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

  • Students fight fee increases (Daily Bruin)
    The Daily Bruin reports: "In the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget, which proposes a 10 percent cut in public education, the UC Regents, in response to a $417 million shortfall, are scheduled to meet at UC San Francisco next month to discuss staff salaries, enrollment and additional fee increases."
  • Brighter Smiles: Star Wars dentistry (Georgetown Record)
    The Georgetown Record writes: "In the first-ever experiment using carbon dioxide lasers to pre-treat living teeth, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco say they achieved an 87 percent reduction in tooth decay."
  • Nurses' union vote outcome expected today (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
    The Daily Bulletin reports: "Nurses at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center today will end two days of voting to determine the future of their union." --- Joanne Spetz, associate professor in the School of Nursing at UC San Francisco, is quoted.
  • MS therapy shows promise in test (Los Angeles Times)
    Dr. Stephen L. Hauser of UC San Francisco and colleagues report in today's New England Journal of Medicine that a cancer and arthritis drug called Rituxan is effective in reducing brain lesions and relapses in multiple sclerosis patients.
  • Caregivers of men with prostate cancer suffer too (Reuters)
    Dr. Christine A. Miaskowski, of the University of California San Francisco, and her colleagues report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that wives and other caregivers of men with prostate cancer may be at risk of anxiety, fatigue and other symptoms.
  • Cancer drug Rituxan may help treat MS (San Francisco Chronicle - Online)
    Dr. Stephen Hauser, neurology chair at UCSF, and colleagues report in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, that cancer drug Rituxan may help treat multiple sclerosis.
  • Giants among bidders to develop S.F. Port land (San Francisco Chronicle - Online)
    The Chronicle reports: "A high-stakes competition for one of the last large tracts of San Francisco waterfront is heating up as developers submit proposals Thursday -- and a group led by the Giants baseball team is already promoting itself as the only real choice. ... The Giants said their development team - including Cordish Co. of Baltimore and San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management - would cover the costs of the project that they estimate at more than $1 billion. Farallon is an owner in the adjacent Mission Bay development, which includes a new UCSF campus."
  • Fears Over Fluoride (U.S. News & World Report)
    US News reports: "When government scientists reported last spring that rates of childhood tooth decay had risen slightly over the past two decades, some dental professionals proposed a possible explanation: Those children might not be getting enough fluoride, a chemical that binds to tooth enamel and makes it resistant to decay." --- Howard Pollick, a spokesperson for the American Dental Association and professor of dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco, is quoted.
  • The Wisdom on Wisdom Teeth (U.S. News & World Report - Online)
    US News reports: "The latest data suggest that as many as 80 percent of people will develop problems with their wisdom teeth. But controversy lingers about when to take action. Most experts no longer believe that crowding is a concern, but the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons typically recommends pre-emptive pulling in young adulthood. --- Tony Pogrel, chair of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, is quoted.
  • Rituxan, Multiple Sclerosis and Hope in Autoimmune Disease (Wall Street Journal -- Health Blog)
    The Wall Street Journal reports: "A promising study that found Rituxan cut the risk of relapse in Multiple Sclerosis patients in half. ... 'These findings shift the perspective on the cause of MS and open up a new frontier for investigation," Stephen Hauser, UCSF’s neurology chairman and the study’s lead author, told the San Francisco Chronicle." --- [This story was also reported by The SF Chronicle and LA Times (articles following in this FYI), Reuters, Bloomberg and the AP, and appeared in the Washington Post and in 39 other print and online news outlets.]

UCSF TELEVISION COVERAGE

  • Promising New Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis (CBS 5 Eyewitness News At 6 PM - KPIX San Francisco)
    A UCSF study shows a drug used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis is effective in treating MS. "This study represents, perhaps, a paradigm shift in how we understand multiple sclerosis," said Dr. Stephen Hauser, chairman department of neurology at UCSF. --- Air Times: 5 and 6 PM
  • A study shows Genentech and Biogen Idec's Rituxan drug works on Multiple Sclerosis (CNBC -- Squawk on the Street -- Biotech Beat)
    CNBC’s pharmaceuticals reporter Mike Huckman said: "Positive test results could help continue the rally in shares of Genentech. Another drug is showing promise [in treating] multiple sclerosis. It works quickly, well and safely after two infusions on the drug and within six months' time, patients saw the debilitating flare-ups cut by 58% and brain lesions cut by 91%. UC San Francisco neurologist Dr. Steven Hauser is one of the principal investigators. If the findings in this preliminary study help indicate larger and longer term trials, it has the potential to be a blockbuster for people with early MS. Dr. Hauser has received grant money. This could spur sales for Genentech whose shares are called higher ahead of the open… ."

UCSF HEADLINES

  • UCSF Works Toward a Healthy Environment (UCSF Today)
    Students, faculty, health professionals, researchers and members from the community gathered together on Jan. 31 at Cole Hall to participate in one of 1,600 national teach-ins that occurred during that week.