Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute - Select Scientific Achievements

Select Scientific Achievements

• 1971: Eva Engvall, one of the scientists who invented ELISA in 1971, worked at Sanford-Burnham. She continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor.
• 1984: Discovered cell adhesion regulator RGD (Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D.)
• 1988: Collaborative discovery of the role TGF beta plays in tissue scarring. Based on this research, two clinical trials are underway: one for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis and another for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and melanoma (Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D.)
• 1992: Observed that the activity of common anti-cancer drugs requires “cell suicide” of the cancer cells (apoptosis) and subsequently discovered novel proteins important in apoptosis (John C. Reed, M.D., Ph.D.)
• 1997: Discovered peptides that home to specific organs. These peptides were later used as targeting elements to deliver nanoparticles into tumors and other sites of disease (Erkki Ruoshlahti, M.D., Ph.D.)
• 2001: Solved the 3-dimensional structure of the anthrax toxin, leading to the creation of the world’s most potent chemical inhibitor of anthrax (Robert Liddington, Ph.D.)
• 2009: Solved the crystal structure of the influenza hemagglutinin (H5) in complex with a broad spectrum neutralizing antibody (Robert Liddington, Ph.D.)