Month: November 2020

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA), and Alcohol Justice, are pleased to announce the dates and times for the 5th Annual CAPA Summit – The Movement Toward Social Justice in Public Health.  The virtual event will take place this year via Zoom over the first three Fridays in November.  #CAPASummit2020 registration is fast and free for CAPA member agencies, and just $10 for qualified non-members for all three days. Pre-registration is required.

“COVID-19 presented us with a major challenge for our annual summit,” said Veronica de Lara, Co-Chair of CAPA. “Though we cannot come together with members from throughout the state to celebrate our victories and plan new strategies, I think the virtual turnout will produce unexpected excitement and opportunities for great personal and organizational growth.”

Participation will be spread over three successive Fridays beginning this Friday, November 6^th.  On each Friday there will be two two-hour sessions with the first starting at 9:30 and the second at 12:30.

Summit topics and speakers include:
DAY 1 – Equity, Alcohol Injustice

• Chanchanit (Chancee) Martorell, Thai Community Development Center
• Kandee Lewis, Positive Results Corporation
• Jose Guevara-Johnson, The Wall Las Memorias Project
• Tasha R. Fridia, JD, Tribal Law and Policy Institute
• Yvette Lopez-Ledesma, The Wilderness Society
• Dinora Heredia, A.K.A. Fémina Fatal, Batallones Femeninos

DAY 2 – COVID-19 and Alcohol

• Dr. Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County Department of Public Health
• Dr. Lello Tesema, L.A. County Department of Public Health Division of Substance Abuse Prevention & Control (SAPC)
• Diana Zúñiga, L.A. County Department of Health Services, Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup
• Nicolle Perras, L.A. County Department of Public Health
• Nelly Arias, L.A. County Department of Mental Health
• Franklin Romero, L.A. County Department of Mental Health
• Raul M. Herrera, AJUPEME USA – Turtle Island, International Ulama Mesoamerican Hip-Ballgame association
• Carson Benowitz-Fredricks, MSPH, CHES, Alcohol Justice
• Vanessa Ramirez Garcia, Future Leaders of America
• Xavier Flores, Pueblo y Salud, Inc.

DAY 3 – Social Justice-Informed Policy

• Antonio Cortez Appling, The Long Beach Poetry Slam
• Brian “SuperB” Oliva, Multi-title slam champion, Slam Poetry Coach
• Kat Magill, 2x National Poetry Slam finalist, HBO Def Jam Poet,
• Brenda Villanueva, Co-chair, Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance
• Gilbert Mora, MS, Co-chair, California Alcohol Policy Alliance
• Jorge Castillo, Alcohol Justice
• Raul Verdugo, Alcohol Justice
• Veronica De Lara, MPA, Co-chair, California Alcohol Policy Alliance
• Mayra Jimenez, Alcohol Justice

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that public health needs to be reevaluated to provide fair access to all, especially for low earning communities and communities of color,” stated California Assemblymember Moique Limón. “A pandemic of this magnitude comes with many risks and concerns beyond the virus. Losing a loved one, a job, and not interacting with those around you can be very difficult, and for many, it is challenging to seek help. I applaud CAPA for having conversations about the risk of alcohol abuse during these times and interconnecting social justice with public health as we continue seeing the need for improvement in our system.”

“As a project of Alcohol Justice, CAPA has truly developed a dynamic character all its own,” said Bruce Lee Livingston, MPP, Executive Director / CEO of Alcohol Justice. “CAPA has provided a strong presence and a unified voice on alcohol policy to many organizations and individuals throughout the state who are deeply concerned about alcohol’s influence on their communities. We couldn’t be prouder of their leadership role over the past two years in stopping California legislation to expand last call beyond 2 a.m. We look forward to supporting CAPA’s continued advocacy in the years to come.”

CAPA Mission:
The California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) shall unite diverse organizations and communities in California to protect health and safety, and prevent alcohol-related harm through statewide action.

CAPA Platform:
Current core issues leading to specific advocacy and policy change action items.

• Raise the price of alcohol through taxes and fees, supporting the “Charge for Harm” concept that the industry should pay for treatment, prevention and all other costs to government.
• Limit alcohol advertising in all media, especially on government-controlled property and where children or targeted populations are exposed.
• Make the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control effective, efficient, transparent, and accountable to public health and safety concerns of the community, and not to cater to industry profits and license expediency, through policies that reduce alcohol outlet density and increase funding for alcohol control, regulation, and enforcement.
• Eliminate product lines (such as alcopops and malt liquors) oriented to underage youth and vulnerable or targeted populations.
• Reduce the allowable blood alcohol content for drivers as “Point .05 Saves Lives”
• Improve labelling and out-of-home advertising of all alcohol products to ensure a) no marketing to youth, b) no indications of unsubstantiated health claims, c) display of alcohol content by volume and percentage and d) display of harms.

For daily summit updates and schedules go to: https://alcoholpolicyalliance.org/ 
On Twitter @CAPA_Alcohol
On Instagram @caalcoholpolicy
On Facebook @AlcoholPolicyAlliance

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SOURCE Alcohol Justice; California Alcohol Policy Alliance

NEW YORK and SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — miR Scientific, LLC, a healthcare company whose purpose is to transform global cancer management, and the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration (“ASES”) announced today the signing of a cooperation agreement aimed at evaluating the clinical and economic utility of the miR Sentinel™ PCC4 Assay (miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test) and its potential impact in Puerto Rico.

The agreement memorializes the explicit intent of deploying the Company’s Sentinel™ Prostate Test commercially in Puerto Rico in an effort to alleviate the disease burden of prostate cancer on the Island. San Juan Bautista School of Medicine will appoint the principal investigator to oversee the utility studies.

“The prevalence and economic burden of prostate cancer in Puerto Rico are debilitating and the Puerto Rico government is keen on deploying the most innovative solutions in the fight against prostate cancer,” said Jorge Galva, Executive Director of ASES.  “The breakthrough Sentinel™ PCC4 Assay developed by miR Scientific is non-invasive and can very accurately detect prostate cancer and as well as classify the risk category of the disease based only on a single urine specimen and without the need for invasive biopsies. This will allow us to manage the disease much better, allocate resources more efficiently, and focus on high-risk patients who are in need of definitive treatment quickly” he said.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer death among men in Puerto Rico. The current standard of care for the diagnosis of prostate cancer relies on inaccurate PSA blood tests and invasive rectal examinations to trigger invasive, painful, high-risk, and costly core needle biopsies, which for the most part are unnecessary. Due to these shortcomings, current standards are only utilized by a small fraction of the age-eligible male population in Puerto Rico, further compounding the healthcare and economic burden of the disease and limiting the opportunity to identify dangerous cancers earlier to allow for better outcomes.

miR Scientific’s award-winning miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test is a standalone, non-invasive liquid biopsy urine test that can, from a single urine specimen, accurately detect molecular evidence of prostate cancer and then classify the severity, or the risk grade, of the malignancy.  The proprietary high-throughput technology is based on the interrogation of small-noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs) extracted from urinary exosomes and has recently been awarded the Breakthrough Device Designation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

“We are fortunate and proud to commit to the long-term success of Puerto Rico’s emergence as a center of excellence for population health. Puerto Rico is well equipped to confront any challenge based on the exceptional dedication and talent of its medical ecosystem, at the heart of which are extraordinary doctors and an enlightened health system ready and able to embrace innovation and transformation” said Sam Salman, miR Scientific’s Chairman & CEO. “We are confident that our proactive and multifaceted collaborations in Puerto Rico will measurably improve outcomes in the war against cancer, and in doing so, contribute to the emergence of Puerto Rico as a leading center for medical innovation.”

The miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test is expected to be commercially available in the United States early 2021 and in select markets in Europe and Asia late 2021.

About miR Scientific:

miR Scientific, LLC is a healthcare company whose purpose is to transform global cancer management by providing early and highly accurate detection, characterization, and monitoring of disease. The Company has developed a proprietary, non-invasive platform for the effective disease management of urological cancers. The platform is powered by the miR Sentinel™ Prostate Test, a liquid biopsy urine test that can accurately detect, classify, and monitor prostate cancer based on the interrogation of small-non-coding RNAs extracted from urinary exosomes. miR Scientific is the only company with the interoperable products and services necessary to revolutionize the standards of care supporting urologic oncology, including for prostate, bladder and other urothelial cancers. Such new standards are much needed given the debilitating prevalence and disease burden of such cancers globally. miR Scientific is a majority-owned operating subsidiary of Impact NRS LLC, headquartered in New York City with operating subsidiaries in Israel, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Press Contacts:

Ada Torres– Toro
+1 (787) 368-8484
ada@ifullcircle.com

Lorraine Cruz-Ithier
lorraine@ifullcircle.com

Karen Sharma
+1 (617) 571-2733
media@mirscientific.com

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SOURCE miR Scientific, LLC