April 2021

Health impacts of holocaust linger long after survival

The damaging effects of life under Nazi rule have long been known with many victims having experienced periods of protracted emotional and physical torture, malnutrition and mass exposure to disease. But recent research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem show that even for those who survived, their health and mortality continued to be directly impacted…

A new treatment for metastatic lung cancer

A new phase 3 randomized clinical trial overseen by CU Cancer Center member Chad Rusthoven, MD, and Vinai Gondi, MD, from Northwestern University, is testing whether a new treatment approach could result in improved outcomes for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that has spread to the brain. Funded by the National Cancer Institute…

Hospital rankings for complications after spinal fusion are ‘unreliable’

April 8, 2021 – Routinely collected data on patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery do not provide a valid basis for assessing and comparing hospital performance on patient safety outcomes, reports a study in Spine. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. At a time when hospitals are increasingly subject to online…

Autism gene study finds widespread impact to brain’s growth signaling network

JUPITER, FL — Damage to the autism-associated gene Dyrk1a, sets off a cascade of problems in developing mouse brains, resulting in abnormal growth-factor signaling, undergrowth of neurons, smaller-than-average brain size, and, eventually, autism-like behaviors, a new study from Scripps Research, Florida, finds. The study from neuroscientist Damon Page, PhD, describes a new mechanism underlying…

Nemours secures grant to study behavioral health interventions for teens with T1D

Jacksonville, FL (April 8, 2021) – Susana R. Patton, Ph.D., ABPP, CDCES Center Director of the Nemours Center for Healthcare Delivery Science in Florida, has secured a three-year, $900,000 NIH R01 grant entitled, “Coin2Dose: Behavioral economics to promote insulin bolus activity and improve HbA1c in teens.” Dr. Patton is the recipient of three concurrent R01…

M2D2 $200K Challenge names pitch contest winners

LOWELL, Mass. – A biotech startup that aims to transform how intravenous medications are administered to patients is the top winner in the 2021 Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) $200K Challenge. Now in its 10th year, the annual pitch contest drives innovations in health care by showcasing the pioneering work of early-stage medical device,…

MHRP launches trial to evaluate IL-15 Agonist as therapy to reduce HIV reservoir

SILVER SPRING, Md. – The U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research last week launched a Phase 2 clinical trial in Thailand to evaluate an interleukin-15 (IL-15) superagonist, ImmunityBio’s Anktiva® (also called N-803), administered during acute HIV infection as an experimental therapy to target establishment of the HIV…

More Contagious Covid Variant Is Now Dominant in U.S., C.D.C. Says

Scientists hope that vaccination will blunt any potential fourth surge. On Tuesday, President Biden moved up his vaccination timetable by two weeks, calling states to make every American adult eligible by April 19. All states have already met or expect to beat this goal after he initially asked that they do so by May 1.…