Latest News from: UC San Diego Health

Filters close
Released: 10-Sep-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Ferrara Receives Champalimaud Award for Role in Eye Disease Therapy
UC San Diego Health

Napoleone Ferrara, MD, Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and senior deputy director for basic sciences at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, was named today as one of seven recipients of the António Champalimaud Vision Award in Lisbon, Portugal.

Released: 10-Sep-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Autism Early Detection Program Expands
UC San Diego Health

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is now estimated to impact one in every 68 children born in the United States. A new 5-year, $5.1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) seeks expand a program developed by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine to reduce the mean age of ASD diagnosis in multiple cities across the U.S.

Released: 9-Sep-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Clinical Trial to Test Safety of Stem Cell-Derived Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in partnership with ViaCyte, Inc., a San Diego-based biotechnology firm specializing in regenerative medicine, have launched the first-ever human Phase I/II clinical trial of a stem cell-derived therapy for patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Released: 5-Sep-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Local Bars and Restaurants Urge Pregnant Women Not to Drink
UC San Diego Health

To help get the word out that alcohol and pregnancy don’t mix, volunteers with the Southern California affiliate of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (SoCal NOFAS) are handing out “Pregnant? Don’t Drink” coasters to San Diego area bars and restaurants on Tuesday, September 9th as part of International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Day.

Released: 2-Sep-2014 2:35 PM EDT
Enzyme Controlling Metastasis of Breast Cancer Identified
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified an enzyme that controls the spread of breast cancer. The findings, reported in the current issue of PNAS, offer hope for the leading cause of breast cancer mortality worldwide.

Released: 26-Aug-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Fear, Safety and the Role of Sleep in Human PTSD
UC San Diego Health

The effectiveness of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment may hinge significantly upon sleep quality, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Released: 25-Aug-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Finding Keys to Glioblastoma Therapeutic Resistance
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found one of the keys to why certain glioblastomas – the primary form of a deadly brain cancer – are resistant to drug therapy. The answer lies not in the DNA sequence of the tumor, but in its epigenetic signature. These findings have been published online as a priority report in the journal Oncotarget.

18-Aug-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Aspirin, Take Two
UC San Diego Health

In a new paper, published this week in the online early edition of PNAS, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine conclude that aspirin has a second effect: Not only does it kill cyclooxygenase, thus preventing production of the prostaglandins that cause inflammation and pain, it also prompts the enzyme to generate another compound that hastens the end of inflammation, returning the affected cells to homeostatic health.

Released: 18-Aug-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Happiness in Schizophrenia
UC San Diego Health

Schizophrenia is among the most severe forms of mental illness, yet some people with the disease are as happy as those in good physical and mental health according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Released: 18-Aug-2014 11:00 AM EDT
New Mouse Model Points to Therapy for Liver Disease
UC San Diego Health

In a paper published online in Cancer Cell, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe a novel mouse model that closely resembles human NASH and use it to demonstrate that interference with a key inflammatory protein inhibits both the development of NASH and its progression to liver cancer.

Released: 13-Aug-2014 5:00 PM EDT
New Blood: Tracing the Beginnings of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
UC San Diego Health

In a paper published online this week in Nature, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine elaborate upon a crucial signaling pathway and the role of key proteins, which may help clear the way to generate HSCs from human pluripotent precursors, similar to advances with other kinds of tissue stem cells.

Released: 12-Aug-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Improves with MRI Technology
UC San Diego Health

Oncologists at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center are the first in San Diego to meld MRI technology with a traditional ultrasound prostate exam to create a three-dimensional map of the prostate that allows physicians to view growths that were previously undetectable.

7-Aug-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Novel Study Maps Infant Brain Growth In First Three Months of Life Using MRI Technology
UC San Diego Health

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Hawaii demonstrates a new approach to measuring early brain development of infants, resulting in more accurate whole brain growth charts and providing the first estimates for growth trajectories of subcortical areas during the first three months after birth.

Released: 11-Aug-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Clinical Trial Evaluates Safety of Stem Cell Transplantation in Spine
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have launched a clinical trial to investigate the safety of neural stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic spinal cord injuries.

5-Aug-2014 12:00 PM EDT
How Breast Cancer Usurps the Powers of Mammary Stem Cells
UC San Diego Health

During pregnancy, certain hormones trigger specialized mammary stem cells to create milk-producing cells essential to lactation. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have found that mammary stem cells associated with the pregnant mammary gland are related to stem cells found in breast cancer.

8-Aug-2014 2:00 PM EDT
Target Identified For Rare Inherited Neurological Disease In Men
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the mechanism by which a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disease causes often crippling muscle weakness in men, in addition to reduced fertility.

31-Jul-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Dramatic Growth of Grafted Stem Cells in Rat Spinal Cord Injuries
UC San Diego Health

Building upon previous research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veteran’s Affairs San Diego Healthcare System report that neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and grafted into rats after a spinal cord injury produced cells with tens of thousands of axons extending virtually the entire length of the animals’ central nervous system.

Released: 4-Aug-2014 12:00 PM EDT
New Project to Reduce Heart Attacks and Strokes in San Diego County
UC San Diego Health

Approximately 84 million people in the United States suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, and about 720,000 Americans have a heart attack every year. To address these alarming statistics, the Be There San Diego Initiative has been awarded a $5.8 million Health Care Innovation grant for a coalition project to help reduce heart attacks and strokes in San Diego County.

30-Jul-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Tumor Suppressor Mutations Alone Don’t Explain Deadly Cancer
UC San Diego Health

Although mutations in a gene dubbed “the guardian of the genome” are widely recognized as being associated with more aggressive forms of cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found evidence suggesting that the deleterious health effects of the mutated gene may in large part be due to other genetic abnormalities, at least in squamous cell head and neck cancers.

28-Jul-2014 1:10 PM EDT
Pepper and Halt: Spicy Chemical May Inhibit Gut Tumors
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that dietary capsaicin – the active ingredient in chili peppers – produces chronic activation of a receptor on cells lining the intestines of mice, triggering a reaction that ultimately reduces the risk of colorectal tumors.

29-Jul-2014 11:30 AM EDT
Birthday Matters for Wiring-Up the Brain’s Vision Centers
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have evidence suggesting that neurons in the developing brains of mice are guided by a simple but elegant birth order rule that allows them to find and form their proper connections.

Released: 24-Jul-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Novel Technologies Advance Brain Surgery to Benefit Patients
UC San Diego Health

In a milestone procedure, neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System have integrated advanced 3D imaging, computer simulation and next-generation surgical tools to perform a highly complex brain surgery through a small incision to remove deep-seated tumors.

Released: 21-Jul-2014 2:00 PM EDT
UC San Diego Health System Among “Most Wired Advanced” in Nation
UC San Diego Health

UC San Diego Health System is among the nation’s “Most Wired Advanced” hospitals, according to new findings released by Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN), a publication of the American Hospital Association.

Released: 21-Jul-2014 1:25 PM EDT
Parents Rank Their Obese Children as “Very Healthy”
UC San Diego Health

A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine-led study suggests that parents of obese children often do not recognize the potentially serious health consequences of childhood weight gain or the importance of daily physical activity in helping their child reach a healthy weight.

11-Jul-2014 5:20 PM EDT
Acute Glaucoma Discovered to be an Inflammatory Disease
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Sun Yat-sen University in China have shown that acute glaucoma in mice is largely an inflammatory disease and that high pressure in the eye causes vision loss by setting in motion an inflammatory response similar to that evoked by bacterial infections.

Released: 9-Jul-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Charles E. Daniels to be Honored for His Leadership in Health-System Pharmacy
UC San Diego Health

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has named Charles E. Daniels, PhD, FASHP, as the recipient of the 2014 John W. Webb Lecture Award.

8-Jul-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Minimally Invasive Heart Stents Prove Safer
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have documented the safety benefits of aortic stent grafts inserted during minimally invasive surgery to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms – weaknesses in the body's largest artery that can rupture, causing potentially lethal internal bleeding.

Released: 9-Jul-2014 11:00 AM EDT
New Approach to Remove Blood Clots
UC San Diego Health

Experts at the UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center (SCVC) are now able to save patients from potentially fatal outcomes from blood clots, infected masses or foreign bodies from major cardiac blood vessels without performing open-heart surgery by using a new, minimally invasive technology.

26-Jun-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Rapid Surgical Innovation Puts Patients at Risk for Medical Errors
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that the risk of patient harm increased two-fold in 2006 – the peak year that teaching hospitals nationwide embraced the pursuit of minimally invasive robotic surgery for prostate cancer.

26-Jun-2014 4:00 PM EDT
New Reprogramming Method Makes Better Stem Cells
UC San Diego Health

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown for the first time that stem cells created using different methods produce differing cells. The findings, published in the July 2, 2014 online issue of Nature, provide new insights into the basic biology of stem cells and could ultimately lead to improved stem cell therapies.

   
Released: 2-Jul-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Upending a Cancer Dogma
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a protein essential to regulating cell cycle progression – the process of cell division and replication – activates a key tumor suppressor, rather than inactivating it as previously thought.

Released: 1-Jul-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Biomarker Predicts Effectiveness of Brain Cancer Treatment
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a new biomarker that predicts whether glioblastoma – the most common form of primary brain cancer – will respond to chemotherapy. The findings are published in the July print issue of Oncotarget.

Released: 30-Jun-2014 12:00 PM EDT
McKerrow Appointed Dean of Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
UC San Diego Health

Effective July 1, 2014, James H. McKerrow, MD, PhD, will become the second dean of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego.

25-Jun-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Marine Bacteria Are Natural Source of Chemical Fire Retardants
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a widely distributed group of marine bacteria that produce compounds nearly identical to toxic man-made fire retardants.

Released: 23-Jun-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Air Apparent: Using Bubbles to Reveal Fertility Problems
UC San Diego Health

UC San Diego Health System’s doctors are the first fertility specialists in the county to use a new ultrasound technique to assess fallopian tubes by employing a mixture of saline and air bubbles that is less painful, avoids x-ray exposure and is more convenient to patients during an already vulnerable time.

18-Jun-2014 12:00 PM EDT
The Brain’s Balancing Act
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a fundamental mechanism by which the brain maintains its internal balance. The mechanism, described in the June 22 advanced online publication of the journal Nature, involves the brain's most basic inner wiring and the processes that control whether a neuron relays information to other neurons or suppresses the transmission of information.

Released: 19-Jun-2014 1:00 PM EDT
UC San Diego Health System Designated U.S. Olympic Regional Medical Center
UC San Diego Health

UC San Diego Health System has been designated an Official U.S. Olympic Regional Medical Center, joining a national network of leading medical providers selected by the United States Olympic Committee to provide comprehensive medical services to Team USA athletes, including orthopedics and sports medicine, primary care, cardiovascular care, neurosurgery, cancer care and physical therapy.

Released: 19-Jun-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Finding the Achilles’ Heel of Ovarian Tumor Growth
UC San Diego Health

A team of scientists, led by principal investigator David D. Schlaepfer, PhD, professor in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that small molecule inhibitors to a protein called focal adhesion kinase (FAK) selectively prevent the growth of ovarian cancer cells as tumor spheroids.

11-Jun-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Single Dose Reverses Autism-Like Symptoms in Mice
UC San Diego Health

In a further test of a novel theory that suggests autism is the consequence of abnormal cell communication, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that an almost century-old drug approved for treating sleeping sickness also restores normal cellular signaling in a mouse model of autism, reversing symptoms of the neurological disorder in animals that were the human biological age equivalent of 30 years old.

   
12-Jun-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Survey Finds E-Cigarette Online Market On Fire
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have completed the first comprehensive survey of e-cigarettes for sale online and the results, they believe, underscore the complexity in regulating the rapidly growing market for the electronic nicotine delivery devices.

Released: 16-Jun-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Getting Rid of Old Mitochondria
UC San Diego Health

It’s broadly assumed that cells degrade and recycle their own old or damaged organelles, but researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute have discovered that some neurons transfer unwanted mitochondria – the tiny power plants inside cells – to supporting glial cells called astrocytes for disposal.

11-Jun-2014 4:30 PM EDT
How Our Brains Store Recent Memories, Cell by Single Cell
UC San Diego Health

Confirming what neurocomputational theorists have long suspected, researchers at the Dignity Health Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that the human brain locks down episodic memories in the hippocampus, committing each recollection to a distinct, distributed fraction of individual cells.

Released: 13-Jun-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Simulator Evaluates How Eye Diseases Affect Driving
UC San Diego Health

The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is the first ophthalmology department in the nation to feature a fully dedicated high-fidelity, highly realistic driving simulator for evaluating the effects of visual impairment on a person’s driving performance.

10-Jun-2014 12:00 PM EDT
Lower Vitamin D Level in Blood Linked to Higher Premature Death Rate
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that persons with lower blood levels of vitamin D were twice as likely to die prematurely as people with higher blood levels of vitamin D.

Released: 11-Jun-2014 1:10 PM EDT
A Key Step Toward a Safer Strep Vaccine
UC San Diego Health

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have identified the genes encoding a molecule that famously defines Group A Streptococcus (strep), a pathogenic bacterial species responsible for more than 700 million infections worldwide each year.

Released: 10-Jun-2014 5:00 PM EDT
Herpes Infected Humans Before They Were Human
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the evolutionary origins of human herpes simplex virus (HSV) -1 and -2, reporting that the former infected hominids before their evolutionary split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago while the latter jumped from ancient chimpanzees to ancestors of modern humans – Homo erectus – approximately 1.6 million years ago.

Released: 5-Jun-2014 5:00 PM EDT
HIV Transmission Networks Mapped to Reduce Infection Rate
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have mapped the transmission network of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in San Diego. The mapping of HIV infections, which used genetic sequencing, allowed researchers to predictively model the likelihood of new HIV transmissions and identify persons at greatest risk for transmitting the virus.

Released: 5-Jun-2014 12:00 PM EDT
The Connection Between Oxygen and Diabetes
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have, for the first time, described the sequence of early cellular responses to a high-fat diet, one that can result in obesity-induced insulin resistance and diabetes. The findings also suggest potential molecular targets for preventing or reversing the process.

Released: 4-Jun-2014 6:00 PM EDT
Kelley Thompson Honored with President’s Council Health Award
UC San Diego Health

The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN) has selected Kelley Thompson to receive a 2014 PCFSN Community Leadership Award.

28-May-2014 12:00 PM EDT
How to Erase a Memory – And Restore It
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have erased and reactivated memories in rats, profoundly altering the animals’ reaction to past events. The study is the first to show the ability to selectively remove a memory and predictably reactivate it by stimulating nerves in the brain at frequencies that are known to weaken and strengthen the connections between nerve cells, called synapses.



close
0.24665