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Public Release: 14-Dec-2011

Cell Host & Microbe
KS-herpesvirus induces reprogramming of lymphatic endothelial cells to invasive mesenchymal cells
Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma and two other rare lymphoproliferative malignancies, and it is the most common cancer in HIV-infected untreated individuals. Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, have discovered a novel viral oncogenesis mechanism in which KSHV oncogenes co-opt cellular signaling pathways and modify the cellular microenvironment more permissive for viral replication. The study will be published Dec. 15, 2011, in Cell Host & Microbe.

Public Release: 14-Dec-2011

PLOS ONE
Camera phones can be a valuable tool for remote diagnosis and (peer) education
Camera phones may be the future for assistance in medical diagnosis, especially in remote areas, according to a new study published Dec. 14 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

Funding came from the core funding of the institutions involved. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript’’ to the funding.

Public Release: 13-Dec-2011

PLOS Medicine
Self-epilation is an acceptable alternative to surgery in patients with mild trachomatous trichiasis
Teaching patients with mild trachomatous trichiasis -- a leading cause of blindness in low resource countries in which chronic conjunctivitis leads to scarring causing the eyelids to turn inwards and the eye lashes to rub the eye causing pain, corneal damage, and visual impairment -- to safely pull out the eyelashes touching their eye using clean forceps, is an acceptable alternative to surgery to preserving vision.

Public Release: 12-Dec-2011

Nature Immunology
Researchers use new finding to clear bloodstream malaria infection in mice
University of Iowa researchers and colleagues have discovered how malaria manipulates the immune system to allow the parasite to persist in the bloodstream. By rescuing this immune system pathway, the research team was able to cure mice of bloodstream malaria infections.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 12-Dec-2011

Lancet Infectious Diseases
Malaria during pregnancy: New study assesses risks during first trimester
The largest ever study to assess the effects of malaria and its treatment in the first trimester of pregnancy has shown that the disease significantly increases the risk of miscarriage, but that treating with antimalarial drugs is relatively safe and reduces this risk.

Wellcome Trust

Public Release: 12-Dec-2011

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management
A logistics approach to malaria in Africa
The problems of archaic logistics infrastructure, inefficient distribution channels and disruptive black markets must all be addressed urgently if Africa is to cope with the growing problem of malaria, according to a study published in the International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management.

Public Release: 12-Dec-2011

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Discovery could lead to treatment for eye diseases that cause blindness
A new study has identified a gene that plays a major role in maintaining clarity of the cornea in humans and mice -- and could possibly be used as gene therapy to treat diseases that cause blindness.

National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Public Release: 9-Dec-2011

ASTMH 60th Annual Meeting
Tropical disease experts report missed opportunity to transform global HIV/AIDS fight
Global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts are missing a major opportunity to significantly improve health conditions in poor countries by simply adding low-cost care for the many other chronic and disabling diseases routinely afflicting and often killing these same patients, according to a panel of disease experts who spoke at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Public Release: 8-Dec-2011
Uncovering how cerebral malaria damages the brain
Building on a quarter century of work in Malawi, a Michigan State University researcher is traveling to neighboring Zambia to perform MRI scans on children newly diagnosed with cerebral malaria in hopes of unlocking how it damages the brain. Michael Potchen, an associate professor in the Department of Radiology, has been awarded a three-year, $200,000 grant from the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization supporting brain research through grants and public education.

Dana Foundation

Public Release: 8-Dec-2011

Science
Princeton study: Nighttime images help track disease from the sky
Princeton University-led researchers report in the journal Science that satellite images of nighttime lights normally used to spot where people live can help keep tabs on the diseases festering among them, too.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Public Release: 7-Dec-2011

PLOS ONE
Novel drug wipes out deadliest malaria parasite through starvation
An antimalarial agent developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proved effective at clearing infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans -- by literally starving the parasites to death. The study, published in the Nov. 11, 2011, issue of PLoS ONE, was led by senior author Vern Schramm, Ph.D., professor and Ruth Merns Chair in Biochemistry at Einstein.

Public Release: 7-Dec-2011

Scientific Reports
UCLA researchers suggest unconventional approach to control HIV epidemics
A new weapon to prevent HIV infection, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, Because PrEP is based on the same drugs used to treat HIV-infected individuals, the big public health scare is that the dual use of these drugs will lead to skyrocketing levels of drug resistance. In fact, say UCLA researchers in a new study, that is not the case and indeed, the exact opposite is likely to happen.

Public Release: 7-Dec-2011
New international consortium to prepare research community for future pandemics
An international consortium aimed at ensuring that the clinical research community is better prepared for the next influenza pandemic or other rapidly emerging public health threat is launched today by leading funders of medical research from across the globe.

Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Inserm, Li Ka Shing Oxford Global Health Program, Singapore Ministry of Health

Public Release: 6-Dec-2011

American Journal of Cardiology
Reusing pacemakers from deceased patients is safe and effective, study finds
Many heart patients in India are too poor to afford pacemakers. But a study in the American Journal of Cardiology has found that removing pacemakers from deceased Americans, re-sterilizing the devices and implanting them in Indian patients "is very safe and effective."

Public Release: 6-Dec-2011

Nature
Addressing pain and disease on the fly
Studies of a protein that fruit flies use to sense heat and chemicals may someday provide solutions to human pain and the control of disease-spreading mosquitoes. In the current issue of Nature, biologist Paul Garrity of the National Center for Behavioral Genomics at Brandeis University and his team discover how fruit flies distinguish the warmth of a summer day from the pungency of wasabi by using TRPA1, a protein whose human relative is critical for pain and inflammation.

National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 6-Dec-2011

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 60th Annual Meeting
Inbreeding in bed bugs 1 key to massive increases in infestations
New research on the bed bug's ability to withstand the genetic bottleneck of inbreeding, announced today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meeting, provides new clues to explain the rapidly growing problem of bed bugs across the United States and globally. After mostly disappearing in the US in the 1950s, the common bed bug has reappeared with a vengeance over the past decade.

Public Release: 5-Dec-2011
Wayne State receives NIH grant to study numerical processing in infants with FASDs
A team of researchers led by Sandra W. Jacobson, Ph.D., and Joseph L. Jacobson, Ph.D., professors of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences in Wayne State University's School of Medicine recently received a $413,440 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health to conduct a new study designed to improve the diagnosis of FASDs. Improved diagnosis can lead to the development of better-targeted treatments.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 5-Dec-2011

Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Plasma-based treatment goes viral
Life-threatening viruses such as HIV, SARS, hepatitis and influenza, could soon be combated in an unusual manner as researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of plasma for inactivating and preventing the replication of adenoviruses.

Public Release: 5-Dec-2011

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 60th Annual Meeting
Snakebite victims absent in health system as most consult traditional healers
Fatal snakebites are a bigger-than-acknowledged global health problem that has been vastly under-reported, according to research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's annual meeting. A key reason for the low count is that many snakebite victims are treated or die without seeking or reaching health facilities.

Public Release: 5-Dec-2011

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 60th Annual Meeting
New map shows malaria strain -- impervious to interventions -- holding steady in Asia, Latin America
With signs of declining malaria deaths in Africa raising hopes of eradicating the disease worldwide, researchers unveiled today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene a new malaria map that is the first to identify on a global scale where the long-lasting and potentially deadly form of malaria -- a parasite known as Plasmodium vivax -- has a firm foothold in large swaths of South Asia and parts of Latin America.

Public Release: 4-Dec-2011

Nature
Senses of sophistication: Mosquitoes detect subtle cues finding food, spreading diseases
Researchers from Boston College and Brandeis University have unraveled the mystery as to how the malaria mosquito uses its sensory powers to find food and spread disease.

National Science Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders, Boston College


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