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On the pilot episode of the PBS series <i>WIRED SCIENCE</i> airing Wednesday, January 3, 2007, host Brian Unger interviews leading stem cell researcher Renee Reijo Pera, PhD, co-director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center and associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.
For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, the honor of having the first baby of the new year born in San Francisco has gone to a mother who delivered at UCSF Children's Hospital. Six-pound, 13-ounce Elijah Rodolfo Bonilla-Hill came into the world at 2:13 a.m. on New Year's Day. Mother and child are doing well.
NPR's Farai Chideya interviews Andre Campbell, MD, a trauma surgeon and chief of the medical staff at San Francisco General Hospital, and professor of surgery at UCSF, about his daily work in SFGH's Emergency Department. Campbell recently was featured in the first of a four-part <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i> series on SFGH.
UCSF's Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, and Roger Nicoll, MD, have each received a 2006 Peter Gruber Prize, awarded annually to individuals in various disciplines who have made discoveries and contributions that effect fundamental shifts in human knowledge and culture.
Sales of chewing tobacco are on the rise, and some public health officials are actually advocating it as an alternative to smoking—or at least as a tool to use while quitting smoking. Stanton Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF, and a leading anti-smoking crusader, agrees that smokeless tobacco isn't as deadly as cigarettes, but he doesn't think it's safe to promote any kind of tobacco use.
An experimental HIV drug, MK-0158, soon will become available to a select group of patients.
Jack Rowe, MD, an expert on health care economics and healthy aging, will speak at UCSF on Thursday, Jan. 11, as the second speaker in the UCSF Chancellor's Health Policy Lecture Series.
Scientists are discovering that subtle differences in our genes can affect the way we respond to drugs. Using genetic information to tailor disease prevention and treatment based on people's race and ethnicity is all part of the science of "genomics."
The first comparison of the long-term costs of all strategies for treating prostate cancer is presented in the February 1, 2007, issue of <i>Cancer</i>, published online December 21, 2006. Lead author is Leslie S. Wilson, PhD, associate adjunct professor of clinical pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy at UCSF.
A protein called HIPK2 is essential for the survival of dopamine neurons, the cells lost in Parkinson's disease, according to a study in mice. The results suggest that the molecular pathway in which the protein functions could be a possible new target for therapy, the study authors say.
Sharice Harrison, a convicted thief and known trespasser on campus property, was arrested on December 21, 2006, after alert staff members at Long Hospital recognized her from an October 30, 2006, crime bulletin and called UCSF Police. This is the second time this month that vigilance from the UCSF community has resulted in the apprehension of a criminal suspect.
Two novel treatments -- a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea -- may prevent brain damage caused from stroke, according to two studies in rats led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
The second edition of the only comprehensive textbook on inherited disorders of the immune system, co-edited by UCSF Professor of Pediatrics and Human Genetics Jennifer Puck, MD, will soon be published in the United States. The new version has mushroomed in size from 35 to 48 chapters, reflecting the increase in the number of primary immune deficiency diseases that have been identified, as well as new information on their causes and treatments.
A long-term study of the most widely used osteoporosis drug has found that many women can discontinue the drug after five years without increasing their fracture risk for as long as five more years.
UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, will introduce Jack Rowe, MD, on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007, as the second speaker in his Chancellor's Health Policy Lecture Series.
Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, has been named editor of the "Perspectives" section of the journal <i>Ambulatory Pediatrics</i>, which focuses on reviews of important pediatric topics, with an emphasis on research findings in the previous five years and on identifying areas for future study.
The UCSF Sustainability Committee has these suggestions for a more eco-friendly holiday season.
UCSF scientists have identified a cell population that is a primary target of the degenerative brain disease known as frontotemporal dementia, which is as common as Alzheimer's disease in patients who develop dementia before age 65.
Loleta Carpenter coordinates mammovan services, and drives too.
A new grant for pediatric interns who show exceptionally compassionate, patient-centered care has been established in the name of Ahmad GhaneaBassiri, MD, by his children, two of whom are members of the UCSF faculty.
UCSF's Amy Levine will work on an initiative focusing on career advancement of women staff at the UC Office of the President in 2007.
It is time once again to take stock. Here is my ninth annual survey of the past year at UCSF. It has been a year of great achievement and persisting problems. I have tried to give a representative sample of both.
A new multi-center trial clinical trial now under way has the potential to "open up a whole new world of treatment" for patients recovering from stroke, says Gary Abrams, MD, chief of the rehabilitation service at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and associate professor of clinical neurology at UCSF. Abrams is site co-principal investigator at UCSF and SFVAMC.
During two weeks in October and November, Susan Merrell, a photographer who works in the Public Affairs department as a news assistant, spent time capturing images of the children, families and caregivers at UCSF Children's Hospital.
On NPR's <i>All Things Considered</i>, Louann Brizendine, MD, neuropsychiatrist and director of the UCSF Women's and Teen Girls' Mood and Hormone Clinic, is interviewed about her book, <i>The Female Brain</i>, which attributes differences between the sexes to brain chemistry. Brizendine discusses these differences with Debbie Elliott.
The holiday season brought ballerinas and purple fairies to UCSF Medical Center recently.
Rene Salazar, Alice Wong and Hamdan Almas will receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards at a special ceremony at UCSF on Jan. 16, 2007.
UCSF School of Nursing faculty Geraldine Padilla and Erika Froelicher and Frederic Marteau, who is visiting UCSF from Belgium, are among the 2006 Fulbright scholars.
Families participated in the Worldwide Candle Lighting ceremony at UCSF on Dec. 10.
It has been widely reported that Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota was treated on Wednesday, Dec. 13, for a ruptured arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. To learn more about this condition, we contacted Michael Lawton, MD, associate professor of neurological surgery at UCSF and an expert on AVMs.