Immune System News and Research

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Activities of TAT fully consolidated into Geron

Geron Corporation today announced that the activities of TA Therapeutics, its joint venture with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, are being fully consolidated into Geron.

15 Jul 2010

Scientists comment on two clinical trials that use Rituximab to treat small-vessel vasculitis

Two UNC School of Medicine faculty authored an editorial in the July 15, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine commenting on results from two clinical trials using the drug Rituximab to treat small-vessel vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease.

15 Jul 2010

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

Delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile of the first 1 million doses of the nation's first smallpox vaccine for certain immune-compromised populations is now complete, the result of a Project BioShield contract.

15 Jul 2010

NIH announces 5 more years of funding for Consortium of Food Allergy Research

Today, the National Institutes of Health announce that the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), established in 2005, will be funded for five more years. CoFAR will continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies and also expand in scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergy and studies of food allergy-associated eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs).

15 Jul 2010

UNC research to be presented at International AIDS Society conference

Dozens of UNC researchers are heading to Vienna, Austria to participate in the world's preeminent AIDS conference this week. The International AIDS Society conference brings together top scientists, advocates and government officials to discuss progress and chart a course for stemming the spread and impact of AIDS. Speakers including President Bill Clinton will address an estimated 25,000 attendees at this year's event.

15 Jul 2010

Aduro BioTech announces issuance of two important patents

Aduro BioTech, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, announced today the issuance of two important patents, the formation of a distinguished scientific advisory board, the addition of key members to its Board of Directors, and the reporting of preliminary top line long-term survival data from a Phase 1 clinical trial with 2 year follow-up.

15 Jul 2010

University of Louisville ophthalmology professor receives $60,000 RPB Special Scholar Award

Qingxian Lu, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has received the $60,000 William and Mary Greve Special Scholar Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) organization. The funds will go toward Lu's research in retinitis pigmentosa, a group of genetic disorders that can lead to night blindness, loss of peripheral vision and total blindness.

15 Jul 2010

Pennsylvanians should take steps to reduce exposure to mosquitoes, Secretary of Health advises

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reminds Pennsylvanians to take precautions to reduce exposure to mosquitoes as the season arrives for West Nile virus, or WNV, infections.

15 Jul 2010

Florida Medicaid recipients make fewer trips to doctors; Calif. payments to health clinics in jeopardy; Texas addresses nursing shortage

Northeast Florida's Medicaid recipients are making fewer trips to the doctor for chronic illnesses since state officials outsourced the government-subsidized health insurance program to private managed care companies. But it remains unclear from the analysis performed by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, whether they're healthier for it. Medicaid reform was launched in 2006 in Duval and Broward counties to test whether HMOs could rein in the state's Medicaid spending.

15 Jul 2010

Babies fed cow's milk in first 15 days of life are protected from dangerous allergies later on

Many doctors suggest that whole cow's milk be avoided in the early months of an infant's feeding. Lactation specialists go even further, counseling "mother's milk only" until baby starts eating solid food. But new research from Tel Aviv University says that mothers who feed their babies cow's milk in the first 15 days of life may be protecting their children from dangerous allergies later on.

15 Jul 2010

Summer campaign to combat crimes against fashion, dangerous sunburn

FASHION-LOVING Brits have denounced 'socks and sandals' as the ultimate summer fashion faux pas, in a poll released today (13th July) to celebrate the launch of 'Fashion Forecast' from Cancer Research UK's SunSmart campaign and fashion retailer ASOS.com, which provides tailored online fashion advice to help people be stylish while avoiding sunburn this summer.

14 Jul 2010

Scientists discover three human antibodies that neutralize HIV

Scientists have discovered three previously unknown human antibodies that neutralize HIV, two of which target a broad range of HIV strains. The findings, reported online July 8 in two Science papers, add a level of encouragement to the AIDS vaccine research field.

14 Jul 2010

New biological scaffolds will provide off-the-shelf tissue transplants

Professor John Fisher from The University of Leeds is speaking today (14 July) at the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting in Nottingham about his team's research into how biological scaffolding will pave the way for off- the-shelf tissue transplants.

14 Jul 2010

IAS announces recipients of CNIHR grants

The International AIDS Society today announced the recipients of its first joint research grant programme, Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research. CNIHR grants, funded in partnership with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the NIH-supported Centers for AIDS Research are designed to promote innovative research and new ideas from early stage investigators whose primary focus has previously been in fields of scientific inquiry other than HIV/ AIDS.

14 Jul 2010

Exposure to cigarette smoke can alter gene expression, study finds

In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have found that exposure to cigarette smoke can alter gene expression -- the process by which a gene's information is converted into the structures and functions of a cell. These alterations in response to smoking appear to have a wide-ranging negative influence on the immune system, and a strong involvement in processes related to cancer, cell death and metabolism.

14 Jul 2010

Improved delivery methods needed to advance gene therapy strategies for prostate cancer: Review

Improved delivery methods and better testing systems are needed to advance promising gene therapy strategies for treating prostate cancer, according to a series of review articles in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

14 Jul 2010

Study suggests protein interferon therapy for individuals with asthma

An immune-system protein already used to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and a variety of cancers might also aid asthma patients, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

14 Jul 2010

CWRU researchers discover biomarker for early warning of oral cancer

Detecting oral cancer in its earliest stages can save the lives of the nearly 40,500 people diagnosed annually. But early detection has been difficult.

14 Jul 2010

Susceptibility to Behcet's disease associated with genes involved in body's immune response

Researchers with the National Institutes of Health have found susceptibility to Behcet's disease, a painful, inflammatory condition, to be associated with genes involved in the body's immune response.

14 Jul 2010

Researchers investigate oral cancer, periodontal disease relationship

Today during the 88th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, in Barcelona, Spain, presenting author J. Meyle, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany, will present an abstract titled "P. gingivalis Infection and Immune Evasion of Oral Carcinomas."

14 Jul 2010