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Obama's latest dilemma: Confronting the AIDS pandemic

Confronting the ongoing AIDS pandemic for his upcoming first national HIV/AIDS Strategy is President Obama's newest dilemma, say former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, former White House Drug Policy spokesman Robert Weiner, and Dartmouth College Coalition for Progress president Jordan Osserman.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists determine structure of enzyme essential to the survival of protozoan parasites

After many years of study, a team of researchers is releasing data today that it hopes will lead to new drug therapies that will kill the family of parasites that causes a deadly trio of insect-borne diseases and has afflicted inhabitants of underdeveloped and developing nations for centuries.

18 Jan 2010

Penn State receives $1.9M grant to study the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases

The potential effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are the focus of a nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation intended to further the studies of a Penn State-led group of researchers.

18 Jan 2010

PATH MVI announces collaboration in development of malaria TBV

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today announced a new collaboration to initiate development toward a vaccine that may eventually help eliminate and eradicate malaria. This collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) and the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) marks MVI's first investment in transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs). This vaccine approach aims to stop the malaria parasite from developing in the mosquito, effectively blocking transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans. Malaria kills nearly 900,000 people per year, most of them children younger than age five.

18 Jan 2010

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri led the country in 2008 in efficiency in using federal dollars to combat Medicaid fraud. "The state recovered almost $29.8 million in 2008, the most recent year for which comparative data are available, while receiving about $1.6 million in federal Medicaid fraud grants. That equates to $18.81 recovered for every dollar received — 43 cents better than the next-best state" (Noble, 1/12).

18 Jan 2010

Margaret A. Hamburg thanks America's health care professionals on H1N1 vaccine safety

FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg today sent a letter to America's health care professionals thanking them for their efforts during the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak and providing information on safety monitoring of the 2009 H1N1 vaccines.

18 Jan 2010

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Journal of the American Medical Association: Funding of US Biomedical Research, 2003-2008 - After doubling in a decade, the rate of increase in biomedical research in the U.S. has slowed since 2005, and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health and industry appears to have decreased by 2 percent in 2008, after adjusting for inflation, the authors of this study report.

18 Jan 2010

Regulus Therapeutics presents new data on oncology, immune disease and HCV therapeutic programs

Regulus Therapeutics Inc. today announced that new pre-clinical data from multiple therapeutic programs were presented at the “RNA Silencing: Mechanism, Biology and Application” Keystone Symposium held January 14 – 19, 2010 in Keystone, Colorado. Regulus and its collaborators presented data showing microRNA target regulation by anti-miRs, as well as data from therapeutic programs focused on oncology, immune disease and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists discover new mechanism that explains role of EBV in tumor growth

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a virus of the herpes family, has two distinct life phases: After infecting a cell it first goes into a resting phase. Under certain circumstances the virus can become active - and then induces tumor growth or promotes its synthesis in the cell.

18 Jan 2010

Also in global health news: Anti-gay bill; Bush Institute TV show; funds for HIV programs in Kenya; EU aid commitments

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday publicly acknowledged the need to address the impact an anti-gay bill before the Ugandan parliament could have on foreign policy, Agence France-Presse reports (1/12).

18 Jan 2010

FDA approves TCA-CT's adult stem cell protocol for conducting Phase I clinical trials in ALS

TCA Cellular Therapy, LLC (TCA-CT) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its adult stem cell protocol to conduct Phase I clinical trials to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

18 Jan 2010

Large number of infected cases in Australia attribute to failure in containing H1N1 pandemic

The rapid and widespread entry of the pandemic H1N1 infection that led to a large number of infected cases in Australia suggested a public health management failure in containing the pandemic when it broke out in April 2009.

18 Jan 2010

Atlantic examines drug-resistant TB control worldwide

The Atlantic examines the emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis around the world, with a look at the situation in South Africa. "[T]he resurgence of tuberculosis is not limited to South Africa. India and China have the largest numbers of tuberculosis cases, and multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been found in nearly every country, with XDR [extensively drug resistant]-TB in at least 57 countries," according to the article.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists develop alternative method for producing active ingredient in Tamiflu

Scientists have developed an alternative method for producing the active ingredient in Tamiflu-, the mainstay for fighting H1N1 and other forms of influenza. The new process could expand availability of the drug by reducing its cost, which now retails for as about $8 per dose.

18 Jan 2010

U.S. DOD awards LUHS $1.6M to continue burn research

Loyola University Health Systems (LUHS) has received a $1.6 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to research burn injuries, the care of burn wounds and infections and how burns affect the immune system.

18 Jan 2010

Longer breastfeeding can prevent postnatal HIV transmission

A new study from Zambia suggests that halting breastfeeding early causes more harm than good for children not infected with HIV who are born to HIV-positive mothers.

18 Jan 2010

Kenta Biotech and Rentschler Biotechnologie sign agreement to develop antibody against MRSA

Kenta Biotech today announced an agreement with Rentschler Biotechnologie for the development of a fully human monoclonal antibody against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

18 Jan 2010

Study finds large number of new couples among young adults infected with HPV

A groundbreaking study of couples led by Professor Eduardo Franco, Director of McGill University's Cancer Epidemiology Unit, in collaboration with a team of colleagues from McGill and Universit- de Montr-al/Centre Hospitalier de l'Universit- de Montr-al (CHUM), found more than half (56 per cent) of young adults in a new sexual relationship were infected with human papillomavirus (HPV).

18 Jan 2010

First genetic map of malaria drug plant could increase crop yields, study says

The first genetic map of the plant Artemisia annua, which could "help scientists develop the species into a high-yielding crop" to fight malaria, was published in a study in the journal Science on Thursday, Reuters reports (Kelland, 1/14).

18 Jan 2010

AVIR Green Hills Biotechnology commences deltaFLU Phase II study

AVIR Green Hills Biotechnology, the innovative biotech company based in Vienna, has started the New Year by embarking on the first clinical phase II study for the seasonal vaccine deltaFLU. The study will be carried out at the Medical University of Vienna. With this step, AVIR Green Hills has set yet another important milestone in the development of effective and modern influenza vaccines.

18 Jan 2010

Disease/Infection News

Obama's latest dilemma: Confronting the AIDS pandemic

Scientists determine structure of enzyme essential to the survival of protozoan parasites

Penn State receives $1.9M grant to study the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases

PATH MVI announces collaboration in development of malaria TBV

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

Margaret A. Hamburg thanks America's health care professionals on H1N1 vaccine safety

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Regulus Therapeutics presents new data on oncology, immune disease and HCV therapeutic programs

Scientists discover new mechanism that explains role of EBV in tumor growth

Also in global health news: Anti-gay bill; Bush Institute TV show; funds for HIV programs in Kenya; EU aid commitments

FDA approves TCA-CT's adult stem cell protocol for conducting Phase I clinical trials in ALS

Large number of infected cases in Australia attribute to failure in containing H1N1 pandemic

Atlantic examines drug-resistant TB control worldwide

Scientists develop alternative method for producing active ingredient in Tamiflu

U.S. DOD awards LUHS $1.6M to continue burn research

Longer breastfeeding can prevent postnatal HIV transmission

Kenta Biotech and Rentschler Biotechnologie sign agreement to develop antibody against MRSA

Study finds large number of new couples among young adults infected with HPV

First genetic map of malaria drug plant could increase crop yields, study says

AVIR Green Hills Biotechnology commences deltaFLU Phase II study

Redefining control and consistency in anaerobic microbiome workflows

AI in Healthcare: How generative tools are transforming clinical practice

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

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