Skip to main content

News Archive

News Archive - School of Medicine

Braking Mechanism Identified for Cell Growth Pathway Linked to Several Cancers

June 26, 2015

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a self-regulating loop in the Hippo pathway, a signaling channel garnering increased attention from cancer researchers due to its role in controlling organ size, cell proliferation and cell death.

Two UC San Diego Researchers to Lead Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study

June 25, 2015

Two of the nation’s leading physician-scientists in the search to better understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease – William Mobley, MD, PhD, and Michael Rafii, MD, PhD – have been named interim co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), a major initiative formed in 1991 as a cooperative agreement between the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the University of California, San Diego.

Multiple Pathways Progressing to Alzheimer’s Disease

June 25, 2015

UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers report that the amyloid cascade hypothesis, long believed to describe the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease, is not a fixed and invariable sequence of events. Rather, early indicators or biomarkers of the neurodegenerative condition vary by individual, making preclinical diagnoses more challenging.

Jill P. Mesirov Appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for Computational Health Sciences

June 24, 2015

Leading computational biologist Jill P. Mesirov, PhD, has been appointed associate vice chancellor for computational health sciences and professor of medicine at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center. Mesirov most recently served as associate director and chief informatics officer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she directed the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Program.

New Biomarker Identified in Women with Mental Illness

June 19, 2015

Psychiatric disorders can be difficult to diagnose because clinicians must rely upon interpreted clues, such as a patient’s behaviors and feelings. For the first time, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report identifying a biological marker: the over-production of specific genes that could be a diagnostic indicator of mental illness in female psychiatric patients.

Single Enzyme’s Far-Reaching Influence in Human Biology and Disease

June 18, 2015

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have made a surprisingly simple discovery: The modification of more than 100 secreted proteins is the work of a single enzyme called Fam20C. The finding is published June 18 by Cell.

New Biomarkers Might Help Personalize Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Treatment

June 17, 2015

Metastatic colorectal cancer patients tend to live longer when they respond to the first line of chemotherapy their doctors recommend. To better predict how patients will respond to chemotherapy drugs before they begin treatment, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine conducted a proof-of-principle study with a small group of metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The results revealed two genes that could help physicians make more informed treatment decisions for patients with this disease.

Dietary Trans Fat Linked to Worse Memory

June 17, 2015

Higher consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFA), commonly used in processed foods to improve taste, texture and durability, has been linked to worsened memory function in men 45 years old and younger, according to a University of California, San Diego School of Medicine study published online on June 17 in PLOS ONE.

Clinical Trial Launched to Assess Safety and Efficacy of Autism Drug Treatment

June 10, 2015

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have launched a clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of an unprecedented drug therapy for autism.

Researchers Boost Body’s Inflammation-Reduction Mechanism to Combat Obesity-Fueled Disease

June 8, 2015

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and University College Dublin (UCD) have found that augmenting a naturally occurring molecule in the body can help protect against obesity-related diseases by reducing inflammation in the fat tissues. The study, published June 4 in the journal Cell Metabolism, focused on liver and kidney diseases, but the researchers believe it could lead to a new therapeutic approach for a variety of obesity-fueled conditions.
Category navigation with Social links