FYI…UCSF in the News is a daily summary of news stories published worldwide that highlight UCSF, its affiliated programs, and issues that affect the University.  To read the full news story, click the individual headlines listed below.

On the second Wednesday of each month, FYI…UCSF in the News includes an additional "Research Roundup" section that lists research papers authored by UCSF faculty and published in the journals Cell, Health Services Research, JAMA, Lancet, Nature, NEJM, Nursing Research, and Science.

UCSF PRINT AND ONLINE COVERAGE

  • Temporary Amnesia, Confusion Raise Stroke, Dementia Risk (Washington Post)
    Dutch scientists write in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that "brief bouts of amnesia or confusion raise a person's risk of having a stroke or developing dementia," reports HealthDay News. "In a commentary that accompanied the study, Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston, director of the Neurovascular Disease and Stroke Center at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote that there's too little information about how to handle patients who experience these problems: 'There is no consistent evaluation, no guidelines for treatment, and no information on prognosis. This study argues that, whatever is causing these events, the prognosis justifies greater attention.'"
  • Doctor in Fresno asthma study tapped for California air board (Fresno Bee)
    The Fresno Bee reports: "John Balmes, a medical doctor and University of California professor involved in a Fresno asthma study, has been named to the governing board of the California Air Resources Board, the state's air-quality watchdog. Balmes joined University of California at San Francisco in 1986, and has focused on respiratory health effects of air pollution for 18 years."
  • New Year's hope (Half Moon Bay Review)
    After a two-year remission, Evan Saunders, 36, from El Granada (North of Half Moon Bay), recently started chemotherapy treatments for a gliomatic astrocytoma brain tumor at UCSF Medical Center. Saunders has a positive attitude about his illness and is focusing on enjoying life with his wife Lisa newborn son Aidan. "Living is out of the ordinary," said Saunders. The act of breathing is a remarkable thing. Any life event like this is a gift, in terms of what you can realize from it."
  • 50 Most powerful physician executives in healthcare (Modern Physician)
    Robert Wachter; chief, division of hospital medicine and chief of the medical service at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, is one of 100 nominees for Modern Physician magazine's 2008 list of the most powerful physician executives in the U.S. -- Vote for a nominee on this weblink. The voting competition will continue through Jan. 25, 2008, and a complete ranking will be published in the April 7 issue of Modern Physician and the April 14 issue of Modern Healthcare.

UCSF HEADLINES

  • Brain imaging and genetic studies link thinking patterns to addiction (UCSF News Office)
    Research from Charlotte Boettiger, PhD, at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, published in the Dec. 26, 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience has identified an area in the brain that responds when impulsive decisions are made, and a gene mutation that increases this brain activity.
  • Professor Patricia Calarco is new Dean of the Graduate Division (UCSF Today)
    In a letter to the campus community, UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Eugene Washington, MD, has announced the appointment of Patricia Calarco, PhD, as Dean of the Graduate Division. (The full text of the letter is included.)