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Research finds link between calcium and cancer

A protein that pumps calcium out of cells also moonlights as a signal to get massive quantities of the stuff to flow in, according to Johns Hopkins scientists. Their discovery of this surprisingly opposite function, reported Oct. 1 in Cell, highlights the link between calcium and cancer and holds the promise of a new therapeutic target for certain breast cancers.

5 Oct 2010

Global malaria control funding has gone up significantly since 2007, but funding shortfall remains, study says

Global malaria funding has gone up by 166 percent since 2007, but total funding is still 60 percent short of the $4.9 billion required for comprehensive malaria control this year, according to a study published in the journal Lancet on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Oct 2010

Depressed pregnant women at increased risk of delivering preterm birth and low-birth weight infants

Clinical depression puts pregnant women at increased risk of delivering prematurely and of giving birth to below-normal weight infants, according to a report published Oct. 4 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

5 Oct 2010

Gentel Biosciences, RayBiotech to develop antibody array products with APiX chromogenic detection platform

Gentel Biosciences, a leader in proteomics profiling tools and RayBiotech, Inc., a pioneer and leader in protein and antibody array technologies, jointly announce today their partnership to develop and market RayBiotech's vast collection of antibody array products covering a wide variety of cytokines and other proteins for use with Gentel's APiX chromogenic detection platform.

5 Oct 2010

Merck to appeal against jury verdict in retrial of federal FOSAMAX case

Merck & Co., Inc. today said it will appeal a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that reduced the jury verdict from $8 million to $1.5 million but denied Merck's request for judgment in its favor or a new trial in the case of Boles v. Merck, a retrial of a federal FOSAMAX case.

5 Oct 2010

Aeras Global receives FDA grant to develop biomarkers for TB vaccine

The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation is pleased to announce receipt of a grant from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop new biological and immunological biomarkers for TB vaccine development. The FDA grant, which supports the coordination of a multi-investigator project with researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa, will provide $362,102 in the first year of funding.

5 Oct 2010

NIH awards contract to develop nanotechnology tools for atherosclerosis treatment

Georgia Tech and Emory University have received a five-year $14.6 million contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue the development of nanotechnology and biomolecular engineering tools and methodologies for detecting and treating atherosclerosis.

5 Oct 2010

Onconova announces agreement with FDA for Estybon- MDS Phase 3 trial

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. announced agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the design of a pivotal Phase 3 trial for Estybon- (ON 01910.Na) as monotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), diseases affecting the production of healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.

5 Oct 2010

Father of IVF acknowledged with a Nobel prize

Professor Robert Edwards who came to be known as the “father of In Vitro fertilization” (IVF) has won this year's Nobel prize in medicine. He is 85 and has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his pioneering work on the in vitro fertilisation of human eggs that led to the birth of the world's first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. When he had started off initially his funding request for IVF research was turned down by Britain’s Medical Research Council (MRC) in the 1970s. His co-worker the gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, died in 1988. Professor Edwards becomes the sole recipient of this award since it cannot be awarded posthumously.

4 Oct 2010

Depression treatment guidelines updated

There has been an update in the treatment of clinical depression. This includes suggestions on the use of medication, talk therapy, exercise, and alternative treatments and puts more emphasis on tailor made treatments for patients.

4 Oct 2010

Decision Resources: NSCLC drug market to grow from $4 billion in 2009 to over $6.5 billion in 2019

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues finds that the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) drug market will increase from approximately $4 billion in 2009 to more than $6.5 billion in 2019 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Japan.

4 Oct 2010

Massachusetts eHealth Institute names e-MDs as EHR vendor and IOO

e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health record (EHR) and practice management (PM) solutions, announced they have been named a selected EHR vendor and Implementation Optimization Organization (IOO) by the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI). The Institute will serve as a Regional Extension Center (REC) in Massachusetts, working to facilitate the adoption of EHR technology by the state's providers. As a selected vendor, e-MDs will help ensure effective implementation and provider achievement of Meaningful Use.

4 Oct 2010

IBM employee-wellness program shows some success for kids

Reuters: "In 2008, IBM launched an Internet-based 'children's rebate program' that let employees and their families choose from a selection of goals revolving around healthy eating, group physical activity, reduced 'screen time' and positive parental role-modeling. A $150 check was offered as incentive to complete the 12-week program. … More than 22,000 employees signed on to participate, representing about half of all employees with children covered by IBM's health plan." About 12,000 completed the program and received the rebate.

4 Oct 2010

Onconova enters agreement with FDA for Estybon Phase 3 trial SPA

Onconova Therapeutics®, Inc. announced agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the design of a pivotal Phase 3 trial for Estybon™ (ON 01910.Na) as monotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), diseases affecting the production of healthy blood cells in the bone marrow.

4 Oct 2010

NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.6 SP1 achieves ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today that NextGen® Ambulatory EHR version 5.6 SP1 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as a Complete EHR on September 30, 2010 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

4 Oct 2010

Increase in unemployment rate linked to child maltreatment

The stresses of poverty have long been associated with child abuse and neglect. In a study presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, researchers directly linked an increased unemployment rate to child maltreatment one year later.

4 Oct 2010

JASH journal added to MEDLINE collection

Elsevier announces that the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension (JASH) has been selected for inclusion in MEDLINE. MEDLINE is the premier bibliographic database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), containing over 15 million journal article citations, with a concentration on biomedicine.

4 Oct 2010

Study may provide informed use of growth hormone in muscle development, muscle loss

Growth hormone is used to treat children's growth disorders and has been used by some sports men and women to promote muscle growth and regeneration. This is because it coordinates skeletal muscle development, nutrient uptake, and nutrient utilization. It is not clear, however, which of these effects are direct and which are indirectly mediated via growth hormone induction of the protein IGF-1.

4 Oct 2010

IRSF awards $1.5M in research grants for Rett syndrome treatment

The International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) announced today that it will award an additional $1.5M in research grants, bringing the 2010 total to $2.15 million for innovative basic and translational research that moves treatments for Rett syndrome a step closer to the clinic.

4 Oct 2010

Saturated fat intake has limited impact on CVD risk: Research

For the past three decades, saturated fat has been considered a major culprit of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and as a result dietary advice persists in recommending reduced consumption of this macronutrient. However, new evidence shows that saturated fat intake has only a very limited impact on CVD risk causing many to rethink the "saturated fat is bad" paradigm.

4 Oct 2010