SIUC professor gathers moss for anti-cancer drug

Southern Business Journal
By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern
Posted: Monday, September 27, 2010

CARBONDALE — With a little bit of moss, Aldwin Anterola, hopes to make a more affordable anti-cancer drug.

The assistant professor in plant biology at SIUC is using moss to try and make a more cost effective way to produce the chemotherapy drug Taxol. He will discuss his research at the SIUC Technology

and Innovation Expo on Oct. 8, at

Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Building.

Taxol is produced from the Pacific Yew tree, which Anterola is scarce and led to higher prices. He said there have been discoveries on how to make the drug from the tree’s clippings.

“Even with the advances it’s still expensive,” Anterola said.

Anterola transfers the abilities of the yew to the Physcomitrella patens moss to find an alternate production for the drug. Work on the ent-kaurene/kauranol synthase in the moss revealed that a biosynthetic machinery controlled by a single gene can be diverted to produce anticancer compounds.

Anterola said with the expenses patients build up from doctor’s visits and procedures, “the only thing that can be cut is the drugs.”

He said he began looking into the process because he knows a lot of people with cancer and because Taxol was discovered through public funding.

“I think we owe the public since taxpayer money led to discovering Taxol,” Anterola said. “We should do something about the cost of Taxol.”

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

618-351-5804

Moltz to kick off entrepreneurship speaker series

The Saluki Times
September 22, 2010
By Christi Mathis

Note to readers: Barry Moltz is also the morning keynote speaker at the SIUC Technology and Innovation Expo in Carbondale on October 8.

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The new “Where Great Minds & Big Ideas Connect Speaker Series” from Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Entrepreneurship and Business Development unit offers the opportunity to learn how to be successful in business from those who are succeeding.

“A Crazy Evening with Barry Moltz,” from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, kicks off the series. The presentation is at the Newell House Grotto, 201 E. Main St. in Carbondale.

“We are very excited to launch the entrepreneurship speaker series. Being able to have our regional business owners network and learn from others who have walked in the same shoes is just another way for us to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit in Southern Illinois. Our first speaker, Barry Moltz, will be a fantastic kick-off for the series. Barry is a high-energy, no-nonsense entrepreneur and will kick things off with a keynote tapping into his latest book, ‘BAM! Bust a Myth Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World.’ If there is one topic that is a common theme for ALL businesses, it is the importance of customer service,” said Emily Carter, director of entrepreneurship and business development at SIUC.

As an expert on entrepreneurship, Moltz has numerous television and radio appearances to his credit. He is also author or co-author of three books about business: “You Need to be a Little Crazy: The Truth About Starting and Growing Your Business,” “Bounce, Failure, Resiliency and the Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success,” and “BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World.” Printed multiple times and in several languages, his books have found a worldwide audience. Topics include the emotional trials of running a business, developing business confidence, and how customer service positively impacts marketing.

With many years of entrepreneurship experience acquired through his own business ventures and as a consultant for numerous other entrepreneurs, Moltz specializes in getting business owners to unlock their forgotten potential and help their businesses grow. His audiences range from crowds of 20 to 2,000 and he’s a member of the University of Illinois Chicago’s Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

He hosts his own radio show, “Business Insanity Talk Radio” and writes regular blogs for the “Chicago Tribune’s ChicagoNow” and Crain’s “Chicago Enterprise City.” Moltz also founded an angel investor group and angel fund and is a former advisory board member for the Angel Capital Education Foundation.

The $30 per person admission cost includes a reception, Moltz’s presentation, a copy of the book and the opportunity to have him sign it.

Seating is limited and registration required by Oct. 5. Call 618/453-3805 to sign up.

Students can compete in 'Idea 2 Product' contest

The Saluki Times
By Christi Mathis 09/20/2010

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale is hosting an I2P competition for the first time, offering contestants who bring their Idea 2 Product (I2P) the opportunity to vie for cash prizes.

I2P, which originated at the University of Texas at Austin in 2001, has evolved into an annual worldwide competition with segments all over the U.S. as well as Asia and Europe. The goal is encouraging students to think -- to conceive the idea for a potentially successful technology-based product, service or business.

Contestants in the SIUC I2P Competition must be SIUC undergraduate or graduate students. The three-round competition is open to individuals or teams of up to four people.

This isn’t a business plan competition. Rather, contestants initially submit a two-page paper outlining details of the product, its purpose, the potential market and intellectual property issues regarding the product. The I2P report focuses on products and services in their very early stages, before they are ready for a business plan. This means the contest is relevant to students from all areas of SIUC.

The deadline to submit entries for the first round of the competition is Oct. 22. Based upon written submissions, a panel of judges will select semi-finalists with notification no later than Oct. 29. Those chosen to advance to Round 2 will have until Nov. 18 to complete and submit a five-page technology commercialization plan and can also include mock-ups, prototypes or other visual aides in their submission.

Entries will get feedback by Nov. 29 in preparation for the third and final round set for Dec. 6. The final round involves 10-minute PowerPoint presentations followed by a 15-minute session answering questions from the panel of judges.

Cash prizes totaling $2,000 are up for grabs. In addition, participants can then take their proposals to other similar competitions and acquire support if accepted. In addition, the SIUC contest offers the opportunity to compete for space in the future at the planned SIUC Student Innovation Incubator.

For more information about the I2P Competition, including the complete rules, look online at http://www.innovation.siu.edu/ or e-mail jenni@siu.edu.

The SIUC event sponsors include the Center for Innovation, the College of Business, the Small Business Incubator, the Technology Transfer Office, the Southern Illinois Research Park, the Office of Research Development and Administration and the School of Medicine.

SIUC offers resources to businesses

Southern Business Journal
By Christi Mathis, For The Southern thesouthern.com | Posted: Sunday, September 19, 2010

CARBONDALE - The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale offers a number of free resources for small businesses.

In coming weeks there are five sessions of the popular two-hour informational "Starting a Business in Illinois" workshop. Participants will learn the basic requirements essential when creating a successful business including legal structure, start-up requirements, finding financing and planning business basics.

The workshop is free. Participants have the option of purchasing a start-up kit for $15. The kit includes a jump drive with an electronic copy of a business start-up checklist, copies of the workshop presentation slides, a packet with financing questions and answers, a sample business plan, federal and state tax identification number applications and much more.

The schedule for "Starting a Business in Illinois" workshops includes:

l 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 5, Dunn-Richmond Economic Devel-opment Center, Room 150, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale.

l 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 27, Marion Man-Tra-Con building, 3000 W. DeYoung St., 800B. The Marion Chamber of Commerce and Marion Man-Tra-Con are co-sponsors for this session.

l 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 10, Murphysboro Township Board Room at 1410 Walnut St., Murphysboro. SCORE and the Murphysboro Chamber of Commerce are co-sponsors.

In partnership with the John A. Logan Procurement Center, the SIUC Illinois Small Business Development Center will offer two sessions of "Intro to Government Contracting." The workshops will cover the basic requirements for businesses seeking state and federal contracts as well as local requirements and the various certifications business owners may apply for based upon their location, ethnicity and gender. The workshop is free and sessions are set as follows:

l 3-4 p.m. Oct. 5, Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, Room 150, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale.

"Finding Financing" is a free seminar providing details about obtaining financing for a small business. Participants will receive in-depth information about the possible financing options currently available. The workshop will be Dec. 9 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, Room 150, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale.

Pre-registration is necessary to attend any of these workshops. For more information, or to register, call 618-536-2424 or e-mail sbdc@siu.edu.

Christi Mathis is a staff writer for University Communications at SIUC.

DIABLA looks to improve medicine

By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern, thesouthern.com, Posted: Sunday, September 12, 2010

CARBONDALE - Drugs react differently for different people and an invention out of SIUC determines how the medi-cines work.

Luke Tolley, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is the co-creator of Dynamic Isoelectric Anisotropy Binding Ligand Assay (DIABLA). The process uses high voltage to separate the proteins from each other in a capillary. Tolley said researchers look to see which proteins attach to the drug mole-cules.

Tolley will talk about DIABLA at the SIUC Technology and Innovation Expo Friday, Oct. 8, in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Building. Tolley said he will talk about recent data being researched through DIABLA, including a study on aminoanthracene, a common compound that can be found in cigarette smoke, damaging the pancreas of lab rats and leading to diabetes.

He said the process will also be used with re-searchers out of Norway working on cancer stem cells. He said they have drugs that can kill the cancerous cells but they don't know how they work.

"It's hard to make a compound more effective if you don't know how it works," Tolley said.

Tolley created DIABLA about four years ago with fellow chemistry and biochemistry professor, Matthew McCarroll. He said DIABLA is important because drugs do not act the same for everyone and some drugs have positive results but how they reach that result is a mystery.

"We've been using Ty-lenol for 50 years and we still don't know how it works," Tolley said.

He said an example of drugs working differently is BiDill, a drug for congestive heart failure that only works with African American patients. Another is Gleevec, a cancer fighting drug that will not work if certain mutations are present. Tolley said DIABLA could identify such variations and make it to where a patient would not have to go through taking a medicine that isn't going to work for them.

"It wouldn't solve every problem with drugs but it certainly could help in many applications," Tol-ley said.

He said he has set up a company to use DIABLA commercially but being a full-time professor the process is rather slow. Tolley said he is looking forward to speaking at the expo because people should know exactly what SIUC researchers are capable of.

"We really do some great stuff here," Tolley said.

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

618-351-5804