NIH grant to UC Riverside’s Frances Sladek aims to bring personalized medicine a step closer.

Frances Sladek, UC Riverside

Aside from identical twins, no two individuals are completely identical genetically. Most differences between individuals are due to single nucleotide changes or polymorphisms (SNPs) — DNA sequence variations — in the genome.

SNPs, the most common type of genetic variation among people, are being increasingly recognized as playing a major role in phenotype variations, such as eye and hair color, basal body weight, muscle tone, responsiveness to alcohol consumption, as well as susceptibility to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and mental disorders.

The more scientists know what SNPs’ functions are, the easier it would be to understand the tremendous variability in individuals’ responses to drug treatments such as why some drugs are life-saving for some people but cause serious side effects in others.

Frances Sladek, a professor of cell biology and toxicologist at the University of California, Riverside, has received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to support a four-year research project that will allow her to examine the effect SNPs have on a special class of proteins called nuclear receptors that bind DNA and regulate the expression of many important genes in response to hormones, vitamins and drugs.

“Many SNPs introduce structural or functional changes in the proteins encoded by genes,” explained Sladek, the grant’s principal investigator.  “Other SNPs, the vast majority, are outside of the protein-coding portion of the gene; they are often found in the regulatory regions of genes — regions that determine the level of gene expression.  We will characterize both types of SNPs to help predict disease susceptibility and response to drug treatments.  Such a characterization will help lay the foundation for personalized medicine, ultimately leading to more effective and hence less costly health care costs.”

Sladek’s lab will use a powerful new technology, called protein binding microarrays, to identify SNPs in DNA sequences to which nuclear receptors bind.  By integrating a range of biochemical, molecular, genomic and bioinformatics approach, the researchers will examine nuclear-receptor-DNA binding and how SNPs influence it.

The team will make publicly available all their results on a UC Riverside website dedicated to the project, as well as on other public databases.  The researchers are also developing web-based tools for target gene prediction, an evolving science of efficiently identifying the regions of genomic DNA that regulate the expression of genes.

“We hope these tools will advance the long-term goal of fast-tracking research linking nuclear receptors to disease and drug metabolism, and thereby help personalize medicine and ensure that drugs that target nuclear receptors can be used in a more effective fashion,” Sladek said.

DNA, situated in the cell’s nucleus, carries the genetic information of a cell and consists of thousands of genes. Each gene serves as a recipe on how to build a protein molecule. Proteins perform important tasks for the cell functions or serve as building blocks. When proteins are needed, the corresponding genes are made into RNA (single-stranded molecules that can adopt very complex three-dimensional structures) via a process called transcription for which proteins, called transcription factors, are needed.  Nuclear receptors are transcription factors that regulate the expression of a wide range of genes involved in nearly all aspects of human physiology and disease.

“We have much to learn about the nuclear-receptor-DNA interaction and the factors that influence it,” Sladek said. “While nuclear receptors have been investigated heavily for their role in physiology and disease and are themselves targets of many successful drugs, we still do not have a complete understanding of their role in disease susceptibility nor in individual responses to drug treatments.  This grant will allow us to better define what kind of sequences the nuclear receptors bind to, and help with other ways of examining what kind of genes the nuclear receptors regulate.”

Sladek will be joined in the research by the following colleagues at UCR: Tao Jiang, a professor of computer science and engineering and the grant’s co-principal investigator; Thomas Girke, an associate professor of bioinformatics; and two postdoctoral researchers.

A sampling of news media stories involving UC Health:

UC Davis CMO Dr. Allan Siefkin: Creating a culture of safety, quality, Becker’s Hospital Review

Health care reform’s emphasis on patient safety and quality has motivated many hospitals and health systems to create a culture that supports safety and quality. Embedding a patient safety and quality focus in a hospital’s culture is essential to improve in these areas because it illustrates to physicians and staff that quality and safety initiatives are not one-time events, but part of an overall, long-term commitment to quality and safety. Allan D. Siefkin, M.D., CMO of UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, explains how strong leadership and continuous improvement can help create a robust culture of patient safety and quality.

CEO Mark Laret: Strong financial, philanthropic leader at UCSF Medical Center, Becker’s Hospital Review

A feature on UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret.

Study says hospital charges don’t add up, Ventura County Star

A person with acute appendicitis rushed to an emergency room in Ventura County could rack up hospital charges of anywhere from $6,782 to $84,554, according to a new study that says this gap is driven mostly by which hospital is used. In a project hospital officials say does not reflect what patients actually pay, researchers pored over charges reported by acute care hospitals throughout California for 19,368 appendicitis cases in 2009. They found charges varied dramatically from one hospital to the next. The smallest bill for one case in the state was $1,529. The biggest was $182,955. The median charge in the state was $33,611, according to the study involving UCSF researchers. Lead author Renee Hsia is quoted.

New University of Arizona Health Network board named, Arizona Daily Star

Southern Arizona’s largest nonprofit healthcare company has a brand new board of directors. The Arizona Board of Regents approved a 17-member board, which will hold its first meeting May 24. At that time, the new members will elect a chair. The members include UC Health Chief Strategy Officer Santiago Muñoz.

Why your drug copay could change, NPR

UC Berkeley economic James Robinson is quoted in this piece about value-based insurance.

‘The Weight of the Nation’: Obesity crisis, San Francisco Chronicle

This review of the HBO documentary series “The Weight of the Nation” quotes Elissa Epel of UCSF, one of several institutions to have studied what is termed “mindful eating” – paying attention to what and when you eat, learning to make choices based on actual hunger and learning to value the quality of your food, not just how much of it you’re consuming while watching television.

Lenin’s stroke: Doctor has a theory (and a suspect), The New York Times

Research by Dr. Harry Vinters, chief of neuropathology at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and professor of pathology and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, re-examining the cause of Vladimir Lenin’s death is highlighted in this article. Vinters is quoted.

In sitting still, a bench press for the brain, The New York Times

Eileen Luders, assistant professor of neurology at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, is featured in this article about her research showing that people who meditate have, on average, a greater amount of folds in the brain’s cerebral cortex, which improves information processing, memory formation and decision making.

Man sues UCSD, says he was given cancerous kidney (video), ABC 10

A Fallbrook man is suing UC after he says he was given a cancerous kidney in a kidney transplant at UC San Diego Medical Center. UC San Diego officials say they can’t comment on pending litigation.

Commentary: Why the campaign to stop America’s obesity crisis keeps failing, The Daily Beast/Newsweek

Gary Taubes of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health comments on the causes of America’s obesity crisis.

New report offers proposals to reform nation’s financial safety net for senior citizens.

Carroll Estes, UC San Francisco

After a lifetime of lower wages and time out of the labor market for caregiving, women typically receive less from Social Security than men, with millions of widows and women of color falling into poverty in old age.

Now, in a significant new report led by a UC San Francisco social scientist, a team of leading advocates for women and senior citizens seeks to correct the inequities through sweeping proposals to reform the nation’s financial safety net for senior citizens.

The report will be unveiled at a Congressional briefing Friday, May 11, at 9:30 a.m. (ET) in Washington, D.C.

The authors represent three national organizations for seniors and women: the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare Foundation, the National Organization for Women Foundation (NOW), and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“This is an urgent call for our retirement system to catch up with the changing needs of women,’’ said the lead author of the report, Carroll L. Estes, Ph.D., founder and former director of the UCSF Institute for Health & Aging. She is the chair of the board of directors of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare and its foundation.

“Social Security is crucial to the future of our children and grandchildren,’’ Estes said. “It is there for Americans when catastrophic events befall them, such as 9/11 when about 2,600 children lost a working parent. We must keep the social contract that it represents, and improve the lives of women and other workers who have paid into Social Security for decades.’’

The report, “Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling: A Proposal to Modernize Women’s Benefits,’’ examines the changing role of women in the workforce as well as the smaller incomes women receive in retirement as a result of lower wages on average and time spent out of the labor market for unpaid caregiving of children and aging parents. Retired women of color are particularly vulnerable, experiencing two to three times the poverty rates of whites.

Along with a slate of reforms earmarked at women, the report calls for dramatic changes in Social Security benefits for children and for same sex couples.

The proposals include:

• Improve survivor benefits to be 75 percent of a couple’s combined benefits;
• Provide Social Security credits for caregivers;
• Restore student benefits for children up to age 22;
• Equalize rules for disabled widows;
• Provide Social Security benefits to domestic partners and members of same-sex marriages, including the children of these relationships.

In the decades since the establishment of Social Security in 1935, women transformed the American workforce. Some broke through the rungs to reach the corporate board room, but far more found themselves in part-time positions, lower-levels jobs or entirely out of the workforce for periods as they juggled job and family.

On average, federal statistics show that women earn 19 percent less than men, leaving them with lower lifetime earnings and lower Social Security payments — $12,155 annually compared to $15,620 for men, according to 2009 data from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Additionally women – with longer life expectancies – are less likely to have employer pensions and more likely to outlive their retirement savings.

Even with monthly Social Security payments, 12 percent of older women and 15 percent of widows live in poverty, according to federal poverty statistics. The problem is even more acute for women of color: 26 percent of African American women 75 or older and on Social Security were living in poverty in 2009, while 21 percent of Hispanic women the same age were in the same plight, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“For too many women, retirement is the culmination of an entire career…of pay and income inequality,’’ said the authors.

Noting their opposition to privatizing Social Security and to raising the retirement age, the authors said that for more than 20 million women aged 65 and older, Social Security represents “a critical source of income, and is often their only hedge against inflation.’’

To pay for the proposed overhaul, the authors recommend that the earnings cap on contributions to Social Security – currently set at $110,100 and affecting approximately 6 percent of working Americans – be permanently lifted.

“This option by itself would eliminate most of Social Security’s solvency issues in perpetuity,’’ said Estes, a professor in the UCSF School of Nursing and in the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences.

The authors also suggest that salary reduction plans such as flexible spending accounts become subject to Social Security taxes, and that the Social Security contribution rate be slowly increased by 1/40th of one percent over 20 years.

“Social Security is earned through hard work and contributions,’’ Estes said. “It is insurance against the loss of wages in retirement, loss of the ability to work through disability, death of parents for surviving children and spouses. Every generation and every family with a worker is covered. The private sector is unable to ensure economic security in old age through private pensions, 401(k)s, home equity and interest on savings. This universal, secure source of retirement income for all working Americans and their families has never been more important.’’

Co-authors of the report are NOW president Terry O’Neill and Heidi Hartman, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For further information, visit www.ucsf.edu.

T1 Catalyst Award supports crucial next step in development.

Adti Bhargava, UC San Francisco

Chronic pain affects an estimated 116 million Americans and costs $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity.

Aditi Bhargava, Ph.D., associate professor at UC San Francisco’s School of Medicine, is using a technique known as RNA interference (RNAi) to develop a gene therapy system that sends specific commands to certain neurons, or nerve cells, telling them to turn off pain, or stop inflammation.

“The current treatments for pain dull everything,” Bhargava said. “You have a little fire in the kitchen, but your only solution is a fire hose that floods the entire house. You put out the fire, but you’re affecting the whole house in the process — a huge negative side effect.”

Likening her method to a Trojan horse, Bhargava’s novel therapeutic approach essentially hides the pain-silencing commands, carried by distinct proteins that affect cellular function, inside other proteins which bind only to the troublemaker cells. Once attached, they release their hidden power.

“We want to target the small or medium neurons that sense pain, while leaving other neurons unaffected,” she said. “We’re hoping that while you reduce pain, for example, you’ll still be able to chew or not drool.”

The data from her proof-of-concept animal studies look promising, Bhargava said. “I believe that this project has tremendous translational potential to turn what we learn into concrete benefits for patients.”

Targeted pain and inflammation relief could also be used to treat illnesses, such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), an autoimmune condition. This approach has potential to not only minimize unwanted side effects, but save costs, as it sends very small amounts of drug therapies to the targeted cells.

Targeted delivery of drug would reduce the dose required to treat, reduce cost, and most importantly, reduce unwanted side effects.

However, Bhargava’s work is in the early stages, and she’s now facing the critical next steps of moving from animal models to studies with humans, a phase she describes as complex and challenging.

Customized support to develop early-stage ideas

To get help tailored to her individual needs, Bhargava applied for a T1 Translational Catalyst Award, granted by UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The award is designed to help drive promising, early-stage research through the lengthy and complex process of translating promising ideas into patient benefit.

The CTSI T1 Catalyst Award works with a tiered model that provides increasing benefit at each of three phases, beginning with feedback and analysis of all proposals. In the second phase, a selected number of awardees are chosen to receive expert consultation from a customized panel of technical, clinical, and business experts.

During this consultation period, applicants are also eligible to apply for a pilot award of up to $15,000 to be used toward a critical experiment or study that may strengthen the proposal. In the final phase, funds of up to $100,000 are awarded to one or more applicants to develop proposals further.

“Many recipients point to individualized consultation with industry, legal, and regulatory experts as the most valuable element of the T1 Catalyst award process,” said Ruben Rathnasingham, Ph.D., a senior program manager with CTSI’s Early Translational Research program, which administers the award. “Applicants have found that expert advice that steers their research toward greater commercial and clinical utility often opens new doors to funding opportunities that were previously unavailable.”

“For researchers who have a well-developed idea with promising data, yet struggle to breach the gap between early research and clinical practice, the T1 Catalyst Award offers an indispensable opportunity,” he added.

In the case of Bhargava, “her work was very innovative and we immediately saw its potential clinical relevance,” Rathnasingham said. “Connecting her with an industry veteran has helped her tap into the full capabilities of her innovation, as well as provide a clear path forward.”

Bhargava was matched with Alex Bajamonde, then a biostatistician at Genentech, who suggested she focus on developing the method for wider applications, including delivering therapies.

“The advice was illuminating,” Bhargava said. “Working with someone who has done this is much better than reinventing the wheel. We obviously needed help scaling it up.”

Based on consultant feedback, and supported by a $15,000 Pilot Award from the T1 Catalyst Program, she revised her proposal to test her method with other localized diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, one of her areas of expertise. She used it to send a proven bowel disease antibody that blocks inflammation directly to the affected part of the intestine. “We found a dramatic reduction in inflammation, and we think the side effects will be much less,” she said.

While her investigation is on stronger footing than before the consultation, Bhargava cautions that far more research is needed. With the support of new data, she’s now working to get a patent on her innovation.

In another indication that she’s on a promising path, Bhargava, and her collaborator, Peter Ohara, Ph.D., UCSF professor of anatomy, recently secured an additional $100,000 in funding from a private donor and the Painless Research Foundation.

CTSI is a member of the National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Science Awards network. Under the banner of “Accelerating Research to Improve Health,” it provides a wide range of services for researchers, and promotes online collaboration and networking tools such as UCSF Profiles.

Innovative to Grow winners design better control valve for when blood is taken from babies.

UC Merced Innovate to Grow competition

A redesigned valve that may reduce blood sediment during intravenous therapy won top honors Wednesday at UC Merced‘s inaugural Innovate to Grow competition.

A team of four UC Merced students worked with Children’s Hospital Central California to design a better control valve for when blood is being taken from babies. The current shape – a T – causes blood sediment to form, posing potential health hazard to the young patients. The buildup can put the babies at risk for blood clotting, heart attacks, strokes and even infection.

The students – Gabriel Avila, Adrian Garcia, Hein Lu and Sheena Truong – identified why the blood was leaving sediment and designed a Y-shaped valve that should significantly reduced sediment buildup.

Innovate to Grow featured fourteen teams of UC Merced engineering and management students pitching their solutions to real-world problems faced by local, state and international organizations. Projects included installing turbines in the canals on campus to generate electricity, storing and recycling the city’s treated wastewater for municipal use, and reducing noise in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Truong, a senior who’s graduating Saturday with a degree in mechanical engineering, said addressing real issues through the competition was a great way to use what she’s learned in class.

“Applying my skills to something like this makes it that much more meaningful,” she said after the event. “It’s a good motivator.”

The team plans to further develop and test the design. The group, along with two others, has filed patent applications with the United States government.

The projects were judged by a seven-member panel that included a local lawyer and councilman, a Southern California Edison engineer and PG & E director.

The second place prize went to a team that developed a three-pronged approach to reduce noise in the neonatal ICU at Children’s Hospital Central California. Studies have shown that excessive noise can hinder a person’s recovery time.

Third place went to a team that developed a system to transport and store excess wastewater from Merced’s treatment plant. By reusing the water, the city could avoid using potable water for lawns and fire hydrants. It would also reduce the need for drilling a second well in South Merced, according to the team.

Jennifer Ornelas wins Alpha Omega Alpha award to study acne.

Jennifer Ornelas, UC Davis

A first-year UC Davis medical student has been named recipient of the Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn Kuckein Student Research Award.

Jennifer Ornelas, a native of Fairfield, will receive $5,000 to pursue her proposed research project. The award, which encourages and supports student research, was named in honor of Carolyn L. Kuckein, Alpha Omega Alpha’s longtime administrator and an honorary member of the society, who died in 2004.

Acne is the most common skin disorder in the United States, affecting 40 million to 50 million Americans, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Ornelas will study the use of botanical extracts in affecting the behavior of sebocytes, which are commonly involved in the development of acne. She will be working under the direction of Rivkah Isseroff, UC Davis professor of dermatology and Raja Sivamani, second-year dermatology resident at UC Davis.

Gates Foundation grants foster projects that show promise to improve global health.

David Segal, UC Davis

Six researchers affiliated with the University of California have received Grand Challenges Explorations grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They are among 107 grant recipients in the initiative’s eighth round of funding, announced today (May 9).

Grantees include:

David Segal, UC Davis; Transcription Factor Screening for P. falciparum Therapy. Segal will develop a high-throughput screen to search for artificial transcription factors (ATF) that are candidates to treat P. falciparum infections. ATFs could be a gene-regulating drug resource for the study and treatment of malaria.

Claire Dillavou, UCLA; More Vaccination, Less Debris: Developing Compostable Vaccine Packaging. Dillavou will develop compostable vaccine packaging to diminish the environmental impact of residual debris from mass vaccination campaigns in developing countries lacking adequate disposal infrastructure.

Frans Walther, UCLA; Aerosol Delivery of Synthetic Lung Surfactant. Walther, of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, will develop an aerosol formulation of an advanced synthetic lung surfactant to treat lung surfactant deficiency and improve lung function in premature infants who are supported with non-invasive ventilation for prematurity-related breathing problems.

Hideaki Tsutsui, UC Riverside; A Biotic Stress Sensor Printed on Maize Leaves. Tsutsui will develop a low-cost stamp to directly print biosensors on maize leaves for colorimetric detection of biotic stresses. The strategy is to develop an immunochromatographic assay using microneedle probes while printing an easily-read color-change detector.

Todd Coleman, UC San Diego; Epidermal Electronics for Continuous Pregnancy Monitoring. Coleman, along with John Rogers of the University of Illinois, will develop wireless tattoo-like electronics to continuously monitor vital signs of the pregnant mother and fetus. The devices have the potential to be inexpensively mass produced, which could advance epidemiological studies of preterm birth.

Jay Keasling, Zagaya, Emeryville; Development of a Microorganism to Produce Artemisinin. Keasling, a professor at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Lab, through Zagaya will explore the production by an endophytic fungus of artemisinin, a key ingredient in malaria treatments. If the fungus produces artemisinin in the absence of light, an enzymatic mechanism is likely involved. This mechanism could be harnessed for a new production method to reduce treatment costs for malaria patients in developing countries.

Related link:
Grand Challenges Explorations release

UCLA team helps renovate convenience stores to highlight fresh produce.

Kulwant Songu and her husband, Bavinder, are the owners of YASH La Casa Market, which was renovated by a UCLA public health project to promote healthy eating in its East L.A. neighborhood.

A team of UCLA public health researchers and East Los Angeles high school students teamed up last summer to reinvent a dimly lit neighborhood snack shop into a more inviting source for healthy food.

They repainted the beige front a vibrant green while a market-transformation guru moved beer, chips and candy to the back of the East L.A. store and brought an expanded produce section to the front. Then the students noticed a fruit-laden jujube tree struggling to grow through a cramped hole in the cement-paved backyard of YASH La Casa Market.

“We have to save it!” the students said. So the group spent several sweltering days chipping out the pavement. The jujube tree is now the flourishing centerpiece of a new vegetable garden and a living symbol of transformation for the East Los Angeles neighborhood.

A trio of UCLA public health professors are working to change the food choices that East Los Angeles residents are making by renovating convenience stores to highlight fresh produce and involving the community in that transformation.

“The produce is already selling more,” said Kulwant Songu, who runs YASH with her husband. YASH is one of two stores that the UCLA team has renovated to help market healthier food to the community. A total of four stores will be done.

With new, wider windows uncluttered by posters and ads to let in more sunlight, her store has undergone a healthy makeover under the expertise of market transformation pro Nathan Cheng. The double-doored entryway — previously one door was permanently locked — is now wide open and shows off fresh paint. The cash register has been moved back to draw customers inward. Beer and chip ads are history, and less-healthy impulse items have been pushed to the back of the store. A stack of cookies remains at the checkout, but vying for attention next to them is a bowl of shiny apples.

Adjunct professor Michael Prelip heads the Corner Store Project, one of several initiatives within the UCLA-USC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, which received $2 million in funding over five years from the National Institutes of Health. The project began in 2010 and focuses on East L.A. in part because obesity-related chronic diseases are so disproportionately high there, Prelip explained.

“If people want to eat better, but the food options aren’t there, it’s really hard,” said Prelip, who teaches in UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health in the Department of Community Health Sciences. “At the same time, just offering fruits and vegetables doesn’t bring customers in. Not only do we need to change the physical market, we need to change the buying market. Consumers have to want to buy fresh produce, so that’s why we’ve included a social marketing campaign.”

To change attitudes, dozens of high schoolers enrolled in social-justice electives at Roosevelt High School and Esteban Torres High School’s East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy spend time teaching the neighborhood about the importance of healthy eating and promoting the two stores that now sell more produce.

The students distributed fliers in neighborhoods about upcoming cooking demonstrations and other store-related events. They wore fruit costumes outside the shops and in neighborhood parades to pique customers’ interest. They also teamed up with a church and elementary school located across the street from YASH to attract foot traffic from churchgoers, parents, teachers and students. The youths also taught second- and third-graders about healthy eating and container gardening.

“Now, even if they don’t have a big yard at home, the kids can grow fresh herbs,” said Rosa Vander Lankin, the Corner Store Project’s program manager. “The parents are so excited that their kids are involved that they’re supporting the store to support the kids.”

The project also teamed up with several community partners to deepen community involvement. Along with high school students, the nonprofit Public Matters provided crucial assistance in creating the garden and staging cooking demonstrations. Volunteers of East Los Angeles and the community bank Pan American also participated.

“There’s just amazing community support,” Prelip said. “I’ve been doing community intervention for 25 years, and I’ve never seen a community embrace an intervention like East L.A. has.”

That embrace has also taken a nice cross-cultural turn. Songu decided to see what the largely Latino neighborhood would think of her Indian food. So she hosted an Indian cooking demo in the shop’s new Eden-like backyard garden. She even put in a small Indian grocery section in the store.

“We didn’t have that before, and our neighbors love it,” Songu said. The demand from customers was strong enough for her to expand the Indian grocery aisle. “The customers are always asking me when the next Indian cooking demonstration is going to be.”

In the garden where Songu holds her cooking demonstrations, the jujube tree is still the centerpiece, but now, it’s surrounded by sprouting blueberries, grapes, beans, chilis, cilantro, spinach, squash and other plants.

But the changes that have resulted in the two stores go beyond this. Neighbors are also visiting the stores more often because their attitudes have changed about the markets, Prelip said.

“The owners are telling us that people are buying more produce, and their relationship with their community is changing,” Prelip said. “People are really viewing these [stores] as community assets now, not just places to run in and buy some flaming-hot Cheetos. They’re enjoying elevated status for being an organization that’s trying to make the community healthier.”

Prelip’s team of researchers, including professors Deborah Glik and Alex Ortega, are collecting sales data from all the stores and will compare the four stores they’re renovating to four “control” stores. Anecdotally, storeowners of the two stores that have been transformed say they’re selling more produce and are making at least as much money as before. But researchers will soon be looking at store receipts and doing door-to-door polling of residents of more than 1,000 houses to verify whether the Corner Store Project has indeed changed food habits and attitudes.

More importantly, they’ll determine whether the results can be replicated. ”

“This was a huge risk for the store owners — modifying their businesses — and it’s great to see that after the initial buzz the community’s still excited about it,” Prelip said. “We have to make it sustainable for them. If we can make this profitable, our guess is that, not only will these stores sustain it, but other stores will start selling more fruits and vegetables, too.

“Four stores can’t create the whole change that this community needs, but they can contribute to a shift in what the community’s knowledge and attitudes are about healthy eating.”

UC San Diego nutrition experts launch yearlong study of participants with Type 2 diabetes.

Cheryl Rock, UC San Diego

Diabetes affects nearly 24 million people in the United States, most with Type 2 diabetes, a disease which is often coupled with obesity. Concerned by the increasing number of overweight Americans, nutrition experts with the UC San Diego School of Medicine are launching Take Charge, a research study analyzing the effectiveness of a commercial weight-loss program on participants with Type 2 diabetes who have a BMI of 25 – 45.

“We know that commercial weight loss programs can contribute to weight loss. Now we ask if they can have an impact on diabetes,” said Cheryl Rock, Ph.D., R.D., professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. “We want to find out if participants using a weight loss program do better than those who receive individualized dietary counseling with a registered dietitian.”

Rock and her team will work with primary care physicians throughout the San Diego community to enlist potential participants. “This is about the health of our entire community,” said Rock. “The problem of obesity is so great in that we need help on all fronts: medical, surgical and pharmaceutical. And we want to know if science-based commercial weight loss programs can contribute to solving this national problem as well.”

Take Charge participants must:

• Be 18 years old or older
• Be overweight
• Have Type 2 diabetes
• Be willing to participate for one year
• Otherwise be in generally good physical and mental health
• Agree to take part in the diet, exercise and lifestyle counseling program

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups:

• Group one will receive dietary counseling, including menu planning and exercise advice from a registered dietitian.
• The other two groups will receive dietary counseling at a commercial facility and receive prepackaged meals coinciding with the assigned diet.
• All study participants will receive follow-up phone calls and/or emails from the study coordinator every few weeks throughout the course of the study.
• In addition, the investigators want to look at the effects of treatment on:
  • Feelings and quality of life
  • Waist circumference
  • Cardiovascular fitness

The costs of all study procedures, examinations, and medical care that may be delivered as part of this study will be provided at no cost. Participants will be compensated for travel-related costs.  This study is funded by Jenny Craig Inc. For more information on participation, please contact study coordinator, Angela Leone, M.S., R.D., UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, (858) 822-4792 or AFLeone@ucsd.edu.

Health Care Innovation award expected to help reduce health care spending costs.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that UCLA‘s new Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care program has been awarded $3,208,540 as part of the agency’s Health Care Innovation awards program.

The awards, made by possible through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, support innovative projects nationwide aimed at saving money, delivering high-quality medical care and enhancing the health care workforce. The 26 awardees announced today are expected to help reduce health care spending costs by $254 million over the next three years.

“We can’t wait to support innovative projects that will save money and make our health care system stronger,” Sebelius said. “It’s yet another way we are supporting local communities now in their efforts to provide better care and lower cost.”

The new projects include collaborations among leading hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technology innovators, community-based organizations, patient advocacy groups and other organizations located in urban and rural areas. The Health and Human Services awards initiative allows applicants to come up with their best ideas to test how the quality and affordability of health care can be improved quickly and efficiently. The awarded projects will begin work this year to address health care issues in their local communities.

UCLA’s Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care program, which launched in March, provides comprehensive care, as well as resources and support, to patients and their caregivers.

David Reuben, UCLA

“UCLA already provides outstanding geriatrics, neurology, psychiatry and primary care clinical services,” said Dr. David Reuben, chief of UCLA’s geriatrics division and leader of the program. “With the launch of this new program, we now have a comprehensive, coordinated dementia care program that spans across UCLA clinical centers and reaches into the community to meet the needs of these patients and their families. We are honored to receive this award, which will help us further our mission of caring for this ever-growing population.”

The Health Care Innovation award will allow UCLA to expand the new program to provide efficient patient- and family-centered care for approximately 1,000 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia in Los Angeles County. By training and deploying professional and non-professional workers and unpaid volunteers, expanding a dementia registry, conducting patient-needs assessments, and creating individualized dementia care plans, the program will reduce and shorten hospital stays, reduce emergency room visits and improve patient health, caregiver health and quality of care, with an estimated savings of approximately $6.9 million.

Over the three-year award period, the UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care program will train an estimated 2,500 workers. These workers will include nurse practitioners, who will be trained as dementia care managers; they, in turn, will help train primary care providers and patient caregivers in dementia care.

The awardees were chosen for their innovative solutions to the health care challenges facing their communities and for their focus on creating a well-trained health care workforce equipped to meet the need for new jobs in the 21st-century health system. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the health care and social assistance sector will gain the most jobs between now and 2020.

The 26 Health Care Innovation awards announced today total $122.6 million. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at HHS administers the awards through cooperative agreements.

For more information on the awards announced today, visit http://bit.ly/JnrxE4.

To learn more about the UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care program, visit http://ucla.in/Kj9oXL.

May 15 event will unite diverse groups, people to determine local needs, priorities.

Ellen Olshansky, UC Irvine

The Orange County Women’s Health Project is holding its first Women’s Health Policy Summit at UC Irvine on Tuesday, May 15, to identify needs and priorities related to women’s health issues in the nation’s sixth-largest county.

The event will take place at the Student Center and bring together a diverse group of health professionals and administrators, nonprofit and public agency staff, educators and researchers, and others concerned about women’s health in Orange County. The public is invited to attend.

Highlighting the summit will be a presentation by Brittany Goettsch — who recently earned a master’s degree in public health at UCI — called “A Snapshot of Women’s Health in Orange County” that evaluates local women’s health data culled from a variety of sources.

Diana Bonta, president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation, and Terri Thorfinnson, chief of the California Office of Women’s Health, will deliver keynote speeches on health policy and opportunities for women’s health under healthcare reform.

“This summit marks the beginning of a process to engage the community to identify policy priorities and develop recommendations that address gaps and disparities affecting women’s health,” said Allyson Sonenshine, founding director of the Orange County Women’s Health Project.

Established in 2010 by five local women — including UCI’s Susan Bryant, retired vice chancellor for research; Karol Gottfredson, coordinator of the Department of Education’s intern teacher credential program; and Ellen Olshansky, nursing science professor and director — the OCWHP aims to facilitate and sustain improvements in women’s health in Orange County. To date, it has united more than 25 community-based organizations and individuals who have met monthly to plan the summit and chart the future direction of the project.

“In many ways, our society has become too complacent about issues related to women’s health,” Olshansky said. “In fact, women have concerns not only about specific health problems, but also about access to quality care for those problems. Our Women’s Health Policy Summit will address these issues with an eye toward influencing important policy decisions.”

The all-day event, which begins at 8 a.m., features a welcome by U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez and afternoon sessions on issues disproportionately affecting Orange County women, such as breast and cervical cancer, domestic violence and teen reproductive health. For more information and to register, visit www.ocwomenshealth.org.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County’s second-largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

About 25 nursing students are candidates for a Master of Science degree.

Thousands of students from the University of California, Davis, will participate in 13 commencement ceremonies this spring, including the first class from the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

Commencement season begins May 17 and concludes June 17.

Guest speakers will include:

• Goodwin Liu, an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, at the commencement for the School of Law on May 17;
• Marie V. McDemmond, president emerita of Norfolk State University in Virginia, at the commencement for the School of Education on June 13;
• James C. Davis, president of Chevron Energy Solutions, at the commencement for the Graduate School of Management on June 16; and
• Secretary General Chris Buijink of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation for the Netherlands, at the commencements for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on June 17.

For more about speakers, visit http://commencement.ucdavis.edu/speakers.html.

Commencement dates, times and locations are as follows:

• May 17 — School of Law at 2 p.m. at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts;
• May 19 — School of Medicine at 10 a.m. at the Mondavi Center;
• June 13 — School of Education at 4 p.m. at the Mondavi Center;
• June 14 — Graduate Studies at 4 p.m. in the ARC Pavilion;
• June 15 — College of Biological Sciences at 9 a.m. in the ARC Pavilion;
• June 15 — School of Veterinary Medicine at 10 a.m. at the Mondavi Center;
• June 15 — College of Engineering at 3 p.m. in the ARC Pavilion;
• June 16 — College of Letters and Science at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the ARC Pavilion;
• June 16 — Graduate School of Management at 10 a.m. at the Mondavi Center; and
• June 17 — College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the ARC Pavilion.

In addition, the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing will hold a special celebration of its first graduates at 12:30 p.m. June 14 at the UC Davis Conference Center, before students participate in the Graduate Studies commencement. About 25 nursing students are candidates for a Master of Science degree.

Established in 2009, the nursing school admitted the first students to its master’s and Doctor of Philosophy programs in fall 2010. The school focuses on preparing graduates as educators, researchers and leaders to promote health, advance quality of care and safety, and shape policy.

The School of Law will award 23 Master of Laws and 202 Juris Doctor degrees at its ceremony, and the School of Medicine will award 108 Doctor of Medicine, four Master of Health Informatics and 24 Master of Public Health degrees.

Estimates of degrees to be awarded at the other ceremonies will be available in June. In 2010-11, UC Davis conferred 8,350 degrees.

Tickets are required for all commencement ceremonies except Graduate Studies, and they are distributed to graduating students by individual schools and colleges.

UC Davis will offer live and on-demand webcasts of each of the commencements at http://commencementvideo.ucdavis.edu.