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Think pink this October. Reduce your risk of developing breast cancer. Experts from the Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital will reveal the latest information on basic breast health, breast cancer risk in minorities and breast cancer prevention at a free community education program on Wednesday, October 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Tangerine Restaurant.

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Using the drug darapladib, researchers have inhibited a cholesterol-and immune system-associated protein, thereby reducing the development of heart-disease plaques that may cause death, heart attacks, and strokes in a pig model of atherosclerosis and diabetes.

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Researchers have modified a honeybee venom toxin so that it can be used as a tool to study the inner workings of ion channels that control heart rate and the recycling of salt in kidneys.

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Researchers have identified a key step in the formation "“ and suppression "“ of esophageal cancers and perhaps carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck.

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You can save your life with a prostate cancer check this fall. The Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia will offer free prostate cancer screenings for men between the ages of 40 and 75 on Tuesday, September 16, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at its offices on Washington Square. Screenings will consist of a digital rectal examination and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

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As the 2008 presidential election draws nearer, debate continues over immigration and health care reform. Meanwhile, U.S. doctors must find innovative, cost-effective ways to care for these new Americans. A national authority on health care concerns among underserved populations, Steven C. Larson, MD, associate professor of Emergency Medicine and assistant dean for Global Health Programs at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, can share insights on novel ways in which the government can provide quality health care for all Americans.

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Judd Hollander, MD, Professor and Clinical Research Director in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine, can share insights on the ways in which new technologies may both improve health care delivery and reduce costs for widespread, chronic health problems. These issues will play a central role in discussions about health care reform as the 2008 presidential election approaches.

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For older Americans "“ who vote in larger numbers than any other age group "“ there are significant barriers in exercising their right to vote. Jason Karlawish, MD, associate professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, recommends that to help break down the logistical and geographical voting barriers many older Americans face, the United States must develop a model for mobile polling.

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"Montezuma's revenge" doesn't happen just in Mexico. If you are planning a trip to China for the Olympics, first talk to your physician, recommends R. Michael Buckley, MD, travel medicine expert at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.

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Researchers have identified a protein from a most unlikely source -- baker's yeast --that might protect against Parkinson's disease. By introducing the yeast protein Hsp104 into animal models of Parkinson's disease, researchers prevented protein clumping that leads to nerve cell death characteristic of the disorder.

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The August 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine explores the issue of organ donation after cardiac death. In the journal's Perspective Roundtable, Arthur Caplan, PhD, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, weighs in on the ethical considerations of the changing assumptions about when death occurs and how to decide which patients are suitable organ donors.

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Researchers have discovered that a protein called FOXA2 controls genes that maintain the proper level of bile in the liver. FOXA2 may become the focus for new therapies to treat diseases that involve the regulation of bile salts.

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While scientists and physicians know what happens if you don't get six to eight hours of shut-eye a night, investigators have long been puzzled about what controls the actual need for sleep. Researchers might have an answer, at least in fruit flies. In a recent study of fruit flies, they identified a gene that controls sleep.

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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified two new techniques to detect the progression of Alzheimer's disease earlier. By catching Alzheimer's disease before symptoms are apparent, physicians can prescribe treatments to slow down the disease progression.

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PENN Medicine experts are specially equipped to share insight into health issues particular to the Beijing Games. Areas of expertise include: 1) Air quality and athletic performance; 2) Ensuring a safe and ample blood supply for visitor and athletes ; 3) Detecting the next generation of performance enhancers.

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By studying medication orders that are withdrawn ("discontinued") by physicians within 45 minutes of their origination, researchers at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated a systematic and efficient method of identifying prescribing errors. The method, they say, has value to screen for medication errors and as a teaching tool for physicians and physicians-in-training.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that mutations in two proteins associated with familial Alzheimer's disease disrupt the flow of calcium ions within neurons. The two proteins, called PS1 and PS2 (presenilin 1 and 2), interact with a calcium release channel in an intracellular cell compartment.

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Researchers discovered that the activity of a specific family of nanometer-sized molecular motors called myosin-I is regulated by force. The motor puts tension on cellular springs that allow vibrations to be detected within the body. This finely tuned regulation has important implications for understanding a wide variety of basic cellular processes, including hearing and balance and glucose uptake in response to insulin.

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By delivering vaccine via DNA constructed to build antigens against flu, along with a minute electric pulse, researchers have immunized experimental animals against various strains of the virus. This approach could allow for the build up of vaccine reserves that could be easily and effectively dispensed in case of an epidemic.

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In the first study of its kind, researchers led by The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's Ross Koppel, Ph.D. studied how hospital nurses actually use bar-coded technology that matches the right patient with the right dose of the right medication. The surprising result is that the design and implementation of the technology, which is often relied upon as a "cure-all" for medication administration errors, is flawed, and can increase the probabilities of certain errors.

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Researchers are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans.

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Researchers have shown that the unfolded protein response, which is a reaction to stress induced by sleep deprivation, is impaired in the brains of old mice. The findings suggest that inadequate sleep in the elderly could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response to protein misfolding.

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University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine physicians and bioethicists are calling for a new, more standardized way for patients in need of organ transplants to be informed of the risks they face. If adopted, their policy recommendations could promote greater equity in how organs are allocated while restricting patients' abilities to "cherry-pick" the best organs.

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Researchers found that the activation of a molecular pathway important in stem cell and developmental biology leads to an increase in lung stem cells. Harnessing this knowledge could help develop therapies for lung-tissue repair after injury or disease.

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Two years ago Penn researchers discovered that misfolded proteins called TDP-43 accumulated in the motor areas of the brains of patients Lou Gehrig's disease. Now, the same group has shown that TDP-43 accumulates throughout the brain, suggesting ALS has broader neurological effects than previously appreciated.

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This special media seminar, being held in conjunction with the Institute on Aging of the University of Pennsylvania, invites you to discover the latest research and treatment strategies that help older Americans negotiate the medical and social challenges for successful aging.

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Sara Aton, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was awarded a grant from the L'Oréal USA For Women in Science Program. This prestigious fellowship provides support to postdoctoral women scientists who are undertaking cutting-edge research with practical applications.

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Penn researchers have found an alternative method for obstetric care that leads not only to healthier newborns, but better outcomes for moms as well. The method maximizes the chance for vaginal delivery, as opposed to C-Sections, which are potentially harmful and increasing in trend.

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Researchers discovered that the effect of a protein deficiency, which is the basis of the neuromuscular disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is not restricted to motor nerve cells, suggesting that SMA is a more general disorder.

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Eight million Americans visit U.S. emergency departments for chest pain each year. Just five to 15 percent of them are found to be suffering from heart attacks or other cardiac diseases, but more than half are admitted to the hospital for observation and further testing. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) offers a way to more quickly and cost effectively identify patients at low-risk of cardiac problems that lead to heart attacks.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown how Argos, a fruit fly protein, acts as a "˜decoy' receptor, binding growth factors that promote the progression of cancer. Knowing how Argos neutralizes tumor growth may lead to new drug designs for inhibiting cancer.

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Previous studies have shown how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) damage DNA, with the emphasis on how PAHs bind directly to DNA itself, leading to the mutations in critical genes that cause disease. Now, researchers have shown that PAHs, via oxidative stress, can also led to mutations in critical genes important in lung cancer.

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Patients with the drug-coated stents -- designed not only to open blocked coronary arteries but also to chemically inhibit future blockage -- were less apt to die, have heart attacks or require extra stents or bypass surgery in the two years following placement of the stent, compared to those who received bare metal stents, according to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that monitoring treatment adherence to AIDS therapy is a simple blood-free way to monitor risk of disease progression.

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Researchers have shown, in unprecedented detail, how a small molecule is able to selectively take apart abnormally folded protein fibers connected to Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases. Finding a way to dismantle misfolded proteins has implications for new treatments for a host of neurodegenerative diseases.

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University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine experts will present research findings that could come to define new standards of care and management of cardiac arrhythmias at this week's annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society, the foremost professional society representing heart rhythm specialists throughout the world.

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The same government-backed incentive programs aimed at improving the care all Americans receive in hospitals may be widening the gap between poor, underserved patients and those who are insured or can afford to pay for their own care, according to a new study led by a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine physician. The findings are published this week in JAMA.

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Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke. Researchers theorize that high levels of an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be to blame, by making plaques more likely to rupture and block blood flow. The drug darapladib may offer a way to fight that risk, according to new research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine present research that concludes that having colon or rectal cancer surgery at a National Cancer Institute-designated hospital greatly improves short and long term survival. The research will be presented at this weekend's American Surgical Association Annual Meeting. All research results are embargoed until the time they are presented during the conference.

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When diagnosed early, oral, head and neck cancers can be easily treated, without significant complications. Pennsylvania Hospital will offer free screenings for oral, head and neck cancer on Thursday, April 24 at the Center for Head and Neck Surgery at 811 Spruce Street, as part of oral, head and neck cancer awareness week.

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Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are developing a novel approach to screen for drugs to combat neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, using yeast cells.

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Many women with a faulty breast cancer gene could be at greater risk of the disease due to extra risk-amplifying genes, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

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Health care experts will convene for a U.S. News and World Report panel examining the ways in which new technologies may both improve health care delivery and reduce costs. As new medical devices and screening technologies flood the market, patient care costs continue to rise "“ but opportunities to provide better, faster patient care are abundant.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center reported today at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research that combining two targeted therapies overcomes treatment resistance in liver cancer cell lines.

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a protein called leiomodin (Lmod) promotes the assembly of an important heart muscle protein called actin. What's more, Lmod directs the assembly of actin to form the pumping unit of the heart.

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Researchers have discovered that the Notch signaling pathway, which determines the development of many cell types, and is also implicated in some cancers, is not universally essential for the maintenance of stem cells. The findings indicate that inhibitors of Notch may not affect bone marrow stem cells.

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Contrary to the currently accepted model of T-cell development, researchers have found that juvenile cells on their way to becoming mature immune cells can develop into either T cells or other blood-cell types versus only being committed to the T-cell path. The findings have implications for better understanding how T-cell leukemias and other disorders arise.

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Researchers from the Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues at Merck Serono Research in Germany have found that two drugs bind to receptor sites on some tumors in different places at the same time, suggesting the possibility of a new combination therapy for certain types of cancer.

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A spate of mutations have been found in a disease protein called TDP-43 that is implicated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and certain types of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). These mutations could potentially become candidates for drug targets. Recently, colleagues at Penn and the VA have found two more mutations.

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David Callans, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will be available to comment on the New England Journal of Medicine study on the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for sudden cardiac arrests that occur in the home. Callans, author of the journal editorial that accompanies the new study, serves as associate director of electrophysiology for the Penn Health System, and has extensive experience in studying ventricular arrhythmias.