The ICAM Research Lab

By Susan Gould Fogerite, PhD

The ICAM Research Lab is:   • A Research Laboratory where public and privately funded, basic and clinical, research is performed.   • A Service Laboratory that supports clinical trials and performs assays for other labs on samples from basic and clinical research.   • A Teaching Laboratory where students from SHRP and other UMDNJ programs can acquire research training, experience, and laboratory data.

Current Activities:

Stress and inflammation play major roles in a broad spectrum of diseases that plague modern man, including cardiovascular, endocrine, neurological, musculoskeletal, immunological, and psychological disorders. The major focus of the laboratory is on immunological and neuro-endocrine markers of stress, relaxation, and inflammation, as keys to disease processes and for monitoring treatments for these diseases. We are particularly interested in the efficacy and mechanisms of action of Complementary and Alternative Medicine interventions, especially mind/body modalities such as yoga, meditation, breathing practices, guided imagery, and relaxation. Clinical trials involving guided imagery and relaxation to prepare for orthagnathic surgery, and supervised exercise for women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, are beginning, and a nutritional intervention for pre-type II diabetes, is ongoing. These studies include physical, psychological, or quality of life, as well as immunological and biochemical, outcomes. Other studies involving yoga for multiple sclerosis, for post stroke, and for HIV are in development.

Recently completed

An Open Pilot Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety of Propranolol in Combination with Etodolac in Subjects Diagnosed with Metastatic Cancer and Secondary Outcomes of Weight, Inflammatory Markers and Quality of Life ; Co-PI. S. Gould Fogerite, Ph.D., SHRP, L. Harrison, MD, NJMS, Vicus Therapeutics, SPE1.

A Retrospective Study on Accumulated Data Files to Identify and Compare the Interactions and Differences between the Diagnoses of Cachexia as Compared to Anorexia ; P.I.: S. Gould Fogerite, Ph.D., SHRP, Vicus Therapeutics, SPE1.

Ongoing

The Effects of Almond Consumption on Pre-diabetes ; (original PI) M. Wein; Dr Ph, RD, (current PI) S. Gould Fogerite Ph.D., J. O.Sullivan Maillet, PhD, RD, R.Touger Decker, PhD, RD, FADA, E.Z. Anderson, PT, MA, GCS SHRP, B. Greenberg, PhD, NJDS, D. Bleich, MD, M. Raghushwanshi, MD, NJMS. Almond Board of California.

The effect of supervised exercise training on immune, physical, and psychological status in breast cancer patients during their initial cycle of chemotherapy ; P.I.: B. Gladson, Ph.D., Co-P.I.: S. Gould Fogerite, Ph.D., M.J. Myslinski, SHRP, R. Musanti,  PhD, SON, L. Pliner, MD N. Ponzio, PhD, NJMS, Newark,  UMDNJ Foundation.

Guided Imagery and Relaxation Techniques as an Adjunct to Preparing and Recovering from Orthognathic Surgery ; P.I. S. Aziz, DMD, MD, NJDS, Co-PI. S. Gould Fogerite, Ph.D., SHRP, UMDNJ Foundation.

Goals:

1.  The ICAM Research Lab desires to continue to help support the general clinical research and educational activities of UMDNJ through education, collaboration and service.

2.  We also seek to facilitate high quality basic and clinical CAM research specifically, leading to greater characterization of efficacy in disease states and in health promotion, as well as mechanisms of action, through our efforts and through collaboration.

3.  With these resources available at reasonable cost, researchers within UMDNJ can strengthen research proposals by including biochemical and immunological parameters as outcomes.

Laboratory Facilities:

The ICAM Laboratory is located within the Clinical Lab Sciences laboratories in GB 156, 157 and 159 of the School of Health Related Professions in the Stanley S Bergen Building, 65 Bergen St , Newark , NJ , 07101. Approximately 2,400 square feet of prime laboratory space includes a tissue culture lab, autoclave, glassware washing facilities, wet and dry lab bench space, storage, and desk space. The Laboratory equipment includes a water purification system, refrigerators, minus 20 and minus 80 degree Centigrade Revco freezers, biosafety hoods, a chemical hood, tissue culture incubators, a Biotech microplate reader, a programmable plate washer, centrifuges, spectrophotometers, computers, and small equipment and supplies necessary to perform laboratory research.

Personnel :

Laboratory Director: Dr. Susan Gould Fogerite has been successfully designing and directing basic research for over 20 years in academia and industry, and clinical research for the past three years. A 30 year practitioner of yoga and meditation with a long standing interest in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, she recently completed a chapter on Mind Body Medicine for a text book on CAM . She is Co-Chair of the Research Working Group of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. As Director of Research at ICAM, she is PI or Co-PI on several completed and ongoing clinical trials, and is mentoring several PhD students with basic and clinical research projects in CAM .

She has been PI, Co-PI, or Co-Investigator on over 8 million dollars worth of NIH and private research funding. She is a Co-Founder, and served as Vice President and Director, of BioDelivery Sciences International, the first UMDNJ spin off company to go public. Her Ph.D. is in Microbiology and Immunolgy, with a BS is in Medical Technology. She has trained graduate students, lectured extensively, and developed and directed several Medical and Graduate School courses. She was the Co-Director of the Medical School Immunology course for three years and lectured in both the Medical and Graduate Immunology Courses for 14 years. Her research in the fields of Vaccinology, Mucosal Immunology, Liposomes, Drug Delivery and Gene Therapy has resulted in numerous presentations, articles, and book chapters. She has chaired and helped organize several International vaccine meetings and a workshop in Mucosal Immunology. As an inventor of the cochleate and proteoliposome delivery technologies, she holds over 25 issued patents, and numerous US and international pending applications.

Research Associate : Dr. Zi-Wei Chen is an experienced research scientist. He formerly served on the Faculty of Dalian Medical College, Dalian , China. He has performed research in neuroscience (at UMDNJ), immunology and molecular biology in the United States for almost 20 years. Ten years of this time has been in association with Dr. Gould Fogerite at UMDNJ and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. He has extensive experience in ELISA assay development and performance, tissue culture, gene transfection and a variety of chemical, molecular and biological assays.

Please feel free to email me at fogerisu@umdnj.edu or call at 973-972-7836 to discuss your collaborative or service research interests and needs.

Susan Gould Fogerite, PhD, Director of Research, Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Associate Professor, Primary Care and Clinical Lab Sciences, SHRP, UMDNJ