My 2007 - A Good Start

As we start the new year it is always good practice to review the last. As I transitioned from Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging to independent consulting I can share my accomplishments that set the foundation for 2008. Below is the summary of some of my work that I would not have been able to accomplish without the help of many individuals that have given me opportunity and support.

Just to name few are:

Dr. Joseph Bailey for DICOM training, moral support, and a great friendship.

Pamela Pfiffner for the patience, direction and training materials.

Dr. Simon Robinson for honest feedback, supervision and continued support.

Chris Mattia for the help and direction in the taping of my Lynda.com titles.

Folks at Adobe for the chance give input and training to others on the use of Photoshop by Biomedical Professionals

NAPP staff for the support and training as well as the opportunity to conduct training at Photoshop World and in Photoshop User magazine.

My wonderful wife whose support, proofing, and editing of my work has improved the quality of my material and has made it possible to start doing training and consulting.



2007 Accomplishments


1) Member of Adobe’s Biomedical Image Advisory Group
September 2006 - Present
http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/medical/pdfs

2) eSeminar for Adobe – August 14, 2007
Currently available on Adobe’s onDemand webpage – Photoshop CS3 Extended for Scientific_08_14
Photoshop CS3 Extended for Science and Medical Imaging
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 9:00 A.M. PDT. 12:00 P.M. EDT
In this seminar, we will demonstrate new selection, measurement, and analysis tools that let you quickly extract and export a wide array of quantitative data from microscopic and radiological images, including native support for DICOM images.

3) Adobe Success Story - Seeing inside
Download at http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/science/pdfs/ericwexler_fnl_04242007.pdf

4) Photoshop Testimonial Video
View at
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/medical/

5) White Paper - Photoshop: The Standard for Physicians and Biomedical Imaging Professionals
Download at
http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/medical/pdfs/ps_biomed_wp.pdf

6) Photoshop World Boston – Birds of a Feather - Use of Photoshop Extended in Science and Medicine, April 4, 2007
Birds of a Feather Meeting – Medical & Scientific Research Professionals 
April 4, 5:00 – 7:00 pm 

Hosted by Adobe – Open to Conference Attendees and Medical Professionals and Research Professionals 
Attend this session to see the newest features in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended developed specifically for customers who use Photoshop for image analysis, visualization and communication. You'll get to meet the team from Adobe that is charged with developing new features for the medical and research communities and hear from some leading customers in the field and how they use Photoshop in their work.

 Attendees will be eligible to win Photoshop CS3 plus other great prizes.

 Special Guests: Stephen R. Snow, DDS - with Snow Dental Care & Cosmetic Dentistry; Eric Wexler, MBA - Research Scientist with Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging; Joseph M. Bailey, MD - Montgomery Radiology Associates; and Robert Hurt – Visualization Scientist – Spitzer Science Center.
Track: Special Event — Room: 207 in the Convention Center


7) Photoshop World Las Vegas Workshop –
a)Contributed Workbook Chapter - Using Photoshop Extended in Science & Research
b)Conducted Workshop -Using Photoshop Extended in Science & Research
with Eric Wexler 10:45a-11:45a September 6, 2007
Eric will demonstrate the uses of Photoshop Extended in the areas of Biology/Microscopy. He will get into the details on measurement, image analysis, as well as image correction/enhancement for presentations and publications. Additionally, Eric will go over the do's and don'ts of image manipulation for medicine: Instructor: Eric Wexler 
Track: Photoshop® CS3 Extended - Special Interest Track

8) Created Adobe Marketing Material – Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for Medical Research
Handout presenting top features of Photoshop CS3 for Biomedical Research

9) Magazine Article – New Analysis Tools
Photoshop User - June 2007 Photoshop CS3 Supplement, pp044-046.

10) Magazine Article – Photoshop CS3 Extended Tools Will Help Save Lives Photoshop User – September 2007, pp074-075

11) Poster – MMP-Activated Pro-Drugs for Imaging Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque. Identification of High Activity MMP Substrates and a Potential Metabolic Trapping Mechanism
Poster Coauthor at Joint Molecular Imaging Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, 2007

MMP-Activated Pro-Drugs for Imaging Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque. Identification of High Activity MMP Substrates and a Potential Metabolic Trapping Mechanism
Category: Imaging in Cardiovascular Disease
Presentation Time: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Thomas Harris, Richard Cesati, Carol Hu, Gregory Dwyer, Reinaldo Jones, Michael Azure, Roushan Afroze, Fran Su, Padmaja Yalamanchili, David Onthank, Eric Wexler, Debra Sousa, Mania Kavosi, Megan Hayes, Paula Silva, David Casebier, Simon Robinson, Scott Edwards, Jeremy Kintigh, Anila Desai, Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, Billerica, USA. Contact e-mail: thomas.d.harris@bms.com
Presentation Number: 424
Poster Board Number: 230
Coronary plaque rupture is responsible for the majority of fatal acute myocardial infarctions. Current, noninvasive imaging techniques that assess luminal narrowing or calcium content of plaque are poor predictors of plaque vulnerability. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are upregulated in vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque and recent studies suggest a correlation between the levels of MMPs and plaque vulnerability (J. Clinical Investigation 1994, 94, 2493-503; Circulation 1999, 99, 2503-9; Circulation 2001, 104, 1899-1904). While radiolabeled MMP inhibitors have been evaluated as plaque imaging agents in preclinical models (Circulation, 2004, 109, 107-112), our own results suggest that MMP levels in plaque deposits from human coronary arteries are too low to provide reliable data using radiolabeled MMP inhibitors.
We present here the initial results of our efforts to develop MMP-activated pro-drugs for the imaging of tissues having elevated levels of MMPs. The pro-drugs consist of MMP substrate peptides, a reporter group, and an immobilizing moiety (hydrazide) designed to react with oxidized lipoproteins found in vulnerable plaque. We have identified a number of substrate-reporter conjugates that have high blood stability, low protein binding, and are cleaved efficiently by MMP-2 and MMP-9 (Kcat/Km = 100,000 to 500,000 M-1s-1). Additional digestion by aminopeptidase N generates the hydrazide. Ex vivo studies have shown that 60% of MMP substrate RP806 is cleaved after incubation with rabbit plaque for 15 min at 37 °C. MMP inhibitors block the degradation and uptake of RP806 in rabbit plaque. Bestatin, an inhibitor of aminopeptidase N, also inhibits the binding of RP806 to rabbit plaque. Additionally, in vivo experiments in ApoE mice display preferential uptake of these conjugates in atherosclerotic plaque. This enzymatic amplification of signal has the potential to detect lower levels of MMPs than radiolabeled MMP inhibitors. Details of the synthesis and biological study of these agents will be presented.

12) Magazine Article – Measuring Using More than Just Pixels
Photoshop User – October/November 2007, pp086-087

13) Research Paper – - Mechanism of uptake and retention of 18F BMS-747158-02 in cardiomyocytes: A novel PET myocardial imaging agent
Padmaja Yalamanchili, PhD; Eric Wexler, MBA; Megan Hayes, MS; Ming Yu, MD, PhD; Jody Bozek, BS; Mikhail Kagan, BS; Heike S. Radeke, PhD; Michael Azure, PhD; Ajay Purohit, PhD; David S. Casebier, PhD; Simon P. Robinson, PhD , Journal of Nuclear Cardiology ,Volume 14, Number 6: 782-8 November/December 2007

Abstract
Background: BMS-747158-02, is a novel 18F labeled pyridazinone derivative designed for cardiac imaging. The uptake and retention mechanism of 18F BMS-747158-02 in cardiac myocytes was studied in vitro and the biodistribution of 18F BMS-747158-02 was studied in vivo in mice.
Methods and results: 19F BMS-747158-01 inhibited mitochondrial complex I (MC-1) in bovine heart sub-mitochondrial particles with an IC50 of 16.6±3 nM that was comparable to the reference inhibitors of MC-1, rotenone, pyridaben and deguelin (IC50 = 18.2±6.7 nM, 19.8±2.6 nM and 23.1±1.5 nM respectively). 18F BMS-747158-02 had high uptake in monolayers of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (10.3±0.7 % of incubated drug at 60 minutes) that was inhibited by 200 nM of rotenone (91±2%) and deguelin (89±3%). In contrast an inactive pyridaben analog P 070 (IC50 value of >4 µM in the MC-1 assay) did not inhibit the binding of 18F BMS-747158-02 in cardiomyocytes. Uptake and washout kinetics for 18F BMS-747158-02 in rat cardiomyocytes indicated that the time to half maximal (t½) uptake was very rapid (approximately 35 seconds) and washout t1/2 for efflux of 18F BMS-747158-02 was >120 minutes. In vivo biodistribution studies in mice showed that 18F BMS-747158-02 had sustained myocardial uptake for 60 minutes and the heart to lung and heart to liver ratios were 14.1±2.5 and 8.3±0.5 at 60 minutes.
Conclusion: 18F BMS-747158-02 is a novel PET cardiac tracer targeting the mitochondrial complex I in cardiomyocytes with rapid uptake and slow washout. These characteristics allow fast and sustained accumulation in the heart.


14) Magazine Article – A Healthy File Format – Photoshop CS3 Extended Supports DICOM
Photoshop User - January/February 2008 pp82-83

15) White Paper - Optimum Strategies for Using Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended in Biomedical Imaging – Written for Peachpit on behalf of Adobe

16) Contributor to Presentation – SNAP 2007 Meeting - BMS753951: A Novel Low Molecular Weight Magnetic Resonance Contrast Agent Selective For Arterial Wall Imaging

David Onthank, Padmaja Yalamanchili, Richard Cesati, Joel Lazewatsky, Michael Azure, Megan Hayes, Mania Kavosi, Kelly Spencer, Debby Sousa, Eric Wexler, Melanie Lamoy, Thomas Harris, Carol Hu, Reinaldo Jones, Greg Dwyer, David Casebier, Simon Robinson, BMS Medical Imaging, North Billerica,

17) Training Titles for Lynda.com, Dec 2007, currently undergoing editing
1) Using Photoshop CS3 Extended in Biomedical Research (Working title)
2) Photoshop CS3 Extended Biomedical Workflow Examples (Working title)
Will be accessible online at Lynda.com first quarter 2008, possibly on DVD afterwards

In Progress

18) Website – www.ericwexler.com

19) Blog – ericwexler.blogspot.com

20) Book – Use of Photoshop in Biological Research

21) In person workshops – Photoshop for Biological Research – Starts 2008