University of California San Francisco
Give to UCSFDNA sequences obtained from a handful of patients with multiple sclerosis at the UCSF Medical Center have revealed the existence of an “immune exchange” that allows the disease-causing cells to move in and out of the brain.
<p>Personalized medicine advances arising from genetic discoveries were the primary focus of wide-ranging presentations at the <a href="http://humgen.medschool.ucsf.edu/">UCSF Institute for Human Genetics</a> 2012 Symposium on Nov. 5.</p>
<p>Most young scientists fresh out of graduate school are content to begin a post-doctoral fellowship, working for an established faculty member. But for Christopher Allen, PhD, award-winning research in asthma meant the fast-track onto UCSF’s faculty.</p>
As Californians prepare to vote on Proposition 37, which would require labeling of food that’s been genetically modified, debate continues on the health implications of eating such foods.
Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes and the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how modifying a gene halts the toxic buildup of a protein found in nerve cells. These findings point to a potential new tactic for treating a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease).
Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes have mapped the precise frequency by which genes get turned on across the human genome, providing new insight into the most fundamental of cellular processes — and revealing new clues as to what happens when this process goes awry.
<p>A steady stream of new apps and devices that can be synced to ever-more sophisticated mobile phones is flowing into consumers’ hands, and this technology is revolutionizing the practice of self-tracking, in which individuals measure and collect personal data to improve their heath.</p>
<p>Through the Immunological Immune Project, leading university immunologists and bioinformatics experts are probing genes to better understand how immune responses are coordinated. They aim to identify new ways to manipulate the immune system to better fight disease.</p>
Marin County, Calif., has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, a fact that scientists know has nothing to do with the land itself but with some other, unknown factor.
As mothers have always known, a good night’s sleep is crucial to good health — and now a new study led by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at UCSF and UC Berkeley shows that poor sleep can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.
<p>When Ramon Birnbaum, <abbr title="Doctor of Philosophy">PhD</abbr>, came to <abbr title="University of California, San Francisco">UCSF</abbr> three years ago to do his postdoctoral work on the role of genetic regulation in human disease in the lab of School of Pharmacy faculty member Nadav Ahituv, <abbr title="Doctor of Philosophy">PhD</abbr>, epilepsy was barely on his radar.</p>
Electronic health records (EHRs) are used widely by California physicians, but many of their systems are not designed to meet new federal standards aimed at improving the quality of health care, according to a report from UCSF researchers.
Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes participated in the national Human Microbiome Project, which used groundbreaking methods to vastly improve the understanding of bacteria that reside in and on the human body.
After being infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in a laboratory study, rhesus macaques that had more of a certain type of immune cell in their gut than others had much lower levels of the virus in their blood, and for six months after infection were better able to control the virus.
A pioneering approach to imaging breast cancer in mice has revealed new clues about why the human immune system often fails to attack tumors and keep cancer in check. This observation, by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may help to reveal new approaches to cancer immunotherapy.
UCSF neurologist Louis Ptacek, MD, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), for his research on the biology and genetics of several human diseases and disorders -- from epilepsy and migraine to sleep disorders and jet lag.