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

  • Time to change course (Buffalo News)
    A Buffalo News op-ed said: "With Democratic candidates touting their mission to 'change' course and to restore America’s tarnished image in the world, forging a decent Cuban policy would be a good place to start." --- Dr. Richard Quint, physician and professor emeritus at the University of California in San Francisco, is quoted.
  • Philip Morris Shuts Down Grant Program for University Research (Chronicle of Higher Education, The)
    The Chronicle of Higher Education reports: "The tobacco company Philip Morris has ended a controversial program that supported research at dozens of American universities, Science magazine reported today." --- Stanton Glantz, a bioengineer at the University of California at San Francisco, is quoted.
  • Sometimes you just have to say no (Edmonton Journal, The)
    The Montreal Gazette reports: "Even after so many decades of feminist gains -- Hugo Schwyzer, a professor of history and gender studies at a community college in Pasadena posits -- many women, young and old, feel intensely guilty about saying no." --- Dr. Nanette Gartrell, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Centre of Excellence in Women's Health for the University of California at San Francisco, is quoted.
  • Patients' ability to sue at risk (Los Angeles Times - Online)
    The LA Times reports: "Years of high-profile court battles over drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex, along with billion-dollar settlements and jury verdicts, could soon be a thing of the past." --- David A. Kessler, a former FDA chief and a professor at UC San Francisco, is quoted.
  • Valley's need for a UC Merced medical school is dire (Modesto Bee, The)
    The Modesto Bee reports: "The UC system understands the challenges of meeting our future health care needs, and the valley community is coalescing around the plan to bring a medical school to UC Merced. Based on more than three years of careful and highly consultative planning, the campus proposes to establish a school of medicine in partnership with the University of California at Davis and University of California at San Francisco schools of medicine."
  • State routinely giving anti-psychotic drugs to nursing home patients regardless of need (New Haven Register)
    The Associated Press reports: "Nursing homes in Connecticut have dispensed anti-psychotic drugs to residents who do not have psychotic disorders at one of the highest rates in the country in the past two years, according to federal data. ... Charlene Harrington, a professor of sociology and nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, said a high prevalence of anti-psychotic use in a nursing home could be due to inadequate staffing."
  • Tooth and consequences (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
    The Bay Guardian's Justin Juul writes: "We're all dental tourists, and we've come to Los Algodones -- a sunny border town near Yuma, Arizona, which allegedly has more dental clinics and pharmacies per block than any other city in the world -- to save money. In my case, I'm in for three root canals with posts and crowns for the price of a secondhand scooter on eBay: $1,850, about a third of what I'd pay for the same procedures in the States." --- UCSF is mentioned.
  • UCSF Medical Center transplant-survival rates top U.S. averages (San Francisco Business Times)
    The Business Times reports: "UC San Francisco Medical Center said Friday its one-year survival rates for patients receiving heart, liver and lung transplants exceed national averages at statistically significant levels." --- John Roberts, M.D., chief of the UCSF Medical Center Transplant Service, is quoted.
  • Giants' idea for China Basin best, most in tune with area (San Francisco Chronicle)
    The best piece of land up for grabs in San Francisco is a 16-acre parking lot that sits across China Basin from AT&T Park. The political buzz is that the development team with the best shot at winning the land is the one organized by the San Francisco Giants. ... The UCSF Mission Bay campus has sparked a construction boom in medical research buildings, and more than 1,900 housing units have opened since the Giants moved to China Basin in 2000."
  • Homeless, Mike Dick was 51, looked 66 (San Francisco Chronicle)
    The Chronicle reports: "Mike Dick, and most of the old homeless folks you see panhandling or snoring outside, hit the streets back in the 1980s during what experts call the 'big boom' of homelessness. Now, all these years later, they are simply aging toward a premature death -- right where they sit, stand and sleep. UCSF Assistant Professor Judy Hahn in 2006 led what is believed to be the most significant study of older homeless people in the United States, and she found that the median age of street people in San Francisco was 50 - compared with 37 in 1990."
  • LEAH GARCHIK (San Francisco Chronicle)
    Leah Garchik writes: "Dorothea Lack was in the food court of the UCSF Student Union the other day, where a tall, handsome gent sitting next to her said grace and then tucked into a plate of Chinese fast food. 'Is this a big school and hospital?' he asked. 'Yes,' she said, 'this is UCSF Medical Center, one of the seven best in the country.' 'I am a roofer from out of town,' said the gent. 'I asked my GPS system where I could get some Chinese fast food, and it sent me here. I had no idea it was a medical center. I came for the sweet and sour pork.'

UCSF TELEVISION COVERAGE

  • UCSF MEDICAL CENTER RECEIVES HIGH MARKS FOR TRANSPLANT SERVICE (KTVU Channel 2 News at 5 PM - KTVU-TV)
    KTVU reports: “The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients shows UCSF is the best hospital for transplant surgeries. The survival rate was looked at and 92 percent of liver transplant patients at UCSF were alive a year after their operations compared to a national average of 88 percent. Ninety percent of lung transplant patients survived their first year.” --- Air Time: 5 PM
  • CNA and Sutter Health ilabor dispute (KTVU-TV CH 2 (FOX) San Francisco)
    The contract dispute between the California Nurses Association and Sutter Health could lead to a nurse strike. James Darby, UCSF chief nurse representative, talks to KTVU about the need for care facilities like St. Luke's that are shutting down. --- Air Time: 5 and 10 PM; Duration: 00:03:06
  • Best Friends' Kidney Swap is Successful (KXTV-TV (ABC) Sacramento)
    ABC News in Sacramento reports: "A 28-year-old Tracy man whose kidneys had totally shut down on him successfully underwent a kidney transplant at UC San Francisco Medical Center on Friday."

UCSF HEADLINES

  • Wells to Chair UCSF Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (UCSF Today)
    James A. Wells, PhD, an internationally recognized biochemist and leader in the development of new technologies for engineering proteins and for identifying small molecules to aid in drug discovery, has been named chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the UCSF School of Pharmacy.
  • Gladstone Ranked #1 in the Scientist's Survey of Best Places for Postdoctoral Fellows to Work (UCSF Today -- Press release)
    San Francisco's J. David Gladstone Institutes is once again ranked as the best place for postdoctoral fellows to work in the United States. In the annual survey, published by The Scientist magazine, Gladstone received high marks for its strong infrastructure and networking opportunities, and was recognized for its consistently high rankings over the last 4 years.