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Center for Global Health faculty to participate in consortium to enhance medical knowledge in Nigeria

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is among the U.S. medical schools and universities involved in an initiative to invest $130 million over five years to transform African medical education and dramatically increase the number of health workers.

14 Oct 2010

More minorities enroll in U.S. medical schools in 2010

More minorities enrolled in U.S. medical schools this year, according to new data released today by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). While total enrollment increased by 1.5 percent over 2009, to 18,665 students, all underrepresented racial and ethnic groups saw gains in 2010.

14 Oct 2010

Yoga exercises may combat fibromyalgia: Research

According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, yoga exercises may have the power to combat fibromyalgia a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain. The research is being published in the November 10 online edition of the journal Pain and will appear online Thursday, Oct. 14.

14 Oct 2010

PPC offers on-site medication dispensing programs for hospitals

The fastest-growing privately held healthcare company in the country is building its business by building in-office medication dispensing programs for physicians and hospitals in 10 states. Incorporated just five years ago, Physicians' Pharmaceutical Corporation (PPC) placed No. 1 among health companies and No. 15 overall on the 2010 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies.

14 Oct 2010

IVF is now consider as first-line infertility treatment

With the Nobel prize for medicine awarded to Robert Edwards, the pioneer British biologist who developed in vitro fertilization (IVF) for humans, "any remaining doubts about the importance of 'test tube babies' that have lingered over the past 32 years ago should finally be put to rest," says Michael S. Opsahl, M.D., recently named one of "Washington State's Best Doctors" in Washington Magazine.

14 Oct 2010

Study confirms long term survival benefit of ELAD bioartificial liver support system in Chinese ACLF patients

Vital Therapies, Inc., today announced that a poster is being presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting in Boston on Tuesday, November 2nd. It confirms that previously reported findings of improved transplant free survival (TFS) in Chinese subjects with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) treated with the ELAD® bioartificial liver support system are maintained for up to three years.

14 Oct 2010

Web-based questionnaire option increases survey response: Report

Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have reported that the use of a web-based questionnaire can be a cost-effective tool for obtaining survey response.

14 Oct 2010

LFA announces award of new grants for lupus research

The Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. (LFA) today announced the awarding of six new research grants to address gaps in the science and understanding of key areas of lupus research, including pediatric lupus, reproductive health issues in people with lupus, lupus nephritis (kidney involvement), and neuropsychiatric lupus, which affects the brain and nervous system.

14 Oct 2010

Cincinnati Children's, North Carolina collaborate to create registry system for IBD

Building on the success of previous efforts among researchers and caregivers to improve the care of chronically ill children, North Carolina Children's Hospital is one of 27 sites across the nation developing a disease registry for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The research collaborative is part of a $12-million grant to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, enabling the creation of this first-of-its-kind registry system providing real time information on thousands of IBD cases across the country and, eventually, around the world.

14 Oct 2010

News outlets report on sessions at World Health Summit

As the World Health Summit continues in Berlin, some media outlets wrote about the discussions taking place.

14 Oct 2010

Planned Parenthood launches campaign for free contraceptives as part of health law

NPR's Shots blog reports that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is joining Planned Parenthood on a campaign to allow free prescription contraceptives as part of the health reform law.

14 Oct 2010

Scientists identify root cause of chromosomal errors and gene diversity

A team led by a scientist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has discovered a regulatory protein that influences where genetic material gets swapped between maternal and paternal chromosomes during the process of creating eggs and sperm. The findings, which shed light on the roots of chromosomal errors and gene diversity, appear in tomorrow's issue of Nature.

14 Oct 2010

Researchers determine genetic blueprint of 13 strains of Lyme disease causing bacteria

Benjamin Luft, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Stony Brook University Medical Center, and a team of medical researchers have determined the genetic blueprint of 13 strains of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The finding is crucial to advancing research on Lyme disease, the most frequent tick-borne infection in North America and Europe, and may lead to better diagnostics and a vaccine.

14 Oct 2010

GSK to expand donation of albendazole medicine to treat children with STH risk

At the launch of the World Health Organization's (WHO) first report on Neglected Tropical Diseases today, GSK announced a new five year commitment to expand the donation of its medicine albendazole to treat children at risk of intestinal worms, known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH).

14 Oct 2010

Stony Brook professor receives 2010 NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Balaji Sitharaman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, is a 2010 recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Award.

14 Oct 2010

Drugs that restore mitochondria function may treat Alzheimer's disease at early stages: Research

Before Alzheimer's patients experience memory loss, the brain's neurons have already suffered harm for years. A new study in mouse models by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center has found that the brain's mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, are one of the earliest casualties of the disease. The study, which appeared in the online Early Edition of PNAS, also found that impaired mitochondria then injure the neurons' synapses, which are necessary for normal brain function.

14 Oct 2010

Mystery of arsenite solved

Scientists have solved an important mystery about why an arsenic compound, called arsenite, can kill us, and yet function as an effective therapeutic agent against disease and infections. According to new research published in the October 2010 issue of Genetics scientists from Johns Hopkins, Baylor and Stanford discovered that arsenite, a common water contaminant in many parts of the world, affects a special protein folding machine in yeast, called TCP, also present in humans.

14 Oct 2010

Stony Brook professor receives NIH grant to optimize cardiovascular devices

Danny Bluestein, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, has been awarded a five-year, $7.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health. The award marks the first time a Stony Brook professor has received a Phase II Quantum Grant, given by The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a division of the NIH, to make a profound improvement or quantum leap forward—in health care.

14 Oct 2010

Antidepressant Reboxetine ineffective: Review

According to a new study, an antidepressant prescribed over the last 13 years is ineffective and potentially harmful. The drug in question is called Reboxetine and is available under the name of Edronax. The study showed that it works no better than a placebo.

13 Oct 2010

Mesoblast broadens cancer indications for bone marrow transplant product

Australian regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB, USOTC: MBLTY) today announced that it is broadening the oncology applications of its "off-the-shelf" cell product for expansion of haematopoietic stem cells in patients with blood cancers. Building on the recent clinical success of Mesoblast’s proprietary cell product for expansion of cord blood, the Company will now address new markets where expansion of haematopoietic stem cells can make a meaningful impact on clinical outcomes, including diseases such as multiple myeloma.

13 Oct 2010