12/21/2009
Microcephaly Genes Associated with Human Brain Size A group of Norwegian and American researchers have shown that common variations in genes associated with microcephaly – a neuro-developmental disorder in which brain size is dramatically reduced – may explain differences in brain size in...
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12/17/2009
Researchers Identify New Gene Linked to Congenital Heart Defects
Researchers from the UC San Diego, School of Medicine and colleagues have identified a new gene, ETS-1, that is linked to human congenital heart defects. The landmark study, recently published online in the journal of Human Molecular Genetics, provid...More...
12/16/2009
Santa Visits UC San Diego Medical Center's Infant Special Care Center
Some patients will be going Ho! HO! HO! home for the holidays! With a full, white beard and a round bowl of a belly, Santa Claus made a special, early visit to the Infant Special Care Center at UC San Diego Medical Center- Hillcrest. Santa and his e...More...
12/15/2009
Evolution of Brain Surgery to Destroy Rogue Blood Vessels
Over three decades, a world-recognized medical team at UC San Diego Medical Center has spurred the evolution of a complex surgery to destroy dangerous clusters of arteries and veins in the brain. Integrating innovative approaches in radiology, anesth...More...
12/14/2009
Scientists Uncover Protective Mechanism Against Liver Cancer
A team of scientists from the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Osaka University in Japan have identified a protein switch that helps prevent liver damage, including inflammation, fibrosis and cancer. The findings suggest that a better understandin...More...
12/11/2009
More Mental Health Care Called For in Wake of Ft. Hood Shootings
The recent shootings at the Ft. Hood, Texas army base, allegedly by an army psychiatrist, have placed much-needed focus on mental health care in the army. In an article published in the December issue of the journal CNS Spectrum, renowned psychophar...More...
12/8/2009
A Holiday Survival Guide for a Safe Season
Experts from UC San Diego Medical Center's Regional Trauma Center and the California Poison Control System offer these seasonal tips to help keep the season safe. Seasonal Plants "Plants and products usually not seen or available during...More...
12/8/2009
$17 Million to UC San Diego for Methamphetamine/AIDS Research
Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues have been awarded a $17 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to establish the Translational Methamphetamine AIDS ...More...
12/7/2009
UC San Diego Researchers Study Adolescent Obesity and Weight Loss
Why are some successful, some not? In a study published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from UC San Diego School of Medicine identified overweight adolescents who successfully lost weight, ...More...
12/3/2009
Random DNA Mix-Ups Not so Random in Cancer Development
Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have pinpointed a mechanism that may help explain how chromosomal translocations – the supposedly random shuffling of large chunks of DNA that frequently lead to cancer – aren't so ...More...
11/30/2009
Good News for Moms, UC San Diego Medical Center Opens New Labor and Delivery Suites
UC San Diego Medical Center-Hillcrest has opened five new state-of-the-art labor and delivery suites for moms-to-be. Spacious and well-appointed, the rooms offer a private and relaxing environment for the entire family to welcome their newest additio...More...
11/24/2009
Three UC San Diego Researchers Receive Top National Awards
Three top researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine were recently named as recipients of prestigious awards from national organizations in their respective fields Lewis L. Judd, MD Judd, Mary Gilman Marston profess...More...
11/23/2009
Surface Bacteria Maintains Skin's Healthy Balance
On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a...More...
11/20/2009
UC San Diego School of Medicine to Build an Innovative Hub of Learning for the 21st Century
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Vice Chancellor David A. Brenner, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony and reception for the new UC San Diego Medical Education and Telemedicine Center Friday, November 20. The event took ...More...
11/20/2009
Cancer, Pulmonary Specialists Join UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics
Two new physician-researchers have joined the UC San Diego School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics. Donald L. Durden, MD, PhD, has been named professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics and Research Director, Div...More...
11/19/2009
New CEO Named at UC San Diego Medical Center
UC San Diego School of Medicine today announced the appointment of Thomas E. Jackiewicz as new CEO of the UC San Diego Medical Center, effective November 23. Jackiewicz will be responsible for the management of the Medical Center, which comprises UC...More...
11/18/2009
Cognitive Dysfunction Reversed in Mouse Model of Down Syndrome
A study by neuroscientist William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School has demonstrated a possible new approac...More...
11/18/2009
Teaching Experiment Helps Basic Scientists Improve Treatments for Patients
The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has received a $700,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) for an innovative doctoral education program to help basic scientists identify pressing medical problems and deve...More...
11/17/2009
Egyptian Mummies Reveal Heart Disease as Ancient Affliction
A new study finds that atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, was common in ancient Egyptians, challenging a belief that vascular disease is a modern affliction caused by current-day risk factors such as stress and sedentary lifestyles. Michael ...More...
11/17/2009
Analyzing Structural Brain Changes in Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) MRI Data Reported In a study that promises to improve diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a fast and acc...More...
11/17/2009
Analyzing Structural Brain Changes in Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ANDI) MRI Data Reported In a study that promises to improve diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a fast and accurate ...More...
11/12/2009
New Website Offers Lifesaving SPIN for Tiny Infants
UC San Diego Medical Center recently launched a website dedicated to offering families and the medical community valuable information about the best way to provide human milk to premature and underweight infants. The website was developed with a $10,...More...
11/10/2009
New Incisionless Surgery to Treat GERD, California First
Every day, more than 20 percent of the U.S. population experiences the painful burning symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). For these 20 million Americans, the first line of defense is medication. To find a long-term, permanent solutio...More...
11/9/2009
UC San Diego Announces New Center for Migration and Health
Part of UC Institute to Address Global Health The University of California, San Diego will lead a new Center of Expertise on Migration and Health as one of three multi-campus initiatives launched by the University of California system under the ausp...More...
11/9/2009
Scientists Visualize How Bacteria Talk to One Another
Using imaging mass spectrometry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed tools that will enable scientists to visualize how different cell populations of cells communicate. Their study shows how bacteria talk to one ano...More...
11/5/2009
Tobacco Quit line Helps First Half-Million Callers
Health Care Providers Urged to Refer Patients Wishing to Kick the Habit A free telephone service that helps Californians kick the smoking habit – funded by tobacco taxes approved by California voters and operated by the University of Californi...More...
11/2/2009
UC San Diego School of Medicine Studies Testosterone in Older Men
Participants Sought for National Trial UC San Diego School of Medicine is seeking volunteers for a national study to test the effects of testosterone as a treatment for several conditions affecting the health of older men. Low serum testosterone may...More...
10/28/2009
CIRM, the UK and Canada Award More Than $250 Million to Researchers to Accelerate Pace of Bringing Stem Cell Therapies to the Clinic
$20 million awarded to Moores UCSD Cancer Center Team Researchers led by Moores UCSD Cancer Center Director Dennis A. Carson, MD, Dennis Carson, MDprofessor of medicine, and Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicin...More...
10/28/2009
Regeneration Can be Achieved after Chronic Spinal Cord Injury
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that regeneration of central nervous system axons can be achieved in rats even when treatment delayed is more than a year after the original spinal cord injury. ...More...
10/27/2009
Surgical Pioneer Alan Hemming, MD, to Launch Groundbreaking Treatment Center for Liver Disease at UC San Diego
Distinguished transplant and cancer surgeon, Alan Hemming, MD, has been recruited to the University of California, School of Medicine to launch a multidisciplinary center for the treatment of advanced liver disease at the UC San Diego Medical Center ...More...
10/27/2009
UC San Diego Medical Student on Forefront of "Apps" Business
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention" goes high-tech Being a full-time, third-year medical student is tough enough but Michael "Fuj" Fujinaka is also busy helping his fellow students learn. He answered his own questions ab...More...
10/26/2009
UC San Diego Researchers Reverse Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Mouse Models
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a key protein that promotes the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in humans and mice. This groundbreaking discovery has implications for future drug therapies that m...More...
10/20/2009
UC San Diego Researchers Receive Grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
"Grand Challenges Explorations" grants for innovative global health research will fund novel malaria research; innovative method to boost flu vaccines Funding for three research projects at the University of California, San Diego Scho...More...
10/19/2009
Compound Shows Potential for Slowing Progression of ALS
A chemical cousin of a drug currently used to treat sepsis dramatically slows the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, in mice. The results offer a bit of good news in efforts to develop a t...More...
10/19/2009
Helping to Unravel the Hidden Web of Neuroscience Information
UC San Diego Researchers Debut Neuroscience Information Framework NIF 2.0 at "Neurosciences 2009" Decades of investment in neuroscience by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health has led to an explosion of new information abou...More...
10/15/2009
NIH Awards Grant to UC San Diego to Build Capacity in Informatics in Global Health
The Fogarty International Center, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced it will award more than $9.23 million to eight global health informatics programs over the next five years, including a $1.23 million grant to the Univ...More...
10/15/2009
Rare Procedure Documents How the Human Brain Computes Language
Study sheds new light on the nature of Broca's area A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports a significant breakthrough in explaining gaps in scientists' understanding of human brain function...More...
10/15/2009
Stretching the Golgi: a Link Between Form and Function
A research team at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has provided a surprisingly simple explanation for the mechanism and features of the "Golgi apparatus" – a structure that has baffled generations of scien...More...
10/12/2009
UCSD Researchers Pave the Way for Effective Liver Treatments
A combination of bioengineering and medical research at the University of California, San Diego has led to a new discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments for liver disease. In this work, the researchers have utilized an array ...More...
10/12/2009
Moores UCSD Cancer Center Receives $6 Million NIH Contract to Identify Vaccine-Enhancing Substances
Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have received $6 million from the National Institutes of Health to spend the next five years looking for, testing and developing chemicals called "adjuvants" that they hope will make current va...More...
10/9/2009
Moores UCSD Cancer Center Offers Radiation Therapy in South Bay Facility
UC San Diego Medical Center has opened a radiation oncology facility in South Bay, bringing the same types of radiation therapy services and opportunities for participation in clinical trials that are provided at their facility on the UCSD campus in ...More...
10/7/2009
Midwives Catch 3,000 Babies at UC San Diego Medical Center
California's Only Hospital-Based Birth Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary More than four million babies are born in the United States every year. A growing number of these infants, more than 10 percent, are "caught" by midwives. Th...More...
10/5/2009
Roger Sur, MD, Joins Leading Urological Team at UC San Diego Medical Center, Launches Center for Treatment of Kidney Stones
Roger Sur, MD, specializes in the treatment of kidney stones at UCSD Medical Center Roger Sur, MD, urologic surgeon certified by the American Board of Urology, has been recruited to UC San Diego Medical Center to launch a comprehensive kidney ston...More...
10/2/2009
Online "Museum" Compares Humans with Our Closest Evolutionary Relatives
The Museum of Comparative Anthropogeny (MOCA) Showcases a Collection of Comparisons Between Humans and Other HominidsThe UCSD/Salk Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA), an organized research unit of the University of Cali...More...
10/2/2009
UCSD Investigator Kumar Sharma Receives International Award for Innovative Diabetes Research
Kumar Sharma, MD, FAHA, professor of medicine, division of nephrology and director of the Center for Renal Transplant, UC San Diego's School of Medicine, will receive the Outstanding Investigator Award from the Japanese Society of Diabetes Comp...More...
10/1/2009
San Diego County Celebrates 25 Years of Trauma System UC San Diego's Trauma Center shares in kudos
More than 150,000 patients have personally experienced San Diego County's Trauma System since its inception in August 1984. Today, the San Diego Trauma System is a national model for effective trauma care delivery, saving an untold number of l...More...
9/30/2009
Innovative Statewide UC Medical Center Collaboration Targets Breast Cancer
The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is participating in an unprecedented statewide University of California collaboration to improve care for breast cancer patients by designing and testing new approaches to research, technology and health care delivery. ...More...
9/25/2009
Local Team Receives Award for Efforts to Increase Minority Clinical Trial Participation
A three-woman research team from Vista Community Clinic, the Moores UCSD Cancer Center and San Diego State University is the recipient of the Faith Fancher Research Award. Natasha Riley, MA, program manager, Breast Health Program, Vista Community Cl...More...
9/24/2009
Five UCSD Researchers Recipients of NIH Awards to Encourage High-Risk Research and Innovation
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that it is awarding $348 million nationwide to encourage investigators to explore bold ideas that have the potential to catapult fields forward and speed the translation of research into improve...More...
9/23/2009
UC San Diego Offers Depression Treatment Through Innovative Approaches
Major depressive disorder affects nearly 340 million people worldwide and as many as 20 percent of those patients are resistant to treatment. A team of psychiatrists at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center is studying two novel a...More...
9/21/2009
Researchers Identify Gene Variant Linked to Glaucoma
An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the National Eye Institute, has discovered gene variants for glaucoma in a black population. The finding could lead to future treatments or...More...
9/17/2009
Memories of the Way They Used to Be
Human iPS Cells Retain Some Gene Expression of Donor Cells A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have developed a safe strategy for reprogrammi...More...
9/16/2009
Couples Exchange Kidneys in "Paired Donor Transplant" UC San Diego Medical Center First to Perform in San Diego County
When Patti Ford and Robyn Bryan first met on a sunny July day, they threw their arms around each other and hugged, as if they were the best of friends. Truth be told, they were perfect strangers… strangers on their way to becoming a family. A...More...
9/16/2009
UCSD Announces Chief of Division of Genome Information Sciences in Pediatrics
Kelly A. Frazer, PhD, has been hired as the founding chief of the new Division of Genome Information Sciences for the Department of Pediatrics at the UCSD School of Medicine. In this role, she will work closely with physicians in the Department of P...More...
9/11/2009
Raul Coimbra, MD, PhD, Newly Appointed to Monroe E. Trout Endowed Chair
World-renowned trauma surgeon Raul Coimbra, MD, PhD, professor of Surgery and chief, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns, at the University of California, San Diego has been named the Monroe E. Trout Endowed Chair of Surgery. The $2 ...More...
9/9/2009
UC San Diego's Bannister Family House Launches Quarter-Million Dollar "Matching Gift Challenge"
The Medical Center's Haven of Hope and Comfort for Patients and Families Needs Repair The Bannister Family House at UC San Diego Medical Center is celebrating 15 years of service to families in need with a match challenge. For the first time...More...
9/8/2009
Malignant Signature May Help Identify Patients Likely to Respond to Therapy
A molecular signature that helps account for the aggressive behavior of a variety of cancers such as pancreatic, breast and melanoma may also predict the likelihood of successful treatment with a particular anti-cancer drug. The finding, which could ...More...
8/27/2009
Investigating Motion: a Dance Benefit for the UCSD AIDS Research Institute
The AIDS Research Institute (ARI) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine will be the sole beneficiary of a special fund raising event on Thursday, October 1. "Investigating Motion" – an evening of performance...More...
8/26/2009
UCSD Again Tops San Diego 'Top Doctor' List
80 UCSD Physicians Named Best Doctors in the Region UC San Diego Medical Center has once again excelled in the "Physicians of Exceptional Excellence" survey, which will appear in the October issue of San Diego Magazine. Eighty Universi...More...
8/19/2009
"Housekeeping" Genes Play Important Role in Developmental Pathways of Cells
Unconventional view of these conventional genes sheds light on development of Lesch Nyhan disease A study from the Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that a gene called HPRT plays an imp...More...
8/18/2009
How Meningitis Bacteria Attack the Brain
A specific protein on the surface of a common bacterial pathogen allows the bacteria to leave the bloodstream and enter the brain, initiating the deadly infection known as meningitis. The new finding, which may guide development of improved vaccines ...More...
8/18/2009
UCSD Health Sciences and Indian Institute of Technology Form Partnership
Officials of the University of California, San Diego Health Sciences and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur today signed a historic preliminary agreement to collaborate in the development of an International Medical Center (IMC) at II...More...
8/17/2009
Common Variation in Gene Linked to Structural Changes in the Brain
An international group of researchers is the first to show that common variations in a gene – previously shown to be associated with Retts Syndrome, autism, and mental retardation – are associated with differences in brain structure in bo...More...
8/17/2009
Complex Surgery, One Small Incision — California First
Surgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center have performed the next in a series of groundbreaking single-incision surgeries. Through one small port in the navel, surgeons removed a kidney and ureter and reconstructed a patient&...More...
8/14/2009
UC San Diego Medical Center Receives Gold Achievement Award from American Heart Association
UC San Diego Medical Center has been recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) with a Gold Performance Achievement Award for success in using evidence-based guidelines to provide the best possible care to cardiac patients. The AHA's &...More...
8/13/2009
Urologic Oncologist Kellogg Parsons, MD, Recognized as Health Leader
Kellogg Parsons, MD, urologic oncologist at UC San Diego Medical Center and Moores UCSD Cancer Center, has recently received multiple recognitions for his leadership in the field of urology and cancer care. He has been appointed to the prestigious Am...More...
8/11/2009
New Radiation Oncology Building Adds Clinic Space, Technology to Moores Cancer Center
The Moores UCSD Cancer Center and the UC San Diego Medical Center have opened a new radiation oncology building on the La Jolla medical center campus that expands clinic and office space, while adding to the program's advanced imaging and treat...More...
8/10/2009
Surgery without "Going Under"
Targeted Pain Relief Avoids Side Affects of General Anesthesia, Improves Recovery Every year, 20 million patients in the United States undergo surgery requiring the use of general anesthesia. For some patients, the side effects of "going under...More...
8/10/2009
Mutations in Gene Linked to Ciliopathies
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have discovered a connection between mutations in the INPP5E gene and ciliopathies. Their findings, which may lead to new therapies...More...
8/6/2009
Researchers Uncover Potential Mechanisms to Protect Against Genetic Alterations, Diseases
Peering into the DNA of tiny yeast, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have pinpointed a large number of genes that can prevent a typ...More...
8/4/2009
Testing Gene Therapy to Improve Brain Function in Alzheimer's Disease Patients
Researchers at the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California San Diego are about to launch a Phase 2 clinical trial to test a gene therapy treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) called CERE-110. Pr...More...
8/3/2009
Finding the Right Connection after Spinal Cord Injury
In a major step in spinal cord injury research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that regenerating axons can be guided to their correct targets and re-form connections after spinal cord injury...More...
7/31/2009
UC San Diego's Evelyn Hidalgo Named HR Professional of the Year
Evelyn Hidalgo, Assistant Dean of Academic and Staff Human Resources Administration of University of California San Diego (UCSD) - Health Sciences was named Human Resources Professional of the Year by the San Diego Business Journal. Honorees were cho...More...
7/29/2009
UC San Diego Medical Center Receives "Most Wired" and "Most Wireless" Awards
For the fourth consecutive year, UC San Diego Medical Center was named one of the nation's 100 "Most Wired" and, for the third time, one of the top 25 "Most Wireless" by Hospitals and Health Networks, a publication of th...More...
7/29/2009
Developing Gene Therapy to Fight Blindness
An international team of scientists and clinicians from the United States and Saudi Arabia are working to develop gene therapy for treating a rare, hereditary retinal disease. The therapy has been shown to restore lost vision in animal models of ret...More...
7/28/2009
Breast Center at Moores UCSD Cancer Center Receives National Accreditation
The Breast Center at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Program of Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons. The Breast Center at the Moores UCSD Cancer C...More...
7/27/2009
How the Pathology of Parkinson's Disease Spreads
Neuron-to-neuron transmission of a-synuclein may cause α-synuclein aggregates to propagate Accumulation of the synaptic protein α-synuclein, resulting in the formation of aggregates called Lewy bodies in the brain, is a hallmark of Parkins...More...
7/21/2009
Review Provides New Insights into the Causes of Anorexia
New imaging technology provides insight into abnormalities in the brain circuitry of patients with anorexia nervosa (commonly known as anorexia) that may contribute to the puzzling symptoms found in people with the eating disorder. In a review paper...More...
7/16/2009
Continuing Excellence: UC San Diego Medical Center Among Nation's Best
Ranked in Six Specialties by US News & World ReportUC San Diego Medical Center is once again the only San Diego hospital ranked among the nation's best in six specialties in U.S. News & World Report's new 2009 "America's Best ...More...
7/15/2009
Mark A. Talamini, MD, Named Editor-in-Chief of Surgical Endoscopy
Mark A. Talamini, MD, professor and M. J. Orloff Family chair of the department of surgery at UC San Diego Medical Center is the new Editor-in-Chief of Surgical Endoscopy, the official journal of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopi...More...
7/13/2009
Leading Pathogen in Newborns Can Suppress Immune Cell Function
Group B Streptococcus (green) binds Siglec-5 (red) on the surface of a human macrophages, shutting down their activity. DNA strain (blue) highlights nuclei of the human cells and bacteria. Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a bacterial pathogen that cause...More...
7/10/2009
Risky Sexual Behavior among Male Clients of Tijuana Sex Workers Heightens Risk of HIV Transmission
A study by a bi-national team of global health researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, examining HIV infection among male clients of female sex workers in Tijuana, has found that over half of male clients had recent...More...
7/6/2009
Existing Parkinson's Disease Drug May Fight Drug-Resistant TB
Existing drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease could be repositioned for use in the treatment of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people each year, according to a study led by researchers at the University...More...
7/1/2009
Researchers Testing Virus-Gene Therapy Combination Against Melanoma
Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are injecting a modified herpes virus into melanoma tumors, hoping to kill the cancer cells while also bolstering the body's immune defenses against the disease. Gregory Daniels, MD, PhD, assistant ...More...
6/29/2009
Data Shows Incision-free Procedure Reverses Weight Regain after Gastric Bypass Surgery
Patients who have regained weight after gastric bypass surgery now have access to an incisionless procedure that appears highly effective at reversing weight gain, according to data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Metabolic...More...
6/29/2009
Have Fun, Be Safe: Summer Safety Tips from UC San Diego Medical Center
The staff at the UC San Diego Medical Center reminds our community of some simple but helpful precautions. Sun & Skin The Regional Burn Center at UC San Diego Medical Center treats many children and adults with severe sunburns during the summer sea...More...
6/29/2009
UC San Diego School of Medicine Appoints Founding Chief of New Division of Biomedical Informatics
The University of California, San Diego Health Sciences has appointed Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, chief of its new Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine. Ohno-Machado will work closely with physicians at the UC San Diego...More...
6/25/2009
UC San Diego Physician-Author Turns Nightmare Childhood into Book of Dreams
Survivor of Cambodian "Killing Fields" Speaking Out to Inspire Others When she was five years old, her family was taken by gunpoint and forced into slave labor in rural Cambodia. At seven, members of the Khmer Rouge decapitated her fath...More...
6/25/2009
Evolution of a Contraceptive for Sea Lamprey
Findings may help rescue Great Lakes fisheries In addition to providing fundamental insights into the early evolution of the estrogen receptor, research by a team at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may lead to a contracept...More...
6/24/2009
Surgeon Anne Wallace, MD, Honored by YWCA for Accomplishments, Leadership
Surgeon Anne Wallace, MD, professor of clinical surgery at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, is a 2009 recipient of the prestigious San Diego YWCA Tribute to Women & Industry (TWIN) Award. The award recognizes women for their outstanding achieveme...More...
6/22/2009
Robot Aids Treatment of Irregular Heartbeat at UC San Diego Medical Center
Patients seeking treatment for atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart beat, may benefit from a new technology now available at UC San Diego Medical Center. Gregory Feld, MD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego's School of Medicine and direct...More...
6/17/2009
Tiny Infant Inspires Nice Guys to Give Lifesaving Gift
$400,000 Donation to UC San Diego Medical Center will Enhance Neonatal Intensive Care Unit On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, representatives from UC San Diego Medical Center gathered to express thanks to the San Diego Nice Guys organization for donating $4...More...
6/16/2009
Measuring Brain Atrophy in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment
New, automated way of measuring brain structures appears effective in predicting progression to Alzheimer's Disease Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a fully automated procedure called Vol...More...
6/8/2009
Let Me Sleep on It: Creative Problem Solving Enhanced by REM Sleep
Research led by a leading expert on the positive benefits of napping at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep enhances creative problem-solving. The findings may have important implica...More...
6/4/2009
Auto-Inflammatory Disease Model Reveals Role for Innate, not Adaptive, Immunity
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed the first mouse model for auto-inflammatory diseases, disorders that involve the over-activation of the body's innate, primitive immune system. Their stu...More...
6/3/2009
UC San Diego Health Sciences to Celebrate Graduation Weekend
Skaggs School of Pharmacy graduation June 6th; School of Medicine June 7th A new generation of pharmacists and physicians will graduate from UC San Diego Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine on June 6th and 7th, 2009. On Saturday, June 6th, 56 student...More...
5/29/2009
Happy, Healing Visit for Former Bannister Family House Residents
Australian Couple Returns to San Diego "On Holiday" The last time Judy and Peter Schneider "visited" in San Diego County, their 26-year-old son, Robert, was fighting for life. On February 27, 2008, Robert suffered serious bu...More...
5/29/2009
Innovative UC San Diego Physician-Scientists Receive $1.4 Million in Burroughs-Wellcome Award Funding
Two of this year's five awardees chosen to receive the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) are UC San Diego School of Medicine physician-scientists. Pradipta Ghosh, MD, was recognized for research into the chang...More...
5/28/2009
How Oxidative Stress May Help Prolong Life
Oxidative stress has been linked to aging, cancer and other diseases in humans. Paradoxically, researchers have suggested that small exposure to oxidative conditions may actually offer protection from acute doses. Now, scientists at the University ...More...
5/28/2009
Study May Aid Efforts to Prevent Uncontrolled Cell Division in Cancer
Researchers from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a remarkable property of the contractile ring, a structure required for cell division. Understanding how the contr...More...
5/27/2009
Building BRIDGES between Women and Incontinence
UC San Diego Researchers Looking for Participants in Investigational Drug Research Study Nearly 35 percent of women over 40 experience a potentially embarrassing problem called "urinary urge incontinence (UUI)." It can affect exercise, ...More...
5/22/2009
New Model Suggests Role of Low Vitamin D in Cancer Development
In studying the preventive effects of vitamin D, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have proposed a new model of cancer development that hinges on a loss of cancer cells' ability to stick togethe...More...
5/21/2009
UC San Diego Physician Receives American Diabetes Association Recognition
Steven V. Edelman, MD, Honored with Outstanding Educator Award Steven V. Edelman, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at the University of California, San Diego, director of the Diabetes Care Clinic at ...More...
5/20/2009
Clinical Trial Evaluates Protein's Ability to Grow New Blood Vessels, Reduce Angina Pain
As part of a multi-center clinical trial, UC San Diego Medical Center is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of a potential new way to treat angina — by injecting a protein that stimulates the growth of new oxygen-rich blood vessels directl...More...
5/19/2009
UC San Diego Epidemiologist Elizabeth Barrett-Connor Honored for Osteoporosis Work
With a quick smile and bright eyes, she hardly looks old enough to be a "legend," but that is exactly why Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, a Distinguished Professor and Chief, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family and Preventive Med...More...
5/19/2009
New Guidelines Point to Kidney Preservation for Cancer Patients
For the first time, the American Urological Association has issued a guideline specifying that complete removal of a kidney, total nephrectomy, is not the best treatment option for small kidney tumors. Total removal puts patients at significant risk ...More...
5/18/2009
The Future of Personalized Cancer Treatment: An Entirely New Direction for RNAi Delivery
In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delive...More...
5/15/2009
Determining Success or Failure in Cholesterol-Controlling Drugs
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a complex network of interactions between drugs and the proteins with which they bind can explain adverse drug effects. Their findings suggest that adverse drug effects might...More...
5/14/2009
Immunotherapy Effective Against Neuroblastoma in Children
New therapy improves chances of living disease-free with difficult-to-treat childhood cancer A phase III study has shown that adding an antibody-based therapy that harnesses the body's immune system resulted in a 20 percent increase in the nu...More...
5/14/2009
Moores UCSD Cancer Center Offers Radiation Therapy in Encinitas Facility
The Department of Radiation Oncology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center and the UC San Diego Medical Center have opened a satellite facility in Encinitas, offering the same types of radiation therapy services and similar opportunities for participation...More...
5/14/2009
Healthy Teen Weight Behaviors Linked to Regular Self-Weighing
In a study of 130 overweight adolescents, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that frequent self-weighing is associated with positive behaviors and may prove to be a useful weight-control tool. Kerri N. Bo...More...
5/7/2009
New Technique May Help Detect Potential Breast Cancer Spread
A new phase III clinical trial of early stage breast cancer patients has shown that a molecule designed to home in on nearby lymph nodes is just as accurate as current techniques, but faster, more specific and easier to use. "These results wil...More...
5/7/2009
Expression of Infrared Fluorescence Engineered in Mammals
Research led by Nobel Prize winner Roger Tsien may provide prototype for future studies in animal models Researchers at the University of California, San Diego – led by 2008 Nobel-Prize winner Roger Tsien, PhD – have shown that bacterial...More...
5/6/2009
Open Wide: New Incision-Free Procedure Helps Patients Achieve Weight Loss
"When you're overweight people stare at you. They make fun of you. You can see the negative reaction in their face," said Maria Rusak, 53, resident of San Diego. "In a world where everyone is trying to be a skinny minnie, who ...More...
5/5/2009
New Target Identified for Potential Treatment of Retinopathy in Premature Babies
Results of a study in mice by researchers at the University of California, San Diego strongly suggest that the protein kinase JNK1 plays a key role in the development of retinopathy in premature infants. Their findings, reported online the week of M...More...
5/1/2009
May 3rd Triathlon to Benefit Cancer Research at Moores UCSD Cancer Center
A triathlon aimed at raising money for cancer research at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center will be held Sunday, May 3 at South Shores Park on Mission Bay, beginning at 7 a.m. Now in its second year, the Spring Sprint Triathlon and Duathlon, the first mu...More...
5/1/2009
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Shown to Run in Families
UC San Diego study says relatives of children with NAFLD considered 'high risk' Family members of children diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) should be considered at high risk for the disease and tested for it as pa...More...
4/30/2009
CIRM Awards $5 Million Early Translational Grant to UC San Diego Researcher
A stem cell researcher from the University of California, San Diego, Yang Xu, professor of biology, has been awarded a $5.16 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Fifteen Early Translational grants, totaling $...More...
4/27/2009
Novel Role of Protein in Generating Amyloid β Peptide
A defining hallmark of Alzheimer's disease is the accumulation of the amyloid β protein (Aβ), otherwise known as "senile plaques," in the brain's cortex and hippocampus, where memory consolidation occurs. Researchers...More...
4/23/2009
Radiation Device in the Breast Reduces Complications for Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients
A new study shows that the SAVI™ applicator, a small, expandable device inserted inside the breast to deliver partial breast irradiation, carries a low infection risk, a potential complication of such devices. The research, led by radiation oncologis...More...
4/22/2009
Binge Drinking May Hamper Information Relay System in Teen Brain
A study of adolescent binge drinkers has found that even relatively infrequent exposure to large amounts of alcohol during the teen years may compromise the integrity of the brain's white matter, which is critical for the efficient relay of inf...More...
4/22/2009
Instead of Fighting Breast Cancer, Immune Cell Promotes Its Spread
Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have new evidence that a type of immune system cell thought to be part of the first line of defense against breast cancer may also help promote its spread. They have...More...
4/22/2009
Instead of Fighting Breast Cancer, Immune Cell Promotes Its Spread
Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have new evidence that a type of immune system cell thought to be part of the first line of defense against breast cancer may also help promote its spread. They have...More...
4/20/2009
Phone Calls, Cabbage, and Kale Evaluated in Bladder Cancer Study
Could phone conversation be a new line of defense against cancer? A new clinical trial study at UC San Diego Medical Center is evaluating whether or not diet intervention, prompted by phone calls, may be an effective way of treating bladder cancer. ...More...
4/20/2009
New Biomarker May Predict Leukemia Aggressiveness
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have evidence of a potential new biomarker to predict the aggressiveness of an often difficult-to-treat form of leukemia. They found that high levels of a particu...More...
4/15/2009
Tijuana Injection Drug Users on Collision Course for HIV and TB
A study by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Mexican researchers and health officials, shows that as many as 67 percent of injection drug users in Tijuana test positive for tuberculosis...More...
4/13/2009
Reversing Effects of Altered Enzyme May Fight Brain Tumor Growth
An international team of scientists from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, the University of North Carolina and several institutions in China have explained how a gene alteration can lead to the development of a typ...More...
4/9/2009
Trial Shows Prescription Heartburn Medication Fails to Control Asthma Symptoms
A study published April 8, 2009 in the New England Journal of Medicine contradicts a long-held belief that severe asthma symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and breathlessness are triggered in part by acid reflux. Experts believe that the longstandi...More...
4/8/2009
Device Protects Transplanted Pancreatic Cells from the Immune System
Immunoprotection is Important Step towards Treating Type 1 Diabetes Scientists at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) School of Medicine and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated in mice that transp...More...
4/8/2009
Complex Tumor Removal and Kidney Reconstruction Performed with One Incision—California First
With a single incision hidden in the navel, surgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center have successfully removed a cancerous kidney tumor while saving the patient's kidney. The surgical team extracted the tumor through t...More...
4/7/2009
Two Major Obesity Trials Aimed at Helping Children and Teens
UC San Diego Researchers Recruiting Participants Obesity has become the most common chronic health condition of childhood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 out of 3 children in the United States, ages 2 to 19, i...More...
4/6/2009
Researchers Regenerate Axons Necessary for Voluntary Movement
For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement. The regeneration was accomplished in a brain injury sit...More...
4/6/2009
Is There a Seat of Wisdom in the Brain?
UC San Diego researchers first to study the neurobiology of wisdom Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have compiled the first-ever review of the neurobiology of wisdom – once the sole province of religion...More...
4/2/2009
Protein Protects Neurons in Brain from Damage due to Inflammation
Could provide target for therapy to treat Parkinson's disease; other neuro-degenerative diseases A research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla has iden...More...
3/26/2009
Georgia Robins Sadler, PhD, MBA Receives Cancer Education Award
Pioneering cancer public health and community advocate Georgia Robins Sadler, PhD, MBA, was recently awarded the Margaret Hay Edwards Achievement Medal from the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) for her outstanding contributions to can...More...
3/26/2009
UC San Diego Medical Center Honors Cancer Expert as Physician of the Year
Each year UC San Diego honors outstanding physicians for their commitment to health care and serving the community. This year UC San Diego Medical Center selected Barbara Parker, MD, medical director of oncology services at the Moores UCSD Cancer Cen...More...
3/20/2009
From White Coats to White Envelopes
The Future is Revealed for UC San Diego Medical Students Beaming from ear to ear with a smile that arrives only after hard-earned accomplishment, Chris Moriates admitted he was nervous. "It was hard for me to open the envelope but amazing to f...More...
3/18/2009
What's Driving Specific Patterns of Gene Expression Among Cell Types? New map of 55,000 gene enhancers broadens scientific understanding of the human genome and what makes it work
Providing another tool to help to understand gene regulation on a global scale, a nationwide research team has identified and mapped 55,000 enhancers, short regions of DNA that act to enhance or boost the expression of genes. The map, which will be p...More...
3/17/2009
Seven UC San Diego Alzheimer's Researchers Among World's Top 100
UC San Diego School of Medicine boasts more "Top 100 AD Investigators" than any other institution in the world Seven researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are listed among the top 100 Alzheimer'...More...
3/16/2009
Researchers Identify Cause for Severe Pediatric Epilepsy Disorder
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that convulsive seizures in a form of severe epilepsy are generated, not on the brain's surface as expected, but from within the memory-forming hippocampu...More...
3/10/2009
UC San Diego Announces Trauma Research and Prevention Program
Cal Firefighter and Marine Corps Flight Surgeon Share Patient Stories XETV6 News: New Traumatic Injury Research Center Spanish news coverage on KBNT Six minutes from now, someone in the United States will die from trau...More...
3/9/2009
Protein Helps Immune Cells to Divide and Conquer
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a key protein that is required for immune cells called B lymphocytes to divide and replicate themselves. The rapid generation of large numbers of these immune ...More...
3/5/2009
Transparent Zebrafish a Must-See Model for Atherosclerosis
We usually think of fish as a "heart-healthy" food. Now fish are helping researchers better understand how heart disease develops in studies that could lead to new drugs to slow disease and prevent heart attacks. Scientists at the Univ...More...
3/5/2009
Researchers' New Goal: Drug-Free Remission for HIV Infection
A group including leading academic and industry scientists has issued a challenge to researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS: find a way to effectively purge latent HIV infection and eliminate the need for chronic, suppressive therapy to control this di...More...
2/26/2009
UC San Diego Names William Mobley Chair of Neurosciences
William C. Mobley, MD, PhD – a clinician and researcher who is internationally known for his work on degenerative diseases of the central nervous system and the neurobiology of Down syndrome – has been selected the new chair of the depart...More...
2/23/2009
Magnetic Device Studied as Treatment for Heartburn and Acid Reflux
More than 20 million Americans suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), experienced by many as chronic heartburn. Medication offers short-term relief for some sufferers of this disease. For those seeking a non-prescription alternative, a m...More...
2/17/2009
Scientists Uncover Indicator that Warns Leukemia is Progressing to More Dangerous Form
Scientists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, Stanford University School of Medicine and other centers have identified a mechanism by which a chronic form of leukemia can progress into a deadlier stage of the dise...More...
2/13/2009
Stem Cell Research Uncovers Mechanism for Type 2 Diabetes
Taking clues from their stem cell research, investigators at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have discovered that a signaling pathway involved in normal pancreatic develop...More...
2/11/2009
New Imaging Center to Help Make Better Diagnoses, Evaluate Drug Effectiveness
Researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego are taking advantage of a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and sophisticated imaging technologies at the newly established In...More...
2/10/2009
Cervix Moves Significantly More Than Previously Thought During Radiation for Cancer
Radiation and gynecologic oncologists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego are concerned that many women with cervical cancer may not be receiving the optimal dose of radiation during treatments specific for the shap...More...
2/9/2009
Surgeons Remove Cancerous Kidney with Single Incision, California First
On Thursday, February 5, 2009, surgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center removed a patient's diseased kidney through one incision hidden in the belly button. No other incisions were used. This groundbreaking procedure i...More...
2/9/2009
Growth Factor Protects Key Brain Cells in Alzheimer's Models
UC San Diego study in animals may pave way for novel approach to treating Alzheimer's disease Memory loss, cognitive impairment, brain cell degeneration and cell death were prevented or reversed in several animal models after treatment with a...More...
2/3/2009
UC San Diego Medical Center First Hospital in Region to Offer Microwave Technology to Destroy Liver Tumors
A new minimally-invasive option for treating liver tumors, called microwave ablation, is now available at UC San Diego Medical Center and Moores UCSD Cancer Center, the only hospitals in the region to offer this technology to patients. "A live...More...
2/2/2009
Two Immune-System Proteins Linked to Colitis-Associated Cancer
Recent research from the laboratory of Michael Karin, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine – the first researcher to demonstrate a molecular link between inflammation and cancer – has identified two potential...More...
1/30/2009
CIRM Gives Tentative Approval of Renewal Grant for UC San Diego Stem Cell Training Program
The stem cell research training program at the University of California, San Diego has been awarded conditional funding of $3.89 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to continue its training of graduate students, pos...More...
1/30/2009
Automated Screening Process May Eventually Reduce Additional Breast Cancer Surgeries
A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have developed a rapid, automated image screening process to distinguish breast cancer cells from normal cells. The technique, which is based on...More...
1/29/2009
First Comprehensive Paper on Statins' Adverse Effects Released
A paper co-authored by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and director of UC San Diego's Statin Study group cites nearly 900 studies on the adverse effects of ...More...
1/29/2009
UC San Diego GI/Endoscopy Unit Ranked Among Best in Nation
Recognized for Quality and Safety in First-Ever Award Series Safety. Quality. High standards. Those are words most patients would welcome when describing a healthcare service. UC San Diego's Gastrointestinal Endoscopy program was recently...More...
1/27/2009
Nursing Organization Rates UC San Diego Medical Center in Top 100
UC San Diego Medical Center was one of only ten hospitals in the entire state of California to be listed in the 2009 "Top 100 Hospitals to Work For" created by Nursing Professionals magazine. The magazine surveyed nurses to measure job s...More...
1/26/2009
Dr. Stuart Jamieson Named to Endowed Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UC San Diego Medical Center
World-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Stuart Jamieson, MB, FRCS, Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California, San Diego, has been named first to hold the endowed Chair of Cardiothor...More...
1/26/2009
Does Smokeless Tobacco Help Smokers Quit Cigarettes?
UC San Diego Researchers Find No Such Association in the U.S. Some smokers say they just can't quit cigarettes. But previous studies of smokers in Sweden have suggested that many have done just that, by switching to smokeless tobacco. While no...More...
1/15/2009
New Nanoparticle to Help Researchers Study Angiogenesis
Adah Almutairi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, is first author of a paper recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (...More...
1/13/2009
NIH Awards $16.6 Million to UC San Diego Researcher for New Epigenome Center
Bing Ren, Ph.D., associate professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and head of the Laboratory of Gene Regulation at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, was recently selected as ...More...
1/9/2009
Genome Study Reveals New Clues Regarding Mystery Childhood Illness
Physician-Researchers from UC San Diego Medical Center and Rady Children's Hospital Participate in International Kawasaki Disease StudyA study looking at the entire human genome has identified new genes that appear to be involved in making some child...More...
1/8/2009
Novel Prostate Cancer Vaccine Taking Aim at Cancer Cell "Sweet Spot"
Molecules of sugar sitting on the surface of cancer cells are keys to the development of a new vaccine aimed at both treating and stopping the spread of certain types of cancers called carcinomas, which include prostate, breast, ovarian and lung, amo...More...
1/8/2009
UC San Diego Names First Associate Dean for Global Health Sciences
In a world with constantly shrinking borders, global health is a growing concern. The University of California, San Diego is making an international impact with research and health care programs around the globe that fight diseases such as HIV/AIDS,...More...
1/8/2009
Metabolic Syndrome a Risk for Veterans with PTSD
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD, according to a study led by Pia Heppner, Ph.D., psychologist with the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine an...More...
1/7/2009
Unique Skeletal Muscle Design Contributes to Spine Stability
The novel design of a deep muscle along the spinal column called the multifidus muscle may in fact be key to spinal support and a healthy back, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Their findings ab...More...
1/6/2009
Lung Cancer Cells Activate Inflammation to Induce Metastasis
A research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a protein produced by cancerous lung epithelial cells that enhances metastasis by stimulating the activity of inflammatory cells. Their findings, to be pub...More...
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