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Three outstanding young scientists named July 2012 Damon Runyon-Sohn Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Sohn Conference Foundation have named three outstanding young scientists as the first-ever Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Research Fellows, committing more than half a million dollars to help address a critical shortage of funding for pediatric cancer research.

18 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 18, 2012

Today's headlines include coverage of a new report that offers a gloomy fiscal forecast for states as they confront rising health care costs, underfunded pensions and a range of other economic challenges.

18 Jul 2012

Memantine boosts memory function in people with Down syndrome

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found a drug that boosts memory function in those with Down syndrome, a major milestone in the treatment of this genetic disorder that could significantly improve quality of life.

18 Jul 2012

Preventable hospital deaths: An interview with Dr Helen Hogan

In 2007/8 when we were thinking about the study, there wasn’t a clear picture of the number of preventable deaths in English hospitals. There had been an important report by the chief medical officer of the NHS in 2000 (An Organisation with a Memory) and he talked of the possibility of between 60,000 and 250,000 cases of severe disability or death arising in hospitals.

18 Jul 2012

Heart-protective protein finally found

It is a cellular component so scarce, some scientists even doubted its existence, and many others gave up searching for its molecular structure. Now a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins has defined the protein structural composition of mitoKATP, a potassium channel in the mitochondria of the heart and other organs that is known to protect against tissue damage due to a heart attack or stroke.

18 Jul 2012

Hepatitis C treatment may be helped by vitamin B12 supplements

Adding vitamin B12 to standard hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment significantly boosts the body’s ability to keep the virus at bay, indicates a pilot study published online in the journal Gut.

18 Jul 2012

Elderly may be undertreated for cardiac disease

Not enough elderly people are being prescribed statins, argue researchers in the BMJ.

17 Jul 2012

Promising path to Parkinson’s disease treatment

Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinson’s disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage.

17 Jul 2012

Anthera announces final set of clinical data from blisibimod Phase 2b study on SLE

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat serious diseases associated with inflammation and autoimmune disorders, today announced the final set of clinical data from the Phase 2b PEARL-SC study in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

17 Jul 2012

Healthier levels of vitamin C can reduce inflammatory conditions

The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of vitamin C is less than half what it should be, scientists argue in a recent report, because medical experts insist on evaluating this natural, but critical nutrient in the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs and reach faulty conclusions as a result.

17 Jul 2012

UIC develops new tool to guide decisions about safe and effective medication use

A new tool to guide decisions about safe and effective medication use has been developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

17 Jul 2012

New Alzheimer's model derived from skin cells of patients may prove to be more accurate

Researchers at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 (AAIC 2012) today reported the creation of a new model of Alzheimer's derived from the skin cells of people with the disease that were reprogramed into Alzheimer's brain cells.

17 Jul 2012

Relationship between two biological risk factors for schizophrenia

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a cause-and-effect relationship between two well-established biological risk factors for schizophrenia previously believed to be independent of one another.

17 Jul 2012

Drug treatments, scientific advances fuel hope for HIV control as AIDS 2012 conference draws near

"A cure for AIDS remains a distant prospect but a host of drug treatments and other advances have fueled fresh hope that new HIV infections may someday be halted for good," Agence France-Presse reports.

17 Jul 2012

Activating NOTCH and AKT gene may trigger cholangiocarcinoma

A rare type of cancer thought to derive from cells in the bile ducts of the liver may actually develop when one type of liver cell morphs into a totally different type, a process scientists used to consider all but impossible. UCSF researchers triggered this kind of cellular transformation-and caused tumors to form in mice-by activating just two genes.

17 Jul 2012

Researchers identify cannabinoid-making pathway

U of S researchers have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create bioactive compounds called cannabinoids, paving the way for the development of marijuana varieties to produce pharmaceuticals or cannabinoid-free industrial hemp.

17 Jul 2012

Why is the incidence of gout increasing?

Gout has been described by the Daily Mail as something, “usually associated with port-swilling, over-fed elderly men of the 19th century”. (1) Recent research carried out at the Boston University School of Medicine, however, has found that the incidence of gout in the US is on the rise. (2) Thus, the condition is clearly not something that only affects this stereotype.

17 Jul 2012

Ampio announces advancement of NCE001 to preclinical development

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing repurposed drugs and new molecular entities (NMEs) that treat inflammatory diseases, including osteoarthritis, diabetic macular edema (DME) and sexual dysfunction and conducting clinical trials on its four lead drugs announced today the advancement of NCE001, from its proprietary methylphenidate derivatives family of compounds, to preclinical development for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, renal cell carcinoma and inflammatory breast cancer following the granting of multiple composition of matter and use patents in the USA, Canada, Europe and China.

17 Jul 2012

Scientists develop first cell-based model of Alzheimer's disease

A team of scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory led by Scott Noggle, PhD, NYSCF-Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease, has developed the first cell-based model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by reprogramming skin cells of Alzheimer's patients to become brain cells that are affected in Alzheimer's.

17 Jul 2012

BRAF L597 mutation in melanoma patients responds to MEK inhibitor drugs

An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation.

17 Jul 2012