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A minimally invasive surgical approach developed by head and neck surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, California) has been cleared for TransOral otolaryngologic surgical procedures to treat benign tumors and select malignant tumors in adults.

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Researchers have created biodegradable nanosized particles that can easily slip through the body’s sticky and viscous mucus secretions to deliver a sustained-release medication cargo.

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Dr. John M. Grunsfeld has been appointed Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md. effective January 4, 2010. He succeeds Dr. Michael Hauser, who stepped down in October. STScI is the science operations center for NASA's orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope planned to be launched in 2014.

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An experimental drug currently being tested against breast and lung cancer shows promise in fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in two preclinical studies.

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The fourth annual Extremity War Injuries Symposium was held in Washington, D.C., last January to bring together military and civilian orthopaedic surgeons, researchers, experts from governmental agencies, and others to discuss challenges faced by U.S. medical personnel working in Iraq and Afghanistan and to discuss ways to synergize resources and improve care for wounded warriors. A paper summarizing the findings from the symposium is published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

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First Pacific Corporation will be available at a variety of tradeshows to demonstrate the latest technology in dental practice management software aimed to increase efficiencies and cash flow.

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The last decade saw a spike in the use of micro-credit, small loans designed to help poor people start businesses and work their way out of poverty. Now a group of students from Wake Forest University’s Schools of Business is helping some of those former micro-entrepreneurs acquire the skills they need to grow their business.

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Darwin celebrated; evolution still under attack. The Year in Review.

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The Vascular Disease Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2010 Julius H. Jacobson II Award for Physician Excellence.

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Need a little extra incentive to kick the habit? Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, a UCLA study finds that even after age 80, smoking continues to increase one’s risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 65.

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Psychological stress at the office — or wherever people earn their paychecks — can make it more difficult for depressed workers to perform their jobs and be productive.

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Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the plants for biofuel. Their paper was published online in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

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A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology finds that transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), a widely used pain therapy involving a portable device, is not recommended to treat chronic low-back painpain that has persisted for three months or longerbecause research shows it is not effective. The guideline is published in the December 30, 2009, online issue of Neurology®.

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Federal research dollars help South Dakota State University scientists build a first-of-its-kind microscope that could help develop better solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity.

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Young hunters between the ages of 15 and 34 are the most likely to suffer serious injuries in tree stand-related incidents, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Injury Sciences (CIS). The same researchers’ findings, though, suggest that such injuries are preventable.

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It’s never too early or too late to start working toward the goal of improving brain health. So perhaps the New Year is the perfect time to consider how one achieves a long and satisfying life. A book recently publishing by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., called Successful Cognitive and Emotional Aging may be just the tool to help find some answers to the age-old question.

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Some of the nation’s rising music stars have joined the nation’s first cancer center in an effort to show young people that they can help build a world without cancer. Roswell Park Cancer Institute created a new hip hop song and video called “How Big Is Your Heart.” The MTV-like commercial features cancer patients and nurses dancing alongside professional dancers through the halls and lobby of the cancer hospital.

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A vascular surgical technique pioneered at UT Southwestern Medical Center and designed to replace infected aortic grafts with the body’s own veins has proved more durable and less prone to new infection than similar procedures using synthetic and cadaver grafts.

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Make an appointment to better your urologic health.

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Clarkson University President Tony Collins was recently named an honorary senator of the University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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Johns Hopkins Children’s Center cardiologist Allen Everett recently won more than $460,000 in stimulus grant funding to identify the biomarkers of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (IPH), a progressive and highly lethal condition in children and adults marked by persistently elevated pressure in the artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs.

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From a lethal distraction for drivers to dehumanizing personal interactions, text messaging has gotten a bum rap lately. But for doctors treating patients with chronic diseases, text messaging can be an invaluable tool, according to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center pediatrician Delphine Robotham.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center is featured in three pilot episodes of a new series titled Emergency Level 1 on TLC.

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To assist physicians in caring for a patient demographic that is rapidly growing in size, JAMA is launching a new series, “Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action.”

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Remote monitoring of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) was not associated with an overall improvement in the risk of death or length of stay in the ICU or hospital, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA.

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Older adults who used the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to adults who received placebo, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA

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Pre-market approval by the FDA of cardiovascular devices is often based on studies that lack adequate strength or may have been prone to bias, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA. The researchers found that of nearly 80 high-risk devices, the majority received approval based on data from a single study.

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It’s impossible to know, unless you’re Urban Meyer or one of his doctors, what exactly caused the two-time college football championship winner to see-saw decisions about his prestigious professional career and his family life. But the scenario is all too common among Americans of all walks of life, says Dr. Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

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Scientists recently discovered a simple gene mutation that decreases the chance people will get a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis. Further, they proved that inactivating this section of the gene lessens the devastating disease in humans.

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Psoriasis, a chronic disease that causes red, raised patches of skin, is increasingly seen as a systemic disease with links to arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

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In an annual supplement to the journal Diabetes Care, published Dec. 29 by the American Diabetes Association, the A1C test is given a prominent role in the 2010 guidelines for diabetes screening, diagnosis and prevention.

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Everyone faces losses and grief, but the toll that grief can take on the mind and body can catch many people by surprise.

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Achy knees and joints caused by arthritis are not reasons to stop exercising. Regular, modest exercise improves joint stability and strengthens muscles.

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Cleaning hands with either soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers can effectively prevent the spread of bacterial or viral infections.

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When disability or illness makes it difficult to open a door, pick up keys or call for help, a service dog might ease these frustrations of daily living.

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For many, celebrating the holidays calls for a champagne toast. But for some people popping a bottle of bubbly can be dangerous to your health.

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The timing of molar emergence and its relation to growth and reproduction in apes is being reported by scientists at Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins. “We can use the same techniques to calculate ages at first molar emergence from the fossils of early hominids that just happened to die while their first molars were erupting,” they say.

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A leading expert on the biomechanics of the human spine has won a top honor from the North American Spine Society.

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By combining a research technique that dates back 136 years with modern molecular genetics, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist has been able to see how a mammal’s brain shrewdly revisits and reuses the same molecular cues to control the complex design of its circuits.

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Several similar small molecules appear capable of protecting cells from alpha-synuclein toxicity, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. There is currently no cure for the disease, and current Parkinson’s therapies only address disease symptoms, not the disease’s cellular cause.

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Just like teenagers at a prom, proteins are tended by chaperones whose job it is to prevent unwanted interactions among immature clients. And at the molecular level, just as at the high school gym level, it's a job that usually requires a lot of energy.

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The early stages of Alzheimer’s disease are thought to occur at the synapse, since synapse loss is associated with memory dysfunction. Evidence suggests that amyloid beta (Aβ) plays an important role in early synaptic failure, but little has been understood about Aβ’s effect on the plasticity of dendritic spines.

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Delores Evans of Durham, N.C., received a kidney from her own adult son at UNC Hospitals after he died in November 2008. On New Year's Day Delores will honor her son, and help promote organ sharing, as a participant in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., riding on the Donate Life float sponsored by OneLegacy, the Los Angeles-area organ and tissue donor services organization.

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Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine say a recent discovery suggests that inherited genetic variations exist between whites and blacks living in the U.S., leading to less efficient metabolism of glucose and predisposition to diabetes in blacks.

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A novel molecular imaging technology aimed at rapid diagnosis of cell death in organs such as the brain and heart has been licensed by The Medical College of Wisconsin to GE Healthcare. Under the license GE will further evaluate and develop the technology and will have an option to commercialize the technology. The technology, using imaging probes with a radiopharmaceutical compound, was invented by Ming Zhao, Ph.D., assistant professor of biophysics.

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New research in mice by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists suggest that ghrelin might also work in the brain to make some people keep eating “pleasurable” foods when they’re already full.

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Adding 30 minutes of daily physical activity should top your list of New Year’s resolutions for a healthier 2010, says Peter Brubaker, professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University. Regular daily exercise is the most important step toward a healthier lifestyle, Brubaker says.

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New Year’s is usually a time for making personal resolutions, but families can set goals too. “Like merchants, families should take inventory,” says Dr. Samuel Gladding, a licensed professional counselor with a specialty in family counseling and chair of the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University.

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Millions of Americans will be job hunting in 2010, and for many of those who are currently unemployed, the search will mark the continuation of a long and unsuccessful journey. Andy Chan, vice president for career development at Wake Forest University, says job seekers often encounter three major roadblocks to success.

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Like a spotlight that illuminates an otherwise dark scene, attention brings to mind specific details of our environment while shutting others out. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies shows that the superior colliculus, a brain structure that primarily had been known for its role in the control of eye and head movements, is crucial for moving the mind’s spotlight.