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Research roundup: Massachusetts health reform; Role of race and insurance in kidney transplantation

Access to Care After Massachusetts' Health Care Reform: A Safety Net Hospital Patient Survey -- Policy analysts have long said that Massachusetts and its 2006 health reform law provide great insight into the federal health law and how its expansion of insurance coverage will play out.

3 Aug 2012

TAT-ARC fusion protein helps treat acute liver failure

Acute liver failure is a life-threatening disease, characterized by a sudden, massive death of liver cells. Unfortunately, few treatment options exist, especially for advanced-stage liver failure. As a last resort a liver transplant may be the only remaining option.

3 Aug 2012

Miami Project to Cure Paralysis receives FDA permission to begin Phase 1 trial

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has received permission from the Food and Drug Administration to begin a revolutionary Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety of transplanting human Schwann cells to treat patients with recent spinal cord injuries.

1 Aug 2012

Pediatric liver transplant recipients have increased risk of death when from obese donors

Children undergoing liver transplantation are at greater risk of graft loss and death from adult organ donors who are severely obese according to research published in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The study, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that pediatric donor body mass index (BMI) did not increase mortality risk in this pediatric population.

1 Aug 2012

Biomimetic bioartificial livers and cell toxicity assays: an interview with Dr. Joris Braspenning, CEO Medicyte

Biomimetic bioartificial livers are liver organoids based on synthetic equivalents of the human extracellular matrix (ECM) which will be seeded with human cells.

1 Aug 2012

Australia's top medical researchers for 2012 announced

Finalists for one of Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards for medical research were announced today. This year’s winner will join a list of alumni winners that includes many of the country’s most respected scientists.

31 Jul 2012

ProMedica enters collaborative business relationship with Cleveland Clinic

ProMedica has entered into a collaborative business relationship with Cleveland Clinic as part of a national Innovation Alliance network to help commercialize medical innovations.

31 Jul 2012

Tenth patient treated in ACT's hESC derived RPE cell trial for SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the final patient in the first patient cohort in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

30 Jul 2012

OX40 molecule responsible for airway inflammation in the lungs

A research team led by Xian Chang Li, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Transplantation Research Center, has shed light on how a population of lymphocytes, called CD4+ T cells, mature into various subsets of adult T helper cells.

30 Jul 2012

Research presented at AIDS 2012 conference renews hope of cure for AIDS

Two studies presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) and one published Wednesday in the British journal Nature "have given researchers renewed hope that a cure for AIDS may be possible," the Washington Post reports.

28 Jul 2012

Sirolimus has anti-skin cancer effect in kidney transplant patients

Switching from calcineurin inhibitors to a sirolimus-containing immunosuppression regimen may help reduce the incidence of secondary skin cancer after kidney transplantation, suggests research published in TheNew England Journal of Medicine.

27 Jul 2012

AIDS roundup: Researchers examine whether the disease causes premature aging; Funding and treatment gaps; Bone marrow transplant treatments

News outlets report on scientific and political issues coming up at the International AIDS Conference being held in Washington.

27 Jul 2012

Bone marrow transplant eradicates traces of HIV in men

Two men with longstanding HIV infections no longer have detectable HIV in their blood cells following bone marrow transplants. The virus was easily detected in blood lymphocytes of both men prior to their transplants but became undetectable by eight months post-transplant. The men, who were treated at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), have remained on anti-retroviral therapy.

27 Jul 2012

Child who received first stem cell trachea transplant functioning well two years on

The first child stem cell-supported trachea transplant is functioning well two years on, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet today. The follow-up of the procedure, carried out in 2010 at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), shows that the new organ has strengthened and does not appear to have induced any signs of rejection. The 13-year-old boy who received the transplant continues to breathe normally, has grown 11 cm in height and has returned to school. He does not require any anti-rejection therapy.

26 Jul 2012

Study finds disparities in the assessment of patients for kidney transplant

Young black patients and patients without private health insurance are less likely to be assessed for a kidney transplant when they start dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

26 Jul 2012

Alexion second quarter net product sales increase to $274.7 million

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.

25 Jul 2012

Giving patients a new immune system can cure Crohn's disease

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have opened a clinical trial to test the theory that giving a patient a new immune system can cure severe cases of Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.

25 Jul 2012

Merck, Chimerix sign license agreement for CMX157 to treat HIV infection

Chimerix, Inc. today announced the execution of a license agreement granting Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, exclusive worldwide rights to CMX157, Chimerix's novel lipid acyclic nucleoside phosphonate currently being evaluated to treat HIV infection.

24 Jul 2012