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The majority of adolescents in the United States do not obtain the appropriate level of preventive health care services, despite broad professional consensus recommending annual doctor visits for this age group, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
A UCSF research team has developed a technique to distinguish benign moles from malignant melanomas by measuring differences in levels of genetic markers. Standard microscopic examinations of biopsied tissue can be ambiguous and somewhat subjective, the researchers say, and supplementing standard practice with the new technique is expected to help clarify difficult-to-diagnose cases.
More than 250 diverse young women from 20 area high schools will attend a special summit exploring issues that impact their health and goals -- including relationship violence, suicide, and the evolution to leadership. The Young Women's Health Leadership Summit (YWHLS), sponsored by the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District, was developed by a committee of young women for young women. The event includes inspirational speakers and performance art. The conference theme is “Strive, Struggle, Succeed: Bring Out the Somethin’ in You!”
Disease linked to untreated risk factors in early adult years As many as 1 in 100 black men and women develop heart failure before the age of 50, 20 times the rate in whites in this age group, according to new findings published in the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by a UCSF research team.
Older adults who drink one to two glasses of alcohol per day are 25 percent less at risk of death from any cause than people who drink more than that and those who do not drink at all, according to a study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
Researchers with the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, a five-year, nationwide, longitudinal study of possible markers of Alzheimer’s disease, announced that a genomic analysis of the 800 participants in the study is more than 95 percent complete, and that the data will be shared with scientists around the world for further analysis.
UCSF Medical Center has received a $125 million gift for its campaign to build a children’s, women’s specialty and cancer hospital complex at the UCSF Mission Bay campus, near downtown San Francisco. This is the largest support to date for the $600 million hospital fundraising campaign and among the largest gifts in UCSF’s history.
Researchers have developed a new mouse model that allows them to replicate normal pigment cells at the earliest stages of conversion to malignant skin cancer in humans. After testing the mouse with a combination of two drug therapies, the team found the treatment caused a statistically significant regression in cancer cell development.
The UCSF Center of Excellence for Transgender HIV Prevention (CoE) has received a grant from The California Endowment that will expand access to information and resources on providing culturally competent health care to trangender individuals.
A team of physicians at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco recommends more effective use of interpreters, greater awareness of potential areas of mistrust and misunderstanding, better communication with families, and better knowledge of cultural differences in general when planning end-of-life and palliative care for Latino patients in the United States.
Interest in personal health records as an electronic tool to manage health information is increasing dramatically. A group led by a UCSF researcher has identified cost, privacy concerns, design shortcomings and difficulties sharing information across different organizations as critical barriers hindering broad implementation of electronic personal health records.
Older women with the metabolic syndrome – a constellation of health-risk factors – had a 66 percent increase in risk of developing cognitive impairment compared with women who did not have the syndrome, according to a large study of post-menopausal women led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
A team of specialists at UCSF Medical Center has treated its first patients as part of a multi-center clinical study to evaluate an incision-free procedure for the treatment of obesity.
A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has shown that hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a predictor of mortality among breast cancer patients, especially those who are African-American, and that hypertension accounts for approximately 30 percent of the survival disparity between African-American and white breast cancer patients.
UCSF researchers have found that examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients on therapy strongly predicts treatment success.
A new generation of cancer drugs designed to starve tumors of their blood supply – called “angiogenesis inhibitors” -- succeeds at first, but then promotes more invasive cancer growth -- sometimes with a higher incidence of metastases, according to a new study in animals. The research clarifies similar findings in other animal studies and is consistent with some early evidence from a small number of clinical trials with cancer patients.
An innovative mentoring program at the UCSF-Gladstone Institute for Virology and Immunology Center for AIDS Research is providing vital support for the development of the next generation of HIV/AIDS researchers and clinician scientists.
A drug prescribed for male and female infertility and menstrual disorders could hold the key to a more effective treatment for alcoholism, according to a study by researchers at the UCSF-affiliated Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center.
Current guidelines for when to prescribe popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins would produce cost-effective results and would save thousands of lives every year if they were followed more closely by physicians and patients, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
A 3-year-old Iraqi boy who underwent surgery at UCSF Medical Center last month to restore his hearing will have his hearing tested on February 17.
New and emerging biomedical approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention will be the focus of a daylong symposium on February 24 sponsored by the UCSF-Gladstone Institute for Virology and Immunology Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies.
A new drug that blocks cancer's main source of growth has been created in the lab and proven effective in mice, scientists are reporting. It is now being readied for clinical trials in patients.
The UCSF School of Dentistry will offer free cleanings, dental sealants and fluoride treatments as part of the citywide “Give Kids a Smile Day.”
A new study has found that resident physicians at teaching hospitals underuse interpreter services — often relying on hand gestures or a limited number of words in the patient’s native language.
UCSF has received tentative approval of a grant from the California Institute for Regeneration Medicine to continue its comprehensive stem cell training program, designed to help cultivate the next generation of stem cell scientists.
UCSF Children’s Hospital wants to alert the public to a fundraising scam that has been brought to its attention.
UCSF is hosting a workshop geared toward women to learn how to apply for and get appointed to a board or commission. The workshop is free and open to the public.
The self-perceptions and life experiences of young homeless people vary significantly by race, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. The findings underscore the need for a more tailored approach to youth homelessness intervention and prevention programs.
Behavioral weight-loss programs can be an effective way to reduce urinary incontinence in women who are overweight or obese, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
Two HIV prevention interventions developed by UCSF researchers have been selected as additions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2008 Compendium of Evidence-based HIV Prevention Interventions.