MANHASSET, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 6, 2024--
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes painful inflammation throughout the body. To study the therapeutic potential of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to curb lupus-related pain and fatigue, Cynthia Aranow, MD, professor in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, has been awarded the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) inaugural Translational Bridge Award for $450,000 over two years. This new project builds upon her previous clinical trial, which showed promising results for using transcutaneous, through the ear, VNS to reduce pain and fatigue in lupus patients.
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“Joint and muscle pain, as well as fatigue, are common and debilitating symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus that significantly affect quality of life,” said Dr. Aranow. “Our previous research showed that vagus nerve stimulation significantly reduced pain and fatigue associated with lupus, and this new grant from the LRA will allow us to build on our work and move bioelectronic medicine therapy closer to patients who urgently need new treatment options.”
The pilot, single-site trial will involve 18 participants who will receive daily, brief stimulation to the vagus nerve for a period of 28 days. The study will evaluate changes in pain levels and fatigue and explore how this type of stimulation might work to reduce these symptoms. Participants will be monitored for an additional 28 days after the stimulation period to assess the treatment's lasting effects. Researchers will monitor blood biomarkers and the effects of stimulation on the gut microbiome and function, including its impact on intestinal permeability (leaky gut), which is linked to the vagus nerve, also known as the gut-brain axis.
“Bioelectronic medicine holds the unique potential to treat many debilitating and painful autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes and Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research. “Dr. Aranow’s new clinical trial, building off her previous work, explores vagus nerve stimulation to relieve the symptoms of lupus. This research is much needed and offers hope to millions of people seeking relief.”
Dr. Aranow’s VNS research adds to the growing number of clinical trials being offered at the Feinstein Institutes in the field of bioelectronic medicine including those looking at VNS to treat inflammatory bowel disease in children and adults, post-traumatic stress disorder, and hemorrhaging and bleeding disorders, among others. Her work has the potential to help change the way lupus pain and fatigue are managed, offering renewed hope for improved quality of life for countless individuals.
The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine and vagus nerve stimulation, where medical researchers use modern technology to develop new device-based therapies to treat disease and injury. Built on decades of research, the field of bioelectronic medicine integrates insights from neuroscience, molecular medicine, and biomedical engineering, and researchers at the Feinstein Institutes leverage the connection between the brain and the immune system to develop bioelectronic medicine interventions.
The discovery that initiated the field of bioelectronic medicine – called the “inflammatory reflex” – was made more than 20 years ago by Dr. Tracey. This discovery emerged from studies on vagus nerve signaling and showed that the brain and body communicate to regulate inflammation and that, if uncontrolled, inflammation could lead to disease. Today, engineers, computer scientists, immunologists, neuroscientists, and clinicians develop cutting-edge medicine, including neuroimmune modulation, miniature implants for stimulating and recording the vagus nerve, noninvasive ultrasound neuromodulation to suppress inflammation, and novel brain-computer interfaces to overcome injuries of the nervous system. These collaborative efforts converge to create personalized, precise treatments that hold promise in treating acute and chronic diseases, often with fewer side effects compared to current therapies. These treatments have the potential to enhance or replace existing treatments across a range of conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune disorders. By producing bioelectronic medicine knowledge, disease and injury could one day be treated by our own nerves without costly and potentially harmful pharmaceuticals.
About the Feinstein Institutes
The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Researchis the home of the research institutes of Northwell Health, the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State. Encompassing 50 research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation through its six institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic medicine, cancer, health system science, translational research, and molecular medicine. We make breakthroughs in health condition, including endometriosis, lupus, postpartum depression, schizophrenia, sepsis. We are the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine – an innovative field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we produce knowledge to cure disease, visithttp://feinstein.northwell.eduand follow us onLinkedIn.
Dr. Cynthia Aranow will lead the new lupus focused non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation clinical trial. (Credit: Feinstein Institutes).
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez won reelection Tuesday in New Mexico’s swing district along the U.S.-Mexico border, in a rematch against the Republican he ousted in 2022.
GOP challenger Yvette Herrell waged her fourth consecutive campaign for Congress in the majority-Latino district that stretches from the border to Albuquerque.
Separately, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich won reelection to a third term in New Mexico, defeating Republican nominee Nella Domenici — the daughter of longtime U.S. Sen. Pete V. Domenici — in her first bid for public office.
In the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic state lawmakers redrew congressional boundaries in 2021 to divvy up a politically conservative, oil-producing region among three districts.
After winning Tuesday night, Vasquez vowed to serve local constituents “no matter how they voted," in a celebratory statement in English and Spanish.
He is a former Las Cruces city councilor who has invoked his knowledge of the border region and its economy as the U.S.-born son of immigrants from Mexico. His campaign has proposed safeguards against cartels that smuggle drugs or migrants, a humanitarian approach to asylum-seekers and support for abortion rights.
Herrell, a real estate agent and former state legislator, campaigned this year alongside Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson in favor of hard-line immigration enforcement policies. She denounced oversight of the border under President Biden while advocating for a return to efforts by former President Donald Trump to expand the border wall and to enforce requirements that asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.
In a post on the social platform X, Herrell expressed both disappointment and gratitude.
“The results tonight weren’t what we hoped for, but I’m so grateful to the incredible people of #NM02 for their support over the years,” Herrell said of voters in the district.
Vasquez became the first Democrat to win reelection since the 1970s to a seat that holds special significance for Republicans in New Mexico, amid a larger battle for majority control of Congress.
“In New Mexico it’s (the) Republican stronghold,” said Gabriel Sanchez, director of the University of New Mexico Center for Social Policy, in comments to Albuquerque television station KRQE. "This is their one chance to have representation in Congress out of the delegation for New Mexico. ... I think if he retains the seat now, he will be hard to take out because as incumbents get longer traction, it’s very hard to defeat them.”
The House district still includes portions of the oil-rich Permian Basin, and Herrell campaigned as a staunch advocate for the energy industry in the No. 2 state for petroleum production after Texas. Vasquez cast himself as an ally of oilfield workers, unsuccessfully proposing creation of a compensation fund for uninsured medical costs related to air pollution and heat-related illness in the industry.
On abortion access, Herrell has downplayed Congress’ role and says she would defer to state law after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. She previously supported legislation in Congress to restrict abortion access.
New Mexico abortion laws are among the most liberal in the nation. Vasquez supports initiatives in Congress to uphold abortion rights.
During her term in Congress, Herrell joined Republicans on Jan. 6, 2021, in rejecting the certification of Biden’s election victory in Arizona and Pennsylvania. She also voted against a bipartisan 2021 law that invested billions in America’s infrastructure.
The district’s voting age population is roughly 56% Latino — with centuries-old ties to Mexican and Spanish settlement — and 5% Native American, traversing the Mescalero Apache Reservation, four pueblo communities, outlying portions of the Navajo Nation and land holdings of the Oklahoma-based Fort Sill Apache Tribe.
Meanwhile in a hard-fought Senate race, Heinrich won over voters while highlighting his work on infrastructure, energy policy and an expansion of national security spending at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He’s been an advocate for gun safety and voiced support for an overhaul of Senate filibuster rules that can be easily used to hinder or block votes.
Domenici, a former executive at hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, failed to gain traction while touting her business know-how and concerns about crime, inflation and public education.
She characterized the U.S.-Mexico border as a crisis of crime and drugs, and advocated for expanding alternatives to traditional public schools.
The Senate candidates clashed on abortion rights as New Mexico increasingly serves as a destination for care for patients traveling from nearby states where the procedure is banned. Heinrich supports an expansion of federal abortion guarantees, while Domenici emphasized state rights and said she'd focus on efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies through education and birth control.
Domenici said she’d vote for Trump, though she didn’t mention him much while campaigning. Trump lost the 2020 vote in New Mexico by an 11% margin. He lost again in the state in the 2024 election.
Domenici’s father was the last New Mexico Republican to serve in the Senate, retiring after six terms in 2009. He was the longest serving New Mexico senator, who chaired powerful Senate budget and energy committees.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich delivers a victory speech to supporters Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Isleta Casino and Resort in Albuquerque, N.M., while his wife, Julie, and sons, Micah, left, and Carter, right, look on. Heinrich defeated Republican Nella Domenici to win election to a third term in the U.S. Senate. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández hugs Mayor Tim Keller as she takes the stage during the Democratic Party of New Mexico Election Night Watch Party at the Isleta Casino and Resort in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Boisy Pinon votes on Election Day with her daughter, Emili, 9, by her side at the Bernalillo County Visitor Center in the South Valley of Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Natalie Garcia, 38, wears gemstone heels while she votes on Election Day at the Clerk's Annex in northwest Albuquerque, N.M., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Daniel Barth, 38, center, waits in line to cast his vote on Election Day at the Bernalillo County Visitor Center while the sunsets in the South Valley of Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Kassandra Varela casts her vote on Election Day while her 4-year-old son, Apollo, waits by her side at the Bernalillo County Visitor Center in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
People wait in line to vote on Election Day at the Bernalillo County Visitor Center while the sunsets in the South Valley of Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Mariana Quiroz and Ethan Hernandez wait in a long line to cast their vote at Las Cruces, N.M., City Hall to cast their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Joey Ferno, 4, plays on the floor while his mother Whitney, top, casts her ballot at the Your Vote Center in Petroglyph Plaza on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Albuquerque, N.M. (Gino Gutierrez/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
People enter Las Cruces, N.M., City Hall to cast their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
Voters cast their ballots at the Your Vote Center in the Andalucia Shopping Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Albuquerque, N.M. (Gino Gutierrez/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
FILE - Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., listens during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, May 2, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
FILE - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Nella Domenici is seen, Feb. 6, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee, File)
FILE - Republican candidate for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District Yvette Herrell speaks at a campaign event in Las Cruces, N.M., Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
FILE - Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., speaks during a news conference to announce the bipartisan Southwest Caucus, June 15, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
