O p - E d Super Bowl matchup

cerns ahead of the Super Bowl Will Patrick Mahomes ankle stay in playable condition? Will Travis Kelce’s back act up? All these questions will have to be answered sooner than later For now though, the Chiefs can celebrate a well earned win They’ll be in their 3rd Super Bowl in the Mahomes era, and will have the experience advantage over some of the Eagles skill position players and coaches The Mahomes magic has been undeniable this season, and he’ll just need to pull off a few more tricks to get ring number 2

With two weeks until the Super Bowl, there will be plenty of time for storylines to develop and for teams to game plan Injuries will heal and bodies will get fresh for the biggest game in American sports

Superbugs need their own moonshot initiative

By Dr. Cynthia L. Sears and Dr. Fyza Yusuf Shaikh

As two physicians who have devoted our lives to studying cancer, we're thrilled with President Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative to halve the disease's death rate within 25 years But it won't achieve that goal unless we act on a lesser-known health crisis

For many cancer patients who die, their tumors aren't solely responsible Superbugs sicken these patients, who can't fight off infections due to weakened immune systems -- even with the help of antibiotics

Reducing deaths from cancer requires an equally aggressive strategy for defeating drug-resistant infections

It does not make sense to treat these two crises as separate It's already estimated that infections are a primary or associated cause of death in roughly 50% of cancer patients

Without an effort to neutralize the threat posed by superbugs, these deadly infections will disrupt any progress we make in the fight against cancer

Superbugs are bacteria and fungi that have developed antimicrobial resistance- a naturally occurring defense against the drugs used to kill them

We've seen firsthand how cancer patients are vulnerable to these deadly infections

Time and again, we've watched as patients fighting cancer developed bacterial infections that were highly resistant to antibiotics

Superbugs can prove fatal for our patients The risk of someone with cancer dying from an infection is three times higher than the risk for an individual without cancer

A drug-resistant infection may also force a cancer patient to halt their treatment A young woman with a drug-resistant ab- dominal infection might not get the bone marrow transplant she needs to cure her leukemia For patients undergoing chemotherapy, an infection can delay their treatment while the cancer continues to grow, leading to complications and worse health outcomes

In short, for cancer patients, the superbug crisis isn't some far-off threat -- it's a present mortal danger

Unfortunately, the pipeline for new antibiotics is nowhere near what is needed At present, there are 64 therapies in clinical development To put that in perspective, there are more than 1,000 drugs in development for cancer

Because antibiotics are meant to be used judiciously to preserve their effectiveness, it's essentially impossible for companies to earn back the money they've invested in researching and developing those medicines using typical sales

It's for this reason that antibiotic startups have declared bankruptcy or left the indus-

Stater Br os. Charities Awards Lutheran Social Ser vices $2500

Community News

Lutheran Social Services of Southern California (LSSSC)

- a leading provider of social services programs in Southern California – is proud to announce grant funding from Stater Bros Charities in the amount of $2500

Funding from Stater Bros was made in conjunction with a continued partnership with Lutheran Social Services that addresses hunger relief Their financial support will provide food pantry services and community meals to low-income households and over 500 men in LSSSC’s emergency shelter program in the city of San Bernardino

LSSSC CEO Dr LaSharnda Beckwith said, “We are so grateful to Stater Bros for their continued financial support and shared vision of providing comprehensive community services to ad-

Try In Recent Years

This market failure demands reforms

The PASTEUR Act would create a system in which the government purchases a "subscription" for access to new antibiotics, instead of paying per dose PASTEUR would pay for the value of these medicines rather than their volume, giving companies the return on investment they depend on

The fight against cancer is poised to make enormous strides in the coming years Yet without an equally energetic effort to beat back superbugs, too many cancer patients will still lose their lives

Cynthia L Sears is an infectious diseases physician and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Fyza Yusuf Shaikh is an oncologist and assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine This piece originally ran in the Baltimore Sun

*These are not the views of IECN dress hunger for low-income families and the unhoused communities in San Bernardino ”

Stater Bros Charities supports the critical needs in the communities where Stater Bros employees live and work Their support spans funding to countless local organizations and causes that benefit hunger relief, children’s well-being, education, health, help for the nation’s veterans and active service members

Licensed in six counties, Lutheran Social Services provides services in the areas of homelessness, systemic poverty, food insecurity, mental health, health inequity, education access, and senior health

For more information about Lutheran Social Services Southern California visit, www lsssc org

Highland Chamber of Commerce Community Awards r ecognizes top fir efighter and police of ficer s in the City

By Manny Sandoval

The Highland Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual Community Awards and Installation Dinner on January 19th at the Elks Lodge in San Bernardino

The top awards of the night recognized Highland Fire Department’s and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians’ (SMBMI) firefighter of the year, along with Highland Police Department’s police officer of the year

“Our public safety professionals contribute so much to the safety of our community Highland is truly a better place because of you,” said Chamber President Gail Shelton

Highland Fire Department’s Zachary Hunter was honored as the 2022 Firefighter of the Year and the 2022 San Manuel Firefighter of the Year was awarded to Zachary Hunter

To round out the public safety professionals, Highland Police Department’s Deputy Charlie Lopez was recognized as the 2022 Police Officer of the Year

Another notable award that was presented was the 2022 Citizen of the Year, which was awarded to Mayor Pro Tem Penny Lilburn, who joked, “You know what they say, never give a politician a microphone We do not stop talking ”

She proceeded to thank the 120 person audience and reaffirmed her commitment to serving the City via her

State Tr easur er Fiona Ma announces Loma Linda Univer sity Childr en’s Hospital awarded $135 million in g rant funding

Community News

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma announced today that Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) was awarded $135 million in grant funding through the Children’s Hospital Bond Act of 2018 The grant of voterapproved bond funds was awarded by the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA), which is chaired by Treasurer Ma

"CHFFA approved $135 million in grant funding to support a significant expansion in access to care for critically ill and vulnerable children in San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo, and Mono counties," said Treasurer Ma "Building on a previous CHFFA award to support expansion of a new Children’s Tower at Loma Linda, these funds will make a life-saving difference and improve health equity in our state by making quality care available to a population that is a majority Medi-Cal patients "

The CHFFA award will be used to fund six major LLUCH projects that expand the hospital’s capacity to serve children in the four-county region with both physical and mental health care, modernize critical infrastructure, and keep LLUCH on the cutting edge of care The projects to be funded are the following:

Construction of a new pediatric Medical Office Building, which will house 23 existing subspecialty clinics under one roof, with an increased number of exam rooms, allowing LLUCH to see approximately 15,000 additional pediatric patients annually Expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which will add nine single-bed NICU rooms at LLUCH and increase capacity to serve an additional 150 NICU patients annually

Relocation and expansion of the Pediatric Oncology and Infusion Center, which will increase the number of pediatric infusion chairs, exam rooms and infusion beds, and will allow LLUCH to go from completing 9,000 infusions annually to 11,700

Renovation of the pediatric Operating Rooms that are over 30 years old The new equipment and renovation materials to be used will both improve quality outcomes for patients as well as decrease cleaning time between surgeries and will allow LLUCH to serve approximately 250 more pediatric patients annually

Addition of a new 48-bed pediatric Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, which will provide intensive care treatment in a safe and controlled environment and expects to have 2,615 admissions annually Reimbursement of eligible pediatric equipment including, but not limited to, a surgical robot used for pediatric minimally invasive surgeries, allowing the performance of surgeries with greater accuracy and precision

Through CHFFA’s Children’s Hospital Programs, LLUCH was awarded a total of $172 9 million to construct the new Children’s Hospital Tower at the new Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus and to purchase various pediatric equipment

The Children's Hospital Bond Act of 2018, passed by California voters on November 6, 2018, permitted the State of California to issue $1 5 billion in general obligation bonds to fund the Children’s Hospital Program of 2018

The purpose of the program is to improve the health and welfare of California’s critically ill children by providing a stable and ready source of funds for capital improvement projects for children’s hospitals CHFFA aims to help vulnerable pediatric populations by expanding access to healthcare, inspiring healthcare improvements, and promoting pediatric teaching and research programs seat on the city council and position as executive director with the Highland Senior Center

Along with SMBMI’s Business Committee Secretary Audrey Martinez and Assemblymember James Ramos’ Field Representative Anais Franco, was San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe

Rowe conducted the installation of the Chamber ’s new 2023 board of directors, which included IECN’s Manny Sandoval, SMBMI’s Robin Alcantara-Carcano, San Bernardino Symphony Association’s Dr Anne Viricel, and Redlands Unified School District’s Sara Burton

To learn more about the Highland Area Chamber of Commerce, visit highlandchamber org