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Rhode Island receives NIH grant to study cartilage and joint health

Rhode Island Hospital's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Skeletal Health and Repair has been awarded a $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the largest grants in Rhode Island Hospital history. This grant, to be paid over five years, will fund studies of cartilage and joint health.

11 Sep 2012

AHRQ-funded project reduces rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections in ICUs by 40%

A unique nationwide patient safety project funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reduced the rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units by 40 percent, according to the agency's preliminary findings of the largest national effort to combat CLABSIs to date.

11 Sep 2012

Researchers gain new insight into regulation of adult nerve cell generation in the hypothalamus

Researchers from the University of Utah have gained new insight into the regulation of adult nerve cell generation in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates many aspects of behavior, mood, and metabolism.

11 Sep 2012

Researchers discover small DNA sequence that drives GATA2 protein

The protein GATA2 is known as a "master regulator" of blood cell development. When a mutation occurs in the gene that makes GATA2, serious blood diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia can result.

11 Sep 2012

People with MCI are impaired in several aspects of executive functioning

By the time older adults are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the brain damage is irreparable. For now, modern medicine is able to slow the progression of the disease but is incapable of reversing it. What if there was a way to detect if someone is on the path to Alzheimer's before substantial and non-reversible brain damage sets in?

11 Sep 2012

HIF-1 activity directly responsible for spread of breast cancer to lymph vessels

The invasion of cancer cells into the lymph vessels that connect the breast to surrounding lymph nodes is the first step leading to the metastasis, or spread, of cancer throughout the body. Metastasis is the primary cause of breast cancer deaths. Surprisingly little is known about the control of this process and how it might be interrupted to prolong the lives of women with breast cancer.

11 Sep 2012

Combining two drugs may offer new and potent punch against cancer and other diseases

A new study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College shows combining two already-FDA approved drugs may offer a new and potent punch against diseases in which blood vessel growth is abnormal -- such as cancer, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis.

11 Sep 2012

Oxyphenbutazone can kill drug resistant TB

An off-patent anti-inflammatory drug that costs around two cents for a daily dose in developing countries has been found by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College to kill both replicating and non-replicating drug resistant tuberculosis in the laboratory -- a feat few currently approved TB drugs can do, and resistance to those is spreading.

11 Sep 2012

Researchers discover how to store diverse forms of artificial short-term memories in brain tissue

Ben W. Strowbridge, PhD, Professor of Neurosciences and Physiology/Biophysics, and Robert A. Hyde, a fourth year MD/PhD student in the neurosciences graduate program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have discovered how to store diverse forms of artificial short-term memories in isolated brain tissue.

11 Sep 2012

Sifting through the junk with ENCODE

The first large-scale results from the ENCylopedia Of DNA Elements Consortium have shed light on possible functions of large areas of the genome previously thought of as “junk DNA.”

10 Sep 2012

Intermittent hormone therapy effective for prostate cancer patients

Intermittent androgen deprivation is as effective as continuous therapy for men with rising prostate-specific antigen levels after primary or salvage radiotherapy, say researchers who believe the break from treatment improves quality of life.

10 Sep 2012

MRI workers experience transient neurocognitive effects

Individuals working in the vicinity of magnetic resonance imaging machines may experience transient neurocognitive effects when moving their heads, research demonstrates.

10 Sep 2012

Annovation Biopharma to develop novel anesthetics with $8M Series A financing

Annovation Biopharma, a biotechnology company focused on creating more effective, safer therapies for anesthesia and critical care, has raised $8M in a Series A financing led by Atlas Venture, Partners Innovation Fund, and new strategic investor The Medicines Company.

10 Sep 2012

Physician empathy has positive impact on patient outcomes

Patients of doctors who are more empathic have better outcomes and fewer complications, concludes a large, empirical study by a team of Thomas Jefferson University and Italian researchers who evaluated relationships between physician empathy and clinical outcomes among 20,961 diabetic patients and 242 physicians in Italy.

10 Sep 2012

HIV viruses with two genetic 'footprints' associated with greater vaccine efficacy

Scientists used genetic sequencing to discover new evidence that the first vaccine shown to prevent HIV infection in people also affected the viruses in those who did become infected. Viruses with two genetic "footprints" were associated with greater vaccine efficacy. The results were published today in the online edition of the journal Nature.

10 Sep 2012

Adult stem cell technology holds hope for erectile dysfunction treatment

After more than a decade of short-term cures to erectile dysfunction, most aimed at symptoms rather than the underlying issues of nerve damage, a new approach has emerged from adult stem cell technology developed by RNL Bio. Dr. Ji Youl Lee and the RNL Stem Cell Technology Institute (RNL SCTI) team, working at St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul, found in animal studies that adipose (fat) derived adult human stem cells, grown in culture, were very effective in treating cavernous nerve injury.

10 Sep 2012

CPF to kick off 'Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month'

Each year around the world, as many as 48,000 people are diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and 40,000 people die – the same number of people who are lost to breast cancer annually. Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating disease that robs people of their ability to breathe. To help raise awareness about this unknown deadly disease, the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF) is kicking off "Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month" this September.

10 Sep 2012

Automated system for mapping protein-DNA interactions

Since the sequencing of the human genome in 2001, all our genes - around 20,000 in total - have been identified. But much is still unknown - for instance where and when each is active. Next to each gene sits a short DNA segment, and the activity of this regulatory segment determines whether the gene will be turned on, where and how strongly.

10 Sep 2012

New molecular pathway that leads to preeclampsia identified

Preeclampsia is one of the most dangerous conditions for the expectant mother and the unborn child and is characterized by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine in the last trimester of pregnancy.

10 Sep 2012

Phase III data for Suvorexant, an investigational insomnia medicine, announced

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced new data for suvorexant, the investigational medicine Merck is developing for the treatment of insomnia. The new data are from one of the longest, continuously-dosed, placebo-controlled trials of a sleep medication ever conducted.

10 Sep 2012