Feed of Latest U-M Research News
Biomedical
MbusinessLink: Pathway To Discovery
At the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute (LSI), U-M scientists are working with corporate partners from Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, a leading pharmaceutical company, to develop new therapies for diabetes, inflammation and obesity. MbusinessLink, a publication of the U-M Business Engagement Center, reports that future breakthroughs stemming from this collaboration could help to improve the health and well-being of millions of patients worldwide. [Read more...]
New antioxidant system found
The U-M's Kate Carroll, along with colleagues in Belgium, have discovered a new antioxidant system that protects single amino acids known as cysteines. The body's proteins, which are made up of amino acids and perform essential roles, can be injured by reactive species known as oxidants. Over time, the injuries can lead to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and other serious medical conditions. To guard against such harm, our cells have special proteins that can repair or reverse oxidative damage. But until now, no such repair system had been identified for single cysteines, which are particularly susceptible to the damage. The research appears in the Nov. 20 issue of the journal Science. [Read more...]
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity. Now, scientist Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy and coworkers at the University of Michigan have determined the atomic-level, three-dimensional structure of a SEVI precursor known as PAP248-286 and discovered how it damages cell membranes to make them more vulnerable to infection with HIV. [Read more...]
Chances of surviving a cardiac arrest at home or work unchanged in 30 years
The chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has not improved since the 1950s, according to a report by the University of Michigan Health System. The analysis shows only 7.6 percent of victims survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, a number that has not changed significantly in almost 30 years. It’s a dismal trend considering enormous spending on heart research, new emergency care protocols, and the advent of new drugs and devices such as defibrillators. [Read more...]
U-M joins the launch of new web site: ScienceWorksForUs.org
The University of Michigan and other leading public and private research universities today announced the launch of ScienceWorksForUS, an initiative that will highlight the scientific research and related activities that have been made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus. The centerpiece of the initiative is a Web site that highlights Recovery Act-sponsored research in all 50 states, telling the stories of the research and the researchers contributing to America's recovery. The web site went live today at www.ScienceWorksForUS.org.
U-M part of national program to improve clinical trials in pediatric medicine
Studying drugs in pediatric populations is challenging because drugs often affect children differently than they do adults. The scarcity of pediatric studies limits the ability of doctors and scientists to predict drug dosing, safety and efficacy in children. To address this gap, the National Institutes of Health announced today 18 grants totalling $8.5M to help determine outcome measures and increase the likelihood of success of future trials of treatments for children. The U-M will lead a project studying Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care to identify the most successful measures used to treat infants and older children with complex congenital and acquired heart disease. [Read more...]
Public may find it hard to follow measures to limit infection in pandemics
The H1N1 flu virus is spreading misery around the country, but University of Michigan researchers say that implementing and sustaining infection-limiting measures will still be a challenge. In focus groups with residents from four Michigan communities, U-M researchers found that people’s mistrust in government and concerns about job security or financial burdens would make social distancing efforts hard to maintain in any pandemic. The study’s results were expected to be published this week in the American Journal of Bioethics.
“Leaders in public health need to consider the many challenges articulated by our community members about the closure of businesses, schools and other gathering places during a pandemic,” says co-author Susan D. Goold, director of U-M’s Bioethics Program and professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. [Read more...]
U-M has received more than $200M in stimulus funds through October 2009
In data assembled by the U-M's Division of Research Development and Administration, the U-M has received funding for 342 projects through October, 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The total dollar value of these projects is $206.4M. To date, the five largest grants support solar energy research, diabetes research, an ongoing study of health and retirement issues in the U.S., the creation of a database to support genetic research in the behavioral and health sciences, and a study of pulmonary fibrosis. [Download table of project awards by U-M schools, colleges and other major units...]
Tests for colon cancer in colitis patients may lead to excessive treatment
Screening for colon cancer in patients with chronic colitis has never been more sensitive. But advanced screening methods, which can pick out pre-cancer years before a cancerous condition develops, are leading physicians to question the standard treatment options – which includes surgical removal of the entire colon, a procedure that can worsen a healthy patient’s quality of life. “This finding raises the question of whether new, very sensitive detection methods may do more harm than good, and suggests that if we are finding very early pre-cancer, we may need to scale back our therapeutic intervention,” says U-M gastroenterologist Peter D.R. Higgins. [Read more...]
Half of eligible patients not getting aortic valve replacement surgery
Overblown fears about the risk of surgery are among the reasons half of eligible patients are not getting aortic valve replacement surgery, according to a study by physicians at the University of Michigan Health System. In the study, published online ahead of print Nov. 17 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, the researchers report that two-thirds of the patients who did not have valve replacement were suffering symptoms such as shortness of breath that would have improved if they had undergone surgery. [Read more...]