News Archive

April 3, 2018 — The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA), announced today that UC San Diego Health has been named a LBDA Research Centers of Excellence (RCOE), a partnership of 24 pre-eminent academic medical research centers across the United States. LBDA is a leading advocacy group dedicated to raising awareness and advancing research and treatment of Lewy body dementia (LBD).

April 2, 2018 — Rising drug prices have gotten a lot of attention lately, but the actual cost of prescription medications is more than just the bill. Researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego estimate that illness and death resulting from non-optimized medication therapy costs $528.4 billion annually, equivalent to 16 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures in 2016. The analysis is published March 26 by Annals of Pharmacotherapy.

April 2, 2018 — The vast majority of genetic mutations associated with cancer occur in non-coding regions of the genome, yet it’s unclear how they may influence tumor development or growth. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center identified nearly 200 mutations in non-coding DNA that play a role in cancer. Each mutation could represent a new cancer drug target. The study is published April 2 in Nature Genetics.

March 29, 2018 — Rapid treatment is crucial when treating a stroke because, during an event, as many as 2 million neurons may die with each passing minute. Lifesaving interventions administered quickly and effectively not only save lives but also limit disabilities associated with the condition. A recent data analysis conducted by the American Heart Association (AHA) showed that the Comprehensive Stroke Centers at UC San Diego Health exceeded national average treatment times and, as a result, UC San Diego Health received Gold Plus Achievement status and the Honor Roll Elite Plus award for stroke care.

March 27, 2018 — UC San Diego Health has been named a “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization.

March 26, 2018 — Receptivity to advertising for e-cigarettes, cigarettes and cigars were confirmed to be associated with those who would try the respective tobacco product within one year. However, receptivity to e-cigarette advertising also independently increased the odds that 12- to 21-year-olds who have never smoked would try cigarette smoking within the next year by 60 percent. This finding, publishing in the March 26 issue of JAMA Pediatrics, was independent of receptivity to cigarette advertising.

March 13, 2018 — Each year, at precisely the same moment — 12 p.m. on the East coast, 9 a.m. on the West — thousands of graduating medical school students across the country simultaneously tear open an envelope. The single sheet of paper inside informs each graduate where he or she will do their residencies. This rite of passage for medical students will mark a new chapter in their already remarkable stories. Here are three.

March 9, 2018 — Fueled by a multimillion dollar grant from the state’s stem cell agency, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with local biotechnology company Oncternal Therapeutics, have launched a phase Ib/II clinical trial to evaluate the combined effectiveness of a standard of care drug with a novel monoclonal antibody that target B-cell malignancies, which include leukemias and lymphomas.

March 8, 2018 — Through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that small doses of NGM282, a non-tumorigenic variant of an endocrine gastrointestinal hormone, can significantly and rapidly decrease liver fat content in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The findings, they say, represent an important proof-of-concept for the compound as there are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for NAFLD and NASH.

March 7, 2018 — UC San Diego Health is the first hospital in California to use the fifth generation troponin test to diagnose heart attack. Approved in the United States in 2017, the more sensitive test can detect heart attack within an hour, as opposed to three to six hours.