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NIH awards contract to LRRI for anthrax research

Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) was recently awarded a contract to continue research due to the potential for bioterrorist attacks involving Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

29 Oct 2009

3M launches new Rapid Detection Respiratory Syncytial Virus Test

Expanding its platform of rapid diagnostic testing, 3M today announced the introduction of the 3M™ Rapid Detection RSV Test. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages and is a common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia in children under one year.

28 Oct 2009

Nasopharyngeal Flocked Swabs are recommended for H1N1 and influenza A testing

Preparing for this flu season, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) PSAB Committee on Laboratory Practices has recently published a new interim algorithm providing guidance to clinical laboratories responsible for testing patients with respiratory illness for Influenza A, including H1N1.

28 Oct 2009

NIH awards The Tufts CTSI and Tufts University four supplemental grants

The Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Tufts University today announced they are the recipients of four supplemental grant awards from the National Institutes of Health. These new awards, totaling approximately $1.73 million, are supplements to the original Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant, UL1 RR025752 that Tufts University received in 2008 from the National Center for Research Resources.

27 Oct 2009

Donor testing services from LABS

LABS Inc., one of the premier transplant reference and consultative laboratories in the country, announced today that it will begin offering a full range of donor testing services to the transfusion medicine and blood services industry. LABS Inc.'s acquisition of Research and Diagnostic Laboratories in October brings its expertise to blood collection programs nationwide.

27 Oct 2009

FDA awards grants to boost food and feed safety initiatives

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has awarded 83 grants in FY2009 totaling $17.5 million to state and local regulatory agencies to boost food and feed safety initiatives among federal, state, and local partners.

27 Oct 2009

Additional CFTR inhibitor technology licensed to Napo Pharmaceuticals

Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has in-licensed from the University of California Regents additional small-molecule cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) inhibitor technology including gastrointestinal (GI) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) indications.

26 Oct 2009

Wellcome Trust's 91M fund aims at developing new drugs related to the dengue fever virus

The Wellcome Trust spends over 600 million pounds each year to support its mission to foster and promote research with the aim to improving human and animal health. This funding supports basic research as well as technology transfer, the transfer of academic knowledge and technology to the corporate environment.

26 Oct 2009

Aldevron's new division to produce and sell research and manufacturing services in Wisconsin

Aldevron, a biotechnology company based in Fargo, ND, has today announced that the company is expanding into Madison, WI. The new division will produce and sell contract research and manufacturing services marketed under the Aldevron brand.

24 Oct 2009

AGH Researchers to study the impact of biofilm infections on the success of orthopaedic procedures

Researchers from Allegheny General Hospital's (AGH) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Center for Genomic Sciences have launched dual groundbreaking studies that may help determine the cause of two common, hard-to-treat problems experienced by patients who undergo orthopedic surgery: a joint replacement that becomes infected and a bone fracture that will not heal properly.

24 Oct 2009

E. coli outbreak highlights the importance of food safety

Two students from Lincoln Middle School in Lincoln, Rhode Island were hospitalized several days after a field trip to Camp Bournedale in Plymouth, Massachusetts earlier this month. Several other students were also sickened.

24 Oct 2009

Novel H1N1 influenza raises parents' awareness and concern about seasonal influenza

Novel H1N1 influenza has raised parents' awareness and concern about seasonal influenza, increasing the likelihood that they will get their children vaccinated compared to past years, according to a recent national survey commissioned by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

20 Oct 2009

UNC scientists receive GO grant to study the human genome blueprint

Ever since the first genome sequence was published in 2001, scientists have been working to figure out what the sequence means. An analogy is walking across a desert and finding a large book in a language you don't know, then trying to figure out what the book is saying.

19 Oct 2009

TheraDoc commences beta testing of new computerized patient surveillance tool

TheraDoc®, the leading provider of clinical decision support technology in healthcare, today announced that it has started beta testing of a new computerized patient surveillance tool that will help hospitals monitor and manage screening programs for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which every year kills more people in the United States than AIDS.

19 Oct 2009

Antibiotic resistance to be undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse is inaccurate, reveals report

The perception that antibiotic resistance is primarily the undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse or misuse is a view that is simplistic and inaccurate, according to a recent report by the American Academy of Microbiology. The reasons behind the spread of resistance are much more complex, including appropriate antibiotic use, lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, and even the environment.

19 Oct 2009

International human migration needs to be factored into infectious disease policy

When people travel, bacteria and other infectious agents travel with them. As about a billion people cross international borders each year, many more billions of the bugs come along for the ride.

19 Oct 2009

FDA approves ZyStor Therapeutics' ZC-701 for Phase I human safety trial

ZyStor Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a new class of targeted protein therapeutics for the treatment of Lysosomal Storage Diseases using the Company's proprietary Glycosylation Independent Lysosomal Targeting technology, today announced that it has received clearance from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed into a clinical trial for its first drug candidate, ZC-701, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Pompe disease.

14 Oct 2009

Researchers identify genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria. Their findings are described in a study published October 6 in the journal PLoS ONE.

14 Oct 2009

Harvard researchers unite in fight against antibiotic resistance

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded $5 million to an interdisciplinary group of Harvard researchers to launch the "Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance."

14 Oct 2009

Researchers discover compounds that show promise as novel treatments for AIDS

While studying an HIV protein that plays an essential role in AIDS progression, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered compounds that show promise as novel treatments for the disease.

14 Oct 2009