November 1998
Old dogs and Alzheimer's: lessons from man's best friend
It's said that old dogs can't learn new tricks, but they may show humans a thing or two about Alzheimer's disease. At UCI's Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, Dr. Brian Cummings, research professor, and Dr. Elizabeth Head, postdoctoral researcher, are studying a group of old dogs that don't develop the advanced stages of plaques and tangles in their brains that are seen in severe cases of human Alzheimer's. One reason may lie in how differently canine and human immune systems respond to the growth of Alzheimer's plaques in the brain. "Human immune systems appear to overreact to plaques, while dog immune systems don't. By studying this group of aging dogs that don't get the advanced disease, we may find ways to slow down the progression of Alzheimer's in humans," Head explained.
Contact: Andrew Porterfield, (949) 824-3969, [email protected]
'Telemedicine' bridges gap between city and rural health agencies
Through an innovative use of technology, patients at mental health agencies and programs for the developmentally disabled in some of California's most rural areas are benefiting from the expertise of the UCI Medical Center. Using high-speed phone connections, TV monitors and cameras, the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior offers its expertise, via "virtual consultations," to health agencies that otherwise wouldn't have access to the clinical resources of a major university hospital. Dr. Barry Chaitin, department co-chair, says the "telemedicine" program allows convenient, real-time consultations between UCI psychiatrists and those at remote facilities. For example, patients at a facility in the San Joaquin Valley-hundreds of miles from UCI-are benefiting from the high-tech consultations. Similar connections can easily be made nationwide, Chaitin says.
Contact: Kim Pine, (714) 456-7759, [email protected].
New book extols virtues of orphanages
The lives of tens of thousands of abused and neglected American children have become virtual nightmares as they are endlessly bounced from foster home to foster home under the nation's current-and spectacularly flawed-child welfare system. So states "Rethinking Orphanages for the 21st Century," a new book edited by UCI management professor Richard B. McKenzie. As its title suggests, the book's 16 chapters-researched and written by leading child care advocates, professors and public policy experts-make a compelling case for restoring orphanages as an infinitely more secure, stable and nurturing environment than foster care. For example, one of the chapters reports on how orphanage "alumni" are doing in life-and the findings are sure to surprise many. Appropriately, the chapter was researched and written by McKenzie, who grew up in an orphanage.
Contact: Karen Morris, (949) 824-7913, [email protected]
Data detectives dig for better diagnoses, new drugs
Who can say they're not flooded with too much information these days? UCI's Padhraic Smyth, for one. Smyth, professor of information and computer science, specializes in data mining, or designing ways to find meaningful patterns in vast amounts of data. His projects include analyzing patient records for symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease to more accurately diagnose diseases and studying digitized images to find volcanoes on Venus. Smyth's investigations into the structure of molecules focus on finding new drugs for common diseases. UCI is home to a 100-gigabyte databank of such information, which it shares freely with scientists around the world. The National Science Foundation recently recognized UCI's and Smyth's leadership in the area with a grant to attract more data collections. Smyth and UCI professors Dennis Kibler and Michael Pazzani will gather data from topics as diverse as anonymous credit transactions and stars and galaxies.
Contact: Alicia Di Rado, (949) 824-6455, [email protected]
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