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PREVIOUS
GRANTS
 1997
GRANT
NATIONAL GARDENING ASSOCIATION
$20,000
COMPLETED IN 1998, A
COMPREHENSIVE NEWSLETTER WAS CREATED ON THE HISTORY, RESEARCH AND
MEDICINAL USES OF ALOE VERA.
THIS GRANT SUPPORTED AND
FUNDED THE PRODUCTION OF THE
“THE WONDERS OF ALOE”,
A NEWSLETTER WHICH PROVIDED CLASSROOM INFORMATION AND EXPERIMENTS FOR
STUDENTS TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE WONDERS OF ALOE.
DISTRIBUTED TO OVER 20,000
TEACHERS (KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 8TH GRADE), THE NEWSLETTER CONTAINED
VARIOUS SCHOOL PROJECTS THAT ASSISTED THE TEACHERS IN LESSON PLANNING.
STUDENTS LEARNED ABOUT
HERBAL REMEDIES AND HOW THEY CAN BE USED FOR SELF CARE. THE NEWSLETTER
CALLED
“THE WONDERS OF ALOE”
TOUCHED THE LIVES OF OVER HALF A MILLION.
THE NATIONAL GARDENING
ASSOCIATION IS LOCATED IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT.
 1998
GRANT
AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL
$10,000
THE AMERICA BOTANICAL
COUNCIL PROPOSAL WAS APPROVED BY THE ALOE INSTITUTE FOR “THE ALOE
EDUCATION BOOKLET PROJECT.”
 THE
PROJECTS OBJECTIVE WAS TO PRODUCE EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AS WELL AS
RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH AND LITERATURE REVIEWS. THE RESULT WAS THE
CREATION OF A BOTANICAL BOOKLET OF ALOE VERTA WHICH WAS DISTRIBUTED
THROUGH A VARIETY OF NETWORKS.
THE FINAL DOCUMENT WAS
INCLUDED IN THE JOURNAL HERBAL GRAM, AS WELL AS USED IN SALES TO
INDUSTRY, RETAILERS, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, JOURNALISTS AND CONSUMERS.
1999 GRANT
RESEARCH - INTERNATIONAL ALOE SCIENCE COUNCIL
$5,000
THE INTERNATIONAL ALOE
SCIENCE COUNCIL GRANT PROPOSAL WAS APPROVED AND THE PROJECT COMMENCED
IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1999. THE PROJECTS OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE
THE ALOE COMMUNITY WITH CLAIMS LABELING GUIDANCE WITH THE FOOD AND
DRUG ADMINISTRATIONS APPROVAL. THIS OUTCOME OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE
HELPFUL FOR BOTH INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AND CONSUMERS
2000 GRANT
DR. ROBERT SIEGEL
BASIC MECHANISMS OF ALOE GLYCO BIOLOGY
$2,500.00
THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WAS
TO TRACE THE FUNCTIONS OF CARBOHYDRATES THROUGH PATHWAYS OF OUR
COMPLETE IMMUNE SYSTEM. THIS RESEARCH EXAMINED KEY STUDIES AND
PRINCIPLES OF GLYCOBIOLOGY AND WILL FOCUS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF
SACCHARIDE MOLECULES WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN SPECIFIC ALOE PLANT
SPECIES. TRACING THESE PATHWAYS PROVIDED A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF
SUPPORTING IMMUNITY THOUGHT THE BASIC MECHANISMS OF GLYCO BIOLOGY.
THE ANTICIPATED RESULTS
WOULD BE OF GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF MANNANS IN PARTICULAR IN
CARBOHYDRATES IN GENERAL AND CAN OFFER ANSWERS NEVER BEFORE AVAILABLE
IN HEALTHCARE. NEVER BEFORE HAS THE TREATMENT OF ILLNESS BEEN SO
LIMITED TO THE TREATMENT OF SYMPTOMS RATHER THAN THE CURING. THIS
STUDY WILL CLARIFY THE ROLE OF CARBOHYDRATES AND THE VALUE OF NATURAL
PLANT MOLECULES, ESSENTIAL TO THE DEFENSE OF OUR BODIES.
2001 GRANT
DR JOE VINSON
BIOAVAILABILITY
$5000
THE BEGINNING STUDY IN
THIS GRANT IS TO SEE WHAT EFFECT T ALOE HAS ON THE HUMAN ABSORPTION OF
VITAMIN C AND E, POPULAR VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS.
THE STUDY WAS PERFORMED BY
DR. JOE VINSON WITH THE SCRANTON UNIVERSITY.
THIS STUDY TOOK SINGLE
STRENGTH ALOE VERA GEL (LIQUID) AND WHOLE LEAF (LIQUID). THE SUBJECTS
TOOK BOTH VITAMINS C AND E. SUBJECTS TOOK VITAMINS C AND E WITH ALOE
AND THE OTHERS TOOK VITAMIN C AND E WITH WATER.
ALL SUBJECTS WERE
CAREFULLY SCREENED HEALTH WISE, WHICH INCLUDED ONE-HALF MEN AND
ONE-HALF WOMEN. AGE PARAMETERS WERE OBSERVED WITH LIMITATIONS.
ALL SUBJECTS CONSUMED FAT
FREE BAGELS AT THE PROPER TIME. PLASMA AND URINE SAMPLES WERE TAKEN TO
THE TEST THE BIOAVAILABILITY OF BOTH C AND E. THE TESTS REFLECTED
WHETHER THE VITAMINS WERE UTILIZED SHOWING UP IN THE PLASMA AND PASSED
THROUGH WITH THE URINE.
THE TESTS WERE REMARKABLE
IN BOTH TYPES OF ALOE, ABOUT 3 TIMES MORE BENEFICIAL WHEN ALOE IS USED
TO TAKE THE VITAMINS IN PLACE OF WATER.
ONE VITAMIN WAS A LITTLE BETTER WITH ONE TYPE OF ALOE, BUT BOTH WERE
APPROXIMATELY 3 TIMES MORE BENEFICIAL WITH ALOE OVER ONLY WATER.
BOTH THE GEL AND THE WHOLE
LEAF ALOE IMPROVED THE ABSORPTION OF VITAMIN E AND PROLONGED ITS
PLASMA CONCENTRATION, ESPECIALLY AFTER 8 HOURS.
FOR VITAMIN C, THE ALOE
GEL WAS ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE IN SLOWING DOWN AND INCREASING THE
ABSORPTION OF ASCORBATE. IT PROLONGED ITS PLASMA CONCENTRATION, EVEN
FOR 24 HOURS.
THIS STUDY PROVED THAT IT
IS NECESSARY TO CONTINUE THESE TESTS USING ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS FOR A
MORE DEFINED OUTCOME.
THE ALOE INSTITUTE HAS
PROMISED THE INTERNATIONAL ALOE SCIENCE COUNCIL TO COVER OVER 50% OF
THE COST OF ANOTHER EXPANDED STUDY ON ALOE AND VITAMIN C AND E. THIS
STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED IN 2005-2006 AND RESULTS WILL BE INCLUDED ON
THIS WEBSITE.
 2002-2004
IN-VIVO EFFECTS OF ALOE - EMODIN ON NUDE MICE
DR. MILDRED DUNCAN GLIOMA XENOGRAFTS
2002-$20,000
2003-$25,000
2004-$20,000
IN APRIL 2002, THE ALOE
INSTITUTE EMBARKED ON A LONG TERM ALOE/CANCER PROJECT WITH AN
EXPERIENCED DOCTOR AND RESEARCHER, DR. MILDRED ACEVEDO-DUNCAN, LOCATED
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA IN TAMPA.
DR. ACEVEDO-DUNCAN
BELIEVES A SUBSTANCE IN THE YELLOW ALOE SAP, ALOE-EMODIN, MAY HAVE
PROPERTIES THAT WILL SELECTIVELY KILL BRAIN TUMOR CANCER CELLS WITHOUT
HARMING GOOD BRAIN CELLS.
NOW WITH OVER ONE YEAR IN
HER RESEARCH, THE RESULTS ARE VERY EXCITING AND SHE IS REPEATING THE
EXPERIMENT AT LEAST THREE MORE TIMES WITH U-37M6 GLIOMA (BRAIN CANCER)
CELLS AND NORMAL SV6 BRAIN CELLS.
DR. ACEVEDO-DUNCAN IS ALSO
REINVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF ALOE-EMODIN ON PROTEIN KINASE C
ACTIVITY IN U-373MG GLIOMA CELLS AND NORMAL BRAIN CELLS WHEN APPLIED.
 WITH
THIS LONG TERM PROJECT, PERHAPS 4-5 YEARS, THE ALOE INSTITUTE MAY
CONTINUE ITS GRANTS TO DR. ACEVEDO-DUNCAN AS HER EXPERIMENTS CONTINUE
TO PRODUCE PROMISING RESULTS.
2004-CONTINUED SUPPORTING
THE BRAIN CANCER WORK OF DR. MILDRED DUNCAN AND SHE CONTINUES TO FIND
POSITIVE RESULTS ON HER WORK WITH ALOE EMODIN. THE RESULTS ARE
POSITIVE ENOUGH TO BEGIN ADDITIONAL STUDIES.
  2004
GRANT
DR. IVAN DANHOF
ALOE AND DIABETES STUDY
$5,500.00
THE ALOE INSTITUTE
PROVIDED A SMALL ASSISTANCE TO DR. DANHOF ON HIS PIONEERING STUDY OF
HOW DRINKING ALOE JUICE CAN HELP REDUCE BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS IN DIABETIC
PATIENTS.
2006
GRANT
Research - Vitamin C and B12 Bioavailability
study with Aloe vera
$30,000.00
HUMAN STUDY FINDS THAT ALOE VERA ENHANCES BIOAVAILABILITY OF
VITAMINS B12 AND C AND ORAC AMONG MATURE ADULTS
IRVING, TX - ALOE VERA IS
A POWERFUL COMPLEMENT TO OTHER SUPPLEMENTS, ENHANCING THEIR
ABSORBANCE AND EFFECTS, ACCORDING TO A RECENT BIOAVAILABILITY STUDY1.
BOTH ALOE VERA VERA GEL AND WHOLE LEAF ALOE WERE TESTED IN THE
RANDOMIZED CROSS-OVER TRIAL, WITH THE GEL DEMONSTRATING THE
STRONGEST RESULTS IN PROMOTING THE ABSORBANCE OF VITAMINS C AND B12.
IT ONLY TOOK ONE OUNCE OF ALOE TO HAVE SUBSTANTIAL EFFECTS IN
ENHANCING THE ABSORPTION OF A 500MG DOSE OF VITAMIN C AND 1MG DOSE
OF B12.
ALOE PROLONGED PLASMA
LEVELS OF THOSE VITAMINS, STRETCHING THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OUT OVER
A GREATER LENGTH OF TIME WHEN COMPARED TO THE PLACEBO. ALOE
VERA ALSO PROMOTED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE ANTIOXIDANT
POTENTIAL OF THE PLASMA, WITH ORAC RATINGS PARTICULARLY HIGH AFTER 4
HOUR AND REMAINING HIGH EVEN AFTER 24 HOURS. PRESENTING THE
RESEARCH, DR. SRIDEVI DEVARAJ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT UC DAVIS,
LABORATORY FOR ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND METABOLIC RESEARCH COMMENTED,
"IT'S CLEAR THAT CONSUMING ALOE VERA ALONG WITH VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS
WOULD BE BENEFICIALLY AMONG POPULATIONS FOR WHOM B12 DEFICIENCY IS
AN ISSUE, SUCH AS THE ELDERLY." BASED ON THIS STUDY'S RESULTS,
ALOE VERA MAY BE CONSIDERED AS AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO GETTING THE
MOST OUT OF ANY VITAMIN SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM.
THE UC DAVIS STUDY WAS
PRESENTED AT THE EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY CONVENTION IN WASHINGTON DC IN
APRIL OF THIS YEAR AND HAS RENEWED DIALOGUE ABOUT ALOE WITHIN THE
NATURAL PRODUCTS COMMUNITY. "THERE ARE SO MANY SURPRISING
BENEFITS OF ALOE VERA," SAID MR. GENE HALE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
THE INTERNATIONAL ALOE SCIENCE COUNCIL (IASC). "WE HOPE THIS
OPENS UP NEW PRODUCT IDEAS FOR BEVERAGE, FOOD AND SUPPLEMENT
MANUFACTURERS AND GETS INTO CONSUMERS' HANDS. THE POSITIVE
EFFECTS ARE BOUNDLESS FOR ANYONE WHO TAKES NUTRITIONAL PRODUCTS."
THE RECENT UC DAVIS STUDY
WAS SUPPORTED BY THE IASC (
www.iasc.org
) AND THE ALOE INSTITUTE (
www.thealoeinstitute.org ), HOPING TO BUILD ON PREVIOUS
RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON2 THAT HAD LOOKED
AT ALOE'S ABILITY TO ENHANCE THE BIOAVAILABILITY OF VITAMIN C AND E.
ESPECIALLY REMARKABLE BECAUSE OF THE FINDING THAT ALOE VERA ENHANCED
THE ABSORPTION OF BOTH FAT AND WATER-SOLUBLE COMPOUNDS, THE SCRANTON
STUDY HAD CONCLUDED, "ALOE VERA IS UNIQUE IN ITS ABILITY TO IMPROVE
THE ABSORPTION OF BOTH THESE VITAMINS AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS AN
ADJUNCT FOR PEOPLE WHO TAKE VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS." THE UC DAVIS
STUDY STRONGLY CONFIRMS THIS ASSERTION.
2008
GRANT
Foundation Fighting Blindness $68,000
The Aloe Institute supports cutting-edge retinal disease research
In October 2008, the Aloe Institute awarded a major grant to the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) to help support research to preserve, improve, and restore vision in millions of people worldwide who live with impaired vision or blindness, particularly those affected by age-related macular degeneration. Since its inception in 1971, FFB has raised and invested more than $350 million in support of its mission. This year the foundation is funding more than 130 research projects. Many seek to discover promising new therapies while others are being, or soon will be, assessed in human clinical trials. Nearly 25% of the more than $13 million in funding that FFB is providing this year is supporting research related to age-related macular degeneration, an area of particular importance to the Aloe Institute. The Institute’s funds are helping to advance progress in projects like the following:
- FFB and the National Eye Institute are providing funds to enable Neurotech Pharmaceutical Co. to complete a study to determine if a tiny capsule implanted in the eye can halt or reverse retinal degeneration in people with age-related macular degeneration. The device contains cells that sustainably release a protein called ciliary neurotrophic factor that preserves light-sensitive photoreceptor cells under laboratory conditions.
- A grant from FFB is enabling Dr. Johanna M. Seddon of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston to combine genetic information with information about age, disease status, smoking history, use of dietary supplements, and other factors that she can use to estimate the risk that people with age-related macular degeneration might develop the advanced form of the disease.
- With support from FFB, University of Iowa researcher Dr. Terry Braun recently identified a new gene that is associated with age-related macular degeneration. He also is finding that genes commonly associated with a specific retinal degenerative disease in one population group may rarely be associated with the same disease in another group.
- An FFB research grant is allowing Dr. Stephanie Hagstrom of the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland to characterize changes in genes associated with the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, information that is critical to determining how such changes may lead to disease onset or progression.
- At the University of California Irvine, Dr. Anne Calof is using her grant from FFB to explore the use of growth factors to reverse retinal degeneration, while Dr. Bärbel Rohrer of the Medical University of South Carolina is using her grant to screen thousands of potential drugs for their ability to preserve photoreceptors.
The Aloe Institute is proud to support key projects such as these and applauds recent advances that will lead to a better understanding of age-related macular degeneration and to the development of preventions, treatments, and cures for this vision-robbing disease. For more details about this exciting research, visit www.FightBlindness.org!
2009
GRANT
Foundation Fighting Blindness $70,000
The Aloe Institute extends its commitment to save and restore sight!
We have approved continued support for the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) to aid the foundation’s ongoing commitment to funding research to save and restore sight to over 10 million Americans. This grant will help to fund various research projects that may lead to the discovery and development of promising preventions, treatments, and cures for age-related macular degeneration. Such advances will make a tremendous difference not only to those affected by this devastating disease, but also to future generations of their families that also may be at risk for developing age-related macular degeneration.
The Aloe Institute’s commitment to the foundation is a reflection of FFB’s solid reputation as a leader in the field of retinal disease research, ability to attract top scientific talent, and ability to identify and fund high quality scientific projects, like those described below:
- In February 2009, Neurotech Pharmaceutical Co. announced that its high dose ciliary neurotrophic factor releasing implantable capsule slowed the progression of dry age-related macular degeneration in 96% of patients in a clinical study supported in part by FFB. The researchers found other measurable improvements in the retinas of treated patients.
- In a human clinical trial that was based on the results of previous studies funded by FFB, Sirion Therapeutics announced in March 2009 that the oral medication fenretinide substantially slowed the progression of damaging lesions due to geographic atrophy, the advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration.
- FFB-funded investigator Dr. Terry Braun of Iowa State University has gathered detailed genetic, clinical, and demographic data for 800 people with age-related macular degeneration and has obtained detailed retinal images from more than 500 of those individuals. This information is being analyzed to establish gene-disease relationships, and to identify subgroups of patients with shared gene changes and shared patterns of disease presentation.
- With a grant from FFB, Dr. Anne Calof of the University of California Irvine has found that altering the amounts of two different proteins in mice with an inherited retinal degenerative disease can result in regeneration of the damaged retinal cells during prenatal development. She is seeking to identify drugs that might be used to therapeutically adjust the amounts of each of these proteins that are present in the retina.
- At the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland, FFB grant recipient Dr. Stephanie Hagstrom tested 1,037 people with age-related macular degeneration and found six distinct changes in the PDN1 gene. One is weakly associated with risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, one is associated with protection against disease, and the others play minor roles relative to disease susceptibility.
The support of the Aloe Institute is helping to achieve significant advances in age-related macular degeneration research. By supporting diverse projects, the Institute is helping to set the stage for the development of safe and effective treatments. The value of this type of approach, which is a hall mark of FFB’s research program, is reflected by the recent, unprecedented success of an FFB-supported clinical trial of using gene therapy to restore vision to people with a specific type of retinal degenerative disease. For more information about this important new finding, which has profound implications for everyone affected by a retinal degenerative disease and their families, visit the Foundation Fighting Blindness web site
2010
GRANT
Foundation Fighting Blindness
Retinal Disease Research
Your support has aided the Foundation's ongoing commitment to funding research to save and restore sight to over 10 million Americans.
Our grant has helped fund various research projects that may lead to the discovery and development of promising preventions, treatments, and cures for age-related macular degeneration. Such advances will make a tremendous difference not only to those affected by this devastating disease, but also to future generations of their families that also may be at risk for developing age-related macular degenteration.
The Aloe Institute's commitment to the Foundation is a reflection of FFB's solid reputation as a leader in the field of retinal disease research, ability to attract top scientific talent, and ability to identify and fund high quality scientific projects.
- At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Joe Hollyfield has discovered a way to produce AMD-like changes in the retinas of lab mice. This breakthrough will help researchers in evaluating treatments in future AMD therapies.
- At the University of Dentistry and Medicine in New Jersey, Dr. Zarbin is developing ways to transplant retinal cells in mice with geographic atrophy, Dry AMD, and learning how to slow the rejection of the implanted cells.
- At the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Rohrer is developing a designer protein to block inflammation associated with capillary growth. Her work is pointing to a whole new approach to treating wet AMD.
- Also at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Hagstrom has isolated two genes that direct the production of proteins that participate in immune reactions. She has found that these genes most likely are affected by HDL in the blood!
- At Duke University, Dr. Katsan has confirmed that HDL could be related to the risk of developing AMD. His work will help scientists and clinicians be able to make better diagnoses of the disease.
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