Skip to main content

News Archive

News Archive - School of Medicine

Fermentation Festival Leads to Rapid Response System at Center for Microbiome Innovation

April 26, 2016

While technological advances have made it easier to map our microbiomes and metabolomes, these studies typically take too long for that data to be medically useful. Researchers at the University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation used the 2016 San Diego Fermentation Festival as a test case for a novel rapid response system. In the study, published in mSystems, the team collected samples, analyzed data and reported conclusions in an unprecedented 48 hours.

Smoking Cessation Drugs Do Not Elevate Risk of Serious Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects

April 22, 2016

Compared to the nicotine patch and a placebo, the smoking cessation aids varenicline (marketed as Chantix in the U.S.) and bupropion (Zyban) do not show a significant increase in neuropsychiatric adverse events, reports an international team of researchers in a study published online April 22 in the journal The Lancet.

HIV Infection Prematurely Ages People by an Average of Five Years

April 21, 2016

Thanks to combination antiretroviral therapies, many people with HIV can expect to live decades after being infected. Yet doctors have observed these patients often show signs of premature aging. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have applied a highly accurate biomarker to measure just how much HIV infection ages people at the cellular level — an average of almost five years.

UC San Diego Researchers Join Largest Autism Study Ever in United States

April 21, 2016

Autism experts at University of California San Diego Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) at the School of Medicine will be part of the largest autism study ever undertaken in the United States – an effort to collect information and DNA from 50,000 individuals, ages 3 to 100, with the neurodevelopmental disorder.

New Computer Program Can Help Uncover Hidden Genomic Alterations that Drive Cancers

April 18, 2016

Cancer is rarely the result of a single mutation in a single gene. Rather, tumors arise from the complex interplay between any number of mutually exclusive abnormal changes in the genome, the combinations of which can be unique to each individual patient. To better characterize the functional context of genomic variations in cancer, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Broad Institute developed a new computer algorithm they call REVEALER.

Pollutants in Fish Inhibit Human’s Natural Defense System

April 15, 2016

In a new study, environmental pollutants found in fish were shown to obstruct the human body’s natural defense system to expel harmful toxins. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego-led research team suggests that this information should be used to better assess the human health risks from eating contaminated seafood. The study was published in the April 15 issue of the journal Science Advances.

UC San Diego Scientists Receive $9.5 Million NIH Grant to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

April 12, 2016

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have received a five-year, $9.5-million award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish an interdisciplinary center to define the systems biology of antibiotic resistance. The program will be led by Bernhard Palsson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering and Pediatrics, and Victor Nizet, MD, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy.

Dysfunctional Endosomes are Early Sign of Neurodegeneration

April 11, 2016

Writing in the April 11 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say abnormalities in a protein that helps transport and sort materials inside cells are linked to axonal dysfunction and degeneration of neurons in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS).

Omega Factor: Novel Method Measures Mortality Risk When Multiple Diseases Threaten

April 11, 2016

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have developed a novel method for assessing mortality risk in elderly patients with cancer who also suffer from other serious diseases or conditions. The prognostic model, they say, is more precise and provides a more useful tool for determining the best treatments when more than one disease is involved.

Man and Life: How Marriage, Race and Ethnicity and Birthplace Affect Cancer Survival

April 10, 2016

Previous studies have shown that married patients with cancer fare better than unmarried cancer patients, surviving more often and longer. In a new study, published April 11 in the journal Cancer, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that the benefits of being married vary by race and ethnicity, with male non-Hispanic white bachelors experiencing the worst outcome.
Category navigation with Social links