What if it were possible, when faced with a devastating neurological disease like multiple sclerosis, to coax the brain to heal itself? Unfortunately, we're probably …
Month: May 2013
Emmy nod for film about Stanford brain tumor research – and the little boy who made it possible
"Dylan’s Gift,” a documentary detailing how one family’s generosity is advancing research on a little-understood childhood cancer, has been nominated for an Emmy. The film, which …
A conversation about digital literacy in medical education
A strong advocate for including digital literacy in medical education, self-described "geek medical futurist" Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD, believes that online communication tools, such as …
Sequestration hits the NIH – fewer new grants, smaller budgets
I wrote yesterday about the Twitter stream launched by NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, to call attention to the real-world effects of the budget sequestration …
Pew Research Center: Gun homicide rate has dropped by half since 1993
Man bites dog. As reported on the Wonkblog and elsewhere yesterday, a new analysis indicates that the rate of gun-induced homicide has plummeted by half over the …
Re-imagining first response with an all-volunteer rescue service
Ambulance response time can vary widely across cities, depending on traffic patterns and the location of the emergency situation. As a volunteer medic in Jerusalem, Elli Beer …
Distinction with a difference: Transgender neurobiologist picked for National Academy of Science membership
The National Academy of Sciences recently celebrated its 150th birthday by, among other things, conferring membership on Ben Barres, MD, PhD. Additional NAS admittees from …
Ask Stanford Med: Director of Stanford Autism Center taking questions on research and treatment
Among school-aged children in the United States an estimated one in 50 has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to a recent survey (.pdf) …
Does it matter which parent your "brain genes" came from?
Does it make a difference if a gene – or group of genes – is inherited from your mother or your father? That’s the question …
Waste not, want not, say global sanitation innovators
Last week’s C-IDEA global health symposium here at Stanford featured 20 presentations on low-cost ideas for preventing disease in developing nations. As I wrote in …
NIH Director polls Twitter for real-world responses to budget cutbacks
Here's a developing social media story of interest to scientists, clinicians and the general public. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, kicked …
Stanford computer scientist shows stem cell researchers the power of big data
Not long ago, Stanford computer scientist Debashis Sahoo, PhD, told investigators at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine that in a …
Screening for type-1 diabetes trials goes online
Having a relative with type-1 diabetes makes you 15 times as likely as other people to get the disease, in which the body inappropriately destroys …
What health-care providers can learn from the nuclear industry
In an unusual collaboration, officials from the health-care and nuclear industries met last July to discuss each field's similarities and differences between four topic areas, including diagnostic …
Apple- or pear-shaped: Which is better for cancer prevention?
We always want what we don’t have. My teenage daughter is tall and beautiful (in my naturally biased and loving view). But she's always complaining …
"Housekeeping" protein complex mutated in about 1/5 of all human cancers, say Stanford researchers
In a novel combination of biochemical experimentation and data mining, Stanford researchers and postdoctoral scholars Cigall Kadoch, PhD, and Diana Hargreaves, PhD, have identified a large …