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INSERM researchers engineer a chimeric protein that improves stem cell engraftment

Researchers at INSERM (France) have engineered a chimeric protein that increases cell survival, migration and proliferation to improve stem cell engraftment. The results, which appear in the September 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, show that TAT-Tpr-Met, a cell permeable form of the hepatocyte growth factor receptor can increase the number of hepatic stem cells integrated into the liver of the mouse.

24 Aug 2009

National campaign to educate people with developmental disabilities about protection from germs

The Tech-Aid Institute, http://www.techaidinstitute.com, is launching a national campaign to educate people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities about how to protect themselves from germs that include the 2009 flu pandemic that is commonly known as the Swine (H1N1) Flu.

24 Aug 2009

UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging awarded $1.9 million NIH ARRA grant

UCLA researchers have received 80 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) grants totaling $19.4 million from the National Institutes of Health thus far. UCLA's largest NIH ARRA grant to date was $1.9 million, awarded to UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI), which is dedicated to creating scientific approaches to mapping how the brain is structured and how it works.

24 Aug 2009

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Reflection and Reaction piece says while PEPFAR's "investment of over US$228 million into Mozambique in 2008 alone" resulted in "an exponential increase in the number of people on" ARVs and boosted prevention programs, "[t]here is more money available for HIV/AIDS than can reasonably be spent, especially given Mozambique's poor infrastructure and large geographical area. Unfortunately, one side-effect has been an associated increase in corruption." To maximize aid money and limit corruption, "careful and creative resource management will be needed," the author concludes (Johnson, 9/09).

24 Aug 2009

Scientists to discuss effective treatments for serious diseases at Functional Genomics/Chemical Biology conference

A cure for cystic fibrosis, HIV-fighting 'Trojan horses', new pharmaceuticals from the ocean. Chemical biologists use new and innovative approaches to discover medications of the future. On 24 August, some of the field's most prominent researchers will attend an international conference in Gothenburg, Sweden.

24 Aug 2009

WHO recommends against using homeopathic treatments for HIV, TB, malaria, influenza, infant diarrhea

The WHO has warned that people with conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the BBC reports. The agency was responding to a June letter (full text available here), in which researchers from the Voice of Young Science Network called on the agency "to condemn the promotion of homeopathy for treating TB, infant diarrhoea, influenza, malaria and HIV."

23 Aug 2009

Nutra Pharma launches Cobroxin for chronic pain relief

Nutra Pharma Corp. (OTCBB: NPHC), a biotechnology company that is developing treatments for Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), HIV and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), has announced today that it has launched an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever, Cobroxin, for the treatment of Stage 2 (moderate to severe) chronic pain.

21 Aug 2009

Condom Olympics event to select an ambassador from Miss Universe contestants to spread messages about HIV prevention

The Miss Universe contestants continued preparations for Sunday night's pageant by competing today in the Condom Olympics - tossing water-filled condoms to test their strength and playing "Wild Fire Infection" games that demonstrate the serious side of HIV infection.

21 Aug 2009

New discovery on cellular fusion

Success in soccer sometimes comes with "bending it like Beckham." Success in cellular fusion - as occurs at the moment of conception and when nerve cells exchange neurotransmitters - requires that a membrane be bent before the merging process can begin, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have shown.

20 Aug 2009

NYT Magazine interviews Clinton on global women's issues

The New York Times Magazine, as part of a special issue that focuses on women worldwide, published an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who "staked her claim as an advocate for global women's issues in 1995, when, as first lady, she gave an impassioned speech at a United Nations conference in Beijing." The interview was conducted ahead of her 11-day, seven country tour of Africa.

20 Aug 2009

Cambodia's maternal mortality; drugs in Uganda; cholera risk in Zimbabwe; HIV laws in Niger

A lack of outreach by public health officials and rural villagers' preference for traditional midwives have hindered efforts to reduce maternal morality in Cambodia, government officials said recently at regional conference, the Phnom Penh Post reports.

20 Aug 2009

Chemical components of elderberry, cinnamon and green tea extracts block HIV viruses from infecting cells

The development of new antiviral drugs has had a tremendous impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, as the drugs effectively disrupt the replication cycle of the HIV virus. Yet the regular use of those drugs - such as zidovudine (also known as azidothymidine or AZT), protease inhibitors, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) involving multidrug therapies - has led to resistant HIV strains.

20 Aug 2009

Shape-changing in proteins opens new avenue for drug discovery

Computational biologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have shown that proteins have an intrinsic ability to change shape, and this is required for their biological activity. This shape-changing also allows the small molecules that are attracted to a given protein to select the structure that permits the best binding. That premise could help in drug discovery and in designing compounds that will have the most impact on protein function to better treat a host of diseases.

20 Aug 2009

Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

Some HIV-positive people in Uganda "cannot be put on the national antiretroviral [ARV] programme because it is already saturated and funds for new patients are not available," the Independent reports. According to the newspaper, roughly 360,000 HIV-positive Ugandans are eligible for antiretroviral treatment because their CD4 counts are below the WHO's threshold of 350; however, about half of them currently do not have access to ARVs.

20 Aug 2009

Inovio Biomedical records $2.9 million revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2009

Inovio Biomedical Corporation (NYSE AMEX: INO) (“Inovio”) today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009. Total revenue of $2.5 million and $2.9 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009, compared to $663,000 and $1.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008, respectively.

20 Aug 2009

Nurses and clinical officers in Africa know when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy

Nurses and clinical officers (non-physician clinicians, NPCs) are capable of determining when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Human Resources for Health suggest that this should ease the strain on overstretched doctors in sub-Saharan Africa and thereby help increase access to antiretroviral therapy, particularly in rural areas.

19 Aug 2009

The Gambia introduces pneumococcal immunisation programme

The Gambia, Minister of Health Dr. Mariatou Jallow administered the first dose of the pneumococcal vaccine to Gambian children at a rural clinic outside Banjul today. Joined by the Gambia’s Vice President, Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Dr. Jallow and hundreds of Gambian citizens celebrated this historic event, which marks the first step in the rollout of the Gambia’s national pneumococcal immunisation programme.

19 Aug 2009

U.S. Food and Drug Administration launches new Center for Tobacco Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched its new Center for Tobacco Products in an historic effort to curb the hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by those products each year.

19 Aug 2009

U.S. FDA approval of miconazole MBT represents a significant milestone for Strativa Pharmaceuticals

Strativa Pharmaceuticals, the proprietary products division of a wholly owned subsidiary of Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. (NYSE: PRX), today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the new drug application (NDA) for miconazole Lauriad((R)) mucoadhesive buccal tablets (MBT) to treat oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC).

19 Aug 2009

Discovery of mechanism that allows hepatitis C virus to remain in the body for decades

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that the virus blocks the actions of a specific ion channel in the cell membrane that would usually trigger apoptosis - the cell's self-destruct programme - and in doing so, has evolved another way of protecting itself from being eliminated from the body.

19 Aug 2009

HIV News and Research

INSERM researchers engineer a chimeric protein that improves stem cell engraftment

National campaign to educate people with developmental disabilities about protection from germs

UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging awarded $1.9 million NIH ARRA grant

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

Scientists to discuss effective treatments for serious diseases at Functional Genomics/Chemical Biology conference

WHO recommends against using homeopathic treatments for HIV, TB, malaria, influenza, infant diarrhea

Nutra Pharma launches Cobroxin for chronic pain relief

Condom Olympics event to select an ambassador from Miss Universe contestants to spread messages about HIV prevention

New discovery on cellular fusion

NYT Magazine interviews Clinton on global women's issues

Cambodia's maternal mortality; drugs in Uganda; cholera risk in Zimbabwe; HIV laws in Niger

Chemical components of elderberry, cinnamon and green tea extracts block HIV viruses from infecting cells

Shape-changing in proteins opens new avenue for drug discovery

Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

Inovio Biomedical records $2.9 million revenues in the six months ended June 30, 2009

Nurses and clinical officers in Africa know when a person should receive antiretroviral therapy

The Gambia introduces pneumococcal immunisation programme

U.S. Food and Drug Administration launches new Center for Tobacco Products

U.S. FDA approval of miconazole MBT represents a significant milestone for Strativa Pharmaceuticals

Discovery of mechanism that allows hepatitis C virus to remain in the body for decades

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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