UCLA biobank study reveals disease risk, heath care use among LA’s diverse population

The research underscores the limitations of the health care system’s frequent reliance on broad self-reported race and ethnicity data to assess patients’ risk of developing disease, and the findings also support expanding genetic screening to more groups.

Expert panel explores challenges, presents solutions to improve breast cancer outcomes for Black women

Although awareness and research activity is growing, much work still needs to be done to ensure equity in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in Black women, according to an expert panel who spoke earlier this week at the virtual American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2021.

Study Confirms Origin of Vervet Monkeys Living Near an Urban Airport for Decades

Scientists have confirmed the species and origin of a colony of wild African vervet monkeys that landed in Dania Beach more than 70 years ago. They escaped from the Dania Chimpanzee Farm in 1948 and settled in a thick mangrove forest near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in South Florida. The facility acted as a zoo and also provided primates imported from Africa as research subjects in the development of the polio vaccine and other medical research.

Diversity Among Study Participants Credited with Identifying Gene Linked to Asthma

Researchers at Henry Ford Health System, as part of a national asthma collaborative, have identified a gene variant associated with childhood asthma that underscores the importance of including diverse patient populations in research studies.

The study is published in the print version of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Cellular pathway of genetic heart disease similar to neurodegenerative disease

Research on a genetic heart disease has uncovered a new and unexpected mechanism for heart failure. This landmark discovery found a correlation between the clumping of RNA-binding proteins ― long linked to neurodegenerative disease ― and the aggregates of protein found in the heart tissue of patients with RBM20 dilated cardiomyopathy.

Mass Eye and Ear Receives $4 Million Gift to Accelerate Research on Genetic Links to Alzheimer’s Disease Resistance

Mass Eye and Ear has received a five-year, $4 Million gift from Good Ventures to spur Dr. Joseph F. Arboleda-Velásquez’s groundbreaking work into Alzheimer’s disease genetic resistance. This transformational gift will enable Dr. Arboleda-Velásquez to build upon the recent discovery of a genetic mutation that protected a woman who had a high familial risk for the condition and amyloid plaque deposits in her brain against early-onset Alzheimer’s.