PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Aug-2014 Contact: Casey Bayer c.bayer@neu.edu 617-373-2592 Northeastern University Northeastern University has received a five-year, $1.15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute to train the next generation of cancer nanomedicine scientists and clinicians through a unique experiential learning program. The centerpiece of the new program, which is called "CaNCURE: Cancer Nanomedicine Co-ops for Undergraduate Research Experiences," is a unique partnership between Northeastern and the Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. The DF/HCC is the world's largest comprehensive cancer center, bringing together the research efforts of its seven member institutions, comprising Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. For more than a decade, the IECDamong the nation's first integrated, inter-institutional programs focused on eliminating cancer disparitieshas offered programming to address the complexities of cancer disparities, including training students, enhancing research, and facilitating access to underserved populations. "Nanotechnology is leading to breakthroughs in diagnosis and therapy of many diseases, particularly cancer, leading to the new discipline of cancer nanomedicine," said principal investigator Srinivas Sridhar, Northeastern's Arts and Science Distinguished Professor … Continue reading →

By Estel Grace Masangkay With help from the zebrafish, a team of Australian researchers has uncovered how hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) renew themselves, considered by many to be the holy grail of stem cell research. HSCs are a significant type of stem cell present in the blood and bone marrow. These are needed for the replenishment of the bodys supply of blood and immune cells. HSCs already play a part in transplants in patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and myeloma. The stem cells are also studied for their potential to transform into vital cells including muscle, bone, and blood vessels. Understanding how HSCs form and renew themselves has potential application in the treatment of spinal cord injuries, degenerative disorders, even diabetes. Professor Peter Currie, of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Victorias Monash University, led a research team to discover a crucial part of HSCs development. Using a high-resolution microscopy, Prof. Curies team caught HSCs on film as they formed inside zebrafish embryos. The discovery was made while the researchers were studying muscle mutations in the aquatic animal. Zebrafish make HSCs in exactly the same way as humans do, but whats special about these guys is that their … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise A new study by Barbara Beltz, the Allene Lummis Russell Professor of Neuroscience at Wellesley College, and Irene Sderhll of Uppsala University, Sweden, published in the August 11 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, demonstrates that the immune system can produce cells with stem cell properties, using crayfish as a model system. These cells can, in turn, create neurons in the adult animal. The flexibility of immune cells in producing neurons in adult animals raises the possibility of the presence of similar types of plasticity in other animals. We have been suspicious for some time that the neuronal precursor cells (stem cells) in crayfish were coming from the immune system, Beltz wrote. The paper contains multiple lines of evidence that support this conclusion, in addition to the experiments showing that blood cells transferred from a donor to a recipient animal generate neurons. Beltz, whose research focuses on the production of new neurons in the adult nervous system, uses the crustacean brain as the model system because the generations of precursor cells are spatially segregated from one another. According to Beltz, this separation is crucial because it allowed the researchers to determine that … Continue reading →

Londob, GB (PRWEB) August 18, 2014 Many attempts to dissolve kidney stones with natural remedies, diets and pills have failed; therefore, traumatic extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and kidney surgeries are widely used. A recent article in the Medical Express suggests one more medication to dissolve renal calculi. Contrary to all treatment options, the use of Dr. Allens Device helps get rid of kidney stones naturally by improving blood circulation locally inside the kidney, Fine Treatment reveals. According to the article, Potential drug therapy for kidney stones identified in mouse study, dated August 14, 2014, in the Medical Express, A new mouse study, however, suggests that a class of drugs approved to treat leukemia and epilepsy also may be effective against kidney stones, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. Many drugs are in the list of medications for kidneys stones such as Allopurinol, Potassium Citrate, Tamsulosin, Tiopronin and others. However, medications do not help to get rid of kidney stones, therefore risky kidney surgeries, like ESWL and Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL), are used now all over the world. These procedures cause many health problems in the future. For instance, A study found that one in seven … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Aug-2014 Contact: Cathy Lewis cathy.lewis@heart.org 214-706-1324 American Heart Association U.S. hospitalizations and deaths from heart disease and stroke dropped significantly in the last decade, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. "Interestingly, these improvements happened in a period when there were no real 'miracle' clinical advancements," said Harlan Krumholz, M.D., S.M., lead author of the "most comprehensive report card to-date" on America's progress in heart disease and stroke prevention and treatment. "Rather, we saw consistent improvements in the use of evidence-based treatments and medications and an increase in quality improvement initiatives using registries and other data to track performance and support improvement efforts as well as a strong emphasis on heart-healthy lifestyles and behaviors." Researchers collected data on nearly 34 million Medicare Fee-For-Service recipients in 1999-2011. They analyzed trends in rates of hospitalization, dying within a month of being admitted, being admitted again within a month and dying during the following year. They considered patient factors including age, sex, race, other illnesses and geography. By the end of 2011, hospitalization rates among all races and areas dropped: Furthermore, risks of dying for people who went to the hospital within a year decreased about … Continue reading →