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

  • . . . This Is the Way We Can Pay (Richmond Times-Dispatch - Online)
    The Richmond Times reports: "Why should a cigarette tax [in Virginia] be tied to financing better mental health services? Because persons with severe mental illnesses are one of the biggest buyers of cigarettes, which means their health suffers accordingly. Dr. Steven Schroeder, a University of California at San Francisco physician who has helped launch an anti-smoking campaign targeted at persons with mental illnesses, claims that 50 percent of persons who have been diagnosed with severe mental illnesses -- such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression -- are smokers. He claims 44 percent of all cigarettes sold in America are bought by persons who have had a mental health diagnosis."
  • Fired UCSF dean says review backs his claim of irregularities (Los Angeles Times)
    The Los Angeles Times reports: "An outside accounting firm [KPMG] had trouble reconciling financial statements of the medical school dean's office at UC San Francisco, saying in a report released Monday that the university needed to improve some of its financial reporting methods. ... Eric Vermillion, the university's associate vice chancellor for finance, said KPMG confirmed that the dean's office had more-than-adequate funding and that there were no improprieties. The school of medicine is 'in the strongest financial position it's been in ever,' he said."
  • Audit Backs Ousted UCSF Dean (Inside Higher Ed)
    An Inside Higher Ed news brief states: "An outside audit has found financial irregularities at the medical school of the University of California at San Francisco, backing the claims of David Kessler, who was fired last year as dean, that he arrived to find the finances a mess, the Los Angeles Times reported. University officials offered another interpretation of the audit — namely that it demonstrated underlying financial health of the medical school."
  • City Won't Add Fluoride to Water Despite State Law LIVERMORE Voters Said No to the Additive Twice (Water Environment Federation)
    The WEF reports: "Despite a state law passed more than a decade ago requiring communities to fluoridate their tap water, Livermore remains the largest city in the East Bay that doesn't use the additive. ... While some studies have suggested detrimental effects of fluoride, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health groups maintain that it is safe. And Howard Pollick of the UC San Francisco school of dentistry said there remains a need for it in tap water."

UCSF RADIO COVERAGE

  • Hospitalist specialty a growing field (KNX-AM 1070 (CBS) Los Angeles -- Newsradio)
    KNX Newsradio in LA reports: "This is Science Today. One of the fastest growing specialties in medicine is a field that barely existed a decade ago: hospital medicine, or hospitalists. These in-patient physicians are usually trained in general internal medicine and work solely in the hospital setting, caring for patients from admission to discharge. Dr. Andrew Hourback is a hospitalist and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. 'In the earlier era, hospitalists were hired by hospitals to provide care to patients who didn't have insurance," [said Hourback]. 'That job started to expand as outpatient doctors started realizing it was very hard to come in to see one patient a month when you had to see so many patients in the outpatient setting.'" --- Air Time: 8 PM

UCSF HEADLINES

  • UCSF Message Goes Global and Gets Local (UCSF Today)
    UCSF Today reports: "UCSF’s message of hope and purpose -- captured in the tagline advancing health worldwide (TM) -- gets star billing beginning this month. Advertisements appearing for four consecutive weeks in the Northern California edition of the Wall Street Journal will be followed by a 12-page supplement in that publication on March 5, 2008."
  • Thyroid Cancer Cases Climb as Treatment Advances (UCSF Today)
    UCSF Today reports: "Overall, cancer rates are declining in the United States, but some cancers are on the rise. Among these, thyroid cancer rates are climbing the fastest."
  • It’s Time to Get Out and Vote (UCSF Today)
    UCSF Today reports: "The campus community is encouraged to get out and vote in California’s primary election today (Feb. 5). ... In accordance with UC Personnel Policy 46, a non-exempt employee shall be granted leave with pay, up to a maximum of two hours, for voting in a statewide primary or general election if the employee does not have time to vote outside of working hours."