Stephen Hauser to receive Charcot award.

Stephen Hauser, UC San Francisco

The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation has named UC San Francisco neurologist Stephen L. Hauser, M.D., the winner of its 2013 Charcot award, the top international prize for multiple sclerosis (MS) research.

The award is given every two years to recognize lifetime achievement for improving the treatment and understanding of the central nervous system disease, which affects an estimated 2 million people around the world.

Hauser is the Robert A. Fishman Distinguished Professor and the chair of the Department of Neurology at UCSF. With his colleagues on campus and at institutions around the world, Hauser has been at the forefront of clinical and laboratory research devoted to the disease for the last few decades, pioneering studies that have deciphered the genetic basis and autoimmune etiology of the disease.

“Three decades ago, when I first began to see patients with MS, we understood so little about this cruel and increasingly common disease, but since then the field has been transformed, and today progress is accelerating at an amazing pace,” Hauser said.

“Despite this progress, much more needs to be done,” he added. “My many colleagues at UCSF who are dedicated to patient care and research against multiple sclerosis share this common goal: to eradicate the disease in our lifetimes.”

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Hospital-wide VAP rates have decreased by almost 50 percent.

UC Davis Medical Center has been selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to receive an award in recognition of its achievements in reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

The medical center was selected for an Honorable Mention in the National Awards Program to Recognize Achievements in Eliminating Healthcare-Acquired Infections. The program is sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Healthcare Quality and the Critical Care Societies Collaborative. The latter consists of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society and Society of Critical Care Medicine.

The medical center’s VAP Prevention Initiative, funded by a grant from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, began in September 2010. The grant allowed for the hiring of quality and safety nurse champions from each adult intensive care unit. Together with a strong, coordinated multidisciplinary team, they developed a VAP charter, education program and a learning module for physicians and nurses.

Since the multidisciplinary team began doing its work, hospital-wide VAP rates have decreased by almost 50 percent.

“This award reflects the medical center’s leadership for its support of Patient Care Services’ quality and safety VAP reduction program, the multidisciplinary VAP reduction team members’ hard work and innovation, the staff’s dedication to quality care and patient safety, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s generous support,” said Jacqueline Stocking, program director of Patient Care Services’ Quality and Safety.

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$13M will establish an Autism Center of Excellence.

Sally Rogers, UC Davis

Autism researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute have received a prestigious $13 million award from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autism Center of Excellence and Treatment Network, making the MIND Institute one of only nine such centers in the United States.

Announced on World Autism Awareness Day, the Autism Center of Excellence, or ACE, award underwrites a research program aimed at advancing the quality, pace and coordination of autism research and is led by Sally J. Rogers, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and principal investigator. Rogers will collaborate with scientists at Vanderbilt University, Nashville; the University of Washington, Seattle; and Harvard to conduct the research. The award will support two separate treatment studies designed to provide the most up-to-date data possible on the most effective methods of treating very young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“While progress in research on ASD has been rapid, complex questions remain about the causes of these disorders, how to detect them very early and how to intervene most effectively,” said National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel. “Centers receiving ACE funding have marshaled the interdisciplinary expertise and technical resources needed to move the science forward as quickly as possible.”

Rogers said that supporting and improving the outcomes of young children with autism and other disabilities is a national commitment and health priority, and a community and family necessity.

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UCSF scientist Hana El-Samad receives grant for innovative cell research.

Hana El-Samad, UCLA

To explain her research into the workings of cells, UCSF scientist Hana El-Samad offers an analogy from the world of machines.

“Imagine a telephone or Internet network,” she says. “Despite their staggering complexity, packets of information find their destination on these networks and are interpreted correctly.”

Cells work in networks as well, she says, and information is constantly generated and transduced. A change in temperature of 2 degrees will change the information a cell needs to send to a gene, for instance; a change in the level of, say, glucose, will also change the information.

El-Samad is trying to understand how each change is encoded in the cells, so that it sends the right information to the genes it’s targeting, and then she wants to understand how those genes are able to decode the message.

Her novel approach in this arena won her a $1.4 million grant in February from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The grants are aimed at funding high-risk but potentially high-reward research that is not typically funded by traditional sources.

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UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science institute funds Catalyst Awards.

Mary Nakamura, UC San Francisco

An innovative project to develop a potential therapy to treat a wide range of cancers has won a major UC San Francisco award that aims to drive promising early-stage research through the complex process of translating ideas into patient benefit.

The Catalyst Awards, which combine funding with customized expert feedback and advice, announced winners for its fall 2012 cycle. Funded by UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), the awards focus on the development of four areas: therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and now also digital health.

This cycle’s top, $100,000 award went to Mary Nakamura, M.D., an associate professor in residence in the UCSF School of Medicine. Funding for her proposal – “A Recombinant Fusion Protein that redirects VEGF to actively kill cancer cells: R1FasL” – will support additional research to test the efficacy and safety of using an artificial protein, known as R1FasL, in cancer treatment.

“I think [the Catalyst Award program] creates a target for people who have innovative ideas to help move their work forward. That just hasn’t existed in academia before,” said Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research at UCSF and one of several UCSF leaders on hand for presentations by the 20 Catalyst Award finalists.

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Grad student’s epilepsy research earns him a Public Impact Fellowship.

Ryan Schutte, UC Irvine

For most people, flies are a household nuisance. But Ryan Schutte has found a greater purpose for the little buzzers. They’re helping him uncover clues to a severe form of childhood epilepsy.

Schutte, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in UC Irvine’s Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology working in the laboratories of Diane O’Dowd and Martin Smith, is using fruit flies to model fever-induced seizures similar to those seen in Dravet syndrome.

The insects have been genetically modified to carry a mutation that causes Dravet syndrome in humans, and they allow Schutte to study how these mutations affect communication among brain cells. In collaboration with postdoctoral fellow Lei Sun, he’s discovered that cell membrane channels key to nerve cell signaling open more slowly and close more quickly in the brains of Dravet flies.

Many children with Dravet syndrome experience not only violent seizures but also poor development of language and motor skills, hyperactivity and difficulty relating to others. Furthermore, Dravet seizures are often not well controlled with classic anti-epileptic drugs. With the new fly model of Dravet seizures, Schutte and Sun are now screening novel compounds to treat this and similar forms of epilepsy.

It’s important work, and Schutte’s research and dedication have earned him a 2012-13 UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellowship. This is the fifth year that UC Irvine’s Graduate Division has awarded $10,000 Public Impact Fellowships and the first year that two students meeting specific criteria have each received a $20,000 UCI/Stanley Behrens Public Impact Fellowship.

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Four UC med centers among 100 singled out by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Medical centers at UC Davis, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco have been named among “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review, a national publication geared to hospital and health system leaders.

The Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team selected the hospitals based on clinical accolades, quality care and contributions to the field of oncology. The ranking recognizes hospitals that are “on the cutting edge of cancer treatment, prevention and research,” according to the publication.

The editorial board considers the ratings of reputable health-care resources including U.S. News & World Report, the National Cancer Institute, the American College of Surgeons and other credentialing organizations when making selections.

“Each organization has demonstrated a focus on patient-centered cancer care and emphasis on continual innovation in treatments and services,” according to the publication’s press release. “Many of these organizations also have a place in the history of cancer prevention and research, as they‘ve driven groundbreaking discoveries and made clinical milestones.”

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Moores Cancer Center is only San Diego-based institution member.

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center

On March 19, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced the election of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center as the first and only San Diego-based NCCN Member Institution dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of care provided to patients with cancer.

“We are proud to join this prestigious alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers,” said Paul Viviano, CEO of UC San Diego Health System. “The physicians, scientists and clinicians of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and NCCN, share a vision of creating a healthier world, one life at a time, through new science, new medicine and new cures.”

As a NCCN Member Institution, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center will be part of a national network that develops the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology used as the standard for clinical policy in oncology, incorporating expert medical judgment and recommendations of multidisciplinary panels from NCCN Member Institutions.

“The National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the UC San Diego Health System are bringing the most effective therapeutic and prevention strategies to cancer patients,” said Scott M. Lippman, M.D., director of the Moores Cancer Center. “We look forward to working with fellow premier NCCN institutions to impact the outcomes of cancer care and to influence the direction of the cancer field.”

Joining 22 other institution members of NCCN, Moores Cancer Center was selected because of its role in transforming cancer care and providing exceptional care to cancer patients. Moores Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the San Diego region. Its multidisciplinary team approach includes translating the basic scientific discoveries of its research faculty into new treatments for cancer patients in the clinic.

“We are extremely pleased that UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center has been elected to institutional membership in the NCCN,” said Robert Carlson, M.D., CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. “Moores Cancer Center adds substantial strength and expertise to the excellence of cancer care, research and education characteristic of the other world-class member institutions.”

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Med center honored for its work in collecting race, ethnicity and language data from patients.

Vincent Johnson, UC Davis

UC Davis Medical Center’s expansive, highly successful collection of race, ethnicity and language data from its patients has received a “Best Overall Project” award in the Disparities Leadership Program class of 2012-13.

The medical center is one of four health care organizations from around the United States selected for the award. The various criteria on which the award is based include a project’s breadth of impact on an organization, the use of Disparities Leadership Program tools and skills, and overall achievements over the course of the year.

“It’s gratifying for UC Davis Medical Center to receive recognition for our national leadership role in ensuring that all people have access to the clinical care and opportunities they need to live a healthy and fulfilling life,” said Vincent Johnson, chief operating officer of the medical center. “We are particularly pleased to be recognized for our efforts to systematically collect race, ethnicity and language data from our patients. A truly broad, collaborative undertaking has allowed us to be very successful at collecting this information from across our organization.”

In November 2010, the medical center launched an initiative to systematically collect race, ethnicity and language (REAL) data from its patients. UC Davis now is successfully retrieving that information from 85.4 percent of its patients. When the medical center’s REAL Steering Committee began its initiative, only 32 percent of UC Davis patients were providing REAL data.

Allan Siefkin, chief medical officer of UC Davis Medical Center, chairs the REAL Steering Committee. Its co-chair is Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, director of the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities.

The data-collection initiative encompassed a range of departments, programs and individuals across the medical center, and included extensive education and training of staff.

The Disparities Leadership Program is the first program of its kind in the nation, and is designed for leaders from hospitals, health insurance plans and other health care organizations that are seeking to develop practical strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The program is led by the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston.

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Surgeon Laura Esserman to receive tribute from nationwide organization.

Laura Esserman, UC San Francisco

The American Cancer Society will pay tribute to Laura Esserman, M.D., M.B.A., an internationally known leader in the field of breast cancer care and research.

A surgeon and 20-year member of the faculty at UC San Francisco, Esserman is leading an effort to change the delivery of breast cancer services and the information systems used to support both research and patient care.

She will be honored Tuesday (March 19) at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. Established in 1913, the American Cancer Society is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer.

As a professor of surgery and radiology, Esserman co-leads the Breast Oncology Program and serves as associate director of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She is a member of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Working Group on Advancing Innovation in Drug Development and Evaluation, which is studying how the federal government can best support science-based innovation in the process of drug development and regulatory evaluation.

Esserman has worked at UCSF to develop interdisciplinary teams of clinicians and researchers to bring the best care to patients and find the best platform to integrate translational research and improve the delivery of breast cancer care.

Director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center at UCSF, she is founder and faculty leader of the program in Translational Informatics spanning the disciplines of bioinformatics, medical and clinical informatics, systems integration, and clinical care delivery.

Esserman is the principle investigator of the I-SPY TRIAL program, a multisite neoadjuvant clinical trial that has evolved into a model for translational research and innovation in clinical trial design. I-SPY combines personalized medicine with a novel investigational design to identify women at high risk of early breast cancer recurrence. It is under way at 19 major cancer centers around the country.

Esserman has recently launched a University of California-wide breast cancer initiative called the Athena Breast Health Network, a groundbreaking project designed to follow 150,000 women from screening through treatment and outcomes, incorporating the latest in molecular testing and Web-based tools into the course of care.

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Becker’s Hospital Review ranks health system in top 100 list for neurosurgery and spine care.

More than 30 neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System are dedicated to the care of complex neurological diseases.

UC San Diego Health System has been named among “100 Hospitals with Great Neurosurgery and Spine Programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review, a news publication for hospital and health system leadership.

According to the Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team, these hospitals offer outstanding spine and neurosurgical care, and were selected based on nominations, clinical accolades, quality care and other spine and neurosurgical proficiencies.

“The UC San Diego Neurological Institute is proud to have its neurosurgery program recognized as a leading program in complex brain and spine care,” said Bob Carter, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and chief of neurosurgery at UC San Diego Health System. “We have been fortunate to attract an outstanding cadre of neurosurgeons to UC San Diego who specialize in every form of neurosurgery, from minimally invasive techniques to the most complex spine and brain surgery.”

These hospitals have been recognized for excellence in this specialty by reputable healthcare rating resources, including U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, Truven Health Analytics, Blue Cross Blue Shield Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery, Delta Group CareChex and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Carter, who was recruited from Harvard in 2010, noted that a special emphasis has been placed on developing programs that require a multidisciplinary team-based approach.

“We have been fortunate to partner with our colleagues in neurology and other specialties to create ‘Centers of Excellence’ in brain tumors, spine and peripheral nerve restoration surgery, stroke and aneurysms, Parkinson’s disease, pediatric neurosurgery and skull base/pituitary surgery. These centers mean that patients are offered all forms of treatment, both surgical and non-surgical, in one setting.”

The neurosurgery program has more than 30 neurosurgeons dedicated to the care of all forms of brain and neurological disease. In 2012, UC San Diego Health System became one of the first facilities in the country to be certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC), the newest level of certification for advanced stroke care awarded by The Joint Commission.

Patients and families who would like to learn more about the neurosurgery program at UC San Diego Health System may visit: http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/neuro/Pages/default.aspx.

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Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California honors UC Santa Cruz’s CGHub.

David Haussler, UC Santa Cruz

The UC Santa Cruz Cancer Genomics Hub (CGHub) has been honored by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) as the recipient of the 2013 Innovations in Networking Award for High-Performance Research Applications.

UCSC has built CGHub, a 5-petabyte database, to store tumor genomes sequenced through National Cancer Institute (NCI) projects. Through this effort, CGHub is tackling the significant computational challenges posed by storing, serving, and interpreting cancer genomics data.

The CGHub mission is to facilitate the work of scientific researchers. It is designed to be a fully automated resource, appearing to the user as an extension of the user’s home institute computing system. Making such vast amounts of data accessible to collaborating researchers nationally and internationally requires advanced networking to allow the research to be carried out as seamlessly as possible.

The project is led by UC Santa Cruz bioinformatics expert David Haussler. Haussler is a distinguished professor of biomolecular engineering in the Baskin School of Engineering at UCSC and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “By providing researchers with comprehensive catalogs of the key genomic changes in many major types and subtypes of cancer, these efforts will support the development of more effective ways to diagnose and treat cancer,” Haussler said.

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