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UC San Diego receives NHLBI 'Program of Excellence in Glycosciences' grant

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have received a major 7-year, $18 million grant to begin translating emerging discoveries in the field of glycosciences into new discoveries and therapies related to heart, lung and blood diseases.

26 Jul 2011

Erionite in North Dakota roads may increase risk of mesothelioma

As school buses drive down the gravel roads in Dunn County, North Dakota, they stir up more than dirt. The clouds of dust left in their wake contain such high levels of the mineral erionite that those who breathe in the air every day are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, a type of cancer of the membranes around the lungs, new research shows.

26 Jul 2011

Strategies toxins use to invade human host cells

Toxins produced by plants and bacteria pose a significant threat to humans, as emphasized by the recent effects of cucumber-borne Shiga toxin in Germany. Now, new research published on July 21st by the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell provides a clearer view of the combination of similar and divergent strategies that different toxins use to invade a human host cell.

22 Jul 2011

Contaminated nasal spray associated with rare bacterial outbreak

Infection control researchers investigating a rare bacterial outbreak of Burholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) identified contaminated nasal spray as the root cause of the infections, leading to a national recall of the product.

22 Jul 2011

FDA approves U.S. launch of Wiskott-Aldrich gene therapy clinical trial

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the launching in the U.S. of a clinical trial for gene therapy for a rare immunodeficiency, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

22 Jul 2011

Quest receives U.S. patent allowance for cancer combination therapy

Quest PharmaTech Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has received notice of allowance for U.S. Patent Application 10/831,886 entitled: "Combination Therapy for Treating Disease".

22 Jul 2011

Johns Hopkins Medicine names Landon King, M.D., Vice Dean for Research

Landon S. King, M.D., the David Marine Professor of medicine and biological chemistry and director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has been named the next vice dean for research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, effective Sept. 1.

21 Jul 2011

Breathing problems trouble U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, speculation about inhaled toxins

According to a new study some U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering unexplained breathing problems that may be related to exposure to unknown toxins.

21 Jul 2011

WHO warns against blood test kits for tuberculosis

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) warning Sunday, the widely used blood tests to detect tuberculosis (TB) are “dangerous” to patients because they are unreliable and can produce incorrect results. The WHO announced that it will issue an unprecedented recommendation against using such tests for the infectious lung disease that affects some 14 million people worldwide. As much as a third of the world's population is thought to harbor the bacteria that cause TB.

21 Jul 2011

Johns Hopkins Medicine names Landon King, M.D., Vice Dean For Research

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21 Jul 2011

Senate Commission compiles new threshold limit values for dusts

The 2011 MAK and BAT Values List compiled by the Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, a Senate Commission of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), recommends reducing the general threshold limit value for dust for the alveolar fraction in light of recent studies and classifies such dusts as carcinogenic when these thresholds are exceeded.

21 Jul 2011

Cell biologists identify infection mechanism of adenoviruses

Mucosal epithelia do not have any receptors on the outer membrane for the absorption of viruses like hepatitis C, herpes, the adenovirus or polio, and are thus well-protected against pathogenic germs. However, certain viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, still manage to enter the body via the mucous membrane.

21 Jul 2011

USPTO issues patent for Mirna's tumor suppressor microRNAs

Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed multiple patent claims related to the therapeutic application of several tumor suppressor microRNAs.

21 Jul 2011

U.S. News ranks NewYork-Presbyterian as sixth best hospital in the nation

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital ranks #1 in New York and among the top six in the U.S. out of the nearly 5,000 hospitals evaluated by U.S. News Media & World Report for their 2011-12 Best Hospitals rankings.

20 Jul 2011

Gastroespophageal reflux treatment might improve survival in patients with IPF

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who report treatment for gastroespophageal reflux (GER) appear to have longer survival than IPF patients who are not treated for GERD, according to a new study from the University of California, San Francisco.

20 Jul 2011

Nuclear Factor I/B appears to drive progression of small cell lung cancer

A major challenge for cancer biologists is figuring out which among the hundreds of genetic mutations found in a cancer cell are most important for driving the cancer's spread.

20 Jul 2011

Mayo Clinic licenses M. tuberculosis complex speciation test from QIAGEN

Mayo Clinic has licensed patent rights from QIAGEN to enable Mayo Medical Laboratories to offer an M. tuberculosis complex speciation test. The test expands Mayo Medical Laboratories' current offering for tuberculosis testing, which already includes M. tuberculosis complex culture, molecular identification and drug susceptibility testing.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 19 Jul 2011

Exposure to tobacco smoke nearly doubles risk of hearing loss among adolescents

NYU School of Medicine researchers report in a new study that exposure to tobacco smoke nearly doubles the risk of hearing loss among adolescents. The study is published in the July, 2011, issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery.

19 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: NYT on Medicaid's value; WSJ against exchanges; Chicago Tribune on food deserts

Medicaid is under assault these days from nearly every direction. Governors complain that they cannot afford to put up their share of the money. Congressional Republicans led by Paul Ryan want to reduce the federal contribution by $771 billion over the next decade. ... President Obama has expressed willingness to cut Washington's contribution.

19 Jul 2011

Peak of Australian flu season is imminent so take the necessary precautions now: Experts

The Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) is today warning that high rates of influenza outbreaks have been confirmed in QLD, SA and NSW, but there is still time for most Australians, especially those in at-risk groups, to protect themselves and those around them.

18 Jul 2011