Location: California

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It’s been nearly a decade since Gheorghe Sandru received the heart implant that changed his life. Sandru, 85, was the first patient enrolled in a Cedars-Sinai clinical trial for a tiny implant known as the WATCHMAN Device. It reduces the risk of deadly strokes in patients with erratic heartbeats by closing a pouch in the heart where blood pools, preventing clots from traveling out of the heart and into the body. Now it’s his wife’s turn.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have pinpointed differences in brain function that may help to explain how people with anorexia nervosa can continue to starve themselves, even when already emaciated. The finding adds to growing evidence about the role of brain mechanisms in eating disorders and could lead to new treatment development efforts targeting specific brain pathways.

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In an experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists precisely measured the temperature and structure of aluminum as it transitions into a superhot, highly compressed concoction known as “warm dense matter.”

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In the new pathbreaking book, The Other “F” Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure To Work, by John Danner and Mark Coopersmith, readers learn how to turn failure into a strategic resource –to accelerate growth, stimulate innovation, and unlock employee momentum.

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A collaborative effort linking the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley Lab with supercomputing resources at NERSC and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility via ESnet transform the way researchers use these facilities and improve scientific productivity in the process.

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Mark Harrison has been appointed as the new chief financial officer (CFO) for UC San Diego Health Sciences, effective March 23, 2015. As CFO, Mark will collaborate with university leadership to ensure the strong financial health of the globally-recognized UC San Diego Health Sciences enterprise, overseeing a budget of more than $2.4 billion.

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Men who exercise more have better erectile and sexual function, regardless of race, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

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Investigators have demonstrated that MR imaging of the liver is more accurate than liver biopsy in determining total body iron balance in patients with sickle cell disease and other disorders requiring blood transfusion therapy. This discovery follows the researchers earlier work in pioneering techniques to use MRI to noninvasively measure liver iron.

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UCLA professor argues that insuring undocumented Latinos under the Affordable Care Act would, in the long run, be less expensive and provide better care.

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A research team at UC San Francisco has discovered an RNA molecule called Pnky that can be manipulated to increase the production of neurons from neural stem cells.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop drug candidates that could treat cancer and neurodegenerative disease.

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Politicians who discuss hot-button issues in online town halls can persuade their constituents about the merits of their positions on policy matters, engender greater trust and approval, and inspire more citizens to vote for them.

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory watched nanoscale semiconductor crystals expand and shrink in response to powerful pulses of laser light. This ultrafast “breathing” provides new insight about how such tiny structures change shape as they start to melt – information that can help guide researchers in tailoring their use for a range of applications.

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There will be a lot more carbon released from thawing permafrost than the amount taken in by more Arctic vegetation, according to new computer simulations conducted by Berkeley Lab scientists.

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Results of a new study by UCLA researchers has found that a groundbreaking new triple combination therapy shows promising signs of more effectively controlling advanced melanoma than previous BRAF + MEK inhibitor or BRAF inhibitor + immunotherapy combos alone, and with increased immune response and fewer side effects.

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By uncovering the mechanism by which fibrous tissue cells in the lung multiply, researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), along with colleagues in Mexico and Canada, have identified a promising new approach for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

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Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered a means by which the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants might one day be done far more efficiently and at far lower costs than today. By appending a diamine molecule to the sponge-like solid materials known as metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs), the researchers were able to more than triple the CO2-scrubbing capacity of the MOFs, while significantly reducing parasitic energy.

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AACN will present the ICU Design Citation to the ICUs at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the 2015 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, San Diego, May 18-21.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have successfully tested a potent synthetic compound that prevents type 1 diabetes in animal models of the disease.

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When a person has cancer that spreads to the bone and bone marrow, the tissue becomes increasingly fragile, often leading to increased bone resorption. In a surprising discovery, investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles reported that when neuroblastoma (NB) cells metastasize to the bone, there initially occurs an increase in bone deposition, not resorption. This process is driven by a chemical messenger called VEGFA.

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Could push-ups and hula hoops put students on the path to becoming brain-health scientists? About 140 seventh- and eighth-graders attending Cedars-Sinai’s Brainworks program March 23 will learn how hopping, skipping, jumping and other elements of a regular exercise routine may help improve brain health. An exercise station – a new feature of the 17-year-old program – will be one of nine areas where students will interact with Cedars-Sinai neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroscientists and other health professionals.

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“Charlie Wilmoth and his family have been actively involved with Glaucoma Research Foundation for many years,” said Andrew G. Iwach, MD, Chair of the Glaucoma Research Foundation Board of Directors. “His passion for educating the public about glaucoma and research to find a cure is truly inspiring.”

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have confirmed the ribosome assembly process as a potentially fertile new target for anti-cancer drugs by detailing the essential function of a key component in the assembly process.

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As the new chair of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Richard D. Cordova urges his peers to adapt and lead through heath care industry change.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a gene variant that may be used to predict people most likely to respond to an investigational therapy under development for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study, published March 12 in Cell Stem Cell, is based on experiments with cultured neurons derived from adult stem cells.

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Two Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician-researchers are to receive prestigious awards from the American College of Cardiology during the medical society’s 64th Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

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Salk researchers have been able to grow patient-derived, healthy cells in the lab, coming a step closer to treating fatal blood disorders

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Jamila K. Stockman, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine and global public health at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has been selected to receive the Linda E. Saltzman New Investigator Award.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have analyzed a key protein from two influenza strains that recently began causing sporadic infections among people in China and Taiwan. The analyses suggest the flu viruses have not acquired changes allowing them to infect people easily.

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A unique X-ray laser innovation developed at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory may make it easier and faster for scientists to fully map medically important proteins whose structures have remained stubbornly out of reach.

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Berkeley Lab scientists studied mice and found their risk of mammary cancer from low-dose radiation depends a great deal on their genetic makeup. They also learned key details about how genes and the cells immediately surrounding a tumor (also called the tumor microenvironment) affect cancer risk.

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A newly discovered cache of industry documents reveals that the sugar industry worked closely with the National Institutes of Health in the 1960s and ‘70s to develop a federal research program focused on approaches other than sugar reduction to prevent tooth decay in American children.

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Researchers have discovered a set of eight celestial objects orbiting our home galaxy, the Milky Way, that appear to be rare dwarf satellite galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are the smallest known galaxy structures and may hold the key to understanding dark matter.

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Astronomer Puragra GuhaThakurta is using a sabbatical at Google to explore ways to expand and diversify the Science Internship Program for high school students that he started in 2009 at UC Santa Cruz.

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UCLA researchers have for the first time described cost across an entire care process for a common condition called benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) using time-driven activity-based costing. They found a 400 percent discrepancy between the least and most expensive ways to treat the condition.

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The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is recognizing 14 of its more than 235 chapters worldwide for their exemplary efforts to make a difference in the healthcare profession and their communities. Awards will be presented during the 2015 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, San Diego, May 18-21.

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New research from The Scripps Research Institute shows that two proteins critical for maintaining healthy day-night cycles also protect against mutations that could lead to cancer.

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Salk scientists re-engineered the bacterial defense system CRISPR to recognize HIV inside human cells and destroy the virus, offering a potential new therapy.

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Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in New York and the United Kingdom, have identified genetic markers, derived from blood samples that are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The markers are associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function and interferon signaling.

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Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) marked World Glaucoma Week today by announcing $1.6 million dollars in research grants.

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When the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope begins in 2022 to image the entire southern sky from a mountaintop in Chile, it will produce the widest, deepest and fastest views of the night sky ever observed – and a flood of 6 million gigabytes of data per year that are expected to provide new insights into dark matter, dark energy and other cosmic mysteries.

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Older adults whose vision is affected by declining contrast sensitivity – which is a factor in the ability to detect and resolve details in low light – can improve their ability to see with perceptual learning training, according to researchers at UC Riverside and Brown University.

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A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has determined the basic structural organization of a molecular motor that hauls cargoes and performs other critical functions within cells.

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A new study of Tourette syndrome led by researchers from UC San Francisco and Massachusetts General Hospital has found that nearly 86 percent of patients who seek treatment for TS will be diagnosed with a second psychiatric disorder during their lifetimes, and that nearly 58 percent will receive two or more such diagnoses.

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In a study that helps to deconstruct how olfaction is encoded in the brain, neuroscientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a type of neuron that appears to help tune, amplify and dampen neuronal responses to chemosensory inputs from the nasal cavity.

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A research team from The Scripps Research Institute, Mayo Clinic and other institutions has identified a new class of drugs that in animal models dramatically slows the aging process—alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan.

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It’s not much harder or more expensive to send a tweet or a Facebook post to hundreds or even thousands of people than to just a handful. So you’d think that the ease of communicating with lots of people via social networks would result in more and more people sharing their thoughts, political views, and cat videos. But that’s not the case, says Associate Professor Zsolt Katona at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.