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Aetna extends contract with University of Pennsylvania Health System

Aetna announced today that it has signed a five-year contract extension with the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), assuring continued in-network access for its members in the Philadelphia area.

17 Sep 2010

Survey reveals 72% of people over age of 65 do not feel old

There is a sharp contrast between people's positive attitudes towards growing old and their preparedness according to the results of a new international survey, Bupa Health Pulse 2010, published today by Bupa Health Dialog.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers discover chronic stress accelerates breast cancer progression

Chronic stress acts as a sort of fertilizer that feeds breast cancer progression, significantly accelerating the spread of disease in animal models, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

17 Sep 2010

Seattle uses global lessons to help local poor with health care

The Seattle Times: "Seattle is known for taking its health expertise to the developing world. Now some fruits of that work are coming back to address health issues locally.

17 Sep 2010

Scripps Research Institute receives grant to develop DNA sequencing technology

Scripps Research Institute Professor Reza Ghadiri, Ph.D., has been awarded a four-year, $5.1 million grant as part of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to spur the development of the next generation of DNA sequencing technologies, which could enable biomedical researchers and health care workers to routinely sequence a person's DNA.

17 Sep 2010

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center research team wins 2010 BioFlux Innovation Award

Fluxion Biosciences, Inc. announced today that a research team from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has won the 2010 BioFlux Innovation Award competition. Laura Sycuro, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow in the lab of David Fredricks, M.D., authored the winning submission which focuses on screening and characterizing bacterial strains involved in biofilm-related infections known to affect women's reproductive health.

From Fluxion Biosciences 17 Sep 2010

Pall launches GeneDisc Rapid Microbiology System for advanced microbial quality monitoring

Pall Corporation, a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, today announced the introduction of the GeneDisc® Rapid Microbiology System for advanced microbial quality monitoring. This system represents Pall's latest quality assurance innovation for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

From Pall Corporation 17 Sep 2010

Researcher discover enzyme for brain tumor malignancy

Tom Wurdinger, a Dutch researcher who is connected to Harvard (Boston) and the VUmc Cancer Center in Amsterdam, has discovered the enzyme playing a very important role in the return of malign brain tumor after surgery and radiation. By making this enzyme inactive, the cancer cell can become disorganized and blow itself up.

17 Sep 2010

Ways and Means leaders introduce fraud prevention efforts

The Hill: Leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee have offered a bipartisan bill to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to exclude corporate executives from Medicare if their companies were convicted of fraud. "The bill, introduced by Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Wally Herger (R-Calif.), would also give the HHS Office of the Inspector General the ability to exclude parent companies that may be committing fraud through shell companies."

17 Sep 2010

Researchers suggest bare-foot dancing to avoid plantar fasciitis

With ballroom dancing once again on our screens, all eyes are on the sequins and steps. Well, not quite all eyes. British and Chinese scientists are more interested in the height of the ladies' high heels rather than the torsos and twists and have a few strict words on health and safety for professional dancers.

17 Sep 2010

LigoCyte to enroll 98 subjects in first clinical trial for bivalent IM norovirus vaccine

LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceuticals company focused on the development of innovative vaccine products, announced today that it has initiated the first clinical trial for its bivalent intramuscular (IM) norovirus vaccine candidate, marking the fourth human clinical trial in the Company's norovirus virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine program.

17 Sep 2010

FEMR and State of Illinois proclaim first-ever Fall Prevention Awareness Day

The Foundation for Education and Musculoskeletal Research (FEMR) and the state of Illinois officially proclaimed the first day of autumn, September 22, 2010, as Fall Prevention Awareness Day. FEMR will be raising awareness for fall prevention and the need for osteoporosis screening and treatment in an effort to reduce the incidence of fragility bone fractures among older residents of Illinois.

17 Sep 2010

ImmunoCellular contracts with Averionto to execution ICT-107 cancer-vaccine Phase II study

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, today announced that it has contracted with the clinical research organization (CRO) Averion International Corp. to conduct its planned Phase II study of ICT-107, the Company's lead cancer-vaccine candidate for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

17 Sep 2010

Haitian Prime Minister cites rebuilding progress, lack of aid

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive "insisted Tuesday that progress is being made in his devastated homeland despite the trickle of international aid," the Miami Herald reports.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover simple molecular test to block GOAT enzyme

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have designed a new molecular test that will allow researchers to look for potential drugs targeting a human metabolic enzyme believed to stimulate the appetite and play a role in diabetes.

17 Sep 2010

Illinois CDH Proton Center to open ahead of schedule in October

Proton therapy, an alternative to radiation for the treatment of cancer, will be available in Illinois sooner than expected. Originally slated to open in early 2011, the CDH Proton Center, A ProCure Center, will open its doors Oct. 19, making it the first proton therapy center in Illinois and only the ninth in the country.

17 Sep 2010

Research on BMP6 protein suggests potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease

Elevated levels of a growth protein in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients is linked to impaired neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are generated, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego in today's edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.

17 Sep 2010

FDA approves expanded indication for Boston Scientific's CRT-Ds

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded indication for its cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds), including the COGNIS® CRT-D. The exclusive expanded indication is effective immediately and makes Boston Scientific CRT-Ds the only devices approved by the FDA for patients in all New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes of heart failure.

17 Sep 2010

Metabolism imbalance increases asthma risk in children: Research

Even children of a healthy weight who have an imbalanced metabolism due to poor diet or exercise may be at increased risk of asthma, according to new research, which challenges the widespread assumption that obesity itself is a risk factor for asthma.

17 Sep 2010

Continuing care retiring communities receive increased scrutiny

The New York Times: "For middle- and upper-income retirees who had the money, it was almost a no-brainer in recent years to choose living in a continuing-care retirement community. They could move, as the need arose, from independent living to assisted care to skilled nursing care — all without leaving the community."

17 Sep 2010