Thomas E. Jackiewicz, chief executive officer of UC San Diego Health System, has been elected to serve as Chair of the Founder’s Board for the Dr Foster 2011 Global Comparators Project. The project’s aim is to understand trends in global health and to drive lifesaving improvements in patient care.
A phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of a severe form of age-related macular degeneration called geographic atrophy (GA) has become the first study to show the benefit of a therapy to slow the progression of vision loss for this disease. The results highlight the benefit of the use of a neurotrophic factor to treat GA and provide hope to nearly one million Americans suffering from GA.
Modifying a protein from a plant much favored by science, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have created a new type of genetic tag visible under an electron microscope, illuminating life in never-before-seen detail.
An alternative and harmful form of tobacco use, known as the hookah or water pipe, may be spreading among youth in the United States according to researchers from the University of California, San Diego’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and San Diego State University. This trend is emerging even as cigarette smoking among high school students is on the decline nationally.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a “stress response” mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh or demanding conditions is exploited by cancer cells, which transmit the same stress signal to surrounding cells, triggering an inflammatory response in them that can aid tumor growth.
Benjamin Johnson, a fourth-year student at the UCSD School of Medicine is determined to make medical imaging technology widely available in low-income countries. His journey started in Uganda, where currently just 35 local radiologists serve the needs of 30 million people.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine claim that the availability of surgeons is a critical factor in public health and suggest that surgery should become an important part of the primary health care system.
In order to support professional development of women surgeons and raise gender awareness, the UC San Diego Department of Surgery is offering a free educational series for surgeons, medical students, and the general public.
During a radical surgery to treat a rare bone cancer, surgeons at UC San Diego Health System and Moores Cancer Center removed 50 percent of a patient’s pelvis. Instead of amputating the connected leg, the surgical team, comprised of orthopaedic, vascular and urologic experts, saved the entire limb. The patient was able to walk with assistance five weeks after surgery.
A new center combining academic research with the treatment of adults with Down syndrome – one of the first in the country – has opened at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. A primary focus of the new Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment (DSCRT) will be investigating the connection between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.
In the early stages of human embryogenesis, a transcription factor called Twist1 plays a key regulatory role in how the embryo assumes form and function. Much later in life, however, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, say Twist1 can re-emerge, taking a darker and more deadly turn.
The Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine will host the 34th San Diego Postgraduate Assembly in Surgery. The event will take place March 17 to 19, 2011 at the Omni San Diego Hotel.
The vegetables most boys wanted to avoid in childhood – such as kale and broccoli – just may be the answer to staving off prostate cancer growth in adulthood. A new clinical trial at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center will evaluate whether or not a change in diet, reinforced with telephone counseling and exercise, can stop or delay the progression of prostate cancer.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a notorious neurodegenerative condition characterized by the progressive deterioration of brain and spinal cord neurons, resulting in the gradual but catastrophic loss of muscle control and ultimately, death. In a paper, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, a team of scientists at the UCSD School of Medicine and colleagues describe the profound and pervasive role of a key protein in ALS pathology called TDP-43.
Ordinary human cells reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells may revolutionize personalized medicine by creating new and diverse therapies unique to individual patients. But important and unanswered questions have persisted about the safety of these cells, in particular whether their genetic material is altered during the reprogramming process. A new study finds that the genetic material of reprogrammed cells may in fact be compromised, and suggests that extensive genetic screening of hiPSCs become standard practice.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Jeffrey D. Esko, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, describe the build-up of a novel secondary metabolite in Sanfilippo disease, a discovery that could improve understanding of the pathology of Sanfilippo disease and refine diagnostic techniques.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego say an evolutionary gene mutation that occurred in human millions of years ago and our subsequent inability to produce a specific kind of sugar molecule appears to make people more vulnerable to developing type 2 diabetes, especially if they’re overweight.
Approximately 50,000 premature babies weighing less than three pounds are born in the United States each year. These fragile newborns need the highest quality nutrition, which is why UC San Diego Health System developed the Supporting Premature Infant Nutrition (SPIN) program to help mothers produce sufficient breast milk for their premature infants. Now, that innovative program is available to anyone with computer and Internet access.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha have reported that markedly higher intake of vitamin D is needed to reach blood levels that can prevent or markedly cut the incidence of breast cancer and several other major diseases than had been originally thought.
A team from the UC San Diego Center for Transplantation performed a rare, life-saving cardiac surgery called heterotopic heart transplantation, where a patient's own heart remained in place while a second donor heart was implanted.
New research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that regulatory T cells, whose job is to help mediate the body’s immune response, produce a protein that appears to hasten and intensify the spread of breast cancer to distant organs and, in doing so, dramatically increase the risk of death.
The discovery that a “gene desert” on chromosome 9 was a hotspot for coronary artery disease (CAD) risk was among the highlights of findings produced recently by genome-wide association studies, which compare the genomes of many people for genetic variations and have been broadly used in the past few years to study hundreds of diseases and complex traits. Gene deserts are large genomic segments devoid of genes.
Researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego say that medication education is a key factor in helping patients with diabetes better stick to their drug treatments plans.
Scratching deep beneath the surface, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and three South Korean institutions have identified two distinct neuronal signaling pathways activated by a topical cream used to treat a variety of skin diseases. One pathway produces the therapeutic benefit; the other induces severe itching as a side effect.
Surgeons at UC San Diego Health System have identified a new application for “scarless” surgery tools that are normally used for natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). In what is believed to be the first case in the United States, the surgical team used an existing incision from a previous colon surgery, through which they passed the long, flexible NOTES instruments into the abdomen to treat metastatic liver cancer.
Accidental damage to thin or buried nerves during surgery can have severe consequences, from chronic pain to permanent paralysis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may have found a remedy: injectable fluorescent peptides that cause hard-to-see peripheral nerves to glow, alerting surgeons to their location even before the nerves are encountered.
When a laboratory rat learns how to reach for and grab a food pellet – a pretty complex and unnatural act for a rodent – the acquired knowledge significantly alters the structure of the specific brain cells involved, which sprout a whopping 22 percent more dendritic spines connecting them to other motor neurons.
In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to the brain disorder – and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with existing compounds.
Research from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine provides new clues for the compulsive behavior and cognitive defects associated with a rare childhood neurological disease called Lesch-Nyhan Disease (LND). Two pathways found to be defective in LND are known to be associated with other neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s and Parknson’s diseases, suggesting common causes of cognitive and behavioral defects in these neurological disorders.
UC San Diego Medical Center performed the West Coast’s first implant of the world’s only FDA-approved total artificial heart. During the four-hour procedure, the patient’s diseased heart was completely removed and replaced by a lifesaving device that rapidly restored blood flow to his entire body.
In an important study that may shed light on human ability to adapt to hypoxia, or inadequate levels of oxygen, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have proven that the genome of flies exposed to long-term hypoxia are changed to permanently affect gene expression.
While the overall hospitalization rate for stroke has declined in recent years, the numbers have jumped dramatically for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), suggesting they may be up to three times more likely to suffer a stroke than people uninfected by the virus that causes AIDS.
On Jan. 19, 2011, a free online counseling service will be available to expecting and breastfeeding moms anywhere in the country through the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS).
Keeping older drivers safe behind the wheel is the goal of a successful program at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now expanding into additional counties.
Surgeons at UC San Diego Health System reconstruct Ben Horne's elbow after biking accident crushes it into five pieces.
The National Children’s Study (NCS) has begun inviting women in San Diego to participate in the largest long-term examination of children’s health and development ever conducted in the United States.
Combining the cutting-edge technologies of MRI and MEG, scientists at the University of California, San Diego show that babies just over a year old process words they hear with the same brain structures as adults, and in the same amount of time. Moreover, the researchers found that babies were not merely processing the words as sounds, but were capable of grasping their meaning.
Holiday Health Check : UC San Diego Health System Experts Recommend a Cup of Reason for Sampling the Season. From overeating to exercise and alcohol, UC San Diego Health System nutritionists, trauma specialists and poison experts offer insights for a health holiday.
UC San Diego Health System has been designated as a Blue Distinction® Center for Spine Surgery and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement. This honor is awarded to medical facilities that have demonstrated expertise in delivering quality health care in certain specialty medical areas by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Widely prescribed for their cholesterol-lowering properties, recent clinical research indicates that statins can produce a second, significant health benefit: lowering the risk of severe bacterial infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.
A study led by researchers in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows unexpected and extensive natural recovery after spinal cord injury in primates. The findings, to be published November 14 in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience.
Using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with Rett syndrome, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have created functional neurons that provide the first human cellular model for studying the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and could be used as a tool for drug screening, diagnosis and personalized treatment.
On November 9, 2010, the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego Health System will launch a timely lecture series called “Women in Surgery.” Compared to other professions, surgery remains a largely male-dominated field.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a multi-tasking protein called FoxO1 has another important but previously unknown function: It directly interacts with macrophages, promoting an inflammatory response that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes.
On Friday, October 15th, Bradley Cantley, 41, headed home from UC San Diego Medical Center connected to a lifesaving heart machine called a left ventricular assisted device (LVAD). For patients with advanced heart failure, the mechanical pump rapidly improves circulation throughout the body and serves as a bridge to transplant.
Building on a plan announced in September of 2007, UC San Diego Health Sciences and the Department of Radiation Oncology are pleased to announce an agreement with Proton Health Partners, LLC (PHP) to plan, develop, and operate “The UC San Diego Proton Therapy and Research Center.”
A new center called the National Resource for Network Biology (NRNB), based at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, will help clinicians analyze an ever-growing wealth of complex biological data and apply that knowledge to real problems and diseases.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, have received two federal grants totaling more than $25 million to develop new ways to gather, analyze, use and share vast, ever-increasing amounts of biomedical information.
A study led by a researcher at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine indicates that parent-only treatments for childhood obesity work equally as well as plans that include parents and child, while at the same time more cost effective and potentially easier for families.
Chronic depression is an adaptive, reparative neurobiological process gone wrong, say two UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers, positing in a new theory that the debilitating mental state originates from more ancient mechanisms used by the body to deal with physical injury, such as pain, tissue repair and convalescent behavior.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right