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More than 125 million people worldwide wear contact lenses, and while many are exposed to relatively common bacteria through their contact lenses, not all contract an eye infection. Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center will study whether a contact-wearer’s genetics may play a role in who does or doesn’t contract infection—especially Microbial keratitis (MK), a bacteria-caused infection of the cornea, which, if left untreated, can cause blindness.

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While robots have been increasingly integrated into manufacturing since their introduction in the early 1960s, true human-robot workplace collaboration is still in the early stages and is only recently being earnestly studied by academics. Researchers anticipate humans taking on the more-nimble decision-making, while robots contribute by lifting heavy tools or putting the right tool at our side when needed.

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'Structural battery' drone wings developed by a team led by Case Western Reserve University in Ohio allowed for a total flight time-- nearly three hours--that nearly doubled the craft's previous air time. The Feb. 22 launch at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport was funded by Ohio and federal funds.

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What does it take to stay in a good mood? In short: Once happy, steer clear of choices that could invite in negative feelings. According to new research from Case Western Reserve University, people become protective of their good moods—and avoid options and behaviors that could potentially sully their positive feelings.

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Former prisoners have a better chance of getting hired if a job application doesn’t include questions about criminal history, according to new employment research from Case Western Reserve University.

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The oldest distinguishing feature between humans and our ape cousins is our ability to walk on two legs – a trait known as bipedalism. Among mammals, only humans and our ancestors perform this atypical balancing act. New research led by a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of anatomy provides evidence for greater reliance on terrestrial bipedalism by a human ancestor than previously suggested in the ancient fossil record.

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LeVar Burton, a celebrated American actor, director, producer and writer for more than 40 years, is adding another accolade—this one for his tireless, decades-long dedication to children’s literacy and AIDS research and treatment.

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Blocking two molecular pathways that send signals inside cancer cells could stave off esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), the most common esophageal malignancy in the United States, according to new research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

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Because of high out-of-pocket expenses, Ohioans who purchase subsidized health-exchange insurance often can't afford the care they need when they need it. That is a central finding of a new study from researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

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Children who depend on medical technology—feeding tubes, oxygen, or mechanical ventilators and other devices to stay alive--represent about 20 percent of all children discharged from hospitals nationally. But they account for about 60 percent of all health-care spending, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing researcher Val Toly said.

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Bacteria in the gut do far more than help digest food in the stomachs of their hosts, they can also tell the genes in their mammalian hosts what to do. A study published today in Cell describes a form of “interspecies communication” in which bacteria secrete a specific molecule—nitric oxide—that allows them to communicate with and control their hosts’ DNA, and suggests that the conversation between the two may broadly influence human health.

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With a $3.34M grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is conducting research that could help physicians better understand how bacteria such as B. multivorans resist antibiotics, potentially leading to improved treatments.

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'Ephaptic Coupling' only sounds like a Valentines' Day science story. Actually, it's the description of a 4th and newly discovered form of communication in the brain.

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Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s Gunnur Karakurt, PhD has been awarded a four-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify effective treatments for intimate partner violence (IPV), and to develop a decision-making tool for care providers. The project involves analyzing national data to identify subgroups of people who respond similarly to specific IPV treatments. By combining findings with a meta-analysis of the literature and computer modeling, clinicians will be better able to choose between evidence-based treatments.

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Blood cells could hold the key to aging, according to new research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In a study published in Aging Cell, researchers found human blood cells have an intrinsic clock that remains steady even after transplant. The researchers say the clock could control human aging and may underlie blood cancers.

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A scientific team from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic has developed a new way to identify second-line antibiotics that may be effective in killing germs already resistant to a first-line antibiotic – potentially helping overcome antibiotic resistance. This new research provides an approach clinicians could consult when deciding which antibiotic treatment courses will be most effective for patients.

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Prions can infect both humans and animals, causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, mad cow disease in cattle, and chronic wasting disease in elk and deer. The infectious, misfolded protein particles often go undetected as they destroy brain tissue, causing memory loss, mobility issues, and ultimately death. Preclinical detection of prions has proven difficult, but new research suggests skin samples hold early signs of prion disease that precede neurologic symptoms.

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A pair of researchers at Case Western Reserve University—one an expert in electro-chemical synthesis, the other in applications of plasmas—have come up with a new way to create ammonia from nitrogen and water at low temperature and low pressure. They’ve done it successfully so far in a laboratory without using hydrogen or the solid metal catalyst necessary in traditional processes.

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Studies: Elevated blood lead level in early childhood associated with increased risk of academic problems in school-aged children

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John “Chip” Tilton, MD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine will receive $300,000 from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust to develop a virus-based “nanoPOD” (nanoscale PrOtein Delivery) platform to help treat rare genetic diseases. Tilton’s project will address a major challenge in developing nanoscale therapeutics: finding ways to deliver them to the right location inside the body.

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Sanjay Gupta, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center will receive $962,000 over three years to investigate drug resistance mechanisms in prostate cancer. The funding is part of the Department of Defense’s Idea Award program, that aims to improve quality of life by decreasing the impact of cancer on active duty service members and their communities. Gupta will use the award and clinically-approved drugs to develop a safe, efficacious, and cost-effective combination therapy for castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

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Jonathan Haines, PhD, with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine will lead a national collaboration to expand big data genetic research into Alzheimer’s disease to include stronger representation from African-American and Hispanic communities. Funding for the research – $14.6 million to be awarded over multiple years – is from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.

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AIDS patients suffer higher rates of cancer because they have fewer T-cells in their bodies to fight disease. But new research examines why HIV-infected patients have higher rates of cancer—among the leading causes of death among that population—than the general population.

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In a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lin Mei, MD, PhD, asked, does all the tinkering in young mice hamper their brain development, causing schizophrenia-like symptoms? Or, do their brain cells develop normally, but in adulthood struggle to communicate? Researchers need to know whether to focus their efforts on brain cell development or communication, or both, because the answer to these questions implies different therapeutic approaches.

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A team of researchers led by Jonathan Stamler, MD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, has discovered a pathway for enhancing the self-repair efforts of injured kidneys. The finding may pave the way for new drugs to stop or even reverse the progression of serious kidney disease in humans—and other potentially lethal conditions of the heart, liver, and brain as well.

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A breakthrough study published in Nature Communications has demonstrated, in animal models of chronic injury, that long-term, devastating effects of spinal cord trauma on breathing and limb function may be reversible. The new study describes a treatment regimen that helps reawaken certain special types of nerve cells that can regenerate extensions, called axons, within the damaged spinal cord.

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Many experts agree the future of flight will rely on zero-emission and/or renewable energy technology. That is, aircraft will be propelled by ions—electrically charged molecules—that create thrust in their wake. But that future is already here.

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Electronic health records (EHRs) produce savings for hospitals by reducing the average length of patient stays—but only in facilities meeting the highest federal standards for implementing the technology

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Rong Xu, PhD, recently received a total of $5 million for two projects that will use big data methods for a comprehensive look at a range of factors that may inform the mechanism of Alzheimer’s and related dementia.

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Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have shown that a single “cocktail” of three pill-based anti-parasite medications is significantly more effective at killing microscopic larval worms in people diagnosed with lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, than other standard two-drug combinations previously used in the global effort to eliminate this infectious disease. A combination of all three drugs given simultaneously had never been tested until now. An estimated 120 million people in over 50 tropical and subtropical countries are infected with lymphatic filariasis and another 856 million people are at risk.

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Leading cancer researcher, Alex Huang MD, PhD, has been awarded a three-year, $1.35 million grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and the Osteosarcoma Collaborative to develop new ways to treat osteosarcoma, a rare cancer that begins in the bone.

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Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and partners have been awarded a five-year, $6M grant from the Paris-based Fondation Leducq to conduct a thorough analysis of the pivotal role of KLF2 in vascular-related functions and disorders. The team’s grant was one of five awarded globally and aims to improve knowledge and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

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Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is preparing and inspiring a new generation of cancer investigators through Cancer-focused Summer Undergraduate Research (CanSUR). The 10-week program recently received a five-year National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute) research grant totaling $1.6 million. Starting in 2019, CanSUR will support 32 undergraduates each year from June through August.

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Serotonin (3A) receptors are common drug targets in the treatment of pain, gastrointestinal dysfunctions, and mood disorders yet little is known about their three-dimensional structure. Details about serotonin receptor structures could provide important clues to designing better drugs with less side effects. Now, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have used high-powered microscopes to view serotonin activating its receptor for the first time. Images published in Nature reveal molecular details about the receptor that could improve drug design to treat a multitude of diseases.

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Taking a look at the perpetrators of domestic violence

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A single protein regulates a battery of key genes inside developing sperm, according to a new study out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Scientists discovered the protein—called Dazl—controls a network of genes essential for developing sperm to replicate and survive. The findings, published in Cell Reports, could lay the groundwork for future research into therapies for infertile men.

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Insoo Hyun, PhD, and colleagues will identify ways of improving existing guidelines and ensuring professional accountability and responsibility in human-animal chimera research. The interdisciplinary bioethics project is supported by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

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Not much is known about how bipolar disorder (BD) affects people throughout their lives. Do women and men differ in the severity of their symptoms? Does a person’s age when a bipolar diagnosis is made have any bearing on how severe the symptoms are? How do other medical conditions affect symptoms of BD across the life-span? These questions and others like them are the focus of an international team of researchers, joined by Martha Sajatovic, MD, professor of psychiatry and of neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, who has received a three-year, $600,000 grant from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. She and her colleagues will develop the first-of-its-kind multi-national database that can be used to help researchers address questions about BD throughout the adult lifespan.

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The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a three-year, $3,194,947 grant from the National Cancer Institute to investigate colorectal and breast cancer health disparities. The grant is one of only four Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Planning Grant P20 awards given across the nation to address health disparities. It will provide the infrastructure for a new, comprehensive research program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to study cancer health disparities at both molecular and population levels.

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Biochemists, microbiologists, drug discovery experts and infectious disease doctors have teamed up in a new study that shows antibiotics are not always necessary to cure sepsis in mice. Instead of killing causative bacteria with antibiotics, researchers treated infected mice with molecules that block toxin formation in bacteria. Every treated mouse survived. The breakthrough study, published in Scientific Reports, suggests infections in humans might be cured the same way.

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Research scientists around the world are now able to investigate the structural, cellular, and developmental intricacies of the human brain using bioengineered stem cell-based models called organoids. But the ethics to help guide researchers and regulators lag behind the technological capability to “grow” brains in a petri dish. That is about to change as a group of bioethicists and scientists chart the unexplored territory of neuroethics, which is quickly emerging from the ability to bioengineer models of the brain. The study, called “The Brainstorm Project,” will be led by Insoo Hyun, PhD, professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

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Many breast cancer drugs block estrogen receptors inside cancer cells. Blocking the receptors early in disease progression staves off metastasis. But most patients with advanced disease eventually develop drug resistance, leaving doctors desperate for alternatives. Now, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have uncovered a previously uncharacterized, bridge-like structure within the human estrogen receptor that could serve as a valuable new drug target. In Nature Communications, researchers describe a “burning the bridge” strategy to disrupting the estrogen receptor, and how to screen breast cancer drugs designed to do it.

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A team of nurses and physicians has received a four-year, $3 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to extend traditional HIV treatment protocols to improve the cardiovascular health of people living with HIV.

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Wenquan Zou, MD, PhD, and his collaborator, Qingzhong Kong, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have been awarded $2.9M from the National Institutes of Health to extend their previous path-breaking finding of skin prions of these devastating diseases.

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In two newly published papers, a scientific team at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reports on the discovery and implementation of a new, more efficient method for generating an important brain stem cell in the laboratory. The findings pave the way for greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms of neurological disorders of myelin and ultimately, possible new treatment and prevention options. The studies were published in the September issues of Nature Communications and Stem Cell Reports.

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The odds of a black or Hispanic patient visiting an outpatient dermatologist are about half that of a white patient with the same skin condition, according to a new study in JAMA Dermatology. Patients most likely to receive outpatient dermatologic services in the study were white, educated women. The findings are among several that describe disparities in the use of outpatient dermatology services.