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Researchers show that Sirt3 enzyme decreases in skeletal muscle of diabetes patients

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that an enzyme found in the mitochondria of cells is decreased in the skeletal muscle of those with diabetes, a finding that could lead to the development of drugs to boost the activity of this enzyme in an effort to fight the disease.

23 Aug 2011

Climate shifts may threaten to increase spread of malaria, health experts say

"Shifts in the world's climate and responses to those shifts – including construction of more irrigation systems – threaten to increase the spread of malaria, health experts say," AlertNet reports.

23 Aug 2011

KalVista raises £8 million in series A round of funding

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, a new ophthalmology company with a focus on diabetic macular edema (DME), has raised £8 million in a series A round from leading life sciences investors Novo A/S and SV Life Sciences.

23 Aug 2011

DMS receives NIH grant to establish Center of Biomedical Research Excellence

Under an $11-million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) will lead a network of northern New England institutions in recruiting, training, and supporting young quantitative biologists to teach and conduct research into the ways that genes and the environment work together to trigger and prevent disease.

23 Aug 2011

Radiolabeled protein reveals presence of S. aureus endocarditis in mouse model

A novel imaging probe developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may make it possible to diagnose accurately a dangerous infection of the heart valves.

22 Aug 2011

NHLBI selects U-M Congenital Heart Center for clinical research

The University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center has been selected as a new Pediatric Heart Network core site for clinical research. Created and funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the Pediatric Heart Network is a cooperative network of pediatric cardiovascular clinical research centers that conducts studies in children with congenital or acquired heart disease.

20 Aug 2011

EBD Group, MassBio announce plenary sessions program for BioPharm America 2011

EBD Group and MassBio today announced the plenary sessions program for BioPharm America 2011, being held at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, September 7-9.

20 Aug 2011

Emory team identifies conditions that make memory T cells slip away during chronic infections

After recovering from the flu or another acute infection, your immune system is ready to react quickly if you run into the same virus again. White blood cells called memory T cells develop during the infection and help the immune system remember the virus and attack it if it comes back.

19 Aug 2011

Single-molecule imaging reveals how cells prepare to interact with biochemical signals

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered that structural elements in the cell play a crucial role in organizing the motion of cell-surface receptors, proteins that enable cells to receive signals from other parts of the organism.

19 Aug 2011

Female TBI patients more likely to report headaches during first year after injury

Recurring headaches are common during the year following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), regardless of the severity of the TBI, and they tend to occur more often among females and those with a pre-TBI history of headache, according to an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

19 Aug 2011

Prior parasitic worm infections may complicate TB therapy

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major threat to global health, taking the lives of more than a million people worldwide each year. Its greatest impact is often in the most impoverished places on earth, where patients frequently suffer from multiple chronic illnesses at the same time. In such situations, the question of whether each individual illness might make concurrent illnesses more difficult to treat becomes a critical issue both for specific patients and for general public health.

19 Aug 2011

Medicare Advantage plans may be counter-productive for the elderly

In health care, more choice may not always lead to better choices, particularly for the elderly. In a new study, researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy found that the large variety of managed care plans offered by the Medicare Advantage program may be counter-productive.

18 Aug 2011

Unexplained hospital factors have impact on radioactive iodine use for thyroid cancer: Study

Where thyroid cancer patients go for care plays a large role in whether they receive radioactive iodine treatment, a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds.

18 Aug 2011

Study: Vitamin D directly terminates production of MS-causing protein

While for years scientists have noted an association between levels of vitamin D in a person's body and the person's ability to resist or minimize the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS), the mechanism involved has not been established.

17 Aug 2011

U-M introduces M.D.Stat+ app for medical school students to check admission status

The University of Michigan Medical School has launched M.D.Stat+, a free application designed for prospective medical school students to check their admission status. The app is now available for iPhones and Androids, but the mobile-friendly site it's based on is accessible via any smartphone's web browser.

17 Aug 2011

Study: Menthol cigarettes linked with decreased quitting in the U.S.

Could a mint-flavored additive to cigarettes have a negative impact on smoking cessation efforts? New research from investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and UMDNJ-School of Public Health shines a light on this topic.

16 Aug 2011

Alpha-synuclein protein key to Parkinson's has likely been mischaracterized

A new study finds that a protein key to Parkinson's disease has likely been mischaracterized. The protein, alpha-synuclein, appears to have a radically different structure in healthy cells than previously thought, challenging existing disease paradigms and suggesting a new therapeutic approach.

16 Aug 2011

Galectin second quarter net loss increases to $3.9 million

Galectin Therapeutics Inc., the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, today reported its financial results for the second quarter and first six months, ended June 30, 2011.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers explain why vertebrate intestines are so predictably loopy

Between conception and birth, the human gut grows more than two meters long, looping and coiling within the tiny abdomen. Within a given species, the developing vertebrate gut always loops into the same formation-however, until now, it has not been clear why.

12 Aug 2011

G-CSF therapy does not induce chromosomal instability in healthy stem cell donors

According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia.

12 Aug 2011