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New York Times 'Small Fixes' section examines multiple low-cost interventions for global health problems

The New York Times on Monday published a special section, titled "Small Fixes," containing several articles examining how low-cost innovations could help save thousands of lives.

28 Sep 2011

Rotating shift pattern may not disrupt circadian rhythm or melatonin production

Recent research suggests that the modern day-day-night-night shift pattern for shift workers may not be as disruptive or as potentially carcinogenic as older, more extreme shift patterns.

28 Sep 2011

UCI professor wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers

Rommie Amaro, UC Irvine assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and computer science, has been selected by President Obama for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers.

28 Sep 2011

More predictability in the chaos of infectious Chagas disease transmission

Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, not all epidemics involve people suffering from zombie-like symptoms--some can only be uncovered through door-to-door epidemiology and advanced mathematics.

28 Sep 2011

Stimulant prescription use for ADHD has increased steadily from 1996-2008

The prescribed use of stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose slowly but steadily from 1996 to 2008, according to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study was published online ahead of print September 28, 2011, in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

28 Sep 2011

Transcept announces resubmission of NDA for Intermezzo to FDA

Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary products that address important therapeutic needs in the field of neuroscience, today announced that the company has resubmitted the New Drug Application for Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablet) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

28 Sep 2011

Benefits and harms vary among atypical antipsychotics for off-label use

A review of previous studies suggests that even though atypical antipsychotic medications are commonly used for off-label conditions such as behavioral symptoms of dementia, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, these medications are effective for only a few off-label conditions, and that the benefits and harms of these medications for these uses vary, according to an article in the September 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Sep 2011

Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative (CFI) - a new privately funded research directive focused on chronic fatigue syndrome - announced a substantial grant to a Columbia University research team to investigate the role of pathogens in causing chronic fatigue syndrome. The pathogen discovery and pathogenesis program will be led by Drs. Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig of the Center for Infection and Immunity.

28 Sep 2011

Justice Department does not seek full appeals court review clearing path for high court to decide health law's constitutionality next summer

The Obama administration announced Monday that it won't press for an en banc appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Such an action would have delayed the legal process and likely pushed back the timing of a final Supreme Court decision until at least 2013.

28 Sep 2011

Microbiologist offers advice to guard against coming down with the flu

October marks the beginning of flu season, and once again, health care professionals are exhorting people to get a flu shot. Microbiologist John Tudor, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, agrees that it's time to roll up our sleeves and offer up our arms for the vaccination.

28 Sep 2011

DMARDs appear to be more effective for children with arthritis

Medications known as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, or DMARDs, appear to be more effective than other treatments for children with arthritis, but there is not enough evidence to support one kind of DMARD over another, according to a new report from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 Sep 2011

Asians struggling with alcoholism may benefit from naltrexone

New UCLA psychology research indicates that Asians who are struggling with alcoholism may benefit especially from naltrexone, one of three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of alcoholism.

28 Sep 2011

HPV testing for cervical screening saves women from more invasive tests

Testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) as part of cervical screening reduces the number of women unnecessarily going on for further tests by over a third, new research shows today.

28 Sep 2011

BioLineRx's BL-1020 Phase IIb EAGLE trial data on schizophrenia to be presented at ECSR

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, today announced that data from the successfully completed Phase IIb EAGLE study of BL-1020, a first in class GABA-enhanced antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia, will be presented at the 3rd European Conference on Schizophrenia Research (ECSR) held in Berlin, Germany.

28 Sep 2011

Lockheed Martin acquires QTC

Lockheed Martin Corporation has completed its acquisition of QTC Holdings Inc. The company, based in Diamond Bar, Calif., is the largest provider of outsourced medical evaluation services to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), processing more than 450,000 evaluations last year.

28 Sep 2011

Spire receives NIH, NIDCR's SBIR Phase I Grant to develop coatings for dental arch wires

Spire Biomedical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spire Corporation, announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), has awarded Spire a nine-month Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Grant for $114,173, to develop coatings for dental arch wires used in orthodontics.

28 Sep 2011

Study sheds light on when to start antiretroviral therapy

Findings from a study published in the current issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, when "taken together with other studies published over the last few years," show that beginning people living with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) when their CD4 cell count is between 350 and 500 "appears to be beneficial over the long term.

28 Sep 2011

Scientists identify proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins

A study by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and UC Irvine has identified an enzyme called a proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins from a cell. The understanding of how this process works could have important implications for numerous diseases, including cancer and Parkinson's disease.

28 Sep 2011

Highly prevalent urinary and bladder symptoms will increase further

Nearly half of all adults over 20 will experience at least one lower urinary tract symptom by 2018 - an estimated 2.3 billion people and a worldwide increase of 18% in just one decade - according to research in the October issue of the urology journal BJUI.

28 Sep 2011

MicroDose initiates MDT-637 Phase 1 trial in respiratory syncytial virus

MicroDose Therapeutx, Inc. today announced that the first human subject has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of MDT-637, MicroDose's inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus.

28 Sep 2011