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$11 million for lung injury research

Northwestern University has received an $11 million Program Project Grant (PPG) from the National Institutes of Health to define the mechanisms that cause changes in the alveolar epithelium during lung injury.

27 Apr 2004

FDA approval for Cladribine to treat active Hairy Cell Leukemia

American Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. today announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Cladribine Injection.

27 Apr 2004

Biological bandages are being successfully used to treat patients with severe burns

Doctors have been impressed with the rapid recovery rates instigated by the ‘tailor-made ’ discs, which have been devised by a research team at the Sheffield company, CellTran, with financial support from the Wellcome Trust biomedical research charity and the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund. They will be officially launched at the British Burn Association’s annual meeting in Manchester tomorrow (28th).

27 Apr 2004

UK scientists have discovered cancer cells life and death scenario following anti-cancer treatment

CANCER Research UK scientists have discovered how some cancer cells choose to live and others die following anti-cancer treatment, unveiling their findings in the prestigious journal PNAS today.

26 Apr 2004

Experimental immune-boosting drug interleukin-2 helps HIV Patients

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists report that brief, widely-spaced courses of the experimental immune-boosting drug interleukin-2 (IL-2) allow people with HIV to maintain near normal levels of a key immune system cell for long periods.

26 Apr 2004

New analytical approach that combines genetic and clinical data to give individualized prognosis of cancer recurrence

Researchers at Duke University have developed a new analytical approach that combines genetic and clinical data to give cancer patients an individualized prognosis of their cancer recurrence. The information could prove critical in deciding how aggressively to treat the disease following surgery.

26 Apr 2004

Scientists studying the adhesive properties of the neural cell adhesion molecule have found that two opposing models of cell adhesion are both correct

Scientists studying the adhesive properties of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) -- a protein that helps bind the nervous system together -- have found that two opposing models of cell adhesion are both correct.

26 Apr 2004

Injections of adult stem cells could repair hearts

Injections of adult stem cells into damaged heart tissue significantly improved heart function in patients with severe congestive heart failure, according to results of the first prospective randomized trial of the experimental therapy presented today at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

26 Apr 2004

Oxford researchers find possible new type of antibiotic

Dr Ben Davis in the Department of Chemistry at Oxford University, England and his collaborators have discovered a possible new route to antibiotics.

26 Apr 2004

New cancer drug Tarceva - a breakthrough with significant survival benefit in patients with advanced lung cancer

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, Inc., and Roche today announced that a Phase III study of Tarceva™ (erlotinib HCl), an investigational HER1/EGFR-inhibitor agent in previously treated patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival, with patients receiving Tarceva™ living longer than those in the placebo arm of the study.

26 Apr 2004

Third Annual Encephalitis Conference

International organizers are proud to announce the FACES to FACES Encephalitis Conference, to be held in Enfield Connecticut USA on August 6th to August 8th, 2004.

26 Apr 2004

Discovery shows how single genetic mutation can cause complex disorders

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), characterized by obesity, learning disabilities and eye and kidney problems, is caused by genetic mutations in the BBS family of genes. Now, researchers who've long studied the condition have discovered that genetic mutations in one of those genes, called BBS4, lead to cell death by disrupting the cells' internal "highway" system.

25 Apr 2004

First pancreatic islet cell transplant in Alabama

A lifelong dependency on insulin shots and pumps may be over for a 24-year old Troy, Alabama, woman who is the first in the state to receive a pancreatic islet cell transplant. Within 24 hours after the procedure, performed at UAB Hospital on April 15, her new cells were beginning to function, doctors said.

24 Apr 2004

Spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and Yale University School of Medicine have found that a compound in the spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect in mice. This research is reported in the April 23, 2004 issue of the journal Science.

24 Apr 2004

Protein may help prevent autoimmune conditions like diabetes, lupus, arthritis and multiple sclerosis

A possibly important ally of the immune system that can help with the tricky task of separating friend from foe has been identified by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

23 Apr 2004

Scientists have developed a better form of omega-3 fish oil

University of Georgia scientists have developed a form of omega-3 fish oil that's easier for people to absorb and leaves no fishy aftertaste.

23 Apr 2004

Certain cells from a mother can cause immunity illness in children

Certain cells from a mother persist in their children’s bodies and can provoke an immune response in which the child’s body attacks itself, according to Mayo Clinic research published in the current issue of the Journal of Immunology (http://www.jimmunol.org).

23 Apr 2004

Nitric oxide, a chemical messenger involved in bodily functions shuts down a protein involved in Parkinson's disease

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that nitric oxide, a chemical messenger involved in bodily functions from erection to nerves' communication, also shuts down a protein involved in Parkinson's disease.

23 Apr 2004

Research may offer potent vaccines for viruses such as HIV and West Nile

Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) have identified two molecules (TL and CD8aa) that cooperate to trigger immune cells to develop into long-lived memory cells to fight recurring infections. This finding may have important implications for the future development of longer lasting and more potent vaccines for viruses such as HIV and West Nile.

23 Apr 2004

Potential new drug may slow the progression of the Parkinson's disease

An international team of Parkinson's disease researchers has shown that a potential new drug is effective at treating patients in the early stages of Parkinson's and may even slow the progression of the disease. The results from the Parkinson Study Group are in the April 19 issue of the Archives of Neurology.

22 Apr 2004