University of California San Francisco
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.
UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi federal economic stimulus funds will help University scientists conduct “biomedical research that literally will change the world.”
UCSF has signed a partnership agreement with Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, to discover and develop drug candidates for neurodegenerative diseases.
Two UCSF scientists have been selected for the prestigious Potamkin Prize for their “outstanding achievements” in dementia research.
Two UCSF scientists have been selected for the American Academy of Neurology’s prestigious Potamkin Prize, for their “outstanding achievements” in research on dementias.
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.
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.
UCSF’s Lily Jan and Yuh-Nung Jan, have been named the joint winners of the 2010 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience for their major contributions in brain research.
UCSF has received a $1.15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to determine if integrating family planning into HIV treatment and care will increase contraceptive use and decrease unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women. UCSF will partner with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ibis Reproductive Health to conduct the research.
UCSF is sponsoring a one-day symposium for the Bay Area research community to bring awareness to the problem of how certain foods can cause an addictive-like state in the brain and are a hidden cause behind the nation's obesity epidemic.
A month after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti, UCSF anesthesiologists report that more volunteers are needed to help earthquake survivors.
Faculty, staff and retirees are being surveyed while the University determines how pension and retiree medical benefits for current and future retirees can become financially sustainable.
Researchers, who are interested in taking their research from the bench to the bedside, are encouraged to apply for a catalyst award by March 1.
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) will join UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond- Hellmann for a town hall meeting with UCSF faculty, staff, and students on February 16, 2010.
Working to combat a steep slide in state support for higher education, advocates for the University of California are planning large rallies in Sacramento this spring to persuade lawmakers that public higher education should be a funding priority. <a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/22810">Read the story on the UC website</a>.
Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at UC Davis, will speak at UCSF about his research on the science of gratitude on February 17.
Among soldiers who served in Iraq, the act of taking a life in combat was a significant predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol abuse, hostility and anger, and relationship problems, according to a study led by a psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Scientists have determined that a new instrument known as PIB-PET is effective in detecting deposits of amyloid-beta protein plaques in the brains of living people, and that these deposits are predictive of who will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Staff members who participated in holiday appreciation events late last year are being asked to take a quick survey to provide feedback.
Between 2002 and 2008, fewer than 10 percent of U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who were newly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder received the recommended course of care for their condition at VA health facilities, according to a study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF.
New UCSF Faculty, February 2010
UCSF’s Thomas Vail, one of the nation’s top orthopaedic surgeons and a clinical scientist, has been elected director of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
New UCSF Faculty, February 2010
Senator Arlen Specter will join UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann for a town hall meeting to talk about health care reform, federal funding of scientific research and other important issues on February 16.
Three members of the UCSF community were honored recently with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for their extraordinary leadership in advancing the goals of social justice.