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<p>African American women have lower breast cancer survival rates than white women and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists are studying why – as well as how to increase their life spans.</p>
<p>A type of fat known as brown fat combined with a stimulating environment appears to help burn calories, at least in a mouse, and maybe even in humans. The findings further fuel enthusiasm for research aimed at converting white fat to brown fat.</p>
<p>Obesity research in overweight humans may soon be guided by genetic studies of eating behavior, metabolism and fat storage in the nematode worm, <em>C elegans</em>.</p>
Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene.
<p>Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite transmitted from person to person by the bite of a mosquito. In the past two centuries, numerous research and public health efforts worldwide have sought to combat this ancient scourge as this timeline shows.</p>
UCSF researchers say their analysis of the age-specific, long-term effects of chemotherapy on women provides new insights that will help patients and clinicians make more informed decisions about future reproductive options, such as egg harvesting.
A scientist at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes has discovered how a gene contributes to a suite of health problems sweeping across America, offering new insight into how to combat these potentially fatal conditions.
<p>Asthma risk genes, inluding one in African Americans, have been identified in a new analysis of several large genome-wide studies of ethnically diverse populations.</p>
<p>A consortium of scientists is reporting that genetic secrets of multiple sclerosis may be buried in 50 “hot spots” in the human genome, a finding that will guide future efforts to assess an individual’s risk of susceptibility and may help develop new drugs for treating this complex disease.</p>
A UCSF-led pilot study in San Francisco has found the highest levels ever reported among pregnant women worldwide of banned chemicals used in flame retardants, a likely result, they believe, of California’s strict flammability regulations.
Elderly women who suffer from sleep apnea -- characterized by disrupted breathing and sleep and a reduction in the intake of oxygen -- are about twice as likely to develop dementia in the next five years as those without the condition, according to a multi-center study led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.
Scientists have known for years that when vampire bats tear through an animal’s skin with their razor-sharp teeth, their noses guide them to the best spots – where a precise bite will strike a vein and spill forth nourishing blood. But nobody knew exactly how bats knew where to bite – until now.
The completion of a massive genotyping on a large and diverse population marks an unprecedented milestone in population-based genetics research and offers a unique and powerful resource to help answer research questions about aging, health and disease.
Over half of all Alzheimer’s disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions, according to a study led by Deborah Barnes, PhD, a mental health researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Patients diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) had over twice the risk of developing dementia within seven years after diagnosis compared to those without TBI, in a study of more than 280,000 older veterans conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF.
<p>UCSF cognitive neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley has used functional brain imaging and EEG studies to discover that older adults fare worse than younger adults at remembering following distractions. He hopes to improve their performance with cognitive training, using a newly developed video game.</p>
<p>Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), describes the scientific goals and functions of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a proposed new entity of the NIH that will strive to reengineer the process of developing drugs, diagnostics, and devices. </p>
<p>As part of his push for the National Institutes of Health to focus more on translational medicine, Director Francis Collins recently toured one of UCSF’s world-class centers of innovation, the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at Mission Bay.</p>
Researchers at UCSF and in Michigan, North Carolina and Spain have discovered how genetic mutations cause a number of rare human diseases, which include Meckel syndrome, Joubert syndrome and several other disorders.
<p>In the era of prostate cancer screening, mortality rates have fallen 40 percent. The price of that has been over-diagnosis and over-treatment, something the current health care system cannot sustain. One of the major goals of Cooperberg’s research is to develop better risk assessment tools and instruments that can give the patient and doctor more confidence that the patient’s cancer will not progress.</p>
<p>Having developed an algorithm that discovered a large quantity of drug-producing bacteria in and on humans, Fischbach has turned his lab’s attention to studying their populations and interactions with each other. This, he posits, can greatly influence a person’s overall health and disease.</p>
<p>Swallowing pills means medication must face the challenge of surviving the harsh environment of the digestive tract. As a result, people must take larger doses than they need. Using micro and nano-fabrication techniques developed by the computer chip industry, Desai’s lab is creating tiny devices that take multiple drugs directly to where they are needed, using less medication, minimizing side effects and making the process safer for the patient. </p>