ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A paralyzed patient may someday be able to “think” a foot into flexing or a leg into moving, using technology that harnesses the power of electricity in the brain, and scientists at University of Michigan School of Kinesiology are now one big step closer.
Researchers at the school and colleagues from the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego have developed technology that for the first time allows doctors and scientists to noninvasively isolate and measure electrical brain activity in moving people. (more…)
Richmond, Va. – If you were dying from cancer, would you consider genetic testing? A recent study conducted by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Centershowed that most terminally ill cancer patients who were eligible for genetic testing never received it despite that it could potentially save a relative’s life.
The research, “Exploring Hereditary Cancer Among Dying Cancer Patients—A Cross-Sectional Study of Hereditary Risk and Perceived Awareness of DNA Testing and Banking,” was recently published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, and is the first to document the prevalence of hereditary cancer risk and the need for genetic services and patient education among terminally ill cancer patients. (more…)
Tamas Horvath is the first to tell you that he doesn’t study obesity. But his research on the effects of metabolism on higher brain functions could provide deeper understanding of the brain’s link to appetite, weight and to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.
His lab was the first to provide evidence that the brain uses fat as fuel. Horvath has also studied how endocrine signals in the brain regulate neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Horvath followed his father and grandfather into veterinary medicine in his native Hungary, but his training sparked a passion for basic research. His achievements have earned him a long title that speaks to his varied research interests. He became chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in 2005, and he is also a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology. Horvath also heads the Program on Integrative Cell Signaling and the Neurobiology of Metabolism. (more…)
For certain kinds of cancer, the most effective therapy does not use x-rays or gamma rays but beams of ions, the electrically charged cores of atoms, including hydrogen ions (protons) and heavier ions such as carbon and neon.(more…)
John Tanner, who also teaches chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, is studying Aspergillus fumigatus. Image credit: University of Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If finding the cure for a fungus and parasite that affects millions of people were the subject of a detective show, University of Missouri Chemistry Professor John Tanner would be the forensic expert in the lab, using high-tech equipment to make a model that could eventually solve the crime.
Tanner, who also teaches chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, has joined forces with Pablo Sobrado, an assistant professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech, to study a unique enzyme found on two “crime scenes”: in Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that causes pulmonary diseases in immuno-compromised people; and in a blood-sucking insect prevalent in South America and now being found in the southwestern U.S., called the Chagas parasite, also known as the “kissing bug” for the red welts left on the victims’ faces after being bitten in his or her sleep.
“My job is to figure out what the enzyme looks like using X-ray diffraction,” Tanner said. “This enzyme makes a special sugar molecule that these organisms need to survive, so if we can find a way to stop the reaction that makes that sugar, then we might find a way to kill these pathogens.” (more…)
Marc Therrien. Image credit: University of Montreal
Researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have identified a new mechanism controlling the transmission of an abnormal signal at the origin of several cancers. In an article published in the journal Cell, Marc Therrien’s team explains the recent discovery of a protein complex that controls the RAS/MAPK signalling pathway, responsible for some of the deadliest cancers, including pancreatic, colon and lung cancers, and melanomas. This regulating mechanism could prove to be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of these diseases. The study conducted on the drosophila model organism is to be verified in humans in a forthcoming step.(more…)
Lowering levels of a key protein involved in regulating learning and memory—STtriatal-Enriched tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP)—reversed cognitive deficits in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the October 18 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – For some women, the effects of breast cancer, the most common cancer affecting women, do not end when they leave the hospital. Now, researchers in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions have studied the lives of breast cancer patients following chemotherapy and found that their environments and available support systems help determine the quality of their lives.
“A lot of times people get mentally and emotionally ready to deal with chemotherapy and they receive a lot of support during that time,” said Stephanie Reid-Arndt, an assistant professor of health psychology in the School of Health Professions. “Then they go home and everyone feels like it’s over, but the patients still have worries and fears about the changes they’ve been through and what it means for the future.” (more…)
