Pipes Output http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=e9ab4c633d939c4298f6f62d135efed2 Thu, 01 Oct 2015 22:45:36 +0000 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/10/hope/ David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, a research assistant professor of Medicine, division of Hematology/Oncology, in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received the RARE Champion of Hope award for science. Thu, 01 Oct 2015 10:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/weiner/ Using a novel synthetic platform for creating vaccines originally developed in the laboratory of David Weiner, PhD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a team led by his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has successfully eradicated precancerous cervical lesions in nearly half of the women who received the investigational vaccine in a clinical trial. Wed, 30 Sep 2015 13:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/dang/ Myc is a cancer-causing gene responsible for disrupting the normal 24-hour internal rhythm and metabolic pathways in cancer cells, found a team led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Thu, 17 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/carstens/ Knocking out one or both crucial regulatory genes caused cleft lip, skin barrier defects, and a host of other developmental problems in mice, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, hinting that abnormalities in these molecular pathways could underlie many birth defects that are presently not well understood. Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/roth/ Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have shown that when the enzyme key to cutting and pasting segments of DNA hits so-called "off-target" spots on a chromosome, the development of immune cells can lead to cancer in animal models. Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/ma/ A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found a location-dependent pattern in cilia length in the mouse nasal cavity that affects sensitivity to odors. The discovery may also have important implications for the study of sight and touch.  Thu, 10 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/greenberg/ A team led by Roger Greenberg, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Cancer Biology at Penn, and Frank Sicheri, PhD, in Toronto, report online in Molecular Cell ahead of print, the atomic structures of several BRCC36-containing complexes. Thu, 03 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/09/berger/ Aggressive cancer growth and alterations in gene activity without changes in DNA sequence (epigenetics) are associated with mutant p53 proteins, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Wed, 02 Sep 2015 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/gold/ Joshua Gold, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Joe Kable, PhD, Baird Term Associate Professor of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences, have been awarded a three-year $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Tue, 25 Aug 2015 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/shorter/ There may be two new ways to fight AIDS -- using a heat shock protein or a small molecule – to attack fibrils in semen associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during the initial phases of infection, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/stanger/ Tumor cells associated with pancreatic cancer often behave like communities by working with each other to increase tumor spread and growth to different organs. Groups of these cancer cells are better than single cancer cells in driving tumor spread, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in Cancer Discovery online in advance of the print issue. Wed, 12 Aug 2015 14:44:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/vinogradov/ Sergei A. Vinogradov, PhD, an associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded a four-year High Impact Neuroscience Research Resource Center Grant from the National Institutes of Health. Mon, 10 Aug 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/rustgi/ Cancer researchers already know of some oncogenes and other factors that promote the development of colon cancers, but they don't yet have the full picture of how these cancers originate and spread. Now researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have illuminated another powerful factor in this process. Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/speck/ The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has awarded Nancy Speck, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the 2015 Henry M. Stratton Medal for Basic Science for her "seminal contributions in the area of hematology research." Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/liang/ Changes in the abundance of mouse gut bacteria, over a 24-hour cycle, particularly in females, is tied to rhythms in the internal clock, according to work published online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine. Mon, 03 Aug 2015 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/08/weiner/ Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have devised an entirely new approach to vaccines – creating immunity without vaccination. Mon, 03 Aug 2015 17:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/fitzgerald/ Now, a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published online this month ahead of the print issue in the Journal of Lipid Research, questions the relevance of fish oil-derived SPMs and their purported anti-inflammatory effects in humans. Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/berger/ Working with yeast and worms, researchers found that incorrect gene expression is a hallmark of aged cells and that reducing such “noise” extends lifespan in these organisms. Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/sehgal/ A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania used fruitflies to probe deeper into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern aggression and sleep. Tue, 28 Jul 2015 17:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/kahn/ The lymphatic system provides a slow flow of fluid from our organs and tissues into the bloodstream. It returns fluid and proteins that leak from blood vessels, provides passage for immune and inflammatory cells from the tissues to the blood, and hosts key niches for immune cells. How this system develops hasn't been well understood, but now researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found from experiments in mice that the early flow of lymph fluid is a critical factor in the development of mature lymphatic vessels. Mon, 27 Jul 2015 20:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/rader/ Daniel J. Rader, MD, chair of the Department of Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Danish Saleheen, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, have been awarded a four-year, $2 million 2015 Grand Challenge Award from the American Heart Association (AHA). Fri, 17 Jul 2015 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/panetteri/ Hospitalizations for heart conditions, neurological illness, and other conditions were higher among people who live near unconventional gas and oil drilling (hydraulic fracturing), according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University published this week in PLOS ONE. Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/ashtari/ Since 2007, clinical trials using gene therapy have resulted in often-dramatic sight restoration for dozens of children and adults who were otherwise doomed to blindness. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have found evidence that this sight restoration leads to strengthening of visual pathways in the brain, published this week in Science Translational Medicine. Wed, 15 Jul 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/07/lenhart/ Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are making headway in this area by studying stem cells in their natural environment in an organism. Stem cell populations reside in areas called niches deep within different types of organs. Scientists think that these niches control stem cell behavior, that is “telling” the stem cell when to produce more stem cells or when to produce daughter cells that will be the workhorses for that tissue or organ. Thu, 25 Jun 2015 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/epstein/ Future therapies for failing hearts are likely to include stem-like cells and associated growth factors that regenerate heart muscle. Scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have just taken an important step towards that future by identifying a stem-like "progenitor" cell that produces only heart muscle cells. Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/kast/ Several well-known neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lou Gehrig's (ALS), Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's disease, all result in part from a defect in autophagy – one way a cell removes and recycles misfolded proteins and pathogens. In a paper published this week in Current Biology, postdoctoral fellow David Kast, PhD, and professor Roberto Dominguez, PhD, and three other colleagues from the Department of Physiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, show for the first time that the formation of ephemeral compartments key in this process require actin polymerization by the Arp2/3 complex, a composite of seven proteins. Thu, 18 Jun 2015 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/bwf/ Five early-career researchers from three schools at the University of Pennsylvania have received funding from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) for their excellence in biomedical research, in topics including heart disease, sleep, and infectious diseases, as part of a nationwide program totaling $22.5 million. Wed, 17 Jun 2015 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/lazar/ In a new study published online ahead of print in Science Express, the Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, and his team describes how one protein regulates the clock in most cells in the body and metabolic genes in the liver, the body's key organ for metabolism of fat as well as sugar. Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/06/wherry/ Sometimes even cells get tired. When the T cells of your immune system are forced to deal over time with cancer or a chronic infection such as HIV or hepatitis C, they can develop "T cell exhaustion," becoming less effective and losing their ability to attack and destroy the invaders of the body. While the PD-1 protein pathway has long been implicated as a primary player in T cell exhaustion, a major question has been whether PD-1 actually directly causes exhaustion. Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/itmat/ How can academic medical centers best manage the emerging issue of conflict of interest among scientists and physicians working to develop the next generation of treatments and cures? How do academic conflict of interest policies affect the process of scientific discovery? Exploring these questions and related issues will be at the heart of the "Conflict of Interest and Scientific Discovery" symposium organized by the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.  Wed, 27 May 2015 13:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/rader/ A team led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown in a large, forward-looking epidemiological study that a person's HDL function—the efficiency of HDL molecules at removing cholesterol—may be a better measure of coronary heart disease risk and a better target for heart-protecting drugs. Wed, 27 May 2015 13:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/ceet/ A group of researchers from Penn and other institutions in the region will come together this Friday to celebrate 10 years of environmental health research in the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET). Wed, 20 May 2015 18:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/fitzgerald/ An important link between the human body clock and the immune system has relevance for better understanding inflammatory and infectious diseases, discovered collaborators at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College, Dublin. Mon, 18 May 2015 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/black/ A new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in Science this week describes how the centromere is stabilized during replication. Thu, 07 May 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/05/pack/ A study in this week's Science Translational Medicine is a classic example of how seemingly unlikely collaborators can come together to make surprising discoveries. An international team of gastroenterologists, pediatricians, natural products chemists, and veterinarians, working with zebrafish models and mouse cell cultures have discovered that a chemical found in Australian plants provides insights into the cause of a rare and debilitating disorder affecting newborns. Wed, 06 May 2015 18:45:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/ceet/ The National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has renewed its funding to the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET), at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, for the next five years. Thu, 30 Apr 2015 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/mdbr/ The second annual Million Dollar Bike Ride will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2015, to support research and raise awareness about rare diseases. Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/04/epstein/ A new collaborative study describes a way that lung tissue can regenerate after injury. The team found that lung tissue has more dexterity in repairing tissue than once thought. Mon, 13 Apr 2015 09:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/03/morrisey/ A team led by Ed Morrisey, PhD, a professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology and the scientific director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has now shown that a subset of RNA molecules, called microRNAs, is important for cardiomyocyte cell proliferation during development and is sufficient to induce proliferation in cardiomyocytes in the adult heart. Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/03/weiner/ The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded $16 million over the next five years for a collaborative study led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/02/hahn/ Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses (HIV-1 groups O and P) have originated in western lowland gorillas, according to an international team of scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Montpellier, the University of Edinburgh, and others. Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/01/hahn/ Beatrice H. Hahn, MD, a professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will receive the American College of Physicians Award for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the national organization of internists. Thu, 15 Jan 2015 14:45:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/12/shorter/ James Shorter, PhD, an associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania received a grant from the ALS Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) for research aimed at finding a potential therapy for ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:15:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/12/xu/ As the main component of connective tissue in the body, fibroblasts are the most common type of cell. Taking advantage of that ready availability, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Wistar Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, and New Jersey Institute of Technology have discovered a way to repurpose fibroblasts into functional melanocytes, the body's pigment-producing cells. Tue, 16 Dec 2014 09:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/12/lambris/ New work by Penn researchers has found an effective way to avoid systemic kidney inlammation from frequent dialysis by temporarily suppressing complement during dialysis. Their work appears online in Immunobiology ahead of print. Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/12/gsk/ Three Philadelphia researchers -- Donna George, PhD, and Julia Leu, PhD, both from the Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Maureen Murphy, PhD from The Wistar Institute, have been awarded a Discovery Fast Track Challenge grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Tue, 02 Dec 2014 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/12/Susztak/ Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects at least one in four Americans who are older than 60 and can significantly shorten lifespan. Yet the few available drugs for CKD can only modestly delay the disease's progress towards kidney failure. Now, however, a team led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has found an aspect of CKD's development that points to a promising new therapeutic strategy. Mon, 01 Dec 2014 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/lazar/ In the current issue of the journal Cell, Mitchell Lazar, MD PhD, the Sylvan Eisman Professor of Medicine and director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism and his team report the results of a genome-wide survey of circadian genes and genetic regulatory elements called enhancers. These are key parts of the "dark matter" of the genome; rather than encoding proteins, they control the expression of genes. Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/11/meagher/ Emma Meagher, MD, associate professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, received the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual meeting in Chicago this week. Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/10/hogenesch/ A new effort mapping 24-hr patterns of expression for thousands of genes in 12 different mouse organs – five years in the making – provides important clues about how the role of timing may influence the way drugs work in the body. Mon, 27 Oct 2014 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/10/lambris/ A Penn Medicine-developed drug has received orphan status from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare, life-threatening disease that causes anemia due to destruction of red blood cells and thrombosis. Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:45:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/04/fitzgerald/ Building on previous work that showed that deleting an enzyme in the COX-2 pathway in a mouse model of heart disease slowed the development of atherosclerosis, a Penn Medicine team has now extended this observation by clarifying that the consequence of deleting the enzyme mPEGS-1 differs, depending on the cell type in which it is taken away. Mon, 21 Apr 2014 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2014/03/stanger/ New Penn Medicine research describes how introducing three proteins that control the regulation of DNA in the nucleus -- called transcription factors -- into an immune-deficient mouse turned a specific group of cells in the gut lining into beta-like cells, raising the prospect of using differentiated pancreatic cells as a source for new beta cells. Mon, 10 Mar 2014 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2013/12/millar/ A pathway known for its role in regulating adult stem cells has been shown to be important for hair follicle proliferation, but contrary to previous studies, is not required within hair follicle stem cells for their survival, according to researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Thu, 05 Dec 2013 16:00:00 +0000 http://uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/11/percec/ PHILADELPHIA — As researchers work on reconfiguring cells to take on new regenerative properties, a new review from Penn Medicine plastic surgeons sheds additional light on the potential power of adipose-derived stem cells - or adult stem cells harvested from fatty tissue - in reconstructive and regenerative medicine. Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:30:00 +0000 http://uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/10/fitzgerald/ PHILADELPHIA - Garret FitzGerald, MD, FRS, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and chair, Department of Pharmacology, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Louis and Arthur Lucian Award, given by McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:30:00 +0000 http://news.pennmedicine.org/blog/2012/09/scientists-who-bridge-the-gap-rare-birds-indeed.html This summer, Garret FitzGerald, MD, chair of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT), testified at a briefing on the Hill organized by American Association for the Advancement of Science that the current drug-development system in the United States is flawed and in need of change. Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/08/nih/ The National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded 18.5 million dollars to establish the Personalized NSAID Therapeutics Consortium (PENTACON), an international group of scientists led by Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, FRS, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. PENTACON consists of 42 scientists from 22 institutions. Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/08/early/ A physician from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/07/tau/ While clinical trial results are being released regarding drugs intended to decrease amyloid production - thought to contribute to decline in Alzheimer's disease - clinical trials of drugs targeting other disease proteins, such as tau, are in their initial phases. Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/block/ All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. Tue, 08 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/05/liver/ A Penn research team, led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, reports in Nature Medicine that mice in which an enzyme called histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) was deleted had massively fatty livers, but lower blood sugar, and were thus protected from glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, the hallmark of diabetes. Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/study/ A team of researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a $3.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), to conduct a trial to study the impact of psoriasis treatment on vascular inflammation and lipid metabolism. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/drugs/ Niacin, or vitamin B3, is the one approved drug that elevates good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein, HDL) while depressing bad cholesterol (low density lipoprotein , LDL), and has thereby attracted much attention from patients and physicians. Niacin keeps fat from breaking down, and so obstructs the availability of LDL building blocks. Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/04/clock/ The 24-hour internal clock controls many aspects of human behavior and physiology, including sleep, blood pressure, and metabolism. Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/03/baur/ A Penn- and MIT-led team explained how rapamycin, a drug that extends mouse lifespan, also causes insulin resistance. Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/03/hair/ Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified an abnormal amount a protein called Prostaglandin D2 in the bald scalp of men with male pattern baldness, a discovery that may lead directly to new treatments for the most common cause of hair loss in men. Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/textbook/ A team led by researchers from the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (IDOM) at the erelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, has overturned a "textbook" view of what the body does after a meal. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/new-combo/ Blocking autophagy -- the process of "self-eating" within cells -- is turning out to be a viable way to enhance the effectiveness of a wide variety of cancer treatments. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/02/gene-therapy-blindness/ Gene therapy for congenital blindness has taken another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. After receiving the same treatment in their other eye, the patients became better able to see in dim light, and two were able to navigate obstacles in low-light situations. No adverse effects occurred. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2012/01/lung-biologists-award/ The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is one of six institutions to be named part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium (LRRC). Each of the institutions will receive $2.5 million over five years. Edward Morrisey, PhD, professor of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology and Scientific Director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will lead the Penn consortium. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/06/new-marker/ Scott D. Halpern, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected for AcademyHealth’s 2011 Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/05/personalized-cells/ Discovering the step-by-step details of the path embryonic cells take to develop into their final tissue type is the clinical goal of many stem cell biologists. Thu, 19 May 2011 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/01/heart-disease-genetics-grant/ An international team of researchers led by Daniel J. Rader, MD, associate director of Penn Medicine's Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, has received a $6 million grant from the Paris-based Fondation Leducq to study the molecular genetics of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/10/measuring-research-collaboration/ Taking a cue from the world of business-performance experts and baseball talent scouts, Penn Medicine translational medicine researchers are among the first to find a way to measure the productivity of collaborations in a young, emerging institute. Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:10:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/09/stimulus-funds-translational-research-center/ Earlier this summer, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine received close to $13 million in stimulus funds -- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 -- to construct additional research space in the $370 million Smilow Center for Translational Research (SCTR), which is scheduled to open its first phase in early 2011. Wed, 15 Sep 2010 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2010/03/gene-therapy-safety-in-two-eyes/ Gene therapy for a severe inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults who received the treatment in a clinical trial, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that a study in animals has shown that a second injection of genes into the opposite, previously untreated eye is safe and effective, with no signs of interference from unwanted immune reactions following the earlier injection. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/gene-therapy-restores-sight/ After a single injection of genes that produce light-sensitive pigments in the back of his eye, a nine-year-old boy born with a retinal disease that made him legally blind, and would eventually leave him totally sightless, now participates in class without extra help. In the playground, he joins his classmates in playing his first game of softball. His treatment represents the next step toward medical science’s goal of using gene therapy to cure disease. Extending a preliminary study published last year on three young adults, the full study reports successful, sustained results that showed notable improvement in children with congenital blindness. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/10/institute-of-medicine/ Four professors from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, including Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, have been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. The new members bring Penn's total to 72, out of a total active membership of 1,610. Overall, the IOM named 65 new members this year and five foreign associates. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/09/body-clock-communication/ While scientists have known for several years that our body’s internal clock helps regulate many biological processes, researchers have found that the reverse is also true: Many common biological processes – including insulin metabolism – regulate the clock, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the University of California at San Diego. The new data, published online in Cell this week, suggest that someday physicians may be able to use small molecules that inhibit or stimulate these biological processes in order to influence a person’s clock when it gets out of sync due to jetlag or shift work. Researchers may also be able to find new ways to treat metabolic disorders that are intimately tied to the body’s daily cycles. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/new-blood-pressure-control-target.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have discovered that a type of prostaglandin – one of a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovscular system – may play the role of increasing blood pressure and accelerating atherosclerosis, at least in mice. Mice that lack the receptor for the type of prostaglandin studied, PGF2a, have lower blood pressure and less atherosclerosis than their non-mutant brethren. The results suggest that targeting this pathway could represent a novel therapeutic approach to cardiovascular disease. Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/04/8-12-hour-biological-rhythms.html The circadian clock coordinates physiological and behavioral processes on a 24-hour rhythm, allowing animals to anticipate changes in their environment and prepare accordingly. Scientists already know that some genes are controlled by the clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that some genes are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours, indicating that shorter cycles of the circadian rhythm are also biologically encoded. Using a novel time-sampling approach in which the investigators looked at gene activity in the mouse liver every hour for 48 hours, they also found 10-fold more genes controlled by the 24-hour clock than previously reported. Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:30:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2009/02/heg-ccm-pathway.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have unlocked the mystery of a puzzling human disease and gained insight into cardiovascular development, all thanks to a big-hearted fish. Mark Kahn, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, graduate student Benjamin Kleaveland, and colleagues report in the February issue of Nature Medicine that a human vascular condition called Cerebral Cavernous Malformation (CCM) is caused by leaky junctions between cells in the lining of blood vessels. By combining studies with zebrafish and mice, the researchers found that the aberrant junctions are the result of mutated or missing proteins in a novel biochemical process, the so-called Heart-of-glass (HEG)-CCM pathway. Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2008/06/fisher-gift-translational-research-center.html A $50 million gift from philanthropists Jerome and Anne Fisher will support a new eight-story biomedical-research center at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to the growing field of translational medicine, which emphasizes an accelerated pace for converting laboratory discoveries into medical therapies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/aug07/liver-enzymes-cholesterol.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a group of liver enzymes called proprotein convertases (PCs) may be the key to raising levels of good cholesterol (HDL-C). The pathway by which these proteins are able to achieve an increase in HDL cholesterol involves another enzyme that normally degrades HDL-C, and was also discovered at Penn. The newly recognized relationship between these enzymes and cholesterol represents another target for ultimately controlling good cholesterol. The study appears in the current issue of Cell Metabolism. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/may07/cox-weakens-hormone-therapy.html Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found in a database study of women heart patients that COX inhibitors such as traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may undermine any purported protection against heart disease in participants taking estrogen therapy. The results were described this week in PLoS Medicine. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/muscle-restoration-muscular-dystrophy.html Using a new type of drug that targets a specific genetic defect, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, along with colleagues at PTC Therapeutics Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, have for the first time demonstrated restoration of muscle function in a mouse model of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD). The research appears ahead of print in an advanced online publication of Nature. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/personalized-medicine-symposium.html Experts from around the world will gather at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for a special symposium to review the most current research and explore the future of personalized medicine. Hosted by the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, progress and perspectives of personalized medicine will be presented by leaders in the field from the clinical, pharmaceutical, and ethics arenas. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/apr07/nano-drug-delivery.html Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science have discovered a better way to deliver drugs to tumors. By using a cylindrical-shaped carrier they were able sustain delivery of the anticancer drug paclitaxel to an animal model of lung cancer ten times longer than that delivered on spherical-shaped carriers. These findings have implications for drug delivery as well as for better understanding cylinder-shaped viruses like Ebola and H5N1 influenza. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/internal-clock-blood-pressure.html It has been known for decades that heart attacks and strokes occur most frequently in the early-morning hours. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have provided the first evidence for the role of our body's internal molecular clock in controlling blood pressure and a mechanism by which this occurs. Published online next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this report points to the novel possibility of modifying blood pressure and the early-morning risk of heart attack. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/feb07/new-anti-HIV-drug-test-model.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are the first to show that a mouse protein, whose human equivalent is related to defense against HIV-1, inhibits the infection and spread of a mouse tumor virus. The study, which appeared online January 28 in advance of its print publication in Nature, provides a new model for the discovery and evaluation of anti-HIV drugs. HIV-1, like the mouse tumor virus, is a retrovirus which infects immune system cells. However, unlike HIV-1, the mouse virus causes breast cancer in mice. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan07/MTP-inhibition-reduce-high-cholesterol.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated the potential of a new type of therapy for patients who suffer from high cholesterol levels. The findings are in the January 11 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). In this study, patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a high-risk condition refractory to conventional therapy, had a remarkable 51% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or 'bad cholesterol' levels. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/nov06/leukemiatrib.htm Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new protein associated with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Several lines of evidence point to a protein called Tribbles, named after the furry creatures that took over the starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" series. Tribbles was first described in fruit flies. http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/oct06/CTSA.htm The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine $68 million over the next five years, along with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Institutional commitments of $30 million bring the Philadelphia consortium’s total to nearly $100 million. This new consortium is funded through NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs). http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/sep06/newNSAIDs.htm Building on previous work, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that deleting an inflammation enzyme in a mouse model of heart disease slowed the development of atherosclerosis. What's more, the composition of the animals' blood vessels showed that the disease process had not only slowed, but also stabilized. This study points to the possibility of a new class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that steer clear of heart-disease risk and work to reduce it.