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KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (Bernama) —AmMetLife Insurance Berhad (AmMetLife) and the MetLife Foundation are working with the Food Aid Foundation to provide food supplies for the B40 families who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food Aid Foundation works with charities in Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan and Sarawak through its “Food Bags for the Needy” programme which reaches people from rural areas, charity homes and refugees. Employees from AmMetLife and other MetLife entities will volunteer their time with the Food Aid Foundation in helping with the food preparation and distribution.

As with every nation, Malaysia has had to respond to the challenges brought about by COVID-19. A large number of B40 families across Malaysia are under severe financial stress and many are unable to afford basic food staples. 

Commenting on the support being provided by the MetLife Foundation, AmMetLife CEO Ramzi Toubassy said: “COVID-19 has created enormous challenges for the underserved community in Malaysia. Having access to basic food is vital for them to be able to maintain their health and wellbeing. We are happy to support the Food Aid Foundation, via the MetLife Foundation, in their mission to tackle hunger in Malaysia. Our support will help over 12,000 people get access to the food they need.”

Data from the Food Aid Foundation shows that Malaysians produce 15,000 tons of food waste each day, around 3,000 tons of which is avoidable. The Food Aid Foundation secures Halal-certified, surplus food from manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. The Food Aid Foundation then works with local charity partners to distribute food to those who need it the most.

In thanking MetLife Foundation for the contribution, Founder of Food Aid Foundation, Rick Chee said: “At this unprecedented time, we are facing a global recession that has literally brought the world to a standstill.  The underprivileged community has been severely affected by this situation.  With the support of MetLife Foundation, we hope to help them ease their burden during this challenging period.”

AmMetLife continues to support its customers and the communities it operates in during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more details about our support for customers, please visit http://www.ammetlife.com

About AmMetLife

AmMetLife is a strategic partnership between AMMB Holdings Berhad (AmBank Group) and MetLife International Holdings LLC (MetLife). AmMetLife offers a comprehensive range of life assurance and wealth protection solutions distributed through a combination of over 200 AmBank and AmMetLife branded branch offices, in addition to the strength of its authorised life insurance agents nationwide.

The strategic partnership combines the international expertise and financial strength of MetLife with the local strength and reach of AmBank Group to create a customer-centric and modern life assurance solutions provider in Malaysia.

About MetLife Foundation

At MetLife Foundation, we believe financial health belongs to everyone. We bring together bold solutions, deep financial expertise and meaningful grants to build financial health for people and communities that are underserved and aspire for more. We partner with organizations around the world to create financial health solutions and build stronger communities, engaging MetLife employee volunteers to help drive impact. MetLife Foundation was created in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its founding through the end of 2019, MetLife Foundation provided more than $860 million in grants and $85 million in program-related investments to make a positive impact in the communities where MetLife operates. To date, our financial health work has reached 9.9 million low-income individuals in 42 countries. To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.

About Food Aid Malaysia

Food Aid Foundation is the first organization Malaysia to rescue perishable and non-perishable excess food. Established in 2013, our mission is to reduced food wastage and alleviate hunger and malnourishment in Malaysia.

We collect and distribute surplus food on a daily basis to our beneficiaries consisting of welfare and charitable homes, shelters, poor families, destitute, other NGO’s, refugee communities and soup kitchen.

While the statistics of edible food being send to landfill stands at 3,000 tons daily, we face issues of malnourishment and lack of nutritious food among those living in poverty.

We made a link of helping to reduce food waste and helping people in need with food donations in many ways:

· Nutritious food for charities where nutritious food can be channeled to charity and people in need.

· Savings for charities save on grocery bills for charity organization and poor family so the funds can be redirected to education, medical, rehabilitation, utilities and other expenses.

· CSR for food donors by increasing positive impact on community engagement with the local community by donating excess food and helping to alleviate hunger.

· Protecting the environment by ensuring good food be donated rather than going to landfill and helps reduce the negative impact of food waste on the environment.

SOURCE: AmBank Group

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Corporate Communications Department
Email: AmMetLife-Communicator@ammmetlife.com

—BERNAMA

RALEIGH, N.C., June 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRA Health Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAH) announced today the enhancement of its commercial Health Harmony COVID-19 Monitoring Program with the integration of the Microsoft Healthcare Bot service. Users of PRA’s Health Harmony digital platform who enroll in their organization’s COVID-19 Monitoring Program can use the AI-based chatbot, which can recognize and respond to COVID-19-related questions, to enhance their own COVID-19 care.

Through a series of conversational questions and interactions within PRA’s Health Harmony digital health platform, the COVID-19 chatbot compares users’ symptoms to U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidance and then recommends one of three available COVID-19 programs in which they should enroll. For users of the Health Harmony app, the enrollment experience becomes more personalized and is more accurate in determining the level of COVID-19 care needed. For organizations that have implemented PRA’s COVID-19 Monitoring Program, the integration allows them to understand patient flow and to monitor, educate and individualize care with greater agility.

“Collaborating closely with leading edge companies like Microsoft, PRA is uniquely positioned to deliver innovative new models of care to patients as their needs evolve, especially in times of crisis and uncertainty,” said Kent Thoelke, EVP and Chief Scientific Officer at PRA Health Sciences. “With PRA’s Health Harmony app in their hands, patients can track signs, symptoms and self-manage their own COVID-19-related care, but if symptoms escalate, remote monitoring and the help obtained from a healthcare professional can make all the difference. PRA is giving patients more control and better access to personalized healthcare, right from their own devices and on their own schedule.”

Last month, PRA rolled out the program and the Health Harmony mobile app, with the integration of the COVID-19 Healthcare Bot service, to more than 7,000 employees in the United States. Since March, thousands of users from around the globe have downloaded PRA’s Health Harmony app and enrolled in the COVID-19 Monitoring Program. As part of the program, users can track their own COVID-19 symptoms and educate themselves about the disease. The COVID-19 Monitoring Program – available commercially to employers, payers, providers and health systems – offers three levels of support:

• The educational program, which provides vital sign tracking, prevention techniques and mental health support for those who are asymptomatic.
• The quarantine program, which delivers insights on what to watch for, addresses feelings of fear and isolation, and connects with a healthcare professional for those who have been exposed to COVID-19.
• The in-depth monitoring program, which addresses symptom management, frequent monitoring by a healthcare professional and care coordination for those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who are still at home.

“Healthcare and clinical research should be easily accessible to all people and tailored to fit their unique needs,” said Jean Gabarra, General Manager, Health AI at Microsoft. “When technology like Microsoft’s COVID-19 Healthcare Bot and a user-friendly interface like the Health Harmony app can be combined with the insights and expertise of a global healthcare intelligence partner like PRA, patients’ health and wellbeing will benefit tremendously.”

To learn more about how PRA is delivering technology and R&D solutions to employers, payers and providers during COVID-19, please visit www.prahs.com/covid-19. For more information on the COVID-19 Monitoring Program and Health Harmony mobile platform, visit https://www.careinnovations.com/.

About PRA Health Sciences

PRA Health Sciences is one of the world’s leading global contract research organizations by revenue, providing outsourced clinical development and data solution services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. PRA’s global clinical development platform includes more than 75 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and the Middle East and more than 17,500 employees worldwide. Since 2000, PRA has participated in approximately 4,000 clinical trials worldwide. In addition, PRA has participated in the pivotal or supportive trials that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration or international regulatory approval of more than 95 drugs. To learn more about PRA, please visit www.prahs.com.

INVESTOR INQUIRIES: InvestorRelations@prahs.com

MEDIA INQUIRIES: Laurie Hurst, Sr. Director, Communications and Public Relations
hurstlaurie@prahs.com | +1 (919) 786-8435 

SOURCE : PRA Health Sciences, Inc.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Mango TV has aired Mundane Glory, a series of short documentaries focusing on strivers who work on the Chinese emerging industry. It has also been aired on global platforms including Hunan Satellite TV since May 21.

In its third episode, Benevolent Healers, Anthony Morse goes to the People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, and Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia, telling the story of Chinese overseas medical aid via two doctors, who have nearly 30 years of overseas medical aid experiences.

In 1990, Dr Qiao Shihui went to Niger, West Africa from the People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and started his first overseas medical aid trip there at the age of 39, according to a statement.

From October 1990 to November 2012, he went five times to Africa, worked nearly 13 years at many places including Niger Capital Hospital, Zinder National Second Hospital, Maradi Provincial Central Hospital and Comoros Capital Hospital.

Meanwhile, Dr Zeng Siming is another doctor who brings hope and spreads bright and friendship in the documentary. He began volunteering for medical aid missions since 1996, and his footprints have spread across Niger, Comoros and Cambodia.

Dr Zeng joined the ‘Belt and Road’ plan of eliminating cataract that causes blindness in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. Zeng and his team members have completed more than 6,200 cataract surgeries in Cambodia within two years.

According to statistics, it has been 57 years since China sent its first overseas medical team to Algeria in 1963. Over the years, China has sent overseas medical teams to 71 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Oceania.

— BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Firetinas thermal scanner has broken the track record of infrared temperature measurement by 0.1 degree precision in a GRG Metrology & Test laboratory report.

Firetinas thermal scanner has developed the first built-in dual blackbody to reach high temperature precision, measuring and adjusting temperature 100 times every second at 0.01 degree.

According to a statement, Firetinas has also built in a six core CPU and four core GPU plus a NPU with three trillion calculation capacity every second. 

That is why Firetinas measures over 30 people’s temperature simultaneously. Its unique distance compensation algorithm extends the measurement distance up to 10 metres.

Firetinas thermal scanner is developed by a group of scientists from the United Kingdom and it is now widely used in schools, hospitals and terminals in the USA, Australia, Italy and China. 

Firetinas is looking for local distributors overseas. More details at http://www.firetinas.com 

— BERNAMA

SAN DIEGO, May 27 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Crown Bioscience today announced the expansion of their unique organoid platform with the addition of 130 Hubrecht Organoid Technology (HUB) patient-derived organoids (PDO). This marks a significant milestone in the development of CrownBio’s innovative organoid platform and the first, large-scale commercial availability of HUB PDO for oncology drug discovery services.

Organoid technologies are transforming oncology drug development and disrupting the traditionally followed workflows. CrownBio holds an exclusive license from HUB to provide preclinical oncology drug development and validation services using world-leading HUB Organoid Technology, originally developed by the Clevers lab.

“Organoid models will revolutionize the way preclinical oncology research is performed,” said Henry Li, PhD, chief scientific officer at CrownBio. “Using organoids, drug screening will evolve from current linear workflows to a matrixed high throughput screening approach, allowing lead candidates to be tested simultaneously across multiple patient populations in an easily scalable and clinically-relevant model system.”

The newly available models join CrownBio’s established and ever-expanding platform of PDX-derived organoids (PDXO). PDXO are generated using HUB protocols to derive tumor organoids from CrownBio’s PDX collection, which is the world’s largest commercially available panel of PDX. The complementary panels of patient and PDX-derived organoids, alongside parental PDX models, provide the opportunity to change the way drug discovery is conducted.

The combined collection of in vitro and in vivo patient-derived models are clinically relevant and predictive, and the matched model pairs offer a more efficient and informed transition from in vitro to in vivo studies to help reduce the currently high attrition rates of anticancer agents.

“I am delighted to see the HUB Organoid biobank becoming available to the wider research community for oncology drug discovery,” said Rob Vries, PhD, chief executive officer of HUB. “Our partnership with CrownBio is continuing to equip pharmaceutical and biotech companies with the cutting-edge models needed to transform their anticancer agent development programs.”

Benefits of the newly available PDO models include the availability of non-malignant, healthy tissue-derived organoids. This enables PDO studies to be well controlled for studying compound toxicity and therapeutic windows, including matched tissue controls.

The new models cover the important indications of breast, colon, lung, and pancreatic cancer and are directly derived from European patients. The collection includes PDO from primary and metastatic lesions, multiple lesions from the same patient to capture intra-patient heterogeneity, as well as both healthy and tumor organoids.

CrownBio’s organoid platform is available to clients globally. The newly acquired PDO models have completed transfer to CrownBio. They are available for client studies immediately for efficacy and potency evaluation, combination strategy optimization, and lead candidate selection.

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