Curated News: Grant Funded News

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Gunshot violence is the leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-old African American males and the second leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds males overall in the United States. A new Penn Medicine study is the first to outline the details of how an individual’s location and activities influence that risk.

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Many Western countries including England and the United States have come to rely on nurses trained abroad in times of nurse shortages. Yet little is known about how such practices affect quality of care and patient satisfaction. A novel study published by the prominent research and policy journal BMJ Open concluded that the employment of nurses trained abroad to substitute for professional nurses educated at home is not without risks to quality of care.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan have identified a potential new approach to fertility preservation for young cancer patients that addresses concerns about beginning cancer treatment immediately and the possibility of reintroducing cancer cells during the fertility preservation process.

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For the first time, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have created detailed “fingerprints” of a class of surface receptors that have proven highly useful for drug development.

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University of Michigan researchers have identified an accessible, non-invasive way to identify patients at risk for progression of kidney disease.

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A team of astronomers, including a West Virginia University professor, has uncovered the most detailed record ever of a Fast Radio Burst, or FRB, brief yet brilliant eruptions of cosmic radio waves that have baffled astronomers since they were first reported nearly a decade ago. The results of their research are published in the journal Nature.

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Although several studies suggest that women with denser breast tissue have an increased risk of breast cancer, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers discredits breast density as a risk factor in and of itself, instead concluding that age and body fat, especially in the upper belly, contribute to the breast cancer seen in many patients.

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Mitochondria, the tiny structures inside our cells that generate energy, may also play a previously unrecognized role in mind-body interactions. Based on new studies of stress responses in animals, this insight may have broad implications for human psychology and for the biology of psychiatric and neurological diseases.

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When researchers looked at different areas within an individual rectal cancer sample, they found cases in which each area contained different genetic mutations. The findings could have significant implications for treatment recommendations.

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With the support of a $2.8 million NIH grant, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute will explore mutations in the nuclear lamina—the outer edge of the cell nucleus— which have been linked to many diseases, from muscular dystrophies and heart disorders to type 2 diabetes and premature aging.

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Scientists have recently found evidence that professional football players are susceptible to a progressive degenerative disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repetitive brain trauma. Now, researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have discovered a significant and surprising amount of CTE in males who had participated in amateur contact sports in their youth.

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The optimal treatment approach for most women with breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BI-ALCL) is complete surgical excision of the implant and surrounding capsule, according to an international study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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The National Science Foundation has awarded $1.2 million to three research groups at Indiana University to advance research on self-assembling molecules and computer-aided design software required to create the next generation of solar cells, circuits, sensors and other technology.

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A new study from the University of Michigan finds adults with cerebral palsy are more likely to have secondary chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, than adults without cerebral palsy.

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A collaboration between University of Washington developmental psychologists and computer scientists has demonstrated that robots can "learn" much like babies - by experiencing the world and eventually imitating humans.

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The NCI's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities awarded the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center a 3-year $750,000 Geographical Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (GMaP) grant for cancer health disparity research.

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An international team of scientists, headed by researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, report that decreases in a specific group of proteins trigger changes in the cancer microenvironment that accelerate growth and development of therapy-resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs). The findings are published in the November 30 online issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a method to efficiently turn human stem cells into retinal ganglion cells, the type of nerve cells located within the retina that transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain.

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Many human gene variants have evolved specifically to protect older adults against neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, thus preserving their contributions to society, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the November 30 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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NASA-funded researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are tapping information found in the cells of all life on Earth, and using it to trace life’s evolution.

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Can any cancer cell form another tumor, or is it only select cancer stem cells that give rise to new cancer cells? The answer, a new study finds, is both.

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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty recognizing and interpreting how facial expressions convey various emotions – from joy to puzzlement, sadness to anger. This can make it difficult for an individual with ASD to successfully navigate social situations and empathize with others.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found evidence that a mutant protein responsible for most cases of cystic fibrosis is so busy “talking” to the wrong cellular neighbors that it cannot function normally and is prematurely degraded.

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What doesn't kill you could cure you. A growing interest in the therapeutic value of animal venom has led a pair of Columbia University data scientists to create the first catalog of known animal toxins and their physiological effects on humans.

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Fruit fly windpipes are much more like human blood vessels than the entryway to human lungs. To create that intricate network, fly embryonic cells must sprout “fingers” and crawl into place. Now researchers have discovered that a protein called Mipp1 is key to cells’ ability to grow these fingers.

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Before the fluid of the middle ear drains and sound waves penetrate for the first time, the inner ear cells of newborn rodents practice for their big debut. Researchers have figured out the molecular chain of events that enables the cells to make “sounds” on their own, essentially “practicing” their ability to process sounds in the world around them.

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Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute have reported findings about a new synthetic form of camptothecin that appears to have greater potency, longer efficacy and fewer adverse side effects than irinotecan and topotecan.

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Using a groundbreaking gene editing technique, University of California scientists have created a strain of mosquitoes capable of rapidly introducing malaria-blocking genes into a mosquito population through its progeny, ultimately eliminating the insects’ ability to transmit the disease to humans. This new model represents a notable advance in the effort to establish an antimalarial mosquito population, which with further development could help eradicate a disease that sickens millions worldwide each year.

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NYU Langone study finds referring a patient to an acute care facility after major surgery, rather than the patient’s own home, may not always be necessary.

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A brain protein called SNTF, which rises in the blood after some concussions, signals the type of brain damage that is thought to be the source of these cognitive impairments.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown for the first time how a previously unknown process works to promote infection in a number of dangerous viruses, including dengue, West Nile and Ebola.

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University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy Professor Chang-Guo Zhan, teamed with fellow UK Professors Fang Zheng and Sharon Walsh, and Professor Mei-Chuan Ko from Wake Forest University, recently received $6 million in funding over five years to further develop a potential treatment for cocaine abuse.

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Researchers from Wayne State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan will receive $2.5 million over five years in a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. They have designed a program of professional development for teachers and an intervention for parents and will evaluate its effects on parent and teacher mindfulness and reflective functioning.

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A crucial tumor-thwarting gene protects an immune attack against lung cancer by blocking the key to an off switch on T cells, the customized warriors of the immune system, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

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University of Washington scientists have sequenced the complete genetic makeup of a species of ecologically important algae, which may aid in biofuel production.

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Whitehead Institute researchers have determined the organization of a protein complex that is critical during chromosome segregation. Without the foundation it supplies, the link between chromosome and kinetochore would fail, as would chromosome segregation and cell division.

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In a new study that could have implications for future drug discovery efforts for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that the interaction between a pair of brain proteins has a substantial and previously unrecognized effect on memory formation.

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With the help of a 3.5 year-long, $851,462 grant from the National Science Foundation, a team of Wayne State University researchers is exploring how the relational landscape in America is being affected by the rise of online dating. The project, “The impact of online technologies on interpersonal communication and perceptions,” will explore how the increasing use of popular online dating technologies affects how people develop romantic connections.

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In one of the first studies of its kind, Tufts researchers show that even among Americans in their mid-70’s and older, being more active, including walking at a reasonable pace or distance, is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular events.

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The two-year, $1.6 million grant, which comes with the possibility of an additional three years of funding, will support preclinical studies of a potential heroin vaccine.

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If you think your life is stressful, try being a new doctor. Their first year especially is a time of stress, sleeplessness and self-doubt – and four times the usual rate of suicidal thoughts. But a new study shows that a free web-based tool to support their mental health may cut that rate in half.

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In a recently published paper, Indiana University biologists have calculated the lifetime energy requirements of multiple types of cells, as well as the energy required to replicate and express the genes within these cells.

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University of Washington engineers have developed a novel technology that uses a Wi-Fi router — a source of ubiquitous but untapped energy in indoor environments — to power devices without sacrificing network performance.

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The drug sildenafil, sold as Viagra and other brand names, improves insulin sensitivity in people at risk for diabetes, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported today.

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A joint study from the University of Iowa and the University of California-Davis found pigeons performed as well as humans in categorizing digitized slides and mammograms of benign and malignant human breast tissue. Results published in the journal PLOS One.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that some uninsured and low-income breast cancer patients do without even low-cost, high-benefit drugs.

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A new study from researchers at Tufts University found that coconut oil controlled the overgrowth of a fungal pathogen called Candida albicans in mice. In humans, high levels of C. albicans in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to bloodstream infections, including invasive candidiasis. The research suggests that it might be possible to use dietary approaches as an alternative to antifungal drugs in order to decrease the risk of infections caused by C. albicans.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found a link between higher levels of a specific kind of air pollution in major urban areas and an increase in cardiovascular-related hospitalizations such as for heart attacks in people 65 and older.

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A classroom program that helps teachers adapt their interactions with students based on individuals’ temperaments may lead to more student engagement in kindergarten, more teacher emotional support to kindergarten and first grade students, and better classroom organization and less off-task behavior in first-grade classes, according to research by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.