A sampling of news media stories involving UC Health:
UC told to pay ex-grad students $38 million, San Francisco Chronicle
A San Francisco judge has ordered the University of California to pay $38 million in refunds and interest to 2,900 students in law, medical and other professional schools whose fees were raised thousands of dollars despite UC’s pledge to keep them level. The ruling Thursday by Superior Court Judge John Munter applies to students who accepted an offer of admission in one of the programs – law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, pharmacy or business – by August 2003.
See additional coverage: Los Angeles Times, Contra Costa Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, CBS 5/BCN (video)
Op-ed: Bee editorial off-target on administrative growth at UC, The Sacramento Bee
Re “To help UC, first slow bloat at the top” (Editorial, Feb. 28): Growth in nonacademic personnel is a tempting target in these days of budgetary shortfalls at universities across the nation, UC President Mark Yudof writes in this op-ed. In the case of the University of California, the inconvenient truth is much of the growth has been in the parts of the system that are not funded by the state – the medical enterprise, research and auxiliary services.
UC Irvine Medical Center ordered to improve ‘medication management’, Los Angeles Times
State inspectors making a surprise follow-up visit to UC Irvine Medical Center last week found two deficiencies in “medication management” and issued an “immediate jeopardy” warning, alleging that patient care was at risk, hospital officials acknowledged Thursday. The warning, which was lifted Wednesday, is one of the most serious that can be issued to a hospital.
See additional coverage: The Orange County Register
Life at all costs: Part two, the choices, The Fiscal Times
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center was referenced Monday in this article examining the state of end-of-life care at some of the nation’s largest and best-known hospitals. Dr. David Feinberg, CEO and associate vice chancellor of the UCLA Hospital System, is quoted.
UC regents to look at changing policy on fees, San Francisco Chronicle
If professional schools within the University of California want to raise student fees, they might soon be allowed to set new prices by considering what private universities are charging. Current UC policy requires that new fees be no higher than the average cost of comparable public schools. But when UC’s regents meet in San Francisco later this month, they will consider changing the policy by removing one word: “public.” That’s likely going to make the cost of studying medicine, law, business or any number of other careers more expensive – and out of reach for many, say UC graduate students.
UC Davis nursing students following the money, Sacramento Business Journal
The new nursing school at UC Davis is putting money on the table to woo the best and brightest and turn them into teachers and researchers. At a time when most schools and universities — including the University of California — are hiking fees, the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing will cover most tuition costs for students.
$62 million UC Davis center puts Sacramento at hub of stem cell research, The Sacramento Bee
A hub for regenerative medical research opens today in Sacramento, putting the University of California, Davis, in the forefront of stem cell research. UC Davis already is testing dozens of therapies in the laboratory, such as HIV treatments and organ regeneration, and is even using stem cells to repair injuries in horses. The new $62 million UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures will consolidate those efforts, which are scattered in various locations in the region. The center will bring 200 scientists and laboratory personnel together under one roof.
See additional coverage: KCRA 3, Capital Public Radio
Mission Bay roundup: Hospital on 16th Street, San Francisco Chronicle/Mission Local
The University of California, San Francisco is on schedule for constructing its children’s women’s, and cancer hospital in Mission Bay, though offices for medical school faculty still need a location and funding. Cindy Lima, executive director for the project, provided updates and took input on the kinds of the signs planned for the hospital at a Wednesday community meeting.
Mission Bay incubators’ flock is ready to hatch, San Francisco Business Times
Mission Bay’s incubator network is hatching life science successes. The network’s 25th early-stage company — Pharmajet, a needle-free vaccine delivery company founded in Denver — opened March 8 in a mere 600 square feet in the Fibrogen Inc. building. But what Pharmajet and its startup brethren lack in individual size, they make up for in collective oomph, said Douglas Crawford, associate director of QB3. The network’s 19 current companies fill about 10,000 square feet at Fibrogen and 2,500 square feet at the 4-year-old QB3 Garage on the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco.
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Pressure builds on ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats over health care, McClatchy Newspapers
With a Capitol Hill showdown only days away, two San Joaquin Valley congressional Democrats remain crucial and undecided votes on a controversial health care bill. The pressure is building on Reps. Dennis Cardoza of Merced and Jim Costa of Fresno.Cardoza and Costa both cited funding for new medical schools in their votes in November. The original House bill authorized $500 million over five years for new medical schools in underserved areas. The University of California at Merced was an unnamed but presumed beneficiary. The health care package to be considered next week omits the medical school funding. Instead, Cardoza noted, the Obama administration in its fiscal 2011 budget request is seeking $100 million next year for the same medical school purpose.
Stanford Hospital CEO steps down; UCSF execs host ‘retreat’, San Francisco Business Times
The world of academic medicine is in many ways a mysterious one. Take the recent news that Stanford Hospital & Clinics’ CEO Martha Marsh is stepping down in August, after running the hospital since the spring of 2002. Stanford “announced” the news, if you can call it that, in an electronic newsletter several weeks after the fact. Apparently, Stanford — which sends out news of academic studies at the drop of a hat — didn’t realize anyone outside of Stanford medicine would care about such a development. Meanwhile, over at rival UC San Francisco, many of the UCSF School of Medicine’s top honchos gathered in a mid-February “retreat” that wasn’t mentioned until about two weeks later, and then only in the vaguest of terms.
UC Davis team combats malnutrition, The Sacramento Bee
This article highlights a team of researchers at UC Davis who developed Nutributter, a ketchup-packet-size peanut butter-like substance that is designed to prevent childhood malnutrition across the world. “Kids love it,” says Steve Vosti, who is part of the Nutributter development team. “And if we are successful in introducing it, we will have a relatively cheap way of keeping kids on their mental and physical growth paths.”
UCD’s new nursing school lands $900K in grants, Sacramento Business Journal
Research is under way at the new nursing school at UC Davis even though the school won’t kick off inaugural classes until September. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing has finalized two research grants worth a total of almost $900,000 to improve nursing care and patient health and has already begun work on the projects.
Inside the world of childhood schizophrenia (video), ABC 20/20
Dr. Mark DeAntonio, UCLA clinical professor of psychiatry and director of adolescent inpatient services at the Semel Institute, is featured in this story that profiled three young girls, all diagnosed with different forms of childhood schizophrenia, and all admitted for treatment multiple times to UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
Less is more: Rash of reports say too many Americans get too many medical tests despite risks, The Associated Press
Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggest that too many Americans — maybe even President Barack Obama — are being overtreated. UCSF cardiologist Rita Redberg is quoted.
A new understanding of how prostate cancer treatment may backfire, Los Angeles Times
The very therapy used to treat prostate cancer patients in the early stage of the disease actually promotes the second, more deadly wave of the disease, according to a new study involving UC San Diego.
Studying the biological clock (audio), KPBS These Days
Scientists at UC San Diego studying the biological clocks of bacteria, fungi, plants and animals have joined forces to apply their knowledge across three diverse groups of organisms to human sleep disorders in a newly established Center for Chronobiology.
See additional coverage: San Diego Union-Tribune
UCSD to study ways to reduce stroke damage, San Diego Union-Tribune
Researchers at UC San Diego are studying whether inserting a catheter to cool the bloodstream and brain can reduce damage from strokes caused by blood clots.
Brain treats sweets like drugs, NBC Washington
Dr. Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco, and researchers are evaluating how processed foods trigger dopamine receptors in the brain that cause the body to become physically addicted.
Studies raise questions about osteoperosis drugs (video), CBS 5
This story includes an interview with UCSF epidemiologist Dennis Black, PhD, in a medical segment on thigh fractures in patients using osteoporosis-preventative drugs on a long-term basis. The drugs, known as bisphosphonates, are used to strengthen bones in patients with osteoporosis, in an effort to prevent hip fractures. Recent studies have linked those drugs to some cases of stress fractures that lead to a severe break of the femur while performing moderate exercise, such as walking.
Magnets help zap hearts back to normal rate (video), KABC 7
Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar, professor of medicine and radiological sciences and director of the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center & EP Programs, appeared in this story reporting how cardiologists use magnets to help guide treatment designed to stop irregular heart rhythms.
L’Chaim! Want to live to 100? Check your genes, The Jewish Journal
This article reports on research conducted by Dr. Pinchas Cohen, professor of pediatrics and chief of endocrinology at the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA. His work explores a protein called humanin and how it affects aging-related diseases. Cohen is quoted.
Gene variant may help some overcome adversity, HealthDay News
Steven Cole, associate professor of medicine and a member of the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, is quoted in this story about his research finding a genetic link between misery and death, and a gene variant fostering resilience in the face of adversity.
U.S. minorities especially vulnerable to kidney failure, HealthDay News
Poor, minority adults with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease are far more likely to progress to kidney failure than are whites with the disease, a new U.S. study has found. Dr. Andy I. Choi, an assistant professor of nephrology at UC San Francisco, is quoted.
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NIH encourages translational collaboration with industry, Nature
This article reports on a meeting that marked a new effort to promote collaboration between academic institutions and industry on translational research. UCSF and the California Institute for Quantative Biosciences are mentioned.
Healthy lifestyle choice can have quick payback, health professionals hear at Loma Linda conference, The San Bernardino Sun
If you are alive, it’s not too late to begin making healthy lifestyle choices. And remember, “the more you change, the better you get,” said Dean Ornish, author, medical school professor and researcher at UC San Francisco.
In a conversation for California Healthline , R. Adams Dudley, associate professor of medicine and health policy at UC-San Francisco, said that current health care reporting initiatives often focus on conformity to technical measures, rather than real-life outcomes of medical procedures that might be of more interest to consumers.
Study says too many invasive heart tests given, The Associated Press
A troublingly high number of U.S. patients who are given angiograms to check for heart disease turn out not to have a significant problem, according to the latest study to suggest Americans get an excess of medical tests. “We can do better. There is no doubt in my mind,” said Dr. Ralph Brindis of UCSF, one of the study’s authors.
Sacramento-area doctors helping Haiti say need still great, The Sacramento Bee
Douglas Gross, a UC Davis pediatrician who embarked on a two-week aid mission to Haiti on Jan. 22, states that children have been particularly traumatized by the earthquake and its aftermath. “There’s a lot of psychological trauma. The kids were very, very traumatized, and that hasn’t been addressed,” Gross says.
See additional coverage: CBS 13 (video)
Scientists from Sapphire Energy, UCSD, Scripps and Protelica show genetically modified algae can make important drugs, Xconomy
Scientists in San Diego and Hayward have demonstrated the feasibility of using algae to produce commercial levels of human therapeutic proteins that are currently being used to treat emphysema and other diseases, or are in clinical trials for use to boost the immune system. UC San Diego biologist Stephen Mayfield is quoted.
Turning smartphones into air quality monitors, CNet News
Intel Labs is showing off technology that could make smartphones a lot smarter by integrating technology that monitors ambient air quality. As part of an annual Open House on Wednesday at the UC Berkeley campus, Intel Labs Berkeley is demonstrating the most tantalizing fruits of its research, including Common Sense, a technology that would allow consumers to collect and analyze environmental data and then share it over the Internet.
Seaweed extract may help treat lymphoma, The Times of India
New research involving UC Berkeley has shown that seaweed extract can help treat lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.
Researchers link inflammation to illness in overweight people, USA Today
Researchers are beginning to understand the ways in which being overweight or obese contributes to a downward spiral of inflammation that can trigger heart disease, diabetes and other ailments. Two recent papers help explain the connection. In one, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco and the Gladstone Institute found that specialized white blood cells exposed to large amounts of saturated fats became inflamed. When the researchers genetically engineered cells to be able to hold more fat, the inflammation didn’t happen.
Naps may improve performance later in the day (audio), NPR
Looking for an excuse to work in a quick snooze in the afternoon? Here you go: Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that naps may help your brain work better later.
Pioneering care for rape victims, Santa Monica Daily Press
A profile of Gail Abarbanel, founder and director of the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica–UCLA Medical Center.
Cancer kills many sea lions, and its cause remains a mystery, The New York Times
Linda Lowenstine, a veterinary pathologist at UC Davis, and Frances Gulland, director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, have been trying to pinpoint the source of metastatic cancer in rescued California sea lions since a study 14 years ago reported a disturbing proportion of deaths were caused by the disease.
Reeves Nelson’s return for UCLA Bruins is easy on the eyes, ESPN
Reeves Nelson didn’t think he would be on the court for the Pacific-10 Conference tournament. He had promised his grandmother he wouldn’t and had told his teammates he couldn’t. Yet there he was, foggy goggles and all, elbowing his way to the basket, fighting for loose balls and leading UCLA to a 75-69 win over Arizona. Nelson, who scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, not only kept the Bruins’ season alive but ended the Wildcats’ run of 25 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament. Nelson was treated at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute, which is regarded as the best center for vision care in the country, and was cleared to play last week in Arizona but was apprehensive about getting back on the court.
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