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June 18, 2008

Van Andel Education Institute Launches New Middle School Program

Van Andel Education Institute (VAEI) this week launched its new Middle School Program. The program builds on the success of earlier elementary school programs to expand inquiry-based science education to the middle-school level, and offers an additional series of unique professional development opportunities targeting middle school science teachers.

June 18, 2008

Van Andel Institute Announces Four New Hires

Van Andel Institute announces the hiring of four new staff members to expand its capabilities in the areas of donor development and cultivation, international business development and middle school science education: Laurie Ward has been named Director of Development, Gerilyn May joins VAI as Senior Administrative Assistant in the Communications and Development department, Hung Nguyen-Quang begins work at VAI as International Business Analyst, and Randy Schregardus joins Van Andel Education Institute (VAEI) as Middle School Science Specialist.

June 16, 2008

Microsoft SharePoint: Project Management Answer for a Multi-Million Dollar Construction Effort

How do you manage the reams of paper and complicated project management timeline related to a $170 million building expansion? For the Van Andel Institute and their consultants, Microsoft SharePoint proved the answer to staying on time and on budget and saving $250,000 on paper costs alone.

June 09, 2008

Electronic savings

Buildings get built on paper before they’re actually erected in real life, but the cost of producing all that paper really adds up. One local project may not quite be paperless just yet, but it is leveraging technology to reduce significantly the costs of paper in the design and build process.

May 29, 2008

Researchers aim to aid China earthquake victims

Chinese researchers at Van Andel Institute are raising money for the people of Sichuan, the region devastated by the 8.0 magnitude earthquake May 12.

May 27, 2008

Greening the lab environment

Thanks to the recent formation of a Green Team, Van Andel Institute is progressing toward a more sustainability-minded operation.

May 27, 2008

The VATR Way - Tissue repository provides link to critical research

A system developed by the Van Andel Institute’s information technology department not only helps the organization keep track of its samples, but also aids in the research of post traumatic stress disorder in returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

May 27, 2008

Rich West - FACS Core Lab Manager Van Andel Institute

Whether in the lab or on stage, Rich West plays a critical role in assuring successful outcomes.

May 20, 2008

GRCC High Students Show Off Research Skills at Symposium

TV coverage of local high school research symposium held at Van Andel Institute.

May 20, 2008

Teens Share in Research at Van Andel Institute

The science research symposium Monday at Van Andel Institute had all the makings of a serious event, save the presenters in the auditorium who practiced tap-dance moves at the podium to help work off their nerves.

May 15, 2008

Genetic testing weighed

VAI Scientific Investigator Craig Webb quoted in article about one of VAI's collaborations, the Center for Molecular Medicine.

May 06, 2008

VAI Hosts 8th Annual Michigan Prostate Research Colloquium

Van Andel Institute hosted the 2008 Michigan Prostate Research Colloquium on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3, an annual event that provides research institutions an opportunity to share their latest research with peers. This year’s event, entitled “Frontiers in Urologic Cancer: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies” focused on kidney/renal and prostate cancer research.

May 02, 2008

How Microsoft InfoPath Is Helping Cancer Researchers Go Paperless

VAI CIO Bryon Campbell talks about the Institute's use of InfoPath to automate a variety of manual business processes.

April 22, 2008

Medical Mile: New buildings for a healthier community

The Michigan State University Medical School building is just one of many major changes on Michigan Street. More than one billion dollars worth of construction is underway, or planned for the Medical Mile.

April 17, 2008

Peter Cook, Ralph Hauenstein step down from Van Andel Institute board

When Jay Van Andel asked them a dozen years ago to serve on the board of a new medical institute he was planning to found, neither Peter Cook nor Ralph Hauenstein envisioned it growing into the research center it has become.

April 14, 2008

Taking flight: VAI researchers license program to Chicago research hospital

Van Andel Institute inked a multi-year licensing agreement with Children’s Memorial Research Center (CMRC) in Chicago for the use of its XenoBase system, a software and database program tailored for the needs of personalized medicine.

April 12, 2008

Gentel launches cancer-fighting biomarker kit

VARI researcher Dr. Brian Haab is collaborating with Gentel on a new cancer-fighting biomarker kit.

April 01, 2008

VARI Researchers Slow Tumor Growth

Researchers at the Van Andel Research Institute have discovered a way to slow the growth of a common form of kidney cancer in an experimental model of human tumors in a mouse.

March 20, 2008

Saint Mary's steadily builds talented staff for new neurological center

Article about St. Mary's neurological center talks about partnership with Van Andel Institute and discussions about more neuroscience research.

March 18, 2008

Science Academy Spotlight: Nathan Koo

Spotlight on Van Andel Education Institute Science Academy student.

March 06, 2008

Ex-Perrigo CEO added to Van Andel Institute board

As the newest member of the Van Andel Institute board of directors, Mike Jandernoa plans to help bring the medical treatments developed by the institute's scientists to market.

March 06, 2008

VAI Researchers Discover Method to Slow Kidney Cancer Growth

It turns out that LEPIMAT, a lethal toxin that causes anthrax, actually slows the growth of a common human kidney cancer called clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

March 05, 2008

Jandernoa Named to Van Andel Institute Board of Trustees

Michael J. Jandernoa, the former chairman of the board and CEO of Perrigo Company, the nation’s largest manufacturer and marketer of store brand over-the-counter drug and nutritional products, was elected to the Van Andel Institute (VAI) Board of Trustees on February 25. His term is to be effective immediately.

February 26, 2008

Van Andel Institute and Children's Memorial Research Center of Chicago Form a Partnership to Facilitate Pediatric Research

XenoBase software can be used to develop more effective treatments for pediatric patients.

February 26, 2008

Van Andel Institute and Children's Memorial Research Center of Chicago Form a Partnership to Facilitate Pediatric Research

Van Andel Institute (VAI) has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Children’s Memorial Research Center (CMRC) of Chicago for use of its XenoBase software and database system.

February 23, 2008

Chinese doctor helps forge international alliance

He came here seven years ago as one of the first scientists hired by the new Van Andel Institute.

February 19, 2008

Van Andel Institute Researchers Slow Kidney Tumor Growth

Researchers at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) have slowed the growth of human tumors growing in a mouse model of a common form of kidney cancer by using lethal toxin (or LEPIMAT), the toxin that causes anthrax. LEPIMAT blocks a specific signaling pathway in tumor cells that is required for tumor growth.

February 12, 2008

Winterfest Raises Over $65,000 for Van Andel Institute Parkinson Research

The Winterfest Celebration hosted by the Peninsular Club on February 7, 2008 raised over $65,000 to benefit Parkinson research at Van Andel Institute.

January 21, 2008

Residency/Ph.D. Program Is A 'First' Here

The Van Andel Institute Graduate School and the Grand Rapids Medical Education and Research Center have partnered to offer medical students a first-of-a-kind program in West Michigan: an internal medicine research residency program that offers medical students a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology, and state licensure and board eligibility in internal medicine.

January 20, 2008

Q&A with David Van Andel

Q&A with VAI Chairman and CEO David Van Andel in The Grand Rapids Press.

January 17, 2008

ClinXus connects with big pharma

Item about VAI collaboration ClinXus' entry into a drug-testing consortium.

January 11, 2008

VAI Investigator Named to Research Journal Editorial Board

Brian Haab, Ph.D., senior scientific investigator in the Laboratory of Cancer Immunodiagnostics at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), has been named to the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Proteome Research for a three-year period beginning January 1, 2008.

January 09, 2008

ClinXus Joins Consortium

ClinXus, a Van Andel Institute collaboration, recently became the first nonprofit to join the Critical Path Institute’s Predictive Safety Testing Consortium.

January 08, 2008

James Fahner, M.D., Named to Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Board of Trustees

James B. Fahner, M.D., the current and founding division chief of pediatric hematology & oncology and senior administrative physician for philanthropy and community relations at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, has been appointed to the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Board of Trustees, effective January 1, 2008.

January 07, 2008

Science Academy Spotlight: Alondra Diaz

Spotlight on Van Andel Education Institute Science Academy student.