news from the lab

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 12.04
Breast cancer drug receives ’breakthrough therapy’ designation from FDA
An experimental drug being investigated for the treatment of advanced breast cancer by researchers from the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center this week received "breakthrough therapy" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 1.04
Stem cell research blooms at Yale and in Connecticut
Eight years ago, Dr. Diane Krause was one of only two scientists at the Yale School of Medicine whose work was specifically focused on stem cells. - Today, more than 70 Yale faculty members are involved in some form of stem cell research, which since 2007 has been supported at Yale by more than $230 million in state and federal grants and funding foundations.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 5.03
Community-based HIV-prevention efforts can boost testing, help reduce new infections
In Africa and Thailand, communities that worked together on HIV-prevention efforts saw not only a rise in HIV screening but a drop in new infections, according to a new study presented this week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 6.02
Social media may prove useful in prevention of HIV, STDs, study shows
Facebook and other social networking technologies could serve as effective tools for preventing HIV infection among at-risk groups, new UCLA research suggests. - In a study published in the February issue of the peer-reviewed journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, researchers found that African American and Latino men who have sex with men voluntarily used health-related Facebook groups, which were created by the study's investigators, to discuss such things as HIV knowledge, stigma and prevention and ultimately to request at-home HIV testing kits.

Astronomy - Administration/Government - 20.12.2012
New tool is probing the structure of the Milky Way's heart
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The discovery that hundreds of stars are rapidly moving together in long, looping orbits around the center of our galaxy has been announced by a team of scientists including a Penn State University astronomer and others collaborating in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III).

Environmental Sciences - Administration/Government - 24.10.2012
Deadwood discovery reveals new beetle species
Seven beetle species new to science have been discovered by a young University of Alberta researcher just starting out in her career. - Charlene Wood, who just finished her master's degree in the Department of Renewable Resources , noted the tinier-than-usual species while studying beetles in decaying aspen trees in northwestern Alberta.

Physics/Material Science - Administration/Government - 4.10.2012
Star racing around black hole at center of our galaxy
UCLA astronomers report the discovery of a remarkable star that orbits the enormous black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy in a blistering 11-and-a-half years — the shortest known orbit of any star near this black hole.

Life Sciences - Administration/Government - 26.09.2012
Controlling behavior, remotely
Researchers use precise lasers to manipulate neurons in worms' brains (Harvard Gazette) - The following article by Peter Reuell originally appeared in the Harvard Gazette on September 25, 2012: - I n the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 22.08.2012
Potency Of Statins Linked To Muscle Side Effects
A study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, published August 22 online by PLoS ONE , reports that muscle problems reported by patients taking statins were related to the strength or potency of the given cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 10.07.2012
My hearing is fine, thank you, but could you please speak up?
ANN ARBOR, Mich.-More than half of factory workers who thought they had excellent or good hearing actually suffered hearing loss and didn't even recognize the problem, a new study shows. - The University of Michigan School of Nursing study found significant differences between measured and perceived hearing loss, and suggests health care providers need better methods of testing and protecting hearing among factory workers.

Life Sciences - Administration/Government - 30.05.2012
Tiny genetic variations led to big changes in the evolving brain
Changes to just three genetic letters among billions contributed to the evolution and development of the mammalian motor sensory circuits and laid the groundwork for the defining characteristics of the human brain, Yale University researchers report.

Business/Economics - Administration/Government - 8.05.2012
Studying school quality, to fight inequality
New MIT center examines education and its lifelong effects. - Education has long been perceived as a great leveler in the United States, providing opportunities throughout society. But at a time of economic struggle, millions of people are wondering if the country's schools can still provide a platform for success.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 1.04.2012
Second mutation in BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma does not add to drug resistance
UCLA scientists studying the ways in which skin cancer becomes resistant to drug treatment have discovered that a second mutation found in the tumors of patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma does not contribute to resistance to BRAF inhibitor drugs, a finding that runs counter to what they expected.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 7.03.2012
Benefit of gun cabinets in homes in Alaskan villages
Installing a gun cabinet dramatically reduces unlocked guns and ammunition in the home, according to a study in rural Alaska villages where the residents are primarily Alaska Native people. David Grossman, Group Health Research Institute senior investigator and UW professor of health services, led the research published in the American Journal of Public Health March 8.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Administration/Government - 15.02.2012
Tool assessing how community health centers deliver ’medical home’ care may be flawed
On the health front, the poor often have at least two things going against them: a lack of insurance and chronic illnesses, of which diabetes is among the most common. - The federal Affordable Care Act would expand the capacity of the nation's 8,000 community health centers to provide care for low-income, largely minority patients — from the current 20 million to about 40 million by 2015.