http://pennmedicine.org/news/ The latest news and announcements from Penn Medicine - the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System. en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss rachel.ewing@uphs.upenn.edu (Rachel Ewing) 2009, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania http://www.pennmedicine.org/images/pennmedicine_logo.jpg http://pennmedicine.org/news/ An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is taking the first step in developing a treatment for a rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which the body’s skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue turns to bone, immobilizing patients over a lifetime with a second skeleton. Their latest study provides the first clear glimpse of how FOP might develop at a cellular level in the human body. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/bmp-signals-fop-bone-growth/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT David A. Asch, MD, MBA, the Robert D. Eilers Professor of Medicine and Health Care Management and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School, was presented with the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association American of Medical Colleges (AAMC). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/asch-aamc-award/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT Among eligible Medicare beneficiaries, increased use of carotid arterial stenting (CAS) procedures to treat carotid stenosis—the narrowing of the carotid artery—is associated with higher rates of mortality and adverse clinical outcomes, including heart attack and stroke, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/carotid-artery-stent-outcomes/ Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System, and Dean, School of Medicine, will receive the Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The award will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 7, during the association’s annual meeting in Boston.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/rubenstein-aamc-flexner-award/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT In addition to building muscle, weightlifting is also a prescription for self-esteem among breast cancer survivors, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research. Breast cancer survivors who lift weights regularly feel better about bodies and their appearance and are more satisfied with their intimate relationships compared with survivors who do not lift weights, according to a new study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/cancer-survivors-self-esteem/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:30:00 GMT Penn Medicine will lead a new clinical trial at 12 sites across the nation to test whether testosterone therapy can favorably affect certain conditions affecting older men. Low serum testosterone may contribute to a number of problems affecting older men, including decreased ability to walk, loss of muscle mass and strength, decreased vitality, decreased sexual function, impaired cognition, cardiovascular disease and anemia. While testosterone normally decreases with age, in some men, low levels of testosterone may contribute to these debilitating conditions. The Testosterone Trial will involve 800 men age 65 and older with low testosterone levels. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/testosterone-therapy-study/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:31:00 GMT While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. Jonathan Epstein, MD, William Wikoff Smith Professor, and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Vickas Patel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, have identified a population of cells in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of humans and mice that appear to be the seat of AF. The finding may lead to a more precise way to treat AF, with reduced side effects. Their findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/11/atrial-fibrillation-cellular-source/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:30:00 GMT Heat, lack of nutrients, oxygen radicals – all can wreak havoc on the delicate internal components of a cell. Proteins called HSPs (heat shock proteins) allow cells to survive stress-induced damage. Scientists have long studied how HSPs work in order to harness their therapeutic potential. Penn Medicine researchers, in collaboration with Fox Chase Cancer Center, have now identified a small molecule that inhibits the heat shock protein HSP70. They also showed that the HSP inhibitor could stop tumor formation and significantly extend survival of mice. They describe their findings in this month’s issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/hsp-inhibitor-stops-tumors/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:00:00 GMT Chronic tinnitus, noise or ringing in the ears, is a symptom associated with many forms of hearing loss or other health problems. There are no effective treatments for this condition, which can become so severe that it may be difficult to hear, work, or even sleep. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are now testing a non-invasive treatment – transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – to target overactive areas in the brain responsible for tinnitus. TMS was recently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of depression and has been extensively tested in Europe for tinnitus. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/tms-tinnitus-trial/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT Enrolling in a weight loss program with a family member or friend appears to enhance weight loss among African Americans, but only if the involved partner attends sessions frequently or also loses weight, according to a report in the October 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Obesity and its cardiovascular complications affect many African Americans, according to background information in the article. Standard behavioral treatments for obesity appear to be less successful in African Americans than in whites. Cultural modifications to these standard programs-such as the inclusion of family members and support networks-may enhance their effectiveness. Shiriki K. Kumanyika, PhD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Tom Wadden, PhD, Penn Medicine professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, and colleagues, conducted a two-year trial of a culturally specific weight loss program among 344 African American men and women. The goal was to achieve and maintain a 5 percent to 10 percent weight loss. Components of the program included counseling that encouraged self-monitoring of food intake and physical activity, distribution of pedometers, group sessions involving weight and activity checks and skill building, and community-based field workshops such as cooking demonstrations and gym visits. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/partners-in-weight-loss/ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:30:00 GMT After a single injection of genes that produce light-sensitive pigments in the back of his eye, a nine-year-old boy born with a retinal disease that made him legally blind, and would eventually leave him totally sightless, now participates in class without extra help. In the playground, he joins his classmates in playing his first game of softball. His treatment represents the next step toward medical science’s goal of using gene therapy to cure disease. Extending a preliminary study published last year on three young adults, the full study reports successful, sustained results that showed notable improvement in children with congenital blindness. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/gene-therapy-restores-sight/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT The presence of a gene can predict when a traumatic brain injury (TBI) will lead to early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Amyloid plaque deposits, known primarily for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, are found in nearly one third of people who die from acute TBI, within just hours of a brain injury and in people of all ages. This build up of Alzheimer’s-like deposits can be predicted by a variation in the gene that codes for the amyloid-busting enzyme, neprilsyin. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/brain-injury-alzheimers-genetic-risk/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers, along with colleagues at the University of Washington and the University of Toronto, have received $8 million for stem-cell research. The Penn group is one of nine research hubs awarded $170 million over the next seven years by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to develop the high-potential field of stem- and progenitor-cell tools and therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/progenitor-cell-research/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine investigators are among the 42 recipients of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) award that encourages investigators to challenge the status quo with innovative ideas. NIH expects to make competing awards totaling $30 million to the recipients of the new NIH Director’s Transformative R01 (T-R01) Awards. Co-investigators Frank S. Lee, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Stephen Master, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, will receive $1.97 million in total costs over the next five years. Robert B. Wilson, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, will receive $1.57 million over the next four years. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/transformative-research-awards/ Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:30:00 GMT The day-to-day maintenance required to keep proliferative tissues like skin and intestines functional is about more than just regeneration, a stem cell-based process that forms the basis of tissue renewal. It's also about housekeeping, the clearing away of damaged cells. So indicates a study published in the October issue of Nature Genetics, which demonstrates that loss of the tumor-suppressor protein p53, coupled with elimination of the DNA-maintenance protein ATR, severely disrupts tissue maintenance in mice. As a result, tissues deteriorate rapidly, which is generally fatal in these animals. In addition, the study provides supportive evidence for the use of inhibitors of ATR in cancer therapy. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/tissue-maintenance/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT Four professors from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. The new members bring Penn's total to 72, out of a total active membership of 1,610. Overall, the IOM named 65 new members this year and five foreign associates. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/institute-of-medicine/ Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:00:00 GMT Researchers today announced the opening for enrollment of the first ever study using patients’ cells carrying an engineered T cell receptor to treat HIV. The trial may have important implications in the development of new treatments for HIV potentially slowing – or even preventing – the onset of AIDS. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/engineered-t-cell-hiv-trial/ Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/gun-possession-safety/ Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:00:00 GMT Aromatase inhibitors, the same drugs that have buoyed long-term survival rates among breast cancer patients, also carry side effects including joint pain so severe that many patients discontinue these lifesaving medicines. New University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research, however, has identified patterns that may help clinicians identify and help women at risk of these symptoms sooner in order to increase their chances of sticking with their treatment regimen. In a study published recently in the journal Cancer, researchers at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center found that estrogen withdrawal may play a role in the onset of joint pain, also known as arthralgia, during treatment: Women who stopped getting their menstrual periods less than five years before starting breast cancer treatment were three times more likely to experience these pains than those who reached menopause more than a decade earlier. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/reducing-breast-cancer-drug-side-effects/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania geneticist Sarah A. Tishkoff, PhD is among 18 recipients of the 2009 National Institutes of Health’s Pioneer Award. Tishkoff, the David and Lyn Silfen University Associate Professor and a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, is a leading global expert in human genetics. The Pioneer Award provides $500,000 in funding each year for five years, totaling $2.5 million in support of a small number of investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/tishkoff-pioneer-award/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:30:00 GMT While scientists have known for several years that our body’s internal clock helps regulate many biological processes, researchers have found that the reverse is also true: Many common biological processes – including insulin metabolism – regulate the clock, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the University of California at San Diego. The new data, published online in Cell this week, suggest that someday physicians may be able to use small molecules that inhibit or stimulate these biological processes in order to influence a person’s clock when it gets out of sync due to jetlag or shift work. Researchers may also be able to find new ways to treat metabolic disorders that are intimately tied to the body’s daily cycles. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/body-clock-communication/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT Best known as the oxygen-carrying component of hemoglobin, the protein that makes blood red, heme also plays a role in chemical detoxification and energy metabolism within the cell. Heme levels are tightly maintained, and with good reason: Too little heme prevents cell growth and division; excessive amounts of heme are toxic. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have now discovered a molecular circuit involving heme that helps maintain proper metabolism in the body, providing new insights into metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/heme-control/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT Penn Medicine and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia announce the opening on September 16 at 6PM of an exhibition of contemporary sculpture in the atrium of the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. The exhibition, Interplay: Art ● Audience ● Architecture is the first in a series highlighting the role that the arts can play in health care. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/sculpture-exhibit/ Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:00:00 GMT Carolyn Vachani, RN, MSN, AOCN, is being honored for her leading role in the creation of OncoLink’s Cancer Survivorship Care Plan. This free service allows cancer survivors, their families and health care providers to create an individualized plan of care including information on potential aftereffects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, fertility guidance and recommended screening guidelines. In conjunction with its 40th Biennial Convention in late October, the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) will present Vachani with its prestigious 2009 Computer-Based Public Education Technology Award. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/fulbright-grant-research/ Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:00:00 GMT Shirin Karsan, a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Masters of Bioethics program, has been awarded a Fulbright Grant for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government designed to improve understanding and relationships between U.S. citizens and residents of other countries. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/fulbright-grant-research/ Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:00:00 GMT James Shorter, PhD, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics has received a 2009 Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award in Aging. New Scholar candidates are investigators who are nominated by U.S. medical institutions and universities for their outstanding promise in aging research. The award provides funding up to $100,000 per year for a four year period to a maximum of 25 scholars. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/shorter-ellison-medical-foundation/ Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:00:00 GMT The nation’s home foreclosure epidemic may be taking its toll on Americans’ health as well as their wallets. Nearly half of people studied while undergoing foreclosure reported depressive symptoms, and 37 percent met screening criteria for major depression, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published online this week in the American Journal of Public Health. Many also reported an inability to afford prescription drugs, and skipping meals. The authors say their findings should serve as a call for policy makers to tie health interventions into their response to the nation’s ongoing housing crisis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/foreclosure-health-risks/ Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:00:00 GMT A tissue-repair-and-regeneration pathway in the human body, including wound healing, is essential for the early lung to develop properly. Genetically engineered mice fail to develop lungs when two molecules in this pathway, Wnt2 and Wnt2b, are knocked out. The findings are described this week in Developmental Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/lung-development/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:00:01 GMT "A biologist, a physicist, and a nanotechnologist walk into a ..." sounds like the start of a joke. Instead, it was the start of a collaboration that has helped to decipher a critical, but so far largely unstudied, phase of how cells divide. Errors in cell division can cause mutations that lead to cancer, and this study could shed light on the role of chromosome abnormalities in uncontrolled cell replication. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/cell-division-mechanism/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:00:00 GMT Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings challenge the advice commonly given to lymphedema sufferers, who may worry that weight training or even carrying children or bags of groceries will exacerbate their symptoms. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/weight-lifting-eases-lymphedema-symptoms/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:00:01 GMT One year after a trio of young adults received gene therapy for an inherited form of blindness, researchers have documented that the patients are still experiencing the same level of remarkable vision improvements previously measured within weeks. This is the first study to report one-year gene therapy safety and efficacy results in treating young adults with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a hereditary condition that causes severe vision impairment in infants and children. The findings are published in Human Gene Therapy, now online, and in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) this week. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/gene-therapy-vision-improvement-maintained/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:00:00 GMT Jeffrey Thomas Tokazewski, MD, has been named a Top Physician by South Jersey Magazine in its yearly review of doctors. Thirteen doctors were featured in the category of Family Practice in the August issue. To qualify, Top Doctors must receive the highest scores on the HealthGrades patient experience survey. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/top-physician-south-jersey/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:00:00 GMT A new class of molecules capable of blocking the formation of specific protein clumps that are believed to contribute to the dementia of Alzheimer’s disease patients has been discovered by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the NIH Chemical Genomics Center. By assaying close to 300,000 compounds, the team has identified drug-like inhibitors of AD tau protein clumping, as reported in the journal Biochemistry. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/tau-protein-inhibitors/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:00:00 GMT Fibrin, the chief ingredient of blood clots, is a remarkably versatile polymer. On one hand, it forms a network of fibers -- a blood clot -- that stems the loss of blood at an injury site while remaining pliable and flexible. On the other hand, fibrin provides a scaffold for thrombi, clots that block blood vessels and cause tissue damage, leading to myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. How does fibrin manage to be so strong and yet so extensible under the stresses of healing and blood flow? http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/fibrin-blood-clot-structure/ Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:00:00 GMT A brain-preserving cooling treatment called therapeutic hypothermia is a cost-effective way to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 300,000 people each year in the United States and leaves thousands of others neurologically devastated. The treatment, which lowers body temperature to prevent damage to the brain and other major organs when blood flow is restored to the body following cardiac arrest, is considered a "good value" when compared to many other accepted and widely utilized medical treatments, including dialysis for kidney failure or complex heart surgeries, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published this week in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/cooling-treatment-cost-effective/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:50:00 GMT Jill M. Baren, MD, MBE, an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been selected as a 2009-2010 fellow in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University’s College of Medicine. ELAM is the only national program dedicated to preparing senior women faculty for leadership at academic health centers. Baren, who this year became president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, is among 53 elite medical leaders who were named to the program’s 15th class. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/08/baren-fellow-elam/ Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:20:00 GMT In a post-recession America, even though as a nation income levels may rise, middle class families still won’t be shielded from the crushing burden of health care costs and will watch their standards of living continue to erode, according to a study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by Daniel Polsky, Ph.D., and David Grande, M.D., M.P.A, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/health-care-costs/ Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:00:00 GMT The accepted dogma has been that bone-forming cells, derived from the body’s connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton. However, new research shows that specialized cells in the blood share a common origin with white blood cells derived from the bone marrow and that these bloodstream cells are capable of forming bone at sites distant from the original skeleton. This work, published online this month in the journal Stem Cells, represents the first example of how circulating cells may contribute to abnormal bone formation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/bone-from-blood/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:00 GMT Thomas Cappola, MD, ScM, an assistant professor in the division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been honored with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers, recognizes Cappola’s outstanding achievements in research on causes and treatment for heart failure, which is the leading cause of hospitalization among adults in the United States. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/cappola-presidential-award/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:30:00 GMT Jason Karlawish, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues presented findings at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009) from a survey of American Academy of Neurology (AAN) members that assessed how neurologists are diagnosing and treating patients with mild cognitive symptoms. Results show that neurologists regularly see and treat people with MCI, despite the fact that the medications they are prescribing are not FDA-approved for this particular diagnostic category. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/mild-cognitive-impairment/ Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:45:00 GMT The Alzheimer's Association recognized four scientists for their extraordinary achievements in advancing Alzheimer's research at its 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna, Austria. The 2009 Khalid Iqbal Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Virginia M.-Y. Lee, Ph.D., M.B.A., director of Penn’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research. Dr. Lee's research focus includes determining the genesis and roles of various normal and abnormal brain proteins (amyloid, tau, etc.) thought to be the keys to the cause and progression of numerous brain diseases, including Alzheimer's. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/virginia-lee-alzheimers-lifetime-achievement-award/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:40:00 GMT For years researchers have been searching for a way to treat diabetics by reactivating their insulin-producing beta cells, to no avail. Now, they may be one step closer. A protein, whose role in pancreatic development has long been recognized, has been discovered to play an additional and previously unknown regulatory role in the development of cells in the immature endocrine system. These cells ultimately give rise to pancreatic islet cells, which include beta cells. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/pdx1-endocrine-development/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:00 GMT A film with roots at Penn Medicine, Alzheimer’s Disease: Facing the Facts, won a 2009 Emmy for Documentary Program at the 32nd Boston/New England Emmy Award Ceremony of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The one-hour documentary examines the personal and societal impact of Alzheimer’s disease, powerfully juxtaposing vignettes of families devastated by Alzheimer’s with medical experts on a quest to understand, treat and prevent the disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/alzheimers-film-emmy/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:50:00 GMT Mehret Mandefro, MD, MSc, has been appointed as a 2009-2010 White House Fellow. She is a Senior Fellow at Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar. As a public health trained physician, her primary research interests are the connections between human rights and health, HIV prevention program development, and translation efforts targeting marginalized communities. Mandefro also works as an anthropologist who uses film as a medium of ethnography. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/07/mandefro-white-house-fellow/ Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:50:00 GMT More pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest study from a research team including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and several collaborating institutions. This study identified 27 different genetic regions where rare copy number variations – missing or extra copies of DNA segments – were found in the genes of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but not in the healthy controls. The complex combination of missing or extra copies of certain genes is thought to interfere with gene function, which can disrupt the production of proteins necessary for normal neurological development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/autism-gene-mutations/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:00:00 GMT Understanding the molecular signals that guide early cells in the embryo to develop into different organs provides insight into ways that tissues regenerate and how stem cells can be used for new therapies. With regenerated cells, researchers hope to one day fill the acute shortage in pancreatic and liver tissue available for transplantation in cases of type I diabetes and acute liver failure. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/liver-pancreas-cell-development/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine scientists have been awarded $6.7 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to investigate the role of molecular motors in cell biology. With this grant, the researchers will continue their studies of cytoskeletal motors that function in cellular processes of medical importance, including those implicated in neurological disorders and diabetes. Cytoskeletal motors are nano-scale molecular machines that drive the movements of components within cells. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/molecular-motors/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:30:00 GMT Older women suffering from clinical frailty stand to benefit from the first potential medical treatment for the condition, according to a study presented last week by Penn Medicine researchers at ENDO, The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, was administered to older women diagnosed with frailty, a common geriatric syndrome characterized by unintentional weight loss, weakness, exhaustion and low levels of anabolic hormones which increases risk of falls, hospitalizations, disability, and death. Those who received ghrelin infusions consumed 51 percent more calories than the placebo group, with an increase in carbohydrate and protein intake, not fat. Their growth hormone levels were also higher throughout the ghrelin infusion. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/hormonal-frailty-treatment.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:15:00 GMT Researchers have determined the structure of C3 convertase and of the C3b fragment in complex with factor H. These new structures, both involving a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response, reveal how this system fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/complement-system-protein-structures.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:10:00 GMT A special public health seminar at Pennsylvania Hospital invites women to discover the latest research, diagnostic and treatment strategies to help them better negotiate two of the most serious personal challenges they face throughout their lives: heart and breast health. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/womens-health-seminar.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT Jumping genes do most of their jumping, not during the development of sperm and egg cells, but during the development of the embryo itself. The research, published this month in Genes and Development, "challenges standard assumptions on the timing of when mobile DNA, so-called jumping genes, insert into the human genome," says senior author Haig H. Kazazian Jr., MD, Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine in Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/jumping-genes-embryonic-development.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:45:00 GMT In a study comparing two strains of mice, one susceptible to developing cancer and the other not, researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer, and that by switching to a low-fat diet early in the experiment, the same high-risk mice avoided the malignancy. The switched mice were lean rather than obese and had healthy livers at the end of the study. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/diet-liver-cancer.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:00:00 GMT Karen Glanz, a globally influential public-health scholar, has been named the ninth Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Glanz’s appointment will be shared between the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, and she will lead a new center focused on research and training in health behaviors. http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1665 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT After a vaccination or an infection, the human immune system remembers to keep protecting against invaders it has already encountered, with the aid of specialized B-cells and T-cells. Immunological memory has long been the subject of intense study, but the underlying cellular mechanisms regulating the generation and persistence of long-lived memory T cells remain largely undefined. Now, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have found that a common anti-diabetic drug might enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. The findings are described this week in an advanced online publication of Nature. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/boosting-immune-memory.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:20:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have uncovered variation around two genes that are associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men, and its incidence among non-Hispanic Caucasian men has doubled in the last 40 years -- it now affects seven out of 100,000 white men in the United States each year. The discovery, published in the May 31, 2009 online issue of Nature Genetics, is the first step toward understanding which men are at high risk of disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/testicular-cancer-gene.html Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT In what researchers are calling a breakthrough, patients with thyroid cancer that is resistant to radioactive iodine therapy were found to respond well to sorafenib, a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher reported today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The phase II clinical trial data highlight an intensive effort at the Abramson Cancer Center to develop effective, personalized therapies for these patients, who have previously had few options for treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/new-thyroid-cancer-treatment.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:45:00 GMT Although the majority of patients with follicular lymphoma initially respond to chemotherapy, the disease frequently recurs, eventually becoming resistant to available therapies. Patients treated with traditional chemotherapy followed by a personalized vaccine were found to have a 44 percent increase in progression-free survival compared with patients who responded to chemotherapy but received a control vaccine, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/personalized-cancer-vaccine.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT An increasing number of cancer patients who receive chemotherapy now do so at home, with the click of a pill bottle each day rather than the drip of an IV medicine that must be delivered in a doctor’s office or hospital. Though the growing shift toward oral chemotherapy agents offers cancer patients greater freedom and independence during their treatment, physicians say use of the new medications also poses more chances for patients to skip doses, miss prescription refills, and take their drugs in a dangerous way. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/06/oral-chemotherapy-compliance.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:59:00 GMT The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and Penn Medicine announced today a four-year partnership to further develop and disseminate the LIVESTRONG Care Plan Powered by Penn Medicine’s OncoLink. This free service gives cancer survivors, their families and physicians the ability to create an individualized plan of care using up-to-date treatment information based on Institute of Medicine recommendations, as well educating them about their options to maintain optimal health once they are out of treatment. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/livestrong-cancer-survivorship.html Wed, 27 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT Abramson Cancer Center Director Craig Thompson, MD, PhD, has been selected to lead a research "Dream Team" for Stand Up To Cancer, the groundbreaking partnership between the nation’s entertainment industry and the cancer research community. Armed with $18 million in funding, Thompson’s team is poised to lead the nation’s most innovative pancreatic cancer research project, which will discover more about what metabolic nutrients pancreatic tumors rely on to grow and develop new therapies designed to cut off that essential fuel. Despite the myriad advances in treating other cancers, people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer still face a grim prognosis – as many as 80 percent of patients who get the news die within a year. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/stand-up-to-cancer-pancreatic-dream-team.html Wed, 27 May 2009 18:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will receive $7.5 million over the next five years from the National Cancer Institute to find new ways to treat esophageal cancer, in addition to traditional chemoradiation. This research is a continuation of the group's previous findings, which made substantial progress in deciphering the molecular and cellular biology underlying esophageal cancer, with broad applications to other related cancers in the lung, head/neck and skin. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/esophageal-cancer-research.html Tue, 26 May 2009 17:30:00 GMT Since 2000, nearly 1,000 "retail clinics" – offering routine care like sports physicals and immunizations and treatment for minor illnesses like strep throat – have opened their doors inside pharmacies and grocery stores across the United States. Retail chain operators proposed that the new clinics would improve access to medical care among uninsured or underserved populations. However, these clinics have been opened more often in higher-income areas that are less likely to be classified as medically underserved, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine published in the May 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/retail-clinic-disparities.html Tue, 26 May 2009 14:30:00 GMT The University of Pennsylvania was honored by The American Society for Microbiology last Friday with a plaque dedication ceremony celebrating the designation of its third Milestones in Microbiology site. Formerly known as the Laboratory of Hygiene, the current Vagelos Laboratories resides on the University of Pennsylvania campus. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/milestones-in-microbiology.html Fri, 22 May 2009 16:15:00 GMT Women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who exhibit an overexpression of the protein HER2/neu have a six-fold increase in risk of invasive breast cancer, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The results, published in the May issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, may help clinicians distinguish between DCIS that requires minimal treatment and DCIS that should be treated more aggressively. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/dcis-her2-breast-cancer-risk.html Fri, 22 May 2009 14:30:00 GMT L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, has been appointed the new Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of Penn Medicine, effective July 1, 2009. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/levin-ortho-surgery.html Tue, 19 May 2009 15:30:00 GMT A University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will support a global health research project conducted by Doron Greenbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, to look for new ways to fight malaria. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/gates-malaria-research-grant.html Mon, 18 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will receive $2 million over the next four years from the American Heart Association and the Jon Holden DeHaan Foundation to study how heart muscle cell regeneration can help improve outcomes for heart attack and heart failure patients. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/heart-muscle-cell-regeneration.html Mon, 18 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT Women with chest pain are less likely than male patients to receive recommended, proven therapies while en route to the hospital, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Despite evidence showing that the drugs aspirin and nitroglycerin are important early interventions for people who may be having a heart attack, women don’t get them as often as men with the same types of symptoms, says a new study that was presented last week at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s annual conference. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/gender-disparities-chest-pain.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT The first long-term study following a large number of chest pain patients who are screened with coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA) confirms that the test is a safe, effective way to rule out serious cardiovascular disease in patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which was presented last week at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s annual conference. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/ct-scan-chest-pain-diagnosis.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT Jill M. Baren, MD, MBE, an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will today become president of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, the nation’s largest organization devoted to research and education in the specialty. An expert in emergency care, the subspecialty of pediatric emergency medicine and medical ethics, Baren will lead 5,000 national and international members at a time when emergency physicians face new challenges in caring for the growing elderly and uninsured populations in emergency rooms where staff and resources are strained by crowding. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/baren-saem-president.html Thu, 14 May 2009 16:00:00 GMT Penn Medicine dermatologists will offer free skin cancer screenings on Saturday, May 16 from 8 a.m. to noon at the new Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. Appointments are necessary and space is limited. Call 215-662-2737 to make a reservation and for more information. The screening is sponsored by Penn Medicine’s Department of Dermatology and the Abramson Cancer Center. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/05/skin-cancer-screening.html Fri, 01 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT African, American, and European researchers working in a 10-year collaboration have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data — more than 4 million genotypes — providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans. "This is the largest study to date of African genetic diversity in the nuclear genome," said lead author Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, a geneticist with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences. "This long term collaboration, involving an international team of researchers and years of research expeditions to collect samples from populations living in remote regions of Africa, has resulted in novel insights about levels and patterns of genetic diversity in Africa, a region that has been underrepresented in human genetic studies." A slide show of the team's fieldwork, with audio, is available at www.sas.upenn.edu/home/SASFrontiers/tishkoff.html. http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1628 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:15:00 GMT Researchers have made an important step forward in understanding the complex genetic structure of autism spectrum disorders. A researcher collaboration, including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have detected variations along a genetic pathway that is responsible for neurological development, learning and memory, which appears to play a significant role in the genetic risk of autism. Their findings were published in the journal Nature. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/autism-genetics.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is among the top three research-oriented medical schools in the nation, according to an annual survey of the best graduate schools by U.S.News & World Report. Penn is ranked #3 in the prestigious survey. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/best-medical-schools.html Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have discovered that a type of prostaglandin – one of a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovscular system – may play the role of increasing blood pressure and accelerating atherosclerosis, at least in mice. Mice that lack the receptor for the type of prostaglandin studied, PGF2a, have lower blood pressure and less atherosclerosis than their non-mutant brethren. The results suggest that targeting this pathway could represent a novel therapeutic approach to cardiovascular disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/new-blood-pressure-control-target.html Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT The circadian clock coordinates physiological and behavioral processes on a 24-hour rhythm, allowing animals to anticipate changes in their environment and prepare accordingly. Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that some genes are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours, indicating that shorter cycles of the circadian rhythm are also biologically encoded. Using a novel time-sampling approach in which the investigators looked at gene activity in the mouse liver every hour for 48 hours, they also found 10-fold more genes controlled by the 24-hour clock than previously reported. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/8-12-hour-biological-rhythms.html Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:30:00 GMT In a finding that helps resolve a long-standing question in developmental biology, Klaus H. Kaestner, PhD, Professor of Genetics, and colleagues report in the journal Developmental Cell this week about how the mammalian gut forms. Mice were genetically engineered to lack the protein Cdx2 in the cells that normally go on to form the stomach and intestine. The mutant animals – which invariably die either before or just after birth – have an esophagus where these missing organs should be. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/gut-development-cdx2.html Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT An online tool that provides cancer survivors and their family members with an easy-to-follow roadmap for managing their health as they finish treatment and transition to life as a survivor got high marks from users, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research. Ninety-seven percent of people who used OncoLife, the first online cancer survivorship care plan tool – developed by physicians and nurses from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center – rated their experience with the tool as 'good' to 'excellent,' and 84 percent said they planned to share their plan with their health care team. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/cancer-survivorship-plans.html Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT Donald O’Rourke, MD, associate professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues were able to accurately predict the specific genetic mutation that caused brain cancer in a group of patients studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers presented their findings this week at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/mutation-prediction-by-mri.html Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity. Now, working on the idea that the signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger RNAs, which contain the chemical blueprint for how to make a protein, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering have found another way to change one cell type into another. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/rna-cell-reprogramming.html Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:00:00 GMT Gerard Schellenberg, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has received an $18.3 million five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to lead a genome-wide association (GWA) study to identify genes that may affect risk of Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/alzheimers-genetic-markers.html Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:50:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that parasites hijack host-cell proteins to ensure their survival and proliferation, suggesting new ways to control the diseases they cause. The study, appearing this week online in Science, was led by Doron Greenbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in the Penn School of Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/host-cell-protein-hijack.html Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:50:00 GMT A collaboration of University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin chemists and anesthesiologists have identified a fluorescent anesthetic compound that will assist researchers in obtaining more precise information about how anesthetics work in the body and will provide a means to more rapidly test new anesthetic compounds in the search for safer and more effective drugs. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/fluorescent-anesthetic.html Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:50:00 GMT A new federally funded University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study aims to learn whether women at high risk of breast cancer can use exercise to meaningfully reduce their risk of getting the disease. Building on evidence that reducing estrogen in the body reduces cancer risk, and that elite female athletes experience a drop in estrogen levels that often cause them to stop ovulating and menstruating, the WISER Sister trial will investigate two different levels of regular treadmill exercise as a possible intervention for breast cancer risk reduction. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/exercise-breast-cancer-prevention-trial.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:40:00 GMT Even when their products are implicated in harm to patients, manufacturers of healthcare information technology (HIT) currently enjoy wide contractual and legal protection that renders them virtually 'liability-free,' writes Ross Koppel, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in the March 25th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.The current system needs to be changed so that all liability does not rest entirely with physicians, nurses, hospitals, and clinics, even when these users of faulty HIT scrupulously follow vendor instructions, according to Dr. Koppel's piece, co-authored with David Kreda, a software designer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/hit-liability.html Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT Using design and engineering principles learned from nature, a team of biochemists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have built – from scratch – a completely new type of protein. This protein can transport oxygen, akin to human neuroglobin, a molecule that carries oxygen in the brain and peripheral nervous system. Some day this approach could be used to make artificial blood for use on the battle field or by emergency-care professionals. Their findings appear in the most recent issue of Nature. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/proteins-by-design.html Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:30:00 GMT Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell by more than 90 percent during the past three years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to a multi-pronged approach combining leadership initiatives, electronic infection surveillance, checklists to guide line insertion and maintenance, and implementation of the Toyota Production System to encourage best practices in line care. The findings, which Penn physicians say provide a road map for cutting the deadly, costly toll of hospital-acquired infections nationwide, were presented on Friday, March 20 at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/bloodstream-infection-control.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have engineered transplantable living nerve tissue that encourages and guides regeneration in an animal model. About 300,000 Americans suffer peripheral nerve injuries every year, in many cases resulting in permanent loss of motor function, sensory function, or both. But there are insufficient means for repair, according to neurosurgeons. "We have created a three-dimensional neural network, a living conduit in culture, which can be transplanted en masse to an injury site," explains senior author Douglas H. Smith, MD, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at Penn. Smith and colleagues have successfully grown, transplanted, and integrated axon bundles that act as ‘jumper cables’ to the host tissue in order to bridge a damaged section of nerve. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/nerve-regeneration.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:10:00 GMT For years, researchers have known that under normal conditions, the breast cancer protein BRCA1 orchestrates the repair of damaged DNA, but the details of just how BRCA1 moves to the damaged site and recruits the right nuclear repairmen for DNA restoration remains a mystery. Now, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has identified genes associated with the BRCA1 protein and their involvement in the DNA repair pathway, helping to clear the way for researchers to better understand what goes wrong when the BRCA1 gene is mutated and the repair pathway goes haywire. Identifying patients with mutations in these BRCA1-associated genes may help better fight breast cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/brca-associated-gene.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT Although most Americans live close to some type of emergency room, as many as one in four Americans are more than an hour away from the type of hospital that’s most prepared to save their life during a time-sensitive medical emergency, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study published in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine. Since little is known about which U.S. hospitals are best equipped and staffed to tackle emergent illnesses like stroke, cardiac arrest, heart attack and the severe bloodstream infection sepsis, many more Americans may be in peril because no system exists to transport them to the right hospital at the right time. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/emergency-care-access.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:30:00 GMT A test capable of confirming or ruling out Alzheimer’s disease has been validated and standardized by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. By measuring cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of two of the disease’s biochemical hallmarks – amyloid beta42 peptide and tau protein – the test also predicted whether a person’s mild cognitive impairment would convert to Alzheimer’s disease over time. Researchers were able to detect this devastating disease at the earliest stages, before dementia symptoms appeared and widespread irreversible damage occurred. The findings hold promise in the search for effective pharmaceutical therapies capable of halting the disease. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/csf-alzheimers-biomarker.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a master switch that might prevent cancer cells from metastasizing from a primary tumor to other organs. The switch is a protein that, when in the “on” position, maintains the normal character of cells that line the surface of organs and body cavities. These epithelial cells are the type of cell from which most solid tumors arise. However, when the switch is turned “off” or absent, epithelial cells acquire characteristics of another cell type, called mesenchymal cells, and gain the ability to migrate and move away from the primary tumor. The researchers report their findings in this month’s issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/esrp-molecular-switch.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT The human brain's sensitivity to unexpected outcomes plays a fundamental role in the ability to adapt and learn new behaviors, according to a new study by a team of psychologists and neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania. Using a computer-based card game and microelectrodes to observe neuronal activity of the brain, the Penn study, published this week in the journal Science, suggests that neurons in the human substantia nigra, or SN, play a central role in reward-based learning, modulating learning based on the discrepancy between the expected and the realized outcome. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/learning-unexpected.html Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:30:00 GMT New research has found that heavy drinking and being near off-premise alcohol outlets, such as take-out establishments and delis, can increase the risk of gun violence. Reducing the density of off-premise alcohol outlets and better training of servers in these outlets, may help to reduce gun violence, according to a new study published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 'Strategies to reduce gun violence often focus on the guns themselves,' said Charles C. Branas, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania and corresponding author for the study. 'While most Americans agree that gun violence is something we need to reduce, there is less certainty as to how we should intervene while striking a balance between gun owners’ rights and public safety.' http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/alcohol-gun-violence-risk.html Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:25:00 GMT Sick or injured African-American patients wait about an hour longer than patients of other races before being transferred to an inpatient hospital bed following emergency room visits, according to a new national study published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. The authors say the findings underscore the urgency to find equitable, cost-effective solutions to provide better care in the nation’s emergency departments, which are already strained by unprecedented crowding and more visits from the nation’s uninsured population, which is expected to balloon toward 55 million people in the next decade. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/racial-disparities-ed-wait-time.html Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:35:00 GMT The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in collaboration with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Lincoln University, and the Pennsylvania State University, will receive $5.5 million to study why patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) frequently experience recurrent infections despite appropriate treatment. The researchers will also determine how often MRSA spreads among household members and the factors contributing to the spread of MRSA within the household. An intervention to prevent new and recurring MRSA infections will be tested. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/mrsa-recurrence-research.html Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:30:00 GMT A study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues, and published in Reproductive Toxicology, found that maternal exposure to C8, a chemical used in the manufacture of non-stick surfaces, was not associated with either lowered birth weight or increased risk of preterm birth in Little Hocking, Ohio area residents. These findings are based on an examination of the vital records of newborns in Washington County, Ohio who were exposed to significant amounts of C8 through residential drinking water. Although C8 was not associated with lowered birth weight or increased risk of preterm birth, the authors noted that additional research is still required to confirm these findings and to investigate other potentially adverse health effects of C8 on fetal and childhood development.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/c8-exposure-risk.html Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:30:00 GMT Over the next five years, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Associate Scholar in the Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will receive funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study the relationship between psoriasis, cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes. This research will build a deeper understanding of the relationship between inflammatory diseases like psoriasis and myocardial infarction (heart attack), potentially paving the way for improved disease management strategies for the over 7 million Americans with psoriasis. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/psoriasis-associated-risks.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:30:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut have pinpointed the source of immature cells that spur misplaced bone growth. Unexpectedly, the major repository of bone-forming cells originates in blood vessels deep within skeletal muscle and other connective tissues, not from muscle stem cells themselves. The work also shows that cells important in the inflammatory response to injury trigger skeleton-stimulating proteins to transform muscle tissue into bone. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/fop-bone-growth-cells.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:30:00 GMT A University of Pennsylvania team has completed the first successful demonstration of a noninvasive optical device to monitor cerebral blood flow in patients with acute stroke, a leading cause of disability and death. The study is part of a $2.8 million, five-year Bioengineering Research Partnership grant from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Pennsylvania Health System Comprehensive Neuroscience Center. Principal investigator Arjun Yodh, professor of physics in the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn is joined by Rick Van Berg from the High Energy group of the Department of Physics and clinical collaborators John Detre, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Radiology, Joel Greenberg, PhD, Research Professor of Neurology and Scott Kasner, MD, MSCE, Associate Professor of Neurology in the School of Medicine at Penn. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/03/monitoring-brain-blood-flow.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:20:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have unlocked the mystery of a puzzling human disease and gained insight into cardiovascular development, all thanks to a big-hearted fish. Mark Kahn, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, graduate student Benjamin Kleaveland, and colleagues report in the February issue of Nature Medicine that a human vascular condition called Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is caused by leaky junctions between cells in the lining of blood vessels. By combining studies with zebrafish and mice, the researchers found that the aberrant junctions are the result of mutated or missing proteins in a novel biochemical process, the so-called Heart-of-glass (HEG)-CCM pathway. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/heg-ccm-pathway.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT Two-thirds of patients referred for psychiatric services following an emergency room visit are likely to reach only an answering machine when they call for help, compared to about 20 percent of patients calling medical clinics with physical symptoms. Only 10 percent of all calls to mental health clinics in nine U.S. cities resulted in an appointment scheduled within two weeks, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/psych-referral-access.html Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:35:00 GMT If you ever argued with your mother when she told you to get some sleep after studying for an exam instead of pulling an all-nighter, you owe her an apology, because it turns out she's right. And now, scientists are beginning to understand why. In research published this week in Neuron, Marcos Frank, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, postdoctoral researcher Sara Aton, PhD, and colleagues describe for the first time how cellular changes in the sleeping brain promote the formation of memories. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/sleep-memory-formation.html Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT Researchers have generated altered immune cells that are able to shrink, and in some cases eradicate, large tumors in mice. The immune cells target mesothelin, a protein that is highly expressed, or translated in large amounts from the mesothelin gene, on the surface of several types of cancer cells. The approach, developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), shows promise in the development of immunotherapies for certain tumors. The study appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/mesothelin-targeting.html Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT A microbicide gel intended to prevent HIV infection in women, called PRO 2000 (0.5% dose), was 30% effective, according to results from a clinical trial conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and six trial sites in Africa. The results of the study, known as HPTN 035, were presented today at the international Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Montreal, Canada. This is the first human clinical study to suggest that a microbicide gel may prevent male-to-female sexual transmission of HIV infection. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/anti-hiv-gel.html Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:30:00 GMT For years controversy has surrounded whether electronic medical records (EMR) would lead to increased patient safety, cut medical errors, and reduce healthcare costs. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a way to get another bonus from the implementation of electronic medical records: testing the efficacy of treatments for disease.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/emr-study-drug-efficacy.html Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:00:00 GMT A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Gitler and colleagues found a genetic interaction between two Parkinson's disease genes (alpha-synuclein and PARK9) and determined that the PARK9 protein can protect cells from manganese poisoning, which is an environmental risk factor for a Parkinson’s disease-like syndrome. The findings appear online this week in Nature Genetics. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/parkinsons-manganese.html Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have likely found one reason why the Ebola virus is such a powerful, deadly, and effective virus. Using a cell culture model for Ebola virus infection, they have discovered that the virus disables a cellular protein called tetherin that normally can block the spread of virus from cell to cell.  http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/tetherin-ebola.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine on brain electrical signaling offer a fresh perspective on vertebrate evolution, provide additional evidence supporting Darwinian views of evolution, and may also lead to more effective treatment of epileptic seizures in infants. Researchers discovered how evolutionary changes produced a series of improvements in molecules generating electrical signals in nerves between 550 and 400 million years ago. By making nervous systems faster and smarter, these innovations appear to have contributed to the evolutionary success and diversity of vertebrate animals. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/evolution-epilepsy.html Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT Many breast cancer survivors give low marks to the post-cancer care they receive from their primary care physicians, who generally serve as a patient’s main health care provider after they’re released from active treatment with their oncologists, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/cancer-survivorship.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT A research team led by Nancy Speck, PhD, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has identified the location and developmental timeline in which a majority of bone marrow stem cells form in the mouse embryo. The findings, appearing online this week in the journal Nature, highlight critical steps in the origin of hematopoietic (or blood) stem cells (HSCs), says senior author Speck, who is also an Investigator with the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at Penn. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/blood-stem-cell-development.html Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT Efforts to fight the toll of cardiac arrest have typically focused on pre-hospital factors -- bystander CPR education and improvement, public defibrillation programs, and quicker EMS response. But new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine reveals that the hospital where patients are cared for after being resuscitated plays a key role in their chances of survival following these incidents, which take the lives of more than 300,000 Americans each year. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/cardiac-arrest-survival.html Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:00 GMT Racial disparities in end of life cancer care may be caused by a preference for continuing aggressive treatment – a decision that blocks enrollment in hospice care – according to a study by Jessica Fishman, PhD and David J. Casarett, MD, MA, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, and colleagues. In this study, African-Americans patients with cancer were less willing to give up treatment, compared with white patients. In addition, African-American patients reported greater needs for hospice services (i.e. counselor, respite care, chaplain, nurse), despite the fact that their cancer treatment preferences would exclude them from most hospice programs. The study, published early online this week by CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicates that the eligibility criteria for hospice services should be reconsidered. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/01/racial-disparities-hospice.html Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:00:00 GMT More drafts usually mean a better product and so it also seems to go with the human immune system. As B cells develop, genes rearrange to allow their antibodies to recognize different foreign invaders or pathogens. But sometimes antibodies are created that recognize and attack the body’s own cells. These self-reactive antibodies, like early drafts of a manuscript, must be edited into safer versions. This process is called receptor editing and is important for central or early B cell tolerance, which occurs while B cells are still developing in the bone marrow. A research team led by Nina Luning Prak, M.D., Ph.D, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has discovered that this editing process may go awry in people with certain types of autoimmune diseases. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/b-cell-editing-autoimmune.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:00:00 GMT Two faculty members of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). mThe new Penn Medicine AAAS Fellows are: Yvonne Paterson, PhD, Professor of Microbiology: For distinguished contributions to the field of cancer research, particularly for her pioneering work in immunotherapeutic and for her institutional leadership as Director of Postdoctoral Programs; and Susan R. Weiss, PhD, Professor of Microbiology: For distinguished contributions to viral pathogenesis, specifically elucidating the determinants of mouse corona virus tropism and virulence in the central nervous system and liver. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/aaas-fellows-paterson-weiss.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 GMT Psoriasis – a common skin disease characterized by thickened patches of inflamed, scaly skin – is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions, especially when skin disease is severe, according to research by Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. An editorial consensus paper on the topic is published in the December 15th issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/psoriasis-cardiovascular.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:30:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that were able to grow into tissue-like structures and when placed into immune-deficient mice were able to form parts of an esophagus lining. The investigators report their findings online this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/esophagus-tissue-growth.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:00:00 GMT Penn Presbyterian Medical Center is the only hospital in Philadelphia to be selected as one of the nation’s “100 Top Hospitals” for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters, a leading news and information company. Each year, this award for cardiovascular services objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation’s top-performing acute-care hospitals. This is the sixth year that Penn Presbyterian has been recognized with this honor. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/penn-presbyterian-top100-cardiac.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:30:00 GMT A new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and Department of Psychiatry in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that smokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may suffer from concentration problems and other cognitive deficits when abstaining from nicotine – a problem that puts them at risk for relapse during attempts to quit smoking. The findings, newly published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, pave the way to identify novel medications to treat nicotine addiction. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/genetic-nicotine-addiction.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:00:00 GMT During the busy holiday season, three Penn Medicine locations will pause to remember the friends, family and loved ones by lighting trees in their honor. Penn Wissahickon Hospice, a division of the Penn Home Care and Hospice Service and part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, holds the Light Up a Life ceremony annually to honor the people who have brightened and enriched the lives of others. Each light on the tree is dedicated in honor or memory of a patient, friend or loved one. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/12/light-up-events.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:00:00 GMT A research team led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has discovered a key molecular partnership that coordinates body rhythms and metabolism. Lazar and his colleagues, including the study’s first author, Penn Veterinary Medicine doctoral student Theresa Alenghat, studied a protein called NCoR that modulates the body’s responses to metabolic hormones. They engineered a mutation into mice that prevents NCoR from working with an enzyme that is normally its partner, HDAC3. These animals showed changes in the expression of clock and metabolic genes, and were leaner, more sensitive to insulin, and on different sleep-wake cycles than controls. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/hdac-rhythm-metabolism.html Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found an association between the genetics of donor-recipient matches in kidney transplants and complications during the first week after transplantation. The team, led by Malek Kamoun MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director of the Clinical Immunology and Histocompatibility Laboratory, and Harold Feldman MD, MSCE, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, has shown that small differences in the building blocks of cell-surface proteins used to match donors and recipients for deceased-donor kidney transplantation was associated with an increased risk for delayed allograft function, or DGF. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/genetic-match-transplant.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Haig H. Kazazian, Jr., M.D., Seymour Gray Professor of Molecular Medicine in Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, received the American Society of Human Genetics’ (ASHG) Allan Award at the Society’s 58th Annual Meeting, which was held this month in Philadelphia. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/kazazian-ashg-allan-award.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:30:00 GMT PENN Medicine announced today the creation of the Clyde F. Barker Transplant House, a 'home away from home' designed to help ease the unique economic and emotional stresses of transplant families. Modeled after the Ronald McDonald Houses and named for the physician who performed the first kidney transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, the Barker Transplant House will be located at 3940 Spruce Street on Penn's campus and will offer comfortable, convenient accommodations in a supportive community setting - all at a nominal cost. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/transplant-house-dedication.html Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Flip open any biology textbook and you're bound to see a complicated diagram of the inner workings of a cell, with its internal scaffolding, the cytoskeleton, and how it maintains a cell’s shape. Yet the fundamental question remains, which came first: the shape, or the skeleton? Now a research team led by Phong Tran, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has the answer: Both. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/cytoskeleton-cell-shape.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Michael P. Nusbaum, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will receive over $2.7 million over the next seven years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to understand how a fundamental aspect of molecular signaling in the nervous system, called neuromodulation, modifies sensory-motor integration to enable a single neural network to generate the appropriate coordinated movement in different contexts. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/nusbaum-javits-neuroscience-award.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Blending the comforts of home with first-class end-of-life care, Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse, a division of Wissahickon Hospice and part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, will open its doors for terminally ill patients this week in Center City Philadelphia. The first inpatient hospice of its kind in the area, the facility offers 12 large, private rooms, a spa center, meditation area and panoramic views of the city. Patients will receive exemplary care from a specialized team of physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors and chaplains to manage pain symptoms and other physical, emotional and spiritual needs unique to patients in their final days. Families will be able to spend time with their loved ones 24 hours a day, and will have access to a family lounge with wireless internet, a dining room with full kitchen as well as respite and bereavement support. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/penn-hospice-rittenhouse.html Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Results of a new study call into question recent clinical guidelines issued by leading cardiovascular groups, including the American Heart Association, which recommend patients with cardiovascular disease be screened for signs of depression and treated accordingly. The study, published in the November 12 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association and conducted by an international team of researchers including James Coyne, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, determined that there is no clear evidence that depression screening plays a conclusive role in improving cardiovascular patients' health. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/cardiovascular-depression-screening.html Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT A novel protein marker has been found that identifies rare adult liver stem cells, whose ability to regenerate injured liver tissue has the potential for cell-replacement therapy. For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine led by Linda Greenbaum, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, have demonstrated that cells expressing the marker can differentiate into both liver cells and cells that line the bile duct. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/liver-stem-cell-marker.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues in the United Kingdom have engineered T cells able to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system. The findings of the study, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications for developing new treatments for HIV, especially for patients with chronic infection who fail to respond to antiretroviral regimens. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/t-cells-recognize-hiv.html Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT For the growing number of teens addicted to opiates (i.e. heroin or prescription pain-relief drugs), short-term detoxification and/or psychosocial treatment programs are commonly recommended, despite high relapse rates and limited success. Researchers have found a more effective treatment method that targets the physiological aspects of opioid addiction, which may reduce the toll drug abuse takes on individuals, families, and communities. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/teen-opiate-addiction.html Tue, 4 Nov 2008 12:30:00 GMT A research team led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has used state-of-the-art genetic technology to map thousands of positions where a molecular 'master regulator' of fat-cell biology is nestled in DNA to control genes in these cells. The findings appear online this week in Genes and Development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/ppar-gamma-gene-regulator.html Tue, 4 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT New research reveals a complicated interplay between two receptors on the surface of B cells that allows them to integrate their signals, which are at odds with one another. 'One receptor sends signals to the cell nucleus that says, 'yes stay alive, the body needs more B cells,' while the other says ‘'wait a minute, be careful which B cells are allowed to live.'' http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/11/b-cell-crosstalk.html Mon, 3 Nov 2008 12:00:00 GMT University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the expression of the Sonic hedgehog gene is regulated during brain development and how mutations that alter this process cause brain malformations. The results appear online this month in Nature Genetics. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/10/sonic-brain-development.html Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:30:00 GMT The Pennsylvania Muscle Institute and the Department of Cell and Development Biology are co-sponsors of a symposium on November 3, 2008 that covers technological and methodological developments in advanced light microscopy, structural spectroscopy, nanotechnology, biochemical kinetics, image processing, molecular biology and viral gene targeting aimed at solving basic science questions about muscle diseases. http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1473 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Patients who report receiving written and verbal instructions on the proper way to take the blood thinner warfarin are significantly less likely to suffer the serious gastrointestinal and brain bleeding problems that are associated with misuse of the drug, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The study, published in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, also shows that patients who see only one physician and fill their prescription at a single pharmacy are less apt to experience serious bleeding events. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/10/prescription-communication-warfarin.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Four School of Medicine professors, a School of Nursing professor, and the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, have been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. The new members bring Penn’s total to 68, out of over 1600 worldwide. Overall, the IOM named 65 new members this year. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/10/six-elected-to-iom.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Women troubled by hot flashes and night sweats during the years around menopause want safe, effective treatment options. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is part of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to conduct clinical trials of promising treatments for the most common symptoms of the menopausal transition. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/10/menopause-treatment-study.html Fri, 3 Oct 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that some proteins of the immune system can promote tumor growth. Investigators found that instead of fighting tumors, the protein C5a, which is produced during an immune response to a developing tumor, helps tumors build molecular shields against T-cell attack. These findings appeared online this week in Nature Immunology. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/immune-promote-tumor-growth.html Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Carl June, MD, Director of Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Penn’s School of Medicine, has received $1 million over the next three years from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Inc. (ACGT) to harness the immune system to fight the worst cases of ovarian cancer. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/carl-june-cancer-gene-therapy.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT The dedication of Penn Medicine’s Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine on October 2 will mark the latest example in a national trend toward caring for patients in an environment designed to speed diagnosis and treatment and enhance patient comfort and convenience. The Perelman Center links Penn’s expert physicians and clinical researchers in new ways, by putting them just an idea’s reach away from one another, always prepared to collaborate and create groundbreaking, individualized treatment plans. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/perelman/release-advancing-real-time-medicine.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are conducting studies on an experimental medication to block nerve damage and inflammation in the brain that can lead to progressive memory loss and behavioral changes in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Current Alzheimer’s disease therapies focus on improving symptoms rather than attacking the root of the disease progression. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/alzheimers-clinical-trial.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT James Eberwine, PhD, the Elmer Holmes Bobst Professor of Pharmacology and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, has been awarded the National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award, which provides $2.5 million over the next five years. Aaron Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, has been awarded the NIH New Innovator Award, which provides $1.5 million over the same timeframe. Eberwine investigates how single neurons work in the context of surrounding cells and how this relates to the emerging field of RNA-based therapeutics and Gitler studies yeast cells to define mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and screen for new treatment targets. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/nih-pioneer-innovator-awards.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Using the drug darapladib, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have inhibited a cholesterol-and immune system-associated protein, thereby reducing the development of heart-disease plaques that may cause death, heart attacks, and strokes in a pig model of atherosclerosis and diabetes. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/darapladib-artery-blockages.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have modified a honeybee venom toxin so that it can be used as a tool to study the inner workings of ion channels that control heart rate and the recycling of salt in kidneys. In general, ion channels selectively allow the passage of small ions such as sodium, potassium, or calcium into and out of the cell. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/honeybee-kir-channels.html Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a key step in the formation – and suppression – of esophageal cancers and perhaps carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck. By studying human tissue samples, they found that Fbx4, a naturally occurring enzyme, plays a key role in stopping production of another protein called Cyclin D1, which is thought to contribute to the early stages of cancer development. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/09/natural-tumor-suppressor-fbx4.html Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a protein from a most unlikely source -- baker’s yeast -- that might protect against Parkinson’s disease. More than a million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease, and no treatments are available that fundamentally alter the course of the condition. By introducing the yeast protein Hsp104 into animal models of Parkinson’s disease, researchers prevented protein clumping that leads to nerve cell death characteristic of the disorder. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/08/hsp104-parkinsons-protein.html Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a protein called FOXA2 controls genes that maintain the proper level of bile in the liver. FOXA2 may become the focus for new therapies to treat diseases that involve the regulation of bile salts. The study was published online this week in Nature Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/08/foxa2-bile-gene.html Fri, 1 Aug 2008 12:00:00 GMT