Location: California

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Shiley Eye Institute have identified the molecular “glue” that builds the brain connections that keep visual images clear and still, even as objects or your eyes move. Using mouse models, the researchers demonstrate that image stabilization depends upon two proteins, Contactin-4 and amyloid precursor protein, binding during embryonic development.

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The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses presents “Burned Out or Fired Up: The Choice Is Yours,” a half-day interactive summit on nurse burnout and resilience May 20, as part of its national conference in San Diego.

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Each year, more than 10 million Americans seek medical attention, often in emergency situations, for symptoms of intestinal blockages. Researchers at the University California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified an abnormal form of small bowel twisting (or volvulus) that may cause these painful obstructions. In contrast to other causes of bowel obstruction that are treated with bowel rest, these require immediate surgical care.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded $2.4 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of The National Institutes of Health to expand development of new pain medications with fewer side effects than those currently available.

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With the threat of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens growing, new ideas to treat infections are sorely needed. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report preliminary success testing an entirely novel approach — tagging bacteria with a molecular “homing beacon” that attracts pre-existing antibodies to attack the pathogens.

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Salk Institute scientists discover new type of stem cell that could potentially generate mature, functional tissues

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UC San Diego Health System and the City of El Centro has entered into a long-term management services agreement on behalf of El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC), the city-owned hospital, with the goal of enhancing the delivery of high-quality health care to patients in the Imperial Valley.

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Not everyone may care about having an impressive job title or a big, fancy house but all human beings desire a high level of social status, according to a newly published study.

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Mental health. It’s a term we most often associate with adults and balancing high-stress jobs with an enjoyable lifestyle. But what exactly does “mental health” mean for infants and families? We talked to Marian E. Williams, PhD, director of the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to learn more about this often “taboo” topic.

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Researchers from Berkeley Lab and the University of Hawaii at Manoa have shown for the first time that cosmic hot spots, such as those near stars, could be excellent environments for the creation of molecular precursors to DNA.

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A new study shows that the recently developed Compact Light Source (CLS) – a commercial X-ray source with roots in research and development efforts at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory – enables computer tomography scans that reveal more detail than routine scans performed at hospitals today. The new technology could soon be used in preclinical studies and help researchers better understand cancer and other diseases.

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Writing in the May 4 online issue of the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine used a powerful statistical tool called “design of experiments” or DOE to determine the optimal cell culture formula to grow and produce hPSCs.

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A team led by Stanford scientists has created software that tackles the big data problem for X-ray laser experiments at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The program allows researchers to tease out more details while using far fewer samples and less data and time. It can also be used to breathe new life into old data by reanalyzing and improving results from past experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser, a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

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What happens to an astronaut’s brain during a mission to Mars? Nothing good. It’s besieged by destructive particles that can forever impair cognition, according to a UC Irvine radiation oncology study appearing in the May 1 edition of Science Advances. Charles Limoli and colleagues found that exposure to highly energetic charged particles – much like those found in the galactic cosmic rays that bombard astronauts during extended spaceflights – cause significant damage to the central nervous system, resulting in cognitive impairments.

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Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine conducted the first population-based study that characterizes the association and temporal relationship between gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and other cancers. The results, published by Cancer on April 30, indicate that one in 5.8 patients with GIST will develop additional malignancies before and after their diagnosis.

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In proof-of-concept experiments, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine demonstrate the ability to tune medically relevant cell behaviors by manipulating a key hub in cell communication networks. The manipulation of this communication node, reported in this week’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, makes it possible to reprogram large parts of a cell’s signaling network instead of targeting only a single receptor or cell signaling pathway.

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The number of surgeries performed on terminally ill cancer patients has not dropped in recent years ¬, despite more attention to the importance of less invasive care for these patients to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.

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Published in the May issue of the American Journal of Critical Care, the first national study to examine the ratio of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to patients may help hospital administrators better determine appropriate staffing levels in acute and critical care units.

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A UC Irvine research team will receive up to $5 million to further develop a bloodstream infection detection system that speeds up diagnosis times with unprecedented accuracy – allowing physicians to treat patients with potentially deadly ailments more promptly and effectively. The five-year federal award is part of a ​National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases program to fund nine institutions that will create tools to identify certain pathogens that frequently cause infections in healthcare settings – especially those that are resistant to most antimicrobials.

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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Utrecht University have identified key mechanisms of the aging process of catalyst particles that are used to refine crude oil into gasoline. This advance could lead to more efficient gasoline production.

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Michael Levi and David Schlegel, physicists at Berkeley Lab, discuss the future of the DESI project and how its forthcoming map will help scientists better understand dark energy.

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Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common, and widespread antibiotic resistance has led to urgent calls for new ways to combat them. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report that an experimental drug that stabilizes a protein called HIF-1alpha protects human bladder cells and mice against a major UTI pathogen. The drug might eventually provide a therapeutic alternative or complement to standard antibiotic treatment.

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a previously unappreciated phenomenon in which the location of injury to a neuron’s communication wire in the spinal cord — the axon — determines whether the neuron simply stabilizes or attempts to regenerate. The study, published April 30 by Neuron, demonstrates how advances in live-imaging techniques are revealing new insights into the body’s ability to respond to spinal cord injuries.

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Salk scientists’ finding could aid regenerative and cancer therapies

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Writing in the April 30 online issue of the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report pancreatic cancer rates are highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight. Low sunlight levels were due to a combination of heavy cloud cover and high latitude.

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Few doctors are prescribing a low-cost drug that has been proven effective in preventing the onset of diabetes. New research finds that only 3.7 percent of U.S. adults with pre-diabetes were prescribed metformin during a recent three-year period.

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Offering a potential early intervention for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Cenna Biosciences, Inc. have identified compounds that block the production of beta amyloid peptides in mice.

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Materials scientists and professors at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Zhi-Xun Shen, Shoucheng Zhang and Aharon Kapitulnik were elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). All three researchers are principal investigators at the joint SLAC and Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES).

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Now, parents share their arduous and “circuitous” journey to get referrals for pediatric epilepsy surgery once their child’s disease stops responding to anti-seizure medications. The UCLA study sheds light on the difficulties parents face obtaining specialty and sub-specialty care for their children during an already stressful time.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that blocking or removing immune-suppressing cells allows a special type of chemotherapy — and the immune cells it activates — to destroy prostate tumors. This novel combination therapy, termed chemoimmunotherapy, achieved near complete remission in mouse models of advanced prostate cancer. The study is published April 29 in Nature.

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A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors that contribute to a major gender disparity among U.S. men and women undergoing weight loss surgeries. Men undergo the surgeries in far lower numbers than women.

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John M. Boone, a UC Davis medical physicist and professor of radiology, has been awarded a $2.88 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to further develop and research computed tomography (CT) to detect breast cancer.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered some surprising details of a group of compounds that have shown significant potential in stimulating the growth of brain cells and memory restoration in animal models that mimic Alzheimer’s disease.

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Researchers at Berkeley Lab have conducted the most comprehensive study yet of the full cost of saving electricity by U.S. utility efficiency programs and now have an answer: 4.6 cents. That’s the average total cost of saving a kilowatt-hour in 20 states from 2009 to 2013.

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Roving bands of thespians, workshops, master classes, an endowed chair and, of course, the summer festival will help foster appreciation of the playwright’s works.

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California research grants program Cal-BRAIN has selected 16 projects to receive inaugural seed grants of $120,000 each. The projects seek to create new technologies for measuring brain activity in greater depth, breadth and detail than is currently possible.

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An international team of scientists led by a Cedars-Sinai researcher has identified a new genetic mutation that appears to protect people from developing Type 2 diabetes.

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The demand for more “AC” will also cause consumers to use more electricity causing stress on energy prices, infrastructure, and environmental policy, according to a new study.

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A new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) shows that nerve cells and blood vessels in the eye constantly “talk” to each other to maintain healthy blood flow and prevent disease.

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Rubén Rumbaut, UC Irvine Distinguished Professor of sociology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He’s among 197 new fellows elected this year to the 235-year-old academy, considered one of the nation’s most select societies.

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The number one killer of firefighters isn’t burns or smoke inhalation. According to Arcata Fire District Battalion Chief Sean Campbell, it's stress and exertion, which kills about 50 firefighters each year nationwide. "It's not uncommon for firefighters working at a scene or just after an incident to die of a heart attack or other stress or overexertion related illness."

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In a first step towards realizing the future of personalized pediatric medicine, Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego has begun whole genome sequencing of San Diego County children born with birth defects of unknown cause.

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Children with hemophilia A require three to four infusions each week to prevent bleeding episodes, chronic pain and joint damage. A new, extended therapy combines recombinant factor VIII with a fusion protein that allows the molecule to remain in the circulation longer – translating into a need for less frequent treatment.

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Here at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, transgender issues are not new. Our Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine has been supporting the health of transgender youth for nearly 20 years. While many are becoming more familiar with the subject now, there is still great opportunity to advance understanding in the community. In this post, Johanna Olson, MD, medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at CHLA, gives answers to questions that many are asking, including what the term ‘transgender’ means, what the transition process includes, and services that are available for transyouth.

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New ophthalmology research from the University of Miami shows that dry eye – the little understood culprit behind red, watery, gritty feeling eyes – strikes most often in spring, just as airborne allergens are surging. The study marks the first time that researchers have discovered a direct correlation between seasonal allergens and dry eye, with both pollen and dry eye cases reaching a yearly peak in the month of April.

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An experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has revealed in atomic detail how a hypertension drug binds to a cellular receptor that plays a key role in regulating blood pressure. The results could help scientists design new drugs that better control blood pressure while limiting side effects.

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Salk scientists use molecular “scissors” to eliminate mitochondrial mutations in eggs and embryos