Medical School News and Research

RSS

Retrophin acquires Manchester Pharmaceuticals

Retrophin, Inc. today announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of Manchester Pharmaceuticals LLC for a total of $62.5 million, including an upfront payment of $29.5 million, plus other payments based on product sales.

27 Mar 2014

Study to understand how protein motor works for development of targeted cancer therapies

Researchers at Warwick Medical School have shown for the first time how a protein motor, Kif15, uses acrobatic flexibility to navigate within the mitotic spindle. Understanding how it works could prove vital for the development of targeted cancer therapies.

27 Mar 2014

Treatment option for women with squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva

A team of researchers from Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island commanded a national stage to present the results of a study evaluating the use of sentinel lymph node dissection in women with vulvar malignancies, and then follow the patients for complications and recurrence.

27 Mar 2014

Quarter of breast cancer survivors are worse off financially due to treatment

Four years after being treated for breast cancer, a quarter of survivors say they are worse off financially, at least partly because of their treatment, according to a new study led by University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers.

27 Mar 2014

Research may lead the way toward new treatments for proliferative retinopathies

A new report published online in The FASEB Journal may lead the way toward new treatments or a cure for a common cause of blindness (proliferative retinopathies). Specifically, scientists have discovered that the body's innate immune system does more than help ward off external pathogens.

27 Mar 2014

Miriam Hospital ICU attains silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence

The Intensive Care Unit at The Miriam Hospital has attained a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The three-year award recognizes the hospital for its exceptional patient care and improved patient outcomes, and practices that follow the AACN's six Healthy Work Environment Standards.

27 Mar 2014

Emergence of community-acquired infections due to ESBL-producing bacteria on the rise

The emergence of community-acquired infections, such as urinary tract infections (UTI), due to strains resistant to common antibiotics are on the rise, according to Rhode Island Hospital researchers. The study is published online in the journal Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.

26 Mar 2014

Cogstate's cognition test to play key role in A4 trial for Alzheimer’s disease

Cognition testing technology developed by Cogstate will be used to track the neurological health of elderly people involved in the multinational Phase III clinical trial of a promising new Alzheimer’s disease (AD) drug.

26 Mar 2014

UMass Medical School students win 2014 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award

Colin Conine and Emma Watson, PhD students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, received the 2014 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award for research into the mechanisms governing epigenetic inheritance and the complex interactions between diet, gene expression and physiology.

26 Mar 2014

TG2 protein is a key mediator in Porphyromonas gingivalis infection, study finds

Scientists at Forsyth, along with a colleague from Northwestern University, have discovered that the protein, Transgultaminase 2 (TG2), is a key component in the process of gum disease. TG2 is widely distributed inside and outside of human cells. The scientists found that blocking some associations of TG2 prevents the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG) from adhering to cells. This insight may one day help lead to novel therapies to prevent gum disease caused by PG.

26 Mar 2014

Stem cell research opens doors to potential new treatments for bipolar disorder

What makes a person bipolar, prone to manic highs and deep, depressed lows? Why does bipolar disorder run so strongly in families, even though no single gene is to blame? And why is it so hard to find new treatments for a condition that affects 200 million people worldwide?

26 Mar 2014

BIND Therapeutics reports revenue of $2.1 million for fourth quarter 2013

BIND Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage nanomedicine platform company developing targeted and programmable therapeutics called AccurinsTM, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2013.

25 Mar 2014

XBP1 gene plays pivotal role in the growth and progression of triple negative breast cancer

Scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Houston Methodist have found that a gene previously unassociated with breast cancer plays a pivotal role in the growth and progression of the triple negative form of the disease, a particularly deadly strain that often has few treatment options. Their research, published in this week's Nature, suggests that targeting the gene may be a new approach to treating the disease.

25 Mar 2014

Not all doctors offer cancer gene testing to patients, study finds

Many cancer researchers believe that cutting-edge advances in genomics will pave the way for personalized or "precision" cancer medicine for all patients in the near future. A new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, however, suggest that not all doctors are ready to embrace tests that look for hundreds of DNA changes in patients' tumor samples, while others plan to offer this type of cancer gene testing to most of their patients.

25 Mar 2014

Research findings may be beneficial for creation of purer HSC lines for clinical treatments

Hematopoietic stem cells are now routinely used to treat patients with cancers and other disorders of the blood and immune systems, but researchers knew little about the progenitor cells that give rise to them during embryonic development.

24 Mar 2014

Researchers estimate that around 1 million children suffer from TB annually

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston have estimated that around one million children suffer from tuberculosis (TB) annually- twice the number previously thought to have tuberculosis and three times the number that are diagnosed every year.

24 Mar 2014

Investigators find group of drugs to treat heart attacks and cancer metastasis

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may have found a way to solve a problem that has plagued a group of drugs called ligand-mimicking integrin inhibitors, which have the potential to treat conditions ranging from heart attacks to cancer metastasis.

24 Mar 2014

WTC first responders at higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea, PTSD

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers have linked high levels of exposure to inhaled particulate matter by first responders at Ground Zero to the risk of obstructed sleep apnea and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), both conditions that may impact cardiovascular health.

21 Mar 2014

Treat or eat: Many people forced to choose between food or medicine

Chronically ill adults who reported food insecurity in their household (not having consistent access to food due to lack of financial stability) were significantly more likely to report cost-related medication underuse, according to a new study in The American Journal of Medicine,. The term cost-related medication underuse refers to taking less medication than prescribed, or not taking it at all due to financial concerns.

21 Mar 2014

New curricula is essential to train internists to manage menopausal symptoms

The number of menopausal women is projected to reach 50 million by 2020. With changing views on appropriate therapies to control symptoms and new treatments available and on the horizon, most internists lack the core competencies and experience to meet the needs of women entering menopause, according to a provocative Commentary published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

20 Mar 2014