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Lawrence S. Bacow has announced that he will step down from the presidency of Tufts University in June 2011, after 10 years of service.

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Researchers have developed a new tool to deliver DNA in gene therapy. DNA delivered to the retina with a peptide called PEG-POD was expressed 215 times more efficiently than delivery of DNA alone. The finding highlights PEG-POD as a tool for non-viral gene therapy treatments for eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

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A study done by Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine finds a large range in calorie content, density, and serving size among weight-control diets for pets.

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Breast cancer researchers have identified the progenitor cell that gives rise to the most common form of breast cancer. Using a mouse model, the researchers found that inhibiting a protein essential to these progenitor cells prevented mammary tumor formation. The discovery may provide a new target for breast cancer drugs.

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A Tufts University study analyzes the calorie content of 18 side dishes and entrees from national sit-down chain restaurants, 11 side dishes and entrees from national fast food restaurants and 10 frozen meals purchased from supermarkets. Researchers compared their results to the calorie content information provided to the public by the restaurants and food companies.

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A canine chromosome 7 locus that confers a high risk of compulsive disorder susceptibility has been identified through a collaboration between the Behavior Service at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, the Program in Medical Genetics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The findings are published in the January 2010 edition of Nature Molecular Psychiatry.

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Daniel Dennett of Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences has been selected as an AAAS Fellow for transformational contributions to philosophy of the cognitive sciences and philosophy of biology, which have become the most rapidly advancing fields in philosophy of science.

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To give his students the hands-on experience of studying water beneath the Earth's surface, Tufts Geology Professor Grant Garven took the ambitious step of having a system of underground boreholes installed on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus. Monitoring wells are uncommon on university campuses in the Boston area. Garven's project will twill enhance his students' understanding of hydrogeology – which is the study of how water moves underground through soil and bedrock.

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Although seen as a potential heart disease therapy, raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels by inhibiting activity of a transfer protein may not be effective, a new study suggests. Scientists at Tufts University and Boston University School of Medicine found an association between low plasma cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) activity and increased risk of heart disease in the Framingham Heart Study population.

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Researchers have discovered how the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas’ disease, prolongs its survival in infected cells. A protein on the parasite activates the enzyme Akt, which blocks cell death signals, preventing cell destruction and parasite elimination. Chagas’ disease affects some 8 to 11 million people throughout Latin America and even the United States.

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A summit of leaders in international philanthropy and higher education reflects an emerging, under-recognized trend: Increased efforts by major foundations to accelerate social and economic development by funding civic engagement at global colleges and universities.

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Tufts University Professor Gregory Crane will lead a team of international researchers to use computer data analysis techniques to track topics about the Greco-Roman world in a million documents, spanning thousands of years.

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“Taja,” a two-year-old white Bengal tiger, is back to her old self, bounding around her enclosure, and recovering well following a minimally invasive spaying procedure at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

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Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated higher body mass index (BMI) scores and a higher incidence of obesity, but only if they consumed a diet high in saturated fat. These associations were seen in the apolipoprotein A-II gene (APOA2) promoter.

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A community-based participatory research study found that demystifying Institutional Review Board policy and providing education to community leaders in the area of human subjects protections strengthened the research capabilities of local organizations and improved university-community ties.

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Internationally known economists meet to exchange ideas at the 2009 Northeast Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC) Conference on Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8.

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In Bangladesh cholera epidemics occur twice a year. Scientists have tried, without success, to determine the causes – and advance early detection and prevention efforts. Researchers from Tufts University have proposed a link between cholera and fluctuating water levels in the region's three principal rivers – the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna.

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New research finds that a protein called ROCK is over-expressed in metastatic breast cancer and that inhibiting ROCK significantly reduces metastasis to bone. The in vitro and in vivo study suggests that ROCK may be a drug therapy target for breast cancer metastasis.

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Tufts University has been tapped by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of a multidisciplinary team that will receive a grant of up to $185-million to create better synergies among veterinarians, doctors, and public health officials in responding to emerging infectious diseases.

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An epidemiological study finds that patients over age 65 with dementia have an increased risk of dying from complications of the flu. The obstacles to early diagnosis and treatment of flu among older patients with dementia include limited access to health care and inadequate testing practices, as well as patients’ difficulty communicating symptoms.

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The Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Tufts University today announced they are the recipients of four supplemental grant awards from the National Institutes of Health.

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A science curriculum will introduce students from Boston Public Schools to diseases that threaten global health. Developed jointly by scientists from Tufts University School of Medicine and teachers from Boston Public Schools, “The Great Diseases” curriculum is designed to improve science literacy and interest students in science careers.

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Leon Reijmers, PhD, of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, has been selected to receive an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. This prestigious award will support Reijmers’ research into the mechanisms of long-term memory.

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Tufts University will present physicist Freeman Dyson as the 11th speaker in the Richard E. Snyder President's Lecture Series on Oct. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Cabot Intercultural Center, on Tufts University's Medford/Somerville campus. He will discuss "Nukes and Genomes: Two Genies Out of the Bottle."

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Triples hospital’s capacity for horses with infectious diseases.

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Researchers at Tufts and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrate a new way to make silk-based optical waveguides that are biocompatible, biodegradable and readily functionalized with active molecules. This opens up opportunities in biologically based modulation and sensing and ability to integrate light delivery in living tissue.

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Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of the John Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, is a leading researcher focusing on nutrition and cardiovascular disease risk in older adults. An author of the Modified MyPyramid for Older Adults based on the USDA’s MyPyramid, Lictenstein can speak to the unique dietary needs of older adults.

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Youth participating only in sports have among the lowest scores for positive development and the highest on bullying, substance use and depression. Those who combine sports with a youth development program have the highest positive development scores and the lowest for problem behaviors. Parents should balance sports and youth development activity.

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Tufts researchers find that the STAT3 gene regulates the growth of cancer stem cells in the brain cancer Glioblastoma multiforme. This evidence is consistent with the controversial theory that a minority of cells within a tumor "” cancer stem cells "” are essential for tumor growth.

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A menace to the African cattle population for more than a century, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has declared rinderpest eradicated in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, which grappled with the cattle-killing disease that threatened its food supply and its economy for decades, is celebrating the eradication on Saturday July 25, 2009.

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Tufts researchers have used pluripotent human embryonic stem cells to create three-dimensional tissues that mimic human skin and the oral mucosa.

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Tufts professor of economics Gilbert Metcalf is a source for ongoing coverage of Climate Change. He's an expert on tax policy and climate change, particularly carbon emissions.

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A Tufts University research team has created an experimental model that produces large-scale expansion of GAA repeats during DNA replication, which is the cause of Friedreich's Ataxia. With this model, the researchers are able to analyze GAA repeat expansions and then identify cellular proteins that thwarted normal replication and promoted the elongated sequence.

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Tufts dental researchers demonstrate three-year success with a tissue regeneration application that reduces the pain and recovery time of gum grafting surgery. This specific treatment, developed at Tufts, eliminates the need to take tissue from the roof of the mouth.

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Tufts University has awarded aid to 288 alumni working in the non-profit and public-service sectors to help them repay student loans through what is believed to be the first university-wide loan repayment assistance program. Anyone may apply who has earned a Tufts degree, is paying off educational loans incurred to attend Tufts and is employed by a qualifying organization. Alumni may reapply annually.

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Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may protect against progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but the benefits appear to depend on the stage of disease and whether certain supplements are taken, report researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

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Thanks to collaboration between Tufts and MIT physicists, Tufts University has received cuttings from an apple tree that traces to the English farm where Sir Isaac Newton lived. The apples that grow at Tufts could descend from the fabled one that dropped on Newton and led to his theory on the universal law of gravitation.

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Eileen T. Kennedy, DSc, Dean of Tufts University's Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy announced the 4th Annual Friedman School Symposium, a conference for nutrition professionals that will examine critical issues facing industry, policy-makers, academics and thought leaders in the coming year. For the first time the symposium may be viewed live online.

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Tufts' School of Engineering researchers have launched a study to determine the extent to which service-learning might help engineering programs attract and retain students, particularly women. The research, which is funded by a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, will address two prevailing, but unproven, beliefs about service-learning in the engineering classroom.

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Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition presents national forum: "Children's Health: The Future of Food & Nutrition Policy" National Press Club event co-sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation, June 1st, 2009.

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Curcumin, the major polyphenol found in turmeric, appears to reduce weight gain in mice and suppress the growth of fat tissue in mice and cell models. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University studied mice fed high fat diets supplemented with curcumin and cell cultures incubated with curcumin.

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Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will deliver the commencement address at Tufts University on Sunday, May 17, at 9 a.m. on Tufts' Medford/Somerville, Mass., campus. Patrick will receive an honorary doctorate of laws. Six other distinguished leaders will also receive honorary doctorates.

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Researchers identify a protein that regulates the physical state of blood vessels. The biochemical processes involved in this regulation are important in the study of cardiovascular health.

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Researchers have uncovered a mechanism involved in ensuring that only certain genes are expressed in a specific cell type. This discovery advances the understanding of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

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A collaborative team of student designers, engineers and planners from the Boston Architectural College and Tufts University will use Earth Day as an occasion to unveil their vision of innovative sustainable living, a house that will be solar powered, attractive and affordable.

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Three activists from Boston's urban neighborhoods will attend graduate school at Tufts University without having to pay a tuition bill. They will research and conduct field work, and complete courses in public policy. The result of their work will be a Master of Public Policy degree. Tufts has five such students every year.

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The first class of students matriculate in Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy's Master of Nutrition degree program based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates..

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Author Michael Pollan will be the 10th speaker in the Richard E. Snyder President's Lecture Series on March 24 at 4:30 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center, on Tufts University's Medford/Somerville campus. He will discuss "In Defense of Food: The Omnivore's Solution."

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Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD, becomes the fourth director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University effective March 16, 2009. Meydani served as Associate Director of the USDA HNRCA for the last four years.

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In an epidemiological study of men and post-menopausal women primarily over 60 years of age, regular moderate alcohol intake was associated with greater bone mineral density (BMD). Associations were strongest for beer and wine and, importantly, BMD was significantly lower in men drinking more than two servings of liquor per day.