted in collaboration with clinical doctors from Dublin City University and the Trinity College Dublin's St James's Hospital (Ireland) and researchers from IRB Barcelona, we found that mtRNA synthetases (proteins that synthetize the mitochondrial complexes) play a relevant role in the defects observed in mitochondrial respiration, since its decrease involves the decrease in synthesis of specific subunits of the respiratory chain complexes and, therefore, a mitochondrial dysfunction associated with a larger production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and specifically, nitric oxide," notes Maribel Hernández-Alvarez, researcher at the Faculty of Biology of the UB, the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) and CIBERDEM, who led the study together with Antonio Zorzano (UB-IRB-CIBERDEM). These results open the door to more research into the effects of nitric oxide-producing enzymes and how they affect the abundance of mtRNA synthetases and their relationship to mitochondrial protein synthesis.