UB Physician Named a "Top Solver" by InnoCentive Inc. for Discovering an ALS Biomarker

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Harvey Arbesman, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology and social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo, has been named one of 12 "Top Solvers" for 2009 by InnoCentive Inc., an organization that sponsors international challenges to provide innovative solutions to complex problems.

Arbesman developed a promising biomarker to assess disease progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The "Top Solvers" were awarded the most prize dollars and solved extraordinarily complex challenges. This year's winners came from six countries, the majority from the United States. The InnoCentive Solver community comprises more than 200,000 scientists, engineers, business people, academics and researchers who are striving to answer issues of global concern to persons worldwide.

Arbesman maintains an active dermatology practice and is founder and vice president of ArbesIdeas, a life sciences-related research and consulting company. One of the company's goals is to promote creative thinking in developing medical hypotheses.

"Sometimes you need a new theory to generate a new therapy or simply to understand disease in general," says Arbesman. "Such hypotheses are what really create leaps in our understanding of critical problems."

Working with his wife, Marian Arbesman, PhD, president of ArbesIdeas, and colleagues from Columbia University Medical School and the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center, Arbesman adapted a technology commonly used in the cosmetic industry, the Cutometer®, to noninvasively measure skin elasticity, earning him a $50,000 Prize4Life ALS Biomarker Challenge Discovery Prize.

In a pilot study, Arbesman and colleagues were able to show that changes in skin elasticity correlated with disease advancement in ALS patients.

"We think this biomarker has a lot of potential as a way to monitor progression of the disease, which will be helpful in developing new medications, and possibly as an aid in diagnosis," says Arbesman. "It also may help us to better understand the underlying disease process itself."

Results of the study were presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.