Year: 2022

Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant Saves Leukemia Patient

sarah JonasFeature

The recovery of Jesus Torres, a patient at Loyola Medicine with acute myeloid leukemia, highlights the importance of access to innovative, experimental treatments for blood cancers for all communities. As a world-class research institute, Loyola Medicine provides unique, life-saving therapies through its participation in clinical trials, such as a phase 3 clinical trial that uses umbilical cord blood transplantation to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Missile strikes in Poland — UNLV professor Christian Jensen is an expert in European politics and can talk about what this means for global security.

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

With the missile strikes over the border of Poland, and U.S. intelligence blaming Russia, the ongoing war in Eastern Europe is getting closer to home for NATO-protected countries. What does this mean for world security? The Ukraine conflict? Western Europe?…

Reducing Redundancy to Accelerate Complicated Computations

sarah JonasResearch Results

Computers help physicists solve complicated calculations. But some of these calculations are so complex, a regular computer is not enough. In fact, some advanced calculations tax even the largest supercomputers. Now, scientists at Jefferson Lab and William & Mary have developed MemHC, a new tool that uses memory optimization methods to allow GPU-based computers to calculate the structures of neutrons and protons ten times faster.

EPA grant to Wayne State to evaluate chemical mixture health risks

sarah JonasAnnouncement

There are hidden metabolic health impacts in things that most people encounter every day. From surface cleaners to silicone wristbands, from fracking fluids to wastewater — even household dust — these diverse environmental mixtures have a potential to disrupt human health. A grant from the EPA to Wayne State University will evaluate the risks of chemical mixtures on health.

There is no evidence that “immunity debt” is real, however, the end of COVID-19 mitigation efforts means a higher risk for viral infections

sarah JonasFact Check

Some people believe that public health measures against COVID-19, including masking and social distancing, have resulted in children getting more sick now because of a weakened immune system. Experts disagree about whether “immunity debt” is a real phenomenon or convenient pseudoscience.

UCI’s Oswald Steward to serve as president of Society for Neuroscience

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 15, 2022 — The University of California, Irvine today announced that Oswald Steward, director of the campus’s Reeve-Irvine Research Center, will assume the role of president of the Society for Neuroscience, the world’s largest organization for the study of the brain and nervous system, with more than 36,000 members in 95 countries.

Incarceration of Parent is Associated with Worse Access to Health Care for Millions of U.S. Children, New Study Shows

sarah JonasResearch Results

According to a new study, children exposed to parental incarceration had worse access to primary care and more unmet dental and mental health care needs than their peers, even after accounting for income, insurance status, rurality, and other important factors. With the United States having the highest incarceration rate in the world, these barriers currently place more than 5 million children who have experience the incarceration of a parent at risk of worse mental and physical health outcomes because of poor access to early health interventions.

Advanced Light Source Upgrade Approved to Start Construction

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Berkeley Lab’s ALS has received federal approval to begin construction on an upgrade that will boost the brightness of its X-ray beams at least a hundredfold. Scientists will use the improved beams for research into new materials, chemical reactions, and biological processes. This construction milestone enables the lab’s biggest project in three decades to move from planning to execution.

UC Davis Health and Illuminate implement abdominal aortic aneurysm surveillance program

sarah JonasFeature

UC Davis Health and AI software company Illuminate have developed a centralized abdominal aortic aneurysm surveillance program using artificial intelligence software. The effort identifies at-risk abdominal aortic aneurysm patients who may have been ‘lost-to-follow-up’ either due to COVID-19 or other factors.

WashU Expert: West must grasp Putin’s worldview to avoid further surprise

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

To much of the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions leading up to and since the invasion of Ukraine have often appeared unpredictable and illogical. For example, when faced with embarrassing military setbacks, Putin doubled down with a massive military mobilization rather than looking for an exit strategy — as most assumed he would do.

Unraveling the biology behind aggressive pediatric brain tumor reveals potential new treatment avenue

sarah JonasResearch Results

Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have identified a novel treatment approach to an aggressive type of pediatric brain cancer, using therapies already approved to treat cancer. The team developed a mouse model of pediatric glioma with a histone mutation called H3.3-G34, which allowed them to study the tumor’s biology in the presence of a functional immune system, revealing a promising outlook for long-term survival.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Researchers Develop Promising New Cancer Therapy

sarah JonasResearch Results

Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as Keytruda and Opdivo work by unleashing the immune system’s T cells to attack tumor cells. Their introduction a decade ago marked a major advance in cancer therapy, but only 10% to 30% of treated patients experience long-term improvement. In a paper published online today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine describe findings that could bolster the effectiveness of immune-checkpoint therapy.

AAOS to Congress: Protect Healthcare Services Before Years End

sarah JonasPolicy

The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is urging Congress to mitigate impending Medicare physician pay cuts and reform flawed prior authorization processes in year-end legislation.

PPPL awarded more than $12 million to speed development of a fusion pilot plant

sarah JonasAnnouncement

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded PPPL funding of more than $12 million to work with laboratories around the world to accelerate the development of a pilot plant powered by the carbon-free fusion energy that drives the sun and stars and can counter climate change.

In lung cancer, proteins may predict prognosis, improve treatment, diagnostics

sarah JonasResearch Results

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally and a top cause of cancer deaths in the Military Health System. However, the ability to determine which of these patients have aggressive tumors and which will respond better to certain treatments – could soon be available through the collective analysis of proteins and genomes, according to a new study published Nov. 15 in Cell Reports Medicine, led by researchers at the Uniformed Services University (USU).

Genes to Potentially Diagnose Long-Term Lyme Disease Identified

sarah JonasResearch Results

Researchers at the Icahn Mount Sinai have identified 35 genes that are particularly highly expressed in people with long-term Lyme disease. These genes could potentially be used as biomarkers to diagnose patients with the condition, which is otherwise difficult to diagnose and treat. The findings, published November 15 in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, may also lead to new therapeutic targets. The study is the first to use transcriptomics as a blood test to measure RNA levels in patients with long-term Lyme disease.

Consumer behavior expert explains why fans spend thousands on Taylor Swift concert tickets

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Subimal Chatterjee is a SUNY distinguished teaching professor of marketing in Binghamton University’s School of Management. He researches consumer behavior, irrational decision-making and how value perceptions are shaped. Why do fans spend thousands on concert tickets? For major artists like…

People with diabetes may benefit more from a pancreas transplant than other treatments

sarah JonasResearch Results

Results of pancreas transplantation continue to improve and up to 90% of recipients with diabetes enjoy freedom from both insulin therapy and the need for close glucose monitoring following the procedure, according to a new paper published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

New Critical Period of Embryonic Sex Determination in Sea Turtles Identified

sarah JonasResearch Results

A study shows that the temperature of the incubation environment could influence the sexualization of the gonads (reproductive organs) in sea turtles earlier than what is currently recognized. Researchers developed a new way to integrate the effect of thermal fluctuations on embryonic sex determination and predict sex ratios with much better accuracy than prior models. By measuring the strength of masculinization or feminization of temperatures using novel parameters, they have uncovered how temperature-sensitive sex determination works. These findings could be similar for other reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination because similar molecular determinants and enzymatic mechanisms are at play.

Early Mobility Improved Survival Rates for COVID-19 Patients Receiving ECMO

sarah JonasResearch Results

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital, Plano, Texas, changed its treatment paradigm for its COVID-19 patients receiving ECMO during the pandemic, finding that progressive mobility and a more aggressive application of rehabilitation therapies contributed to significantly higher survival rates.