News Archive - Scott LaFee

Brain Organoids Reveal in Detail the Harms of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

UC San Diego researchers used human brain organoids to study the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on neural development, revealing significant harms in molecular detail.

Novel Device Measures Nerve Activity That May Help Treat Sepsis and PTSD

Engineers and physicians at UC San Diego have developed a device to non-invasively measure cervical nerve activity in humans, a new tool they say could potentially inform and improve treatments for patients with sepsis or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Parsing the Genetic Drivers of Head and Neck Cancers

UC San Diego researchers expand and deepen understanding of how genetic aberrations fuel human papilloma virus-negative head and neck cancers and, potentially, provide paths to further refinement and improvement of immune checkpoint inhibitors for HPV-negative head and neck cancers.

Califano Named New Director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health

Joseph A. Califano III, MD, has been named director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health.

Gene Therapy Finds New Life in an Old Home

An international symposium November 17-18, 2022 at UC San Diego will discuss current clinical trials using gene therapy, here and abroad.

Eight UC San Diego Researchers Among ‘1,000 Best Female Scientists in the World’

Eight researchers from UC San Diego are listed in the first-ever ranking of the “1,000 Best Female Scientists in the World” by research.com, an analytics platform that advocates for improved research quality and also ranks universities, scholarly journals and academic conferences.

Organoids Reveal How SARS-CoV-2 Damages Brain Cells — and a Potential Treatment

Using human brain organoids, an international team of researchers has shown how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 infects cortical neurons and specifically destroys their synapses — the connections between brain cells that allow them to communicate with each other.

Appendiceal Cancer Gets Its Own Preclinical Model

Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health describe the first preclinical model of appendiceal cancer that contains all elements of the tumor, allowing previously stymied investigations to proceed.

Genetic Score Predicts Risk of Lethal Prostate Cancer

Researchers at UC San Diego report that a polygenic hazard score based on 290 genetic variants could be an effective tool for predicting genetic risk of lethal prostate cancer, which kills more than 34,000 men in the U.S. annually.

Treated or Not, COVID-19 Recurrence Seems Symptomatic for Some

UC San Diego researchers and others report that more than one-third of the COVID-19 patients who did not receive any treatment experienced complete resolution of symptoms for at least two consecutive days, but then subsequently reported a return of symptoms.