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Symposium on ways to lower preterm birth rate

Journalists are invited to attend a gathering of the nation's leading maternal-child and quality assurance health care experts who will review and develop programs that may help lower the nation's costly preterm birth rate.

26 Sep 2009

Gates Foundation launches campaign to highlight U.S. global health investment successes

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday announced the launch of the Living Proof Project that aims to highlight how U.S. foreign aid contributes to improving global health, the Associated Press reports. Bill Gates said in a statement, "We want to show Americans that their investments in global health are working" (Pace, 9/24).

26 Sep 2009

Vertex Pharmaceuticals to present SVR data at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that sustained virologic response (SVR) data from Study C208, which evaluated twice-daily dosing of Vertex’s investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor telaprevir, will be presented in an oral presidential plenary session at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) taking place Oct. 30 – Nov. 3, 2009 in Boston.

25 Sep 2009

States worry over Medicaid expansion; Montana expands kids coverage

State officials continue to worry about additional costs that would stem from a Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, Montana unveils a plan to expand health insurance for children and Iowa Republicans are touting their own alternative to a federal health care overhaul.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers to discuss ways to develop mathematical control theory methods for ABMs at NIMBioS workshop

Agent-based models (ABMs) are powerful computer-simulation modeling techniques that used increasingly to understand a broad range of biological phenomena, such as tumor growth, the immune system, and the spread of infectious diseases through a population.

24 Sep 2009

Pre-clinical data demonstrates advantages of Combo Stent

OrbusNeich announced today that pre-clinical data involving porcine coronary models demonstrate that the company's Combo Bio-engineered Sirolimus Eluting Stent (Combo Stent) may offer advantages to the Cypher(R) sirolimus eluting stent and the XIENCE(TM) V everolimus eluting stent.

24 Sep 2009

ThromboGenics completes enrollment for MIVI-TRUST clinical trial

ThromboGenics NV, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, announces today that it has completed the enrolment of the US Phase III trial evaluating microplasmin for the non-surgical treatment of eye disease.

24 Sep 2009

Focused Health Solutions to host Population Health Management Forum

Focused Health Solutions, a leading national provider of customized population health management services, is hosting top healthcare industry experts in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 15, for a timely discussion on population health management programs and the role they can play in improving health and ensuring a productive workforce.

24 Sep 2009

Nanodiamonds advance anticancer gene therapy

Gene therapy holds promise in the treatment of cancer as well as a large number of other diseases. However, developing a scalable system for delivering genes to cells both efficiently and safely has been challenging. Now, two teams of researchers have developed versatile nanotechnology-enabled platforms that could get therapeutic genes safely and efficiently into cancer cells.

23 Sep 2009

Organic revitalizing beverage from Sambazon

Sambazon, the global leader in Acai, announces the launch of a powerfully nutritious premium juice line. Antioxidant Elixir(TM) is a organic revitalizing beverage that provides powerful antioxidants and 600% DV Vitamin C, yet remains refreshingly light on calories, sugar, and contains no fat.

23 Sep 2009

State Round-Up: Michigan wrestles with Medicaid cuts

News outlets examine state health issues, including potential Medicaid cuts in Michigan and the effect of swine flu on Louisiana's Medicaid budget.

23 Sep 2009

New online service for information exchange and product recalls launched

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and GS1 US today announced the launch of Rapid Recall Exchange, an online service to enable prompt and accurate information exchange between retailers/wholesalers and suppliers about food and product recalls and withdrawals. It replaces an existing recall system, the Product Recall Portal, by improving ease of use and adding significant capabilities.

22 Sep 2009

Winners of the 2009 Biotechnology Vision Summit's Emerging Company Showcase announced

Six Wisconsin biotechnology companies have been selected the winners of the first Emerging Company Showcase. The showcase is part of the Biotechnology Vision Summit 2009, being held on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the Madison Marriott West in Madison, Wis. The summit and the showcase are being hosted by BioForward, the member-driven state association that is the voice of Wisconsin’s biotechnology industry.

22 Sep 2009

New device for identifying eye conditions in infants

Tell-tale signs of a condition that can blind premature babies are being seen for the first time using a new handheld device in a study at Duke University Medical Center.

22 Sep 2009

Two new products released by Simbionix USA Corporation

Simbionix USA Corporation, the world's leading developer of medical simulation systems, just released two new products: a new Laparoscopic Essential Tasks Module for its LAP Mentor(TM) and a breakthrough technology for patient-specific simulation based on actual patient data - the PROcedure Rehearsal Studio(TM).

21 Sep 2009

Research to identify breast cancer disparities

In an effort to continue to deliver on its vision of a world without breast cancer, Susan G. Komen for the Cure,((R) )San Diego conducted an in-depth, county-wide research and community needs assessment to identify disparities in breast cancer across populations.

18 Sep 2009

Mcgill Food Conference to focus on shortage of food in Guatemala

Some of the important reasons underlying the current food crisis in Guatemala - where more than 50,000 families don't have enough to eat and women and children in particular are today struggling to survive - are at the top of the agenda of McGill University's second annual Global Food Security Conference, Oct. 5-7, in Montreal.

18 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

Implementation Choices for the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - This report examines two key areas of the implementation process of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 - outreach and enrollment, and quality of care - and issues a set of recommendations. "Recommendations include: giving funding priority to states that will adopt or maintain key simplifications… ensuring quality measures focus on priority health needs for children, and building quality measurement and improvement capabilities into electronic health information systems, among others," according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the report (Simpson, Fairbrother, Touschner and Guyer, 9/10).

18 Sep 2009

Workshop to address high-risk adolescent behaviors

The Evolution Institute and the University of Arizona's Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families are co-hosting an invitation-only workshop at the university, Oct. 30 - Nov. 2, for world-renowned scholars who will apply evolutionary theory to the development of practical solutions for high-risk adolescent behaviors plaguing Western societies.

17 Sep 2009

FDA approves H1N1 vaccine, paves way for large-scale U.S. vaccination campaign

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing that H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines produced by four manufacturers — CSL Ltd., Novartis, Sanofi-Pasteur and Medimmune — had won FDA approval, paving the way for a U.S. large-scale vaccination campaign, The Wall Street Journal reports. The application for GlaxoSmithKline PLC's vaccine is still being considered (Dooren/Favole, 9/15).

17 Sep 2009