UVA Alumna Spearheads Discovery in Treatment of Lupus

AMPEL Biosolutions, a member of CvilleBioHub, has created the world’s largest lupus patient data set and has developed innovative tools to provide potential treatment to lupus patients. The cutting-edge Charlottesville-based biotech company focuses on using big data tools in research for improving healthcare, and is currently partnering with UVA programs, including the Data Science Institute, to further advance their R&D methods.

Last spring, AMPEL announced a breakthrough in precision medicine for the treatment of lupus patients—before this date, rheumatologists have not had a tool to predict flare-ups in lupus patients; AMPEL uses a system involving the identification of groups of genes shown in the blood of lupus patients in real time which assesses flaring and provides strategic support to physicians for potential medications to best treat the patient. Moreover, their approach supports clinical trial enrollment for drug testing by ensuring that patients entering trials prove to have the potential to respond to the drug tested, something that is not always presented in clinical trials. The company has patents on devices and machine-learning techniques for clinical genomic tests that can predict best medications for patients based on individual gene expression. AMPEL Biosolutions’ efforts and accomplishments clearly demonstrate the powerful synergy of data science and medical research in drug discovery and personalized treatment.

Amrie Grammer is the founder, COO, and CSO at AMPEL Biosolutions and plays a pivotal role in the discovery and creation of treatments for lupus and other autoimmune diseases. She has obtained her bachelor’s (1989) and master’s (1991) in chemistry and pharmacology at the University of Virginia, and holds a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

For more information, visit the original press release by UVAToday here.

About AMPEL Biosolutions- AMPEL  BioSolutions is the leading biomedical research think tank that  creatively addresses clinical development bottlenecks and R&D  roadblocks. AMPEL interrogates, analyzes, synthesizes & interprets  the world’s biomedical knowledge to provide novel solutions for clinical  research questions. Resourceful and dedicated, AMPEL is composed of  leading experts in autoimmunity, immunogenicity, inflammation and  clinical immunology with extensive research and medical experience to  address and resolve obstacles. AMPEL assists nonprofit organizations,  pharmaceutical companies, clinical research groups, and others in basic  research, translational medicine, preclinical research, drug development  and repositioning, and biomarker identification.