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Johns Hopkins receives $15 million NIH grant to establish CFAR

Johns Hopkins University has been awarded $15 million over the next five years from the National Institutes of Health to establish the new Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). CFAR will support more than 180 HIV investigators from the University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and other schools. A major priority for CFAR will be to address Baltimore's HIV epidemic in addition to training new investigators and conducting international research.

5 May 2012

HIV/AIDS funding does not undermine efforts to fight other diseases, study suggests

"While the battle against HIV/AIDS attracts more donor funding globally than all other diseases combined, it has not diverted attention from fighting unrelated afflictions -- such as malaria, measles and malnutrition -- and may be improving health services overall in targeted countries, according to a study on Rwanda published" Wednesday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) press release reports.

4 May 2012

AIDS, health groups submit comments to FDA prior to agency's review of PrEP

"In public comments submitted this week, a group of 14 leading HIV/AIDS and health organizations stated their support for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [TDF/FTC] ... as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in adult men and women," a press release from AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention states.

3 May 2012

Novel stem cell transplantation holds promise for HIV prevention

UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS.

3 May 2012

Global Fund completes reorganization of workforce, tightens focus to 20 'high-impact countries'

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "is cutting its workforce and tightening its focus on 20 countries hardest hit by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," Reuters reports. Gabriel Jaramillo, who took over as general manager of the fund in January, "said in a statement that the fund had completed a reorganization that would rebalance its workforce with 39 percent more people managing grants and 38 percent fewer in support roles," the news service notes.

3 May 2012

Physician Therapeutics publishes results from Sentra PM clinical trial

Physician Therapeutics, Inc., a division of Targeted Medical Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company that manufactures and distributes specialty pharmaceuticals to physicians, pharmacies and skilled nursing facilities, published results from a clinical trial of the proprietary medical food Sentra PM.

3 May 2012

African-Americans with HIV less likely to adhere to ART therapy

African-Americans with HIV are much less likely to adhere to drug therapy than others with the disease, according to a University of Michigan study.

3 May 2012

EKOS launches two landmark clinical studies on pulmonary embolism

EKOS Corporation today announced the launch of two more landmark clinical studies named SEATTLE I & II, intended to further establish the safety and efficacy of its unique, ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis in treating patients with life-threatening pulmonary embolism.

3 May 2012

FDA approval of TDF/FTC as PrEP for HIV infection receives support

In public comments submitted this week, a group of 14 leading HIV/AIDS and health organizations stated their support for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of emtricitabine/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF/FTC or Truvada) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in adult men and women.

2 May 2012

World behind on pledge to reduce HIV/AIDS infections, improve treatment, U.N. report says

"The world is falling behind in its pledge to reduce HIV/AIDS infections and improve treatment, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a U.N. report released Monday" by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Associated Press reports.

2 May 2012

NIH study indicates safety of anti-HIV drug tenofovir during pregnancy

Infants born to women who used the anti-HIV drug tenofovir as part of an anti-HIV drug regimen during pregnancy do not weigh less at birth and are not of shorter length than infants born to women who used anti-HIV drug regimens that do not include tenofovir during pregnancy, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health network study.

2 May 2012

Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV is 'smart investment'

"Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV globally, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by weak health systems," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes in the State Department "DipNote" blog. "

2 May 2012

Roundup: Mass. premium increases muted; Iowa cuts payment to charity after fraud probe; Ga. asks EMS providers to save scarce drugs

State regulators on Monday approved third-quarter health insurance rates that will raise premiums an average of just 1.2 percent in the market serving small businesses and individuals, continuing a trend of more modest increases seen over the past three quarters. And several carriers, including Tufts Health Plan of Watertown and Fallon Community Health Plan, based in Worcester, will reduce their rates -- a rarity in Massachusetts health care -- according to data from the state Division of Insurance.

2 May 2012

State roundup: Mass. may vote on assisted suicide; Colo. to try medical homes

Heather Clish has become a leading advocate for affording terminally ill patients in Massachusetts the same choice her father had. Clish and other supporters are pushing a ballot initiative to legalize the practice they call Death with Dignity, more commonly known as physician-assisted suicide.

30 Apr 2012

Without sustained investment in malaria fight, world faces resurgence of disease

"If we needed more evidence that the funding cuts at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were going to be detrimental to people's lives, a new study ... makes it clear: Providing funding to fight malaria makes malaria go away," Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, a global partnership of health advocacy organizations, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

30 Apr 2012

Airborne drones could provide innovative method of delivering food, medicines

In a Foreign Policy opinion piece, former U.S. Ambassador Jack Chow, who served as a special representative for HIV/AIDS under former Secretary of State Colin Powell and currently is a professor at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Public Policy, examines the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid and how "[t]he technological versatility of airborne drones, the flying robots that are already transforming warfare, ... has the potential to revolutionize how humanitarian aid is delivered worldwide."

30 Apr 2012

MDGHA, CHAI and Mylan partner to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea

Mylan Laboratories Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Mylan Inc., today announced that it has entered into a partnership with the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Health Alliance (MDGHA) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea.

30 Apr 2012

UCSD researchers analyze landscape of smoking cessation over the past 20 years

Smoking is a major public health issue and quitting is the single most important thing smokers can do to improve their health. In the 2012 edition of the prestigious Annual Review of Public Health, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have reviewed the landscape of smoking cessation over the past 20 years.

30 Apr 2012

U of U develops small implantable middle-ear microphone

Cochlear implants have restored basic hearing to some 220,000 deaf people, yet a microphone and related electronics must be worn outside the head, raising reliability issues, preventing patients from swimming and creating social stigma.

30 Apr 2012

Only few clinical trials are being conducted to test drugs in pediatric patients

Although children are more likely than adults to suffer from many diseases, few clinical trials are being conducted to test drugs in pediatric patients, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012