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USAID's Shah discusses progress in post-earthquake Haiti on NPR's Talk of the Nation

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Thursday appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation to discuss rebuilding efforts in Haiti two years after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

13 Jan 2012

Scientists identify chemical signals that promote aggregation in roundworms

Scientists have long seen evidence of social behavior among many species of animals, both on the earth and in the sea. Dolphins frolic together, lions live in packs, and hornets construct nests that can house a large number of the insects. And, right under our feet, it appears that nematodes-also known as roundworms-are having their own little gatherings in the soil. Until recently, it was unknown how the worms communicate to one another when it's time to come together.

13 Jan 2012

Eating out without gaining too much weight

According to a new study eating out does not necessarily have to mean consuming large portions of high-calorie foods and becoming obese.

12 Jan 2012

Orange juice fungicide contamination scare

The United States has temporarily halted shipments of imported orange juice from all countries and said it would destroy or ban products containing even low levels of a banned fungicide.

12 Jan 2012

Human health depends on mosquito's immune response to pathogens

As mosquito-borne viral diseases like West Nile fever, dengue fever, and chikungunya fever spread rapidly around the globe, scientists at Virginia Tech are working to understand the mosquito's immune system and how the viral pathogens that cause these diseases are able to overcome it to be transmitted to human and animal hosts.

11 Jan 2012

Canadians aren't consuming sufficient fruits and vegetables, Concordia study finds

Adults from 30 to 60 years old, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, aren't consuming the daily recommended levels of fruits and vegetables. Quebecers, however, eat more of nature's produce than their fellow Canadians.

11 Jan 2012

Nutrition, agricultural development programs improving lives of poor Hondurans

In this post in the U.S. Department of State's "DipNote" blog, Ertharin Cousin, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies in Rome, examines how improved nutrition and agricultural development are helping to bring Hondurans out of poverty and hunger.

10 Jan 2012

New Zealand life science and health IT companies to showcase their products in San Francisco

New Zealand is well known for its wines and stunning scenery, but the country is also a great source of innovation in the life sciences. A delegation of New Zealand life sciences companies who have reached key stages in their development are joining the throngs of international therapeutics, medical device and health IT companies in San Francisco, January 9 - 12 to showcase their products and capabilities to potential corporate partners and investors.

7 Jan 2012

Moving FAO forward with sights on hunger eradication

Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece, My top priority for 2012 will be to make a renewed push towards achieving the first millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people living in hunger and extreme poverty by 2015, but also to look beyond it, to the final, total eradication of hunger from this planet.

7 Jan 2012

New FAO head says agency will increase support to countries experiencing prolonged food crises

The new head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Director-General José Graziano da Silva, began work on January 1, "pledging on Tuesday to increase the agency's support to poor countries experiencing prolonged food crises," the U.N. News Centre reports.

5 Jan 2012

Hormone Adiponectin linked to dementia in women: Study

New research has shown that there may be a possible connection between a hormone found in body fat and the risk of dementia, adding to the growing evidence on the potential link between the condition and diabetes.

3 Jan 2012

Increase in human activity threatens natural aquatic ecosystems in Tanzania

An increase in human activity is posing a threat to natural aquatic ecosystems in Tanzania and contributing to environmental damage and ecological changes. Doctoral research carried out by Hezron Emmanuel Nonga shows that agriculture and livestock farming leads to eutrophication in lakes and the proliferation of cyanobacteria which produce microcystins.

29 Dec 2011

President Obama to provide federal funding for Alzheimer's programs

As the world's leading voluntary health organization advocating for Alzheimer's care, support and research, the Alzheimer's Association is pleased that Congress and President Obama have responded to calls by the Alzheimer's Association on behalf of people with Alzheimer's disease, caregivers, health professionals and researchers, to provide federal funding for several programs critical to the Alzheimer's community.

26 Dec 2011

Five weight loss tips for the New Year

With the new year right around the corner, many will be thinking about their New Year's resolution. One of the most popular - losing weight - can also be one of the most difficult to keep. But researchers at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education (CORE) work year-round to study the treatment and prevention of obesity.

22 Dec 2011

UC Davis professor monitors world's hot spots for signs of emerging diseases

It's not a matter of if a worldwide pandemic will strike but when, say experts like veterinarian and epidemiologist Jonna Mazet, a professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology in the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. That's why Mazet, who leads an early warning pandemic system called PREDICT, monitors the world's hot spots, or "hot interfaces" for signs of emerging diseases.

21 Dec 2011

U.S. to work with South Sudan on agriculture; Aid agencies warn of hunger threat

"Speaking at a two-day development and investment conference for South Sudan in Washington, D.C., [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton said the newly independent country had the potential to be 'one of Africa's breadbaskets'" and said the U.S. would work with private sector partners to invest in the nation's agriculture system, the Guardian reports.

20 Dec 2011

Yissum introduces novel technology for manufacturing an anti-malaria drug in tobacco

Combating malaria is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals described in the United Nations Millennium Declaration signed by all UN members at the year 2000. A key intervention to control malaria is prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies.

19 Dec 2011

Affordable artemisinin using tobacco plants

19 Dec 2011

MPC project to study how plant genes contribute to producing medicinal compounds

Scientists are about to make publicly available all the data they have so far on the genetic blueprint of medicinal plants and what beneficial properties are encoded by the genes identified.

15 Dec 2011

Early warning systems helping aid agencies respond to potential 'food crisis' in Sahel region

Africa's Sahel region is facing a potential "food crisis," "but the good news is that the world's Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) is giving West African countries and donor nations a period of time to prepare, says the aid group Oxfam," the Christian Science Monitor reports.

14 Dec 2011