‘Music of Speech’ Linked to Brain Area Unique to Humans
Insights into pitch control could pave the way for advanced brain prosthetics that could allow people who can’t speak to express themselves in a naturalistic way.
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Health Hub Launches in Collaboration with UCSF
UCSF and a newly formed, next-generation nonprofit organization, Health Hub, are announcing their plans to affiliate.
Immune Profile for Successful Cancer Immunotherapy Discovered
UCSF researchers have identified a key biological pathway in human cancer patients that appears to prime the immune system for a successful response to immunotherapy drugs – checkpoint inhibitors.
Combination Therapy May Revive Prospects for ‘Embattled’ Breast Cancer Drugs
Researchers identified a protein that cancer cells use as a shield to protect the PI3K pathway against targeted drugs, and showed that blocking this protein allowed previously ineffective therapies to slow cancer cell growth and shrink tumors.
Prop. 47 Lessened Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests
UCSF researchers quantified the effects of Prop 47, which reclassified drug possession offenses from felonies or “wobblers”.
Not Junk: ‘Jumping Gene’ is Critical for Early Embryo
A so-called “jumping gene” that researchers long considered either genetic junk or a pernicious parasite is actually a critical regulator of the first stages of embryonic development.
CryoEM Study Captures Opioid Signaling in the Act
Scientists have used ultra-high-resolution cryo–electron microscopy to capture the most detailed portrait ever of an opioid drug triggering the biochemical signaling cascade that gives it its power.
Deaths from Cardiac Arrest Are Misclassified, Overestimated
Forty percent of deaths attributed to cardiac arrest are not sudden or unexpected, and nearly half of the remainder are not arrhythmic – the only situation in which CPR and defibrillators are effective.
Electrically Stimulating the Brain May Restore Movement After Stroke
UCSF scientists have improved mobility in rats that had experienced debilitating strokes by using electrical stimulation to restore a distinctive pattern of brain cell activity associated with efficient movement.
Diabetes Added to High Risks for People with Severe Mental Illness
People with severe mental illness are more than twice as likely to have Type 2 diabetes, with even higher risks among patients who are African American or Hispanic, according to a new study led by UCSF.
NPR’s Nerdette: “I Have A Rare Genetic Disease. CRISPR Might Fix It.”
As a kindergartener, Nerdette co-host Greta Johnsen was diagnosed with an eye condition that is among the best diseases for experimenting with the gene editing tool CRISPR. This episode follows Greta, her father, and UCSF geneticist and Gladstone Institutes investigator Bruce Conklin, MD, as he tries to develop the perfect CRISPR system to remove the faulty DNA from Johnsen’s eye cells.
Opioid Crisis: This Doctor’s Street-Level Views Could Change the Course of the Epidemic
A staggering 64,000 people in the United States died in 2016 from drug overdoses – and a study led by UCSF’s Daniel Ciccarone is aiming to get at the heart of of the problem, including by interviewing opioid users.
Frequent Use of the ER Fell After the Affordable Care Act
The odds of being a frequent user of California’s emergency departments dropped in the two years following the implementation of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act in January 2014.
Binging, Purging and Fasting More Common in Overweight, Obese Young Adults
Young adults who are overweight or obese are twice as likely as their leaner peers to binge and purge, use laxatives or diuretics, or force themselves to vomit as a means of controlling their weight.
Startup Science
Silicon Valley is helping researchers like Wendell Lim move basic science breakthroughs into translational applications, making treatments available to patients faster than normally possible.
