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A new study from the UCLA Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program found that surgery at UCLA to treat catastrophic pediatric epilepsy has improved over the past two decades and has led to more successful outcomes, including freedom from seizures. The researchers credit improvements in diagnostic technology and experience in selection and operations as reasons for the program's success.

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A commonly used probe for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning and a new probe developed by researchers at UCLA reveal different functions in diverse cells of the immune system, providing a non-invasive and much clearer picture of an immune response in action.

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UCLA researchers found that children with epilepsy say their quality of life is comparable to that of their healthy siblings. The parents of these children, though, say just the opposite. They rate their children with epilepsy as having a substantially worse quality of life than their other, healthy children.

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Young adult survivors of childhood cancers are four times more likely to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than their control group siblings, a Childhood Cancer Survivors Study has found.

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Research finds that more than a third of drinkers 60 years old and older consume amounts of alcohol that are excessive or that are potentially harmful in combination with certain diseases they may have or medications they may be taking.

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UCLA researchers have found that a variant of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene, found in more than a third of the world’s population and known to cause weight gain, is also associated with a loss of brain tissue.

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Researchers researchers found that patients who received phone assistance in making doctors appointments had twice the improvement in systolic blood pressure of those assisted by a faith community nurse.

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A new UCLA study compares the safety and efficacy of heart bypass surgery to angioplasty with drug-eluting stents in patients with left main coronary artery disease, a diagnosis affecting thousands of individuals. Drug-eluting stents are treated with a medication that helps keep the artery from reclosing.

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The Lockheed Martin Corp. announced a pledge of $4 million to benefit the UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program, which provides reconstructive surgeries and other health care needs to U.S. military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA has been awarded $14.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to establish a center dedicated to understanding the genetic and environmental factors in neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorders.

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UCLA researchers have, for the first time, made direct recordings of mirror neurons in the living human brain.

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UCLA researchers have developed a non-invasive biomarker that may serve as a type of early warning system when antidepressants make a patient's condition worse.

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Jay Yim, 21-year-old student, collapsed at mile 18 of the LA Marathon in full cardiac arrest, and was saved by joint efforts of LAPD and UCLA doctors.

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Among seniors, women and patients with diabetes and dementia are the most likely to fall into the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan "donut hole" — the gap occurring after beneficiaries reach their annual coverage limit and before catastrophic coverage kicks in.

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In the first quantitative study to look at the benefits of utilizing the medical home concept in a resident-education outpatient clinic at a specialized children's hospital, UCLA researchers found that participation in the program at UCLA significantly reduced families' use of the emergency room.

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A combination of two targeted therapies already shown to be effective in breast cancer packs an effective one-two punch against a subset of gastric cancers that have a specific genetic mutation, a study at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

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Thanks to a generous three-year, $300,000 grant from the OneWest Foundation - matched by funds from the UCLA Health System - qualified Venice Family Clinic patients who need hospitalization or specialized medical care may now be helped by a pilot project launched by the foundation, the clinic and the UCLA Health System.

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Researchers successfully removed CCR5 — a cell receptor to which HIV-1 binds for infection but which the human body does not need — from human cells. Individuals who naturally lack the CCR5 receptor have been found to be essentially resistant to HIV.

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UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death. In addition, they found a specific genetic variation in some individuals that seems to disconnect that link, rendering them more biologically resilient in the face of adversity.

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A UCLA–Veterans Affairs research team has developed an evaluation tool to help guide asymptomatic pancreatic cyst treatment. The tool takes into account overall health, age, cyst size, surgical risk and patients' views about quality of life.

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UCLA's Dr. Richard J. Shemin was recently elected director-at-large of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ (STS) Board of Directors at the 46th Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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A UCLA study reveals how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease risk. The new findings shed light on why the search for specific gene variants linked to human diseases can only partly explain common disorders.

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Specific chemical modifications to proteins called histones, which are found in the nucleus of cells and act as spools around which DNA is wound, can be used to predict prognosis and response to treatment in subsets patients with pancreatic cancer, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

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Researchers have identified a "broad spectrum" antiviral that is effective against numerous viruses, including HIV-1, influenza A, filoviruses, poxviruses, and others. hey cause some of the world's deadliest diseases, such as AIDS and Ebola.

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A study by researchers with UCLA's Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program has found that an alternative, non-invasive approach to pre-surgical testing, along with earlier consideration for surgery, is associated with the best seizure-free surgical outcome in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

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Researchers at UCLA were able to predict a brain’s progression to Alzheimer’s long before the symptoms of AD can be seen, hopefully allowing for early intervention.

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Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have performed the first complete genomic sequencing of a brain cancer cell line, a discovery that may lead to personalized treatments based on the unique biological signature of an individual’s cancer and a finding that may unveil new molecular targets for which more effective and less toxic drugs can be developed.

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A new study suggests that improvements in air quality over the past decade have resulted in fewer cases of ear infections in children.

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UCLA medical experts provide heart healthy gift, food and activity ideas for Valentine's Day.

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The largest national survey of its kind that measured medical students’ attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) found that three-quarters of them felt conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.

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Patients who ordered their medications by mail were more likely to take them as prescribed by their physicians than patients who obtained medications from a local pharmacy.

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Study suggests that participating in volunteer activities may prevent frailty in older adults.

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Researchers have identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection, a finding that may result in the approval of new and less toxic treatments for the disease, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

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UCLA/Wayne State University researchers found that only 21 percent of Americans suffering from clinical depression receive medical care consistent with American Psychiatric Association guidelines. Half receive no treatment at all. The majority of treated patients, nearly 45 percent, received psychotherapy with no medication. Only 34 percent of patients were prescribed antidepressants.

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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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UCLA scientists have identified a molecular switch that prevents Huntington's disease from developing in mice. Published in the Dec. 24 edition of the journal Neuron, the discovery suggests a new approach to treating the genetic disorder, which ultimately leads to death in as little as 10 years.

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Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Informal social networks are more effective than mailers and "media blitzes" at encouraging Hispanics to prepare for disasters.

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Tissue-specific genes, thought to be dormant or not marked for activation in embryonic stem cells, are indeed marked by transcription factors, with proper marking potentially crucial for the function of tissues derived from stem cells.

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Inhibiting fatty acid synthesis in brain cancer cells may offer a new option to treat about 50 percent of deadly glioblastomas that are driven by amplified signaling of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Researchers from the UCLA AIDS Institute and colleagues have for the first time demonstrated that human blood stem cells can be engineered into cells that can target and kill HIV-infected cells — a process that potentially could be used against a range of chronic viral diseases.

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Unlike the stereotype of runaway teens becoming long-term homeless, more than two-thirds of newly homeless youth resolve their family differences and go home. The key is family intervention.

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A new study to determine whether the use of antithrombotic medications among stroke survivors increased over a seven-year period found that in each of the years, approximately 20 percent of survivors were not taking these medications — a figure that did not decrease during the time period. The study also found that individuals who were younger, female or Hispanic were less likely to be taking antithrombotic agents.

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Hispanics in the U.S. with low levels of acculturation — meaning adaptation to American culture — had fewer HIV tests and no hepatitis C tests, were more likely to test positive for HIV, and had low levels of access to health care.

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Scientists from the UCLA Department of Neurology have confirmed that blindness causes structural changes in the brain, indicating that the brain may reorganize itself functionally in order to adapt to a loss in sensory input.

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Just as fly paper captures insects, an innovative new device with nano-sized features developed by researchers at UCLA is able to grab cancer cells in the blood that have broken off from a tumor. These cells, known as circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, can provide critical information for examining and diagnosing cancer metastasis, determining patient prognosis, and monitoring the effectiveness of therapies.

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Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in everything from cosmetics to sunscreen to paint to vitamins, caused systemic genetic damage in mice, according to a comprehensive study conducted by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Baby Boomers may well be entering their 60s suffering far more disabilities than their counterparts did in previous generations, The findings, may be due in part to changing American demographics.

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If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not? Scientists suspect that part of the answer to the mystery lies in a gene called FOXP2. When mutated, FOXP2 can disrupt speech and language in humans. Now, a UCLA/Emory study reveals major differences between how the human and chimp versions of FOXP2 work, perhaps explaining why language is unique to humans.

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The drug Sprycel, approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, significantly inhibited the growth and invasiveness of ovarian cancer cells and also promoted their death, a study by researchers with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found.