Anti-Parasite Drugs for Neglected Chagas Disease Are in the Works
Larissa Podust, PhD, is working on a new drug for Chagas disease, a neglected scourge.
University of California San Francisco
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UCSF Gene Therapy Method Allays Parkinson's Symptoms
A novel technique created at UCSF to deliver a growth factor directly to brain cells has shown promising results in treating Parkinson's symptoms and could enter human clinical trials as early as next year.
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Brain fitness program study reveals visual memory improvement in older adults
A commercial brain fitness program has been shown to improve memory in older adults, at least in the period soon after training. The findings are the first to show that practicing simple visual tasks can improve the accuracy of short-term, or “working” visual memory.
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NEJM Editorial cites toll of disparity on chronic disease
The heavy burden of hunger in the United States helps explain why the poor are at higher risk for obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to an editorial in the July 1 <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i> co-authored by two UCSF faculty members.
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Weight loss reduces hot flashes in overweight and obese women
A new study shows that overweight and obese women who suffer from hot flashes can reduce the severity of their hot flashes if they lose weight through diet or exercise.
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Reframing Alzheimer's: Book Helps Deepen Understanding of Memory Loss
A recent book by UCSF sociologist Patrick Fox, PhD, helps us understand a patient’s perspective in Alzheimer’s disease.
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Anxiety linked to increased cardiac risk in heart disease patients
Heart disease patients with anxiety disorder were significantly more likely to experience stroke, heart failure, heart attack, transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke), or death than heart disease patients without anxiety, in a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
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Cocoa flavanols improve vascular and blood pressure measures for coronary artery disease patients
A new study by UCSF cardiologists and researchers found that high concentrations of cocoa flavanols decrease blood pressure, improve the health of blood vessels and increase the number of circulating angiogenic cells in patients with heart disease. The findings indicate that foods rich in flavanols – such as cocoa products, tea, wine, and various fruits and vegetables – have a cardio-protective benefit for heart disease patients.
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Veterans Health Research Institute Presents Brain at War Conference Today
The Veterans Health Research Institute or NCIRE will present “The Brain at War: Neurocognitive Consequences of Combat” today (June 17).
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McKerrow's Parasitic Disease Research Garners Mendel Medal
James McKerrow, leader of the Sandler Center for Drug Discovery at UCSF, was honored with the 2009 Mendel Medal for his work identifying the vulnerabilities of disease-causing parasites and for devising new strategies to fight them.
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Vitamin D: Not just for bones, says San Francisco VA physician
It is well-known that vitamin D is essential for strong and healthy bones. However, in an article in the online “In Press” section of “Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism,” a San Francisco VA Medical Center physician reviews recent scientific literature suggesting that the vitamin may also play a role in preventing cancer, fighting infection, and controlling or preventing auto-immune disease.
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Julius Named to Receive the Shaw Prize
For his groundbreaking work on the sensation of touch, David Julius, PhD, professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Physiology, has been named to receive the 2010 Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine.
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Discovery of Stem Cell Illuminates Human Brain Evolution, Points to Therapies
UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex - the site of higher cognitive function -- and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say.
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UCSF transgenic mouse mimics Parkinson's earliest symptoms
UCSF researchers have created the first transgenic mouse to display the earliest signs of Parkinson’s disease using the genetic mutation that is known to accompany human forms of the disease.
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Childhood obesity interventions must start before birth
To be a truly comprehensive and successful anti-obesity program, First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign must include interventions that target pregnant women, infants, and pre-school-age children, UCSF experts say.
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Statins may slow progression of multiple sclerosis, new study finds
A UCSF-led study examining the impact of statins on the progression of multiple sclerosis found a lower incidence of new brain lesions in patients taking the cholesterol-lowering drug in the early stages of the disease as compared to a placebo.
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Institute of Medicine study led by UCSF's Hauser links Gulf War to health problems
A new report by the Institute of Medicine has found that military service in the Persian Gulf War is a cause of post-traumatic stress disorder in some veterans.
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NEJM paper shows preventative benefit of antibiotic for liver disease
An international study published in the March 25 <em>New England Journal of Medicine</em> showed what researchers call a clinical breakthrough in one of the greatest unmet needs for patients with advanced liver disease.
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Space station experiment will probe failure of immune system in space
In April 2010, personnel aboard the International Space Station plan to carry out an experiment designed by a San Francisco VA Medical Center researcher that will investigate why the immune system’s T cells stop working in the absence of gravity. The experiment has implications for understanding the body’s ability to mount an immune response on earth, as well.
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Novel Parkinson's treatment strategy involves cell transplantation
UCSF scientists have used a novel cell-based strategy to treat motor symptoms in rats with a disease designed to mimic Parkinson’s disease. The strategy suggests a promising approach, the scientists say, for treating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and disorders, including epilepsy.
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New period of brain "plasticity" created with transplanted embryonic cells
UCSF scientists report that they were able to prompt a new period of “plasticity,” or capacity for change, in the neural circuitry of the visual cortex of juvenile mice.
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US Launches Novel Clinical Trial to Rapidly Screen Promising Drugs for Breast Cancer Patients
Taking an innovative path toward personalized medicine, scientists for the first time will be able to eliminate – at an early point in a clinical trial — experimental drugs that show poor efficacy, dramatically shortening the time it takes to get the right medication to the right patient with breast cancer.
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Pancreatic cancer study reveals mechanism initiating disease, in mice
UCSF scientists have discovered how a mutated gene known as Kras is able to hijack mouse cells damaged by acute pancreatitis, putting them on the path to becoming pancreatic cancer cells.
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UCSF Lecture on Sugar & Obesity Goes Viral as Experts Confront Health Crisis
People are paying close attention to pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig’s message that the obesity epidemic can be blamed on a marked increase in the consumption of a type of sugar called fructose.
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New study examines progress in meeting international health goals
A new study co-authored by a UCSF resident physician and published this week examines why low-income countries are making poor progress in meeting international health goals. Study researcher Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD, of the Department of Medicine at UCSF and Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, said findings highlight the importance of looking at the entire health experience of a family, rather than just one or a few diseases.
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Stress-affected brain region is smaller in veterans with PTSD
A specific region of the hippocampus, a brain structure that is essential to memory, is significantly smaller in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder than in those without the condition, according to a study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF.
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UCSF Experts Help Shape 10-Year Plan to Prepare for Demand in Dementia Care
A panel of experts appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom recently presented an action plan as the approaching “age wave may bring a potential crisis in Alzheimer’s and dementia care” to San Francisco.
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New kidney transplant drug effective in humans, UCSF study finds
UCSF nephrologist Flavio Vincenti, MD, is the lead author of a paper in the March 2010 issue of the <i>American Journal of Transplantation</i> that reports results from a Phase III clinical trial for a new drug that selectively blocks immune suppression for kidney transplants. The drug, belatacept, is given to kidney-transplant recipients to prevent the immune system from rejecting the new organ. Vincenti and his co-investigators found that belatacept may be as effective as the commonly used anti-rejection drug cyclosporine, but with fewer side effects and superior kidney function after 12 months.
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NIH stem cell guidelines should be modified, UCSF team reports
A UCSF team, led by bioethicist Bernard Lo, MD, recommends that the National Institutes of Health ethics guidelines for embryonic stem cell research be modified to better protect the rights of individuals donating egg or sperm to patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.
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UCSF to Focus on Mission to Adjust to New Fiscal Realities, Chancellor Says (video)
UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann today released a video message to the campus community explaining the need to focus on the University’s <em>advancing health worldwide mission™</em> to adjust to new fiscal realities.