Breast Cancer Research Foundation Renews Support for Mount Sinai Research on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has renewed its funding to Elisa Port, MD, and Hanna Irie, MD, PhD, to study new therapeutic approaches that target aggressive triple-negative breast cancer. The latest installment of $225,000 brings the total to almost $2 million over the past nine years. It will fund research into the immune microenvironment of triple-negative breast cancer in order to identify new strategies to enhance cancer-fighting immune responses for this aggressive breast cancer, which traditionally has few options for treatment.

Cedars-Sinai Surgeon to Lead Breast Program at Huntington Hospital

Jeannie Shen, MD, a fellowship-trained breast surgeon who is board-certified in general surgery, has been appointed medical director of the Breast Program at Huntington Hospital, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai, and medical director of the International Health Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer at Huntington Hospital.

Low sense of personal control increases people’s affinity for tighter, rules-based culture

People who feel a lack of personal control in their lives are more likely to prefer a culture that imposes order, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. These “tighter” cultures, in turn, perpetuate their existence by reducing individuals’ sense of personal control and increasing their sense of collective control.

FAU Nurse-led Mobile Health Unit Will Bring ‘CARE’ Where It’s Needed Most

FAU researchers from the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing have received a four year, $3.9 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a nurse-led mobile health unit to create healthier populations in rural and medically underserved regions.

New onset chronic kidney disease in people with diabetes highest among ethnic, racial minorities

New onset chronic kidney disease (CKD) in people with diabetes is highest among racial and ethnic minority groups compared with white persons, a UCLA-Providence study finds. The study, published as a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that new onset CKD rates were higher by approximately 60%, 40%, 33%, and 25% in the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino populations, respectively, compared to white persons with diabetes.

Oil Spill Effects on Mahi-mahi Go Far Beyond Initial Survival

New research into oil spills’ effects finds surviving the initial event does not guarantee success for the popular sport fish mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus). Exposed fish faced temporary increased predation and did not spawn for the entire observation time.

Climate Change Double Whammy Causes Unexpected Effects in Pacific Mussels

Comparative physiologists studied how two aspects of climate change—warming temperatures and increasingly acidic waters—may affect the ecologically important Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus), a foundational species in the intertidal environments of the northern Pacific Ocean.

Math Model Shows Climate Change Puts Rainforest Animal’s Survival in Jeopardy

A South American marsupial with ties to an ancient line of animals may go extinct in the next half-century due to warming temperatures. Researchers from the Universidad Austral de Chile will present a mathematical model of the monito del monte’s survival predictions this week at the American Physiological Society (APS) Intersociety Meeting in Comparative Physiology: From Organism to Omics in an Uncertain World conference in San Diego.

It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity: Water Loss Hurts Bees Most in the Desert

Digger bees lose large amounts of water during flight, which compromises their activity period and survival in the desert heat. Researchers from Arizona State University will present their work this week at the American Physiological Society (APS) Intersociety Meeting in Comparative Physiology: From Organism to Omics in an Uncertain World conference in San Diego.

Cedars-Sinai Awarded $8 Million to Launch New Stem Cell Clinic

Cedars-Sinai has been awarded a five-year, $8 million grant from California’s stem cell agency to launch an innovative new clinic that will expand patients’ access to stem cell and gene therapies, increase research and training in regenerative medicine, foster greater collaboration with eight similar clinics across the state and help educate the public about stem cell and related therapies.

Study assesses symptom trajectories and outcomes in patients with kidney disease

● Among individuals with varying levels of chronic kidney disease who were not on dialysis, the prevalence of individual symptoms ranged from 24% (chest pain) to 83% (fatigue), and 98% of participants reported at least one symptom.
● Patients categorized as having a “Worse symptom score and worsening trajectory” of symptoms had higher risks of later needing dialysis and of dying before dialysis initiation.

UA Little Rock Receives $150,000 NSA Grant to Host Cybersecurity Educational Program Across Arkansas

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received a nearly $150,000 grant from the National Security Agency to hold a year’s worth of free cybersecurity educational events for junior high and high school students in Arkansas. UA Little Rock will partner with Philander Smith College to host the 2nd Arkansas GenCyber Strength Training camp in Arkansas, which will support the state’s long-term investment in secondary school cybersecurity education.