Focus: Hidden - Washington D.C.

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Adults who smoke marijuana often cut back after becoming parents — but they don’t necessarily quit.

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By adding an experimental drug to a standard chemotherapy regimen, a subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer had a significantly longer period before the cancer progressed as compared with those who received the standard treatment, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial led by an investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

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A new University of Washington study finds that people who believe climate change is a problem and see economic, environmental and/or social benefits to using tidal energy are more likely to support such projects. Also, connecting pilot projects to the electricity grid is an important factor in garnering public support.

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A new study finds that drone deliveries emit less climate-warming carbon dioxide pollution than truck deliveries in some — but not all — scenarios.

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Combo of T-cell therapy, newly FDA-approved drug and another immunotherapeutic agent kept cancer at bay for three out of four patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. The findings will be presented June 5 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

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As many as 53 percent of cancer patients’ Emergency Department visits that do not require admission could be avoided with better symptom management and greater availability of outpatient care tailored to their needs, according to a new study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. This study will be presented at the 2017 American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting on June 5, 2017. It is Abstract #6505 (link here: http://abstracts.asco.org/199/AbstView_199_193735.html).

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New approach accurately determines how electrolytes in water behave, offering insights for energy, synthesis, and medicine

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UW synthetic biology researchers have demonstrated a new method for digital information processing in living cells, analogous to the logic gates used in electric circuits. In a key step in the ability to program living cells, the team built the largest circuits published to date in eukaryotic cells, using DNA instead of silicon and solder.

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A study from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting on June 5 in Chicago shows that asymptomatic women who have been treated for early-stage breast cancer often undergo advanced imaging and other tests that provide little if any medical benefit, could have harmful effects and may increase their financial burden.

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In an effort to find new strategies to personalize treatment for pediatric patients, Seattle Children’s has opened the first clinical trial applying precision medicine to better understand how the immune system drives both inflammatory bowel disease and graft-versus host disease in pediatric patients.

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Wolves and other top predators need large ranges to be able to control smaller predators whose populations have expanded, according to a study appearing May 23 in Nature Communications. The results were similar across three continents, showing that as top predators' ranges were cut back and fragmented, they were no longer able to control smaller predators.

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Drinking just one glass of wine or other alcoholic drink a day increases breast cancer risk, finds a major new report by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

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Observations from the age of the dinosaurs to today shows that chemical weathering of rocks changes less with global temperatures than believed. The results upend the accepted idea for how rocks regulate a planet's temperature over millions of years.

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A University of Washington-led international team of astronomers has used data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope to observe and confirm details of the outermost of seven exoplanets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1.

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Analysis of a Greenland ice core shows that during large climate swings, chemically reactive oxidants shift in a different direction than expected. The results mean rethinking what controls these molecules in our air.

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A diverse group of the world's leading experts in marine conservation is calling for a Hippocratic Oath for ocean conservation ― not unlike the pledge physicians take to uphold specific ethical standards when practicing medicine.

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Neighborhoods with greater poverty and disorganization may play a greater role in problem drinking than the availability of bars and stores that sell hard liquor, a University of Washington-led study has found.

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Man-made pollution in eastern China’s cities worsens when less dust blows in from the Gobi Desert, according to a new study. That’s because dust plays an important role in determining the air temperatures and thereby promoting winds to blow away man-made pollution. Less dust means the air stagnates, with man-made pollution sticking around longer.

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University of Washington researchers have conducted a new study that explores the attitudes and concerns of both parents and children who play with internet-connected toys. Through a series of in-depth interviews and observations, the researchers found that kids didn’t know their toys were recording their conversations, and parents generally worried about their children’s privacy when they played with the toys.

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A study published today in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that early-onset pancreatitis in children is strongly associated with certain genetic mutations and family history of pancreatitis.

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Seattle Cancer Care Alliance experts are available to discuss new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines related to thyroid cancer screening for adults, risk factors and treatment options.

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A federal program that pays farmers to plant agricultural land with environmentally beneficial vegetation is probably the reason that sage grouse still live in portions of Washington’s Columbia Basin, according to a new study by UW, state and federal researchers.

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Mothers infected with malaria during pregnancy can pass more of their own cells to their baby and change the infant’s risk of later infection, a new study shows.

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After phase 1 results of Seattle Children’s Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-02) trial have shown T-cell immunotherapy to be effective in getting 93 percent of patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) into complete initial remission, researchers have now opened a first-in-human clinical trial aimed at reducing the rate of relapse after the therapy, which is about 50 percent.

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Machine learning (or coding) could help reduce false positives from mammography screening, according to an article study published online in the May 4, 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Oncology. The national coding competition known as the DREAM Challenge, launched during the inauguration of Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Challenge, may help mitigate this harm associated with routine screening.

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SPOKANE, Wash. – Less than a month after the Gonzaga basketball team’s historic season ended within a hairsbreadth of capturing the national championship in a loss to North Carolina, Gonzaga honors math student Hannah Tolson edged Kerry Scott, a Tarheel, to win the national championship in rock climbing.

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An optimistic book about the environment? The geologist and MacArthur Fellow's latest book explores how farming practices around the world can improve soil health, boost farmers' profits and help fight climate change.

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A new University of Washington study finds that smartphone apps to track menstrual cycles often disappoint users with a lack of accuracy, assumptions about sexual identity or partners, and an emphasis on pink and flowery form over function and customization.

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SPOKANE, Wash. – With two bee apiaries at the Hemmingson Center Roof Garden and one at Bozarth Mansion, Gonzaga University has become the 25th educational institution in the nation – and first in the state of Washington – to be a certified affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal educational institutions to benefit these endangered pollinators.

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A University of Washington team has made new headway on a solution to remove beetle-killed trees from the forest and use them to make renewable transportation fuels or high-value chemicals. The researchers have refined this technique to process larger pieces of wood than ever before ― saving time and money in future commercial applications.

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Some types of sarcomas elicit a greater immune response than others, which sheds light on how immunotherapy could be used for this connective-tissue cancer, according to a new study in Cancer. Photos, video available: http://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/media-relations/bios-photos/pollack-seth.html

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Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) is thrilled to welcome Dr. Theresa M. McDonnell as the Alliance’s new Chief Nurse Executive, Vice President of Clinical Operations. She will be responsible for overseeing all nursing staff, guiding patient care delivery, ensuring staff accountability for providing a patient-centered clinical practice environment, and overseeing general clinical quality and patient safety.

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For the first time, researchers have measured the force that draws tiny crystals together and visualized how they swivel and align. Called van der Waals forces, the attraction provides insights into how crystals self-assemble, an activity that occurs in a wide range of cases in nature, from rocks to shells to bones.

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Girls start believing they aren't good at math, science and even computers at a young age — but providing fun STEM activities at school and home may spark interest and inspire confidence. A study from the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) finds that, when exposed to a computer-programming activity, 6-year-old girls expressed greater interest in technology and more positive attitudes about their own skills and abilities than girls who didn't try the activity.

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The American Association for Cancer Research, or AACR, announced that Seattle Cancer Care Alliance’s Dr. Nancy Davidson, an internationally acclaimed breast cancer oncologist, is among its newly elected class of Fellows of the AACR Academy.

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PNNL researchers have created a unique video that shows oxygen bubbles inflating and later deflating inside a tiny lithium-air battery. The knowledge gained from the video could help make lithium-air batteries that are more compact, stable and can hold onto a charge longer.

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People are turning to Instagram as a place where they can log food intake and healthy eating behaviors by posting photos of everything they eat - and being held accountable by followers for sticking to their goals, a new study finds.

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A biopolymer structure enriched with nutrients shows how immunotherapy could be adapted for solid tumors, according to study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is collaborating with three small businesses to address technical challenges concerning hydrogen for fuel cell cars, bio-coal and nanomaterial manufacturing.

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A new scientific discovery game called Mozak is allowing video gamers to significantly speed up reconstructing the intricate architecture of brain cells, a fundamental task in 21st century brain science. These citizen scientists have outperformed computers in tracing the intricate shapes of neurons, a first step in understanding how our brain circuitry works.

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Transgender people make up a small percentage of active-duty U.S. military personnel, but their experience in the service may yield long-term, positive effects on their mental health and quality of life. A study from the University of Washington finds that among transgender older adults, those who had served in the military reported fewer symptoms of depression and greater mental health-related quality of life.

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The University of Washington-based Carbon Leadership Forum has published the results of its first benchmark study of embodied carbon, or the carbon emissions that occur when extracting, manufacturing and installing building materials. "In the design phrase, our data enables architects and engineers to use carbon, and other environmental impacts, as a performance criteria in addition to common criteria such as cost and strength, when specifying and selecting concrete," said the UW's Kate Simonen -- architect, structural engineer and UW associate professor of architecture, who leads the carbon forum.

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Improved human health is not a benefit of conservation ― at least when health is measured through the lens of infectious disease. That's the main finding of a paper published April 24 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, which analyzed the relationship between infectious diseases and their environmental, demographic and economic drivers in dozens of countries over 20 years

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The Leapfrog Group, a leading national nonprofit watchdog on hospital quality and safety, today announced that Virginia Mason has once again received an “A” for patient safety in the new Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades.

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Sociologists are mapping the complex web of monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system in 9 states. They document wide variation on the fine and fee amounts, the circumstances in which they're imposed, how and when courts allow people to pay their financial obligations, and the consequences for failing to pay.

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High performance computing researcher Shuaiwen Leon Song asked if hardware called 3D stacked memory could do something it was never designed to do—help render 3D graphics.

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A study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) shows the potential of synchronized movement in helping young children develop collaborative skills. The measured, synchronous movement of children on the swings can encourage preschoolers to cooperate on subsequent activities, UW researchers have found.

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A set of curious researchers, state-of-the-art visual technology and a bit of good luck helped find a new fish whose tooth collection could put a shark to shame.