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VBI researcher receives grant from NIGMS for developing network-based models of infectious diseases

A researcher from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech has received a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support ongoing work to develop high-performance computer models for the study of very large networks.

1 Sep 2009

Touchstone Health Partnership appoints Bryan D. Birch as President and Chief Executive Officer

Touchstone Health Partnership, a managed care company primarily operating in the Medicare Advantage Program, today announced the appointment of Bryan D. Birch as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Birch brings over 20 years of experience in the health services and managed care sector.

1 Sep 2009

New gene therapy vector developed for transferring therapeutic DNA to a cell's nucleus

A research report featured on the cover of the September 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal describes how Australian scientists developed a new gene therapy vector that uses the same machinery that viruses use to transport their cargo into our cells. As a result of this achievement, therapeutic DNA can be transferred to a cell's nucleus far more efficiently than in the past, raising hopes for more effective treatment of genetic disorders and some types of cancers.

1 Sep 2009

Rodents may serve as useful models to interpret parent-offspring relationships

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have demonstrated that prairie voles may be a useful model in understanding the neurochemistry of social behavior. By influencing early social experience in prairie voles, researchers hope to gain greater insight into what aspects of early social experience drive diversity in adult social behavior.

1 Sep 2009

TIME examines debate over using female condom to fight HIV/AIDS in Uganda

TIME examines the debate over the Ugandan government's recent decision to use money from the U.N. Population Fund to purchase and distribute 100,000 female condoms to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Supporters of the government's plan say female condoms increase a woman's ability to negotiate with her partner.

1 Sep 2009

Race, gender and insurance status influence liver transplant decisions

Patient race, gender and insurance status influence decisions about who will go on to receive liver transplants, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study.

1 Sep 2009

Obama's aging czar calls issue 'A unifying topic'

"Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the country's top authority on issues facing the massively expanding population of older Americans."

1 Sep 2009

Medsphere secures $12 million to support its development and expansion efforts in the health IT sector

Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of open source healthcare enterprise solutions, today announced that the company has secured $12 million in financing to support ongoing development and expansion efforts in the health IT sector.

1 Sep 2009

MyMedicalRecords Pro EMR system launched by MMR Information Systems

MMR Information Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (the "Company"), which through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. ("MMR"), provides consumer-controlled Personal Health Records ("PHRs") (www.mymedicalrecords.com) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions (www.myesafedepositbox.com), announced that it has launched its MyMedicalRecords Pro ("MMRPro") product which is designed to help doctors take the first steps towards an EMR system by digitizing medical records and making them available to patients through a patient portal that incorporates the MyMedicalRecords.com Personal Health Record.

1 Sep 2009

GenoCAD project receives financial support from NSF

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year $1,421,725 grant to Jean Peccoud, associate professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, to develop GenoCAD - a web-based Computer Assisted Design environment for synthetic biology.

1 Sep 2009

Chemists design polymer-coated nanorods for drug manufacturers

Nanoparticles combining platinum and gold act as superefficient catalysts, but chemists have struggled to create them in an industrially useful form. Rice University chemists have answered the call this week with a polymer-coated version of gold-platinum nanorods, the first catalysts of their kind that can be used in the organic solvents favored by chemical and drug manufacturers.

1 Sep 2009

Study establishes link between workplace bullying and increased sleep disturbances

A study in the Sept.1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that current or past exposure to workplace bullying is associated with increased sleep disturbances. Associations also were found between observed bullying and sleep disruption, indicating that bullying has detrimental effects even when it is experienced indirectly.

1 Sep 2009

House bill would strengthen federal comparative effectiveness programs

The Christian Science Monitor: "Should the US government mount a comprehensive effort to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various treatments for health conditions? That question is at the heart of a dispute over whether some provisions in the healthcare reform bills now under consideration in Congress eventually might lead to the rationing of care. At issue is comparative effectiveness research, which tries to figure out just how well drugs, medical devices, and surgical techniques work, compared with alternatives. Both the House and current Senate versions of health legislation would expand exisitng federal efforts in this area."

1 Sep 2009

Cardiac resynchronization therapy delays the progression of heart failure

A therapy called cardiac resynchronization can significantly delay the progression of heart failure, according to a major international study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Sep 2009

Tel Aviv University researcher devises mathematical formula for protecting the genetic privacy

Last year, after a published paper found serious security holes in the way DNA data is made publicly available, health institutes in the United States and across the world removed all genetic data from public access.

1 Sep 2009

ChromoCure releases development plan for CS300 Chromosomal Scanner

ChromoCure, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: KKUR) released today its development plan for its next generation of chromosomal scanners. The new system has been given the name "CS300" as the next iteration of its current CS200 Chromosomal Scanner design.

1 Sep 2009

New clinical predictors required to determine future asthma attacks

Screening tests used to predict asthma activity in patients may have little tracking success when applied to people with persistent disease who are adhering to their health care regimens, UT Southwestern Medical Center physician report.

1 Sep 2009

Globe and Mail examines HIV/AIDS rate in India

The Globe and Mail writes that "[w]hen India announced in 2007 that it had 2.3 million people living with HIV, rather than the 5.7 million reported the year before, the government first attributed much of the change to better data collection. Many in the AIDS field were skeptical."

1 Sep 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

Dr. Obama's Toughest Patient The Washington Post

1 Sep 2009

Ways to save money without letting health care suffer

Recent reports show that more and more people are cutting back on their health care or medicines to save money. But cutting back to save money isn't always the best solution, especially when it comes to doctor's appointments and required medicines

1 Sep 2009