News Archive

December 8, 2015 — Parkinson’s disease is difficult to diagnose, particularly in its early stages. Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine – aided by a $375,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) – hope to improve the prospects of early diagnosis by identifying a biological signpost in the blood.

December 7, 2015 — Currently, there is no treatment to halt the progression of Huntington’s disease (HD), a fatal genetic disorder that slowly robs sufferers of their physical and mental abilities. Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that an existing compound, previously tested for diabetes, offers hope for slowing HD and its symptoms.

November 30, 2015 — Many human gene variants have evolved specifically to protect older adults against neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, thus preserving their contributions to society, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the November 30 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

November 25, 2015 — UC San Diego Launches CORE A set of best practices will guide Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and researchers in the design and review of studies that use social media, self-tracking devices and other mobile technologies.to Foster Ethical Research Using Personal Health Data

November 19, 2015 — The impact HIV/AIDS has had and continues to have in the San Diego community and beyond is the center of the University of California, San Diego’s recognition of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. The campus will sponsor a number of events throughout the day, including a display of sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in the Price Center Ballroom East from noon until 9 p.m. Other events on World AIDS Day, which was established in 1988 and is held on Dec. 1 each year, include a presentation on the HIV prevention pill Truvada, or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), artistic performances, stories from young people living with HIV and more.

November 17, 2015 — The San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, is a recipient of this year’s HPCwire and Editors’ Choice Awards for its new Comet supercomputer that entered production earlier this year as a result of a National Science Foundation grant worth nearly $24 million including hardware and operating funds.

November 16, 2015 — In just the past few years, researchers have found a way to use a naturally occurring bacterial system known as CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate or correct specific genes in any organism. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing activity runs continuously, though, leading to risk of additional editing at unwanted sites. Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Ludwig Cancer Research and Isis Pharmaceuticals demonstrate a commercially feasible way to use RNA to turn the CRISPR-Cas9 system on and off as desired — permanently editing a gene, but only temporarily activating CRISPR-Cas9.

November 16, 2015 — Christopher J. Kane, M.D., a renowned specialist in prostate cancer and an expert in robotic and other minimally invasive procedures for urologic surgery at the University of California, San Diego, has been appointed the inaugural holder of the Joseph D. Schmidt, MD Presidential Chair in Urology in the School of Medicine.

November 9, 2015 — Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine developed a method to expand the types of chromosomal abnormalities that noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) can detect. The study, published November 9 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a semiconductor sequencing platform to identify small chromosomal deletions or duplications, such as occur in Cri du Chat Syndrome and DiGeorge Syndrome, with a simple blood test from the expectant mother.

November 9, 2015 — In an effort to advance research on one of the deadliest forms of cancer, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers Andrew Lowy, MD, and Tannishtha Reya, PhD, have been recruited for their expertise in preclinical modeling, clinical trials and stem cell biology to join a “dream team” of international pancreatic cancer researchers.