Curated News: Grant Funded News

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As commuters shimmy past large, lumbering trucks on the road, they may glance over and wonder, “How safe is that driver next to me?” If the truck driver is in poor health, the answer could be: Not very. Commercial truck drivers with three or more medical conditions double to quadruple their chance for being in a crash than healthier drivers, reports a new study led by investigators at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

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Investigators at the University of Utah have identified distinct differences in the hearts of advanced heart failure patients who have defied the odds and showed signs of recovery from the disease. Published online in the journal Circulation, the new findings could help clinicians identify the best candidates for cardiac recovery therapies.

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Microbes can persist in people for years after an illness, even in people who are healthy and immune to recurrence. Now, researchers have found a clue to this seeming paradox: Persistent microbes are constantly multiplying and being killed, keeping the immune system prepared for any new encounters.

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A multicenter team of researchers reports that a full genomic analysis of tumor samples from a small number of people who died of pancreatic cancer suggests that chemical changes to DNA that do not affect the DNA sequence itself yet control how it operates confer survival advantages on subsets of pancreatic cancer cells.

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This research stems from one of the largest studies on young children with ASD as they transition into school. Lead researcher Jan Blacher is available for interviews about parent-student relationships, emotional and behavioral challenges, and parental involvement during this time.

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Personal and social goals may be effective in motivating older adults to exercise, according to a study this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a protein that fine-tunes the cellular clock involved in aging.

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Would you rather shed a couple tears or have your blood drawn? Testing for nutritional deficiencies in blood can be invasive and expensive. A team led by Michigan Technological University explored what it takes to switch to tears instead and their study focuses on the nutritional connection between infants and parents.

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Enhancers boost the rate of gene expression from nearby protein-coding genes so a cell can pump out more of a needed protein molecule. A mysterious subset of non-coding RNAs - enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) are transcribed from enhancer sequences. Shedding new light on these elusive eRNAs, researchers showed that CBP, an enzyme that activates transcription from enhancers, binds directly to eRNAs to control patterns of gene expression by acetylation.

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New research from scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah uncovered distinct types of tumors within small cell lung cancer that look and act differently from one another. Scientists also identified a targeted drug combination that worked well with one specific tumor type. The study was published today in Cancer Cell. The findings suggest small cell lung cancer should not be treated as a uniform disease.

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Many of our cells are equipped with a hairlike "antenna" that relays information about the external environment to the cell, and scientists have already discovered that the appearance and disappearance of these so-called primary cilia are synchronized with the process of cellular duplication, called mitosis.

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New research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine describes a mechanism by which an essential quality control system in cells identifies and destroys faulty genetic material. The findings were published online December 23 in Nature Communications.

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Researchers have developed a computational walking model that could help guide patients to their best possible recovery after a stroke.

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Hahn and colleagues examined the characteristics of HIV-1 strains that were successful in traversing the genital mucosa that forms a boundary to entry by viruses and bacteria. Studying viral isolates from the blood and genital secretions of eight chronically HIV-1 infected donors and their matched recipients, the researchers identified a sub-population of HIV-1 strains with biological properties that predispose them to establish new infections more efficiently.

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Experiments in mice by researchers at Johns Hopkins suggest that if the goal is to ease or extinguish fearful emotional memories like those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol may make things worse, not better. Results of their study demonstrate, they say, that alcohol strengthens emotional memories associated with fearful experiences and prevents mice from pushing aside their fears.

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As some national guidelines now recommend against routine prostate cancer screening, the overall rate of men receiving treatment for the disease declined 42 percent, a new study finds.

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Thousands of times a day, doctors sign the hospital discharge papers for patients who have just had surgery. About half will get some sort of post-surgery care. But a new study finds huge variation in where they end up, depending on where they had their operation. And that variation in turn leads to huge differences in how much their care costs.

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Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted a dozen focus groups with 70 straight and gay/bisexual Hispanic and African-American males ages 15 to 24 report that gaining a better understanding of the context in which young men grow up will allow health care providers to improve this population’s use of sexual and reproductive health care.

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Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke -- even before conception -- appears to have a lingering impact that can later impair the brain development of a fetus, researchers at Duke Health report.

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Johns Hopkins researchers along with academic and drug industry investigators say they have identified a new biological target for treating spinal muscular atrophy.

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Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered the genetic driver of a rare and lethal childhood leukemia and identified a targeted molecular therapy that halts the proliferation of leukemic cells. The finding also has implications for treating other types of cancer. Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) primarily strikes newborns and infants.

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Soon you can seek mental health advice on your smartphone as quickly as finding a good restaurant.A novel suite of 13 speedy mini-apps called IntelliCare resulted in participants reporting significantly less depression and anxiety by using the apps on their smartphones up to four times a day, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

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By developing a new mouse model to study a poorly understood protein, researchers uncovered its link to metaplastic breast cancer, opening the door to better understanding of this challenging breast cancer subtype.

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Proposals are sought from higher education institutions to participate in a four-year project to create cohesive, research-based undergraduate curricula in biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology.

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Doctors have found a way to manipulate wounds to heal as regenerated skin rather than scar tissue. The method involves transforming the most common type of cells found in wounds into fat cells – something that was previously thought to be impossible in humans.

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In a microscopic feat that resembled a high-wire circus act, Johns Hopkins researchers have coaxed DNA nanotubes to assemble themselves into bridge-like structures arched between two molecular landmarks on the surface of a lab dish.

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Results of an initial study of tumors from patients with lung cancer or head and neck cancer suggest that the widespread acquired resistance to immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors may be due to the elimination of certain genetic mutations needed to enable the immune system to recognize and attack malignant cells.

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Electrical vagus nerve stimulation can help fight inflammatory diseases like Crohn's or arthritis but can also contribute somewhat to inflammation. Engineers have tweaked the buzz to keep the good effects and minimize those less desirable. Their innovation could be adapted to existing medical devices with relative ease.

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Patients who had a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease with dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies and had higher levels of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in their donated post-mortem brains also had more severe symptoms of these Lewy body diseases during their lives, compared to those whose brains had less AD pathology

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In a new University of Michigan study, gene therapy deployed with immune checkpoint inhibitors demonstrates potential benefit for devastating brain cancer.

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Researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have uncovered two factors responsible for the chronic, lifelong nature of autoimmune disorders, which tend to “flare up” intermittently in affected patients. These two factors are cell-signaling proteins called cytokines—specifically Interleukin-7 and -15 (IL-7 and IL-15)—that are secreted by cells of the immune system and help modulate memory Th17 cells, a subset of T cells which are known to contribute to autoimmune disorders. Until now, it was unclear how Th17 cells maintained memory; the study results show that IL-7 and IL-15 signal the Th17 cells to chronically reside in the body.

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Patients who take medication for depression report more side effects if they also suffer from panic disorder, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

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A study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles demonstrates what lead investigator Bradley Peterson, MD, calls “a critical mass of evidence” of a common underlying lifelong vulnerability in both children and adults who stutter.

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In a survey of almost 2,000 people who said they had had a past negative experience when taking psilocybin-containing "magic mushrooms," Johns Hopkins researchers say that more than 10 percent believed their worst "bad trip" had put themselves or others in harm's way, and a substantial majority called their most distressing episode one of the top 10 biggest challenges of their lives.

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Welders exposed to airborne manganese at estimated levels well under federal safety standards develop neurological problems, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Current safety standards may not adequately protect welders from the dangers of the job.

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) instituted financial penalties against hospitals with high rates of readmissions for Medicare patients with certain health conditions. A new analysis led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Massachusetts General Hospital has found that the penalties levied under the law’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program were associated with reduced readmissions rates and that the poorest performing hospitals achieved the greatest reductions.

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Scientific research over the past decade has concentrated almost exclusively on the 2 percent of the genome’s protein coding regions, virtually ignoring the other 98 percent, a vast universe of non-coding genetic material previously dismissed as nothing more than ‘junk.’ Now, a team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reveals that one type — called long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) — may be critically important for controlling cellular components in a tissue-specific manner. Published online today in the journal Nature, the new research points to an lncRNA’s key role in helping control processes related to muscle regeneration and cancer.

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After all the lifting, hauling and wrapping, worn out gift givers may blame the season’s physical strain for any shoulder soreness they are feeling. It turns out there could be another reason. A new study led by investigators at the University of Utah School of Medicine finds that individuals with symptoms that put them at increased risk for heart disease could be more likely to have shoulder problems, including joint pain and rotator cuff injury.

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Researchers are working to develop a pill to treat this serious inherited bleeding disorder. Oral delivery of the treatment--clotting factor IX--would allow individuals with type B hemophilia to swallow a pill rather than be subjected to several weekly injections of factor IX to control potentially fatal bleeding episodes.

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A consortium directed by UCLA’s Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar has received a three-year, $8.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to map the heart’s nervous system. The group’s goal: To conduct research that leads to new ways to treat cardiovascular disease by targeting nerves in the heart’s nervous system.

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The researchers said this study might help shed light on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in human babies, which is thought to be associated with dysfunctional airway sensory neurons.

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Cancer researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found an obesity-associated protein’s role in leukemia development and drug response which could lead to more effective therapies for the illness.

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A clump of just a few thousand brain cells, no bigger than a mustard seed, controls the daily ebb and flow of most bodily processes in mammals -- sleep/wake cycles, most notably. Now, Johns Hopkins scientists report direct evidence in mice for how those cell clusters control sleep and relay light cues about night and day throughout the body.

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Preterm birth — birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy — affects up to one in every six births in the United States and many other countries. In a recent study published in the premier biomedical research journal Nature Medicine, a team of researchers led by Wayne State University’s Kang Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine, discovered the critical function of a type of mother’s immune cells — B lymphocytes — in resisting preterm birth triggered by inflammation.

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A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is the first to show exactly how the drug Arbidol stops influenza infections. The research reveals that Arbidol stops the virus from entering host cells by binding within a recessed pocket on the virus.

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A $12 Million, four-year grant will establish the Human Pancreas Analysis Program. HPAP is focused on procuring and phenotyping pancreatic tissues from individuals with or at risk for Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, or other types of pancreatic islet dysfunction characterized by changes in beta cell mass.

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Current methods to predict the risk of heart attack and stroke vastly underestimate the risk in individuals with HIV, which is nearly double that of the general population, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. “The actual risk of heart attack for people with HIV was roughly 50 percent higher than predicted by the risk calculator many physicians use for the general population,” said first author Dr.

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Nearly half of early stage breast cancer patients considered having double mastectomy and one in six received it – including many who were at low risk of developing a second breast cancer, a new study finds.

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By combining two treatment strategies, both aimed at boosting the immune system’s killer T cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report they lengthened the lives of mice with skin cancer more than by using either strategy on its own. And, they say, because the combination technique is easily tailored to different types of cancer, their findings — if confirmed in humans — have the potential to enhance treatment options for a wide variety of cancer patients.

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A new material invented by Michigan Technological University researchers embeds sodium metal in carbon and could improve electrode performance in energy devices. The team ran tests on the sodium-embedded carbon and it performed better than graphene in dye-sensitized solar cells and supercapacitors.