A sampling of news media stories involving UC Health:
UC seeks to intervene in court battle over stem cell research, Los Angeles Times
The University of California has entered the legal battle surrounding the use of human embryonic stem cells in research, filing a motion formally seeking to intervene in the case, officials announced Monday. UC is trying to become the nation’s first research university to become a party in the high-profile case challenging federal funding for the research. UC, which wants to defend the research, is the largest recipient of National Institutes of Health funding and conducts significant lab work in those areas.
See additional coverage: The MIT Tech; Nature: Sept. 21, Sept. 23; ScienceInsider: Sept. 21, Sept.23; San Francisco Business Times; UPI; The Associated Press
The Think Tank: Fat Californians putting strain on health economy, California Healthline
A lot of Californians are fat, and they’re putting a strain on their own health, as well as the state’s economic health. More adults in California are obese or overweight than those who aren’t, according to a new study. Almost 40% of children in public schools in California are overweight or obese, according to another study. A UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study released this month found that almost 60% of California adults are overweight or obese and that almost 8% of the state’s adults have diabetes. This piece features commentaries from the UCLA study’s lead author, Allison Diamant, and UC Berkeley Center for Weight & Health Director Pat Crawford.
Better health, with a little help from our friends, The New York Times
Is your social network making you fat? Are your friends and family influencing you to smoke and drink more, or to sleep less? And if our relationships contribute to behaviors that erode our health, can social networks be harnessed to improve it? These are seminal questions in “network science” — an emerging field that examines how behavioral changes spread through social networks. This article mentions the work of UC San Diego professor James Fowler.
Best medical schools, Hispanic Business Magazine
Hispanic Business Magazine ranks the UC San Francisco School of Medicine as the nation’s best medical school for Hispanic students (see p.62).
Annual predictions for the Nobel Prizes released, Scientific American
The 2010 Nobel Prize announcements will not begin rolling out until Oct. 4, but the speculation about who will be lauded this year has already begun. Thomson Reuters released its annual predictions of likely honorees, based on an analysis of highly cited research papers in each field. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and UC San Francisco is mentioned for the discovery of stem cells and the development of induced pluripotent stem cells.
How college health plans are failing students, The Wall Street Journal
How colleges are failing students on health care — and what you can do about it. The story quotes UC Berkeley student and cancer patient Paula Villescaz.
UCR may house healthy aging center, The Palm Springs Desert Sun
Palm Desert could be home to a Center for Healthy Aging as the University of California, Riverside, develops its physician training program in the Coachella Valley. It was discussed Thursday at a meet and greet gathering between UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White and the Palm Desert City Council. White and G. Richard Olds, M.D., vice chancellor of Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UCR, told the council that a Center for Healthy Aging and exercise and healthy kitchen facilities could come to UCR’s Palm Desert campus in the future.
County agrees to purchase $45.4M worth of hospital equipment, The Torrance Daily Breeze
County officials agreed Tuesday to purchase $45.4 million worth of equipment for County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance and the new Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center under construction in Willowbrook.
Cancer institute partners with UCSF, The Reno-Gazette Journal
Renown Regional Medical Center’s Institute for Cancer announced Friday a partnership with the University of California, San Francisco’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to improve access and care for patients.
Are dust, smoke and diesel exhaust really killing 9,200 a year?, California Watch
Less than the width of a human hair, fine particulate matter from smoke, dust, coal and diesel exhaust are so small they slip through the lungs and into the bloodstream, killing a surprisingly large number of Californians. UCLA professor James Enstrom and UC Berkeley professor Michael Jerrett are quoted.
California’s genetic education, Nature News
UC Berkeley geneticist Jasper Rine reflects on a controversial gene-testing program.
Scientists work on new artificial kidney, KQED QUEST
From his lab at the Mission Bay campus of UC San Francisco, Shuvo Roy is leading a project with nearly 40 scientists from across the nation to develop the world’s first artificial, implantable kidney.
On girl’s 2nd birthday, stem-cell hope, The Orange County Register
Aubriana Navarro has type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, typically fatal in the first years of life. She celebrates her second birthday Wednesday. Her parents hope she might some day benefit from a new treatment for the disease being developed at UC Irvine using human embryonic stem cells.
Screening: Many skip follow-up tests for colon cancer, The New York Times
Dr. Joshua J. Fenton, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at UC Davis, says that patients who undergo fecal blood tests to screen for colon and rectal cancer need to follow up with a repeat test within two years in order to reduce their risk of dying of colon cancer.
UCSD study suggests kids’ obesity linked to virus, San Diego Union-Tribune
A new study by a UC San Diego researcher suggests that some childhood obesity may be linked to a contagious virus.
Read more
Web tool to check heart risk is doubted, The New York Times
This article highlights a new UCSF study that has identified discrepancies between variants of a risk-prediction tool that is widely used to estimate future heart attack risk. The study, which appeared in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in September, found that the point-based version of the tool reclassifies an estimated 15 percent of patients, or almost 6 million Americans, into different types of treatment recommendations, according to Michael Steinman, MD, an associate professor of medicine at UCSF and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center who led the study.
Obesity surgery for weight loss: A new teenage trend?, ABC News
This story reports on a study led by Dr. Daniel DeUgarte, assistant professor-in-residence of pediatric surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and surgical director of the UCLA Fit for Healthy Weight program, that showed that the number of adolescents undergoing gastric-band surgery to help them lose weight increased significantly between 2005 and 2007.
See additional coverage: MSNBC, NPR
Phys Ed: Looking at how concussions when young influence later life, The New York Times
This story about the long-term effects of childhood concussions cites UCLA research that tested the brain growth capacity of normal and previously concussed mice. Dr. Christopher Giza, lead study author and associate professor of neurosurgery and neurology and a member of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, is quoted.
7 edgy science practices that might save your life, Fox News
This piece about technologically advanced medical procedures cites the work of Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar, director of the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, involving guiding the wires used to correct heart arrhythmias through the body using magnets, rather than by hand.
Poverty rate fails to consider California’s high costs, San Diego Union-Tribune
This article reports on research by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research showing that the cost of living for seniors in California is far higher than the official poverty level. Steven Wallace, the center’s associate director and a professor at the UCLA School of Public Health, is quoted.
