Preamble and introduction Please note: this blog post might be a ‘bit of a ride’.  It was born from self-work I’m doing to adjust how I capture my daily experiences and work with them to build more reliable memories in the post-craniotomy version of my brain.  This work led me to explore related topics through published journals, in podcasts, and other material I’ve found along the way.  You can read on as I make what I think are reasonable connections between evolution and natural selection, brain function and how we experience our surroundings, memory and its fallibility, and how I believe adjusting my own strategies for learning and remembering as I live post-craniotomy with brain cancer has left me with some insight that might help others.  If this sounds interesting, keep reading!  I’ll reference sources for many of the claims within, and you can infer that non-referenced claims imply that they’re based on my understanding and connection of what I’ve expe...

 In January, 2024, and after thinking more about therapeutic advances with the potential to target mutated Isocitrate Dehydrogenase present in some brain cancers, I emailed a diverse group of experts with some thoughts on a potential future non-invasive diagnostic test that might help confirm the presence of IDH mutations.  I contacted people unknown to me, but whose names I had found on a variety of published material, in hopes that they might share it with others who could determine whether there might be future value here.  Now, I'm posting it to this blog in hopes that others with associated interest might one day find it and be able to assess the ideas viability.  Below, I share what I sent as a lengthy and unsolicited email. Sent on Monday, January 15, 2024: I write today with a hope of reaching experts who might validate or refute a future model I envision for a non-invasive and potentially simple diagnostic test to detect the presence of IDH mutations associa...

I wrote  in an earlier post  about advancements in targeting mutations in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH) as a potential therapeutic approach.  On February 20, 2024, Servier confirmed in a twitter post the filing of their New Drug Application (NDA) with the FDA.   The 'Newsroom' post on the Servier US website (at  servier.us/blog/fda-and-ema-accept-vorasidenib-regulatory-submissions... ) further confirms the 'clock start date' under a priority review that accompanies a breakthrough therapy designation, meaning that the FDA and Servier commit to a six month review and final decision / action on the NDA by August 20, 2024. By filing under the Project Orbis framework established by the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence, this allows for concurrent and collaborative review across the US FDA, Australia's TGA, Brazil's ANVISA, Canada's Health Canada, Israel's Ministry of Health, Singapore's Health Sciences Authority, Switzerland's Swissmedic, Unit...