In his State of the Union Address of 1971, President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer. Thirty seven years later, cancer threatens to become the leading cause of death in developed nations. Some critics claim that we have literally “lost” the war on cancer. They are wrong, says UCSF’s J. Michael Bishop, MD, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on cancer.
Bishop, who stepped down as chancellor of UCSF on June 30, 2009 but remains on the UCSF faculty, discussed The Future of Cancer “In Conversation” with KQED radio host Michael Krasny at the Jewish Community Center on Oct. 20, 2009.
“We have uncovered the fundamental malady that underlies cancer: malfunction of genes,” says Bishop. “As a result, we are poised to attack the disease in ways that could not have been imagined thirty years ago. We can win the war on cancer: in the short term, with more effective therapies; and in the longer term, by interdicting the causes of cancer to prevent the disease.”
Bishop, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and director of the G. W. Hooper Foundation, a biomedical research unit at UCSF, discussed the latest advances in cancer research and treatment, including the short- and long-term strategies that are emerging to combat the genetic malfunction at the root of cancer.
UCSF’s Lauren Weiss, PhD, was the co-lead author on a paper in the October 8 issue of Nature reporting the discovery of a single-letter change in the genetic code that is associated with autism. The finding implicates a neuronal gene not previously tied to the disorder and, more broadly, underscores a role for common DNA variation. The new research also highlights two other regions of the genome which are likely to contain rare genetic differences that may also influence autism risk. Weiss, UCSF assistant professor of psychiatry and human genetics, did the research as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, of the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and Kyoto University, has won the 2009 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for his discovery of a method of reprogramming adult skin cells to become embryonic-like stem cells. Yamanaka, who is the L.K. Whittier Investigator in Stem Cell Biology at Gladstone and professor of anatomy at UCSF, is one of the youngest recipients of the award, which is one of the highest scientific honors bestowed in the United States.
Kevin Grumbach, MD, chair of the UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine, participated in a health policy roundtable at the White House on August 10. The forum was chaired by Nancy Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and addressed primary care and medical home innovations.
UCSF Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology Kieron Leslie, MD, is co-author of a new journal article on treatment for cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome, or CAPS, a rare and potentially life-threatening auto-inflammatory disease. The disorder can cause fatigue, fever, and chronic anemia from infancy, with inflammation to the skin, eyes, and bones or joints. Data from the paper “Use of Canakinumab in the Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndrome,” appearing in the June 4, 2009 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, show that patients in a recently completed one-year Phase III clinical trial experienced a benefit within hours of receiving a dose of canakinumab, and only needed further treatment every two months to control their disease. The success of the therapy in blocking inflammation and its related symptoms could lead to investigation of the drug’s potential use for treating gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 2 diabetes.
The patient-centered medical home—known as PCMH—is a prominent model of health care delivery system reform that answers the call for high-quality care at lower overall cost, writes Diane Rittenhouse, MD, MPH, of UCSF in the May 20, 2009 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Adults with less education are less likely to be in very good health than college graduates in every state of the US, and adults in every state fall short of the level of good health that every American should be able to achieve, says a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America.
With preterm births — and the number of premature infants who survive — on the rise in the United States, UCSF has launched a unique neonatal nursing program in collaboration with the University of Hawaii. The NeoRISK Project aims to address the national shortage of skilled neonatal nurse practitioners, especially in rural areas, and to prepare graduates to support the highest-risk infants once they leave the hospital. The following press release was issued by the University of Hawaii.
Disease linked to untreated risk factors in early adult years
As many as 1 in 100 black men and women develop heart failure before the age of 50, 20 times the rate in whites in this age group, according to new findings published in the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by a UCSF research team.
The California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) released its 23rd annual toy safety survey – “Trouble in Toyland” – on Nov. 25, at a press conference in San Jose.
$6.5 million gift to UCSF from Irwin and Joan Jacobs for head and neck cancer research
Philanthropists Irwin and Joan Jacobs of La Jolla, CA are giving a $6.5 million gift to UCSF for head and neck cancer research. It is believed to be the largest private, U.S. gift for research supporting this disease..(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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