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

  • Editorial: Higher health care quality = lower cost (Ames Tribune)
    A number of ways to reduce our increasing health care costs are discussed. The column goes into more detail about excessive costs and the most important and effective way to lower the high costs of health care: improve health care quality. Dr. Steven Schroeder of the University of California San Francisco, referring to the presidential candidates' ideas on health care reform, is quoted, "Some want to cover the uninsured. Some worry about cost. Some focus on quality. They don't understand how each issue is linked to the other."
  • Hair today, gone tomorrow Firemen set to go bald for cancer research fundraiser (Argus, The)
    Newark Firefighters are shaving their heads for charity today, St. Patricks Day. The volunteers will head to Children's Hospital Oakland to clip their coifs. They have just about reached their goal of $10,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which grants money for cancer research. In addition to donating money to the Oakland Children's Hospital, the Pasadena-based foundation has given grants for research at Stanford University and the UCSF School of Medicine.
  • Cover Story: Inside drugmakers' war on fat (BusinessWeek)
    BusinessWeek reports: "Like hundreds of other executives whose companies are trying to develop blockbuster weight-loss drugs, Amylin Pharmaceuticals CEO Daniel M. Bradbury has been riveted by the saga of a once-promising medication called Acomplia. The Sanofi-Aventis drug, which is on sale in 20 countries, got clobbered last June in a review by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Bradbury watched a live simulcast as an FDA advisory panel grilled Sanofi executives over the memory loss, dizziness, depression, and other side effects reported by people who took Acomplia in clinical trials. Most worrisome, at least four people on the drug committed suicide." Robert Lustig, an obesity expert and professor of clinical pediatrics at UCSF, is quoted.
  • Regents to address budget cuts at meeting this week (Daily Californian, The)
    The UC Board of Regents will meet this week at UC San Francisco to discuss the state budget and the restructuring of the UC Office of the President, among other items on its agenda. The regents, who begin their three-day meeting tomorrow, are set to review an analysis of state and university budgets, changes to the Office of the President and university security issues.
  • Kaweah move may woo doctors (Fresno Bee)
    Kaweah Delta Hospital in Visalia is taking its first steps toward creating a medical residency program -- a move that could bring more doctors to a region that badly needs them. It's a strategy that works, said Joan Voris, associate dean for the Fresno branch of the University of California at San Francisco medical education center. It has 210 recent medical school graduates in seven residency programs at Fresno-area hospitals. The programs include surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, and emergency, family and internal medicine.
  • Poison Prevention Week is March 16-22 -- The CPC system offers life saving tips (Globe Investor)
    National Poison Prevention Week, March 16-22, provides the ideal opportunity to remind Californians about poison prevention as well as to provide information about potentially dangerous situations that can exist in their own homes. The California Poison Control System (CPCS) provides the most up-to-date information and 24-hour assistance relating to poisoning 24 hours a day, at 1-800-222-1222. The CPCS is part of the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy.
  • Generics: Just as good? (Los Angeles Times)
    In the contentious debate over insuring Americans' health, the value of generic prescription drugs is a rare point of consensus. Patients, physicians, employers, politicians -- all hail generics as powerful treatment for a swelling healthcare tab. On average, these copycat medicines cost less than a third of the brand-name drugs they mimic. In turn, the competition they provide drives down the cost of those first-to-market drugs. "The generics industry is highly successful, and it wouldn't be if it was always failing patients," said R. William Soller, a professor of pharmacology at UC San Francisco. But, he added, "it's pretty hard to think you have an absolutely perfect system."
  • Colleges back UC Merced's med school plan Sat - 2 57 AM (Merced Sun-Star)
    Support continues to grow for UC Merced's plan to build a medical school, as 23 area college and university leaders officially announced their endorsement of the project Friday. "Health and education go hand-in-hand," said CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani, a member of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium's executive committee. It isn't the first group to support the project. Over the past three years, leaders from University of California, San Francisco, UCSF Fresno and UC Davis have participated in planning for the medical school.
  • Gray Matters (Newsday)
    Politicians and other soothsayers tell us how, as a nation, we honor and care for the oldest generation, our parents and grandparents, many of whom are ill or frail and need some comfort, security and dignity in their last years. If that is true, why is it that the residents of more than 4,000 of the nation's 16,000 nursing homes risk getting bedsores that can sicken, disable and kill, or find themselves in restraints when they have to go to the bathroom because there's not enough staff to look after them? A 2006 UCSF study is discussed.
  • Safe Haven Laura Perez's experience as an immigrant groomed her for... (San Francisco Chronicle)
    Founder of the Fruitvale neighborhood clinic, Street Level Health Project, Laura Perez is profiled. Perez's organization, around since 2000, provides drop-in first aid, such as blood pressure checks and wound treatment, as well as help smoothing the way for more involved treatment at places such as La Clinica de la Raza and Highland Hospital. Set in a patchwork of nonprofit offices called the Oakland Workers Center, the clinic also serves as a gathering place for immigrants to meet, talk and grab a plate of hot food. Perez worked with Nan Lashuay, a professor of nursing at UCSF who ran a health clinic in Oakland for immigrant laborers.
  • Letter to the editor: Ban cruel animal experiments (San Francisco Examiner)
    Arlene Sen of San Francisco writes: "Let’s ban the cruel behavior of animal experimenters. There are many groups -- including the Physicians’ Committee that sued UCSF -- and individuals who are opposed to the animal experiments, which are brutal to the animals and ineffective in helping humans. The primate experiments at UCSF have engendered much opposition, including doctors who say the eye experiments are useless. The dog experiments at UCSF have also come into question."

UCSF RADIO AND TELEVISION COVERAGE

  • PBS fundraiser event with Dr. Michael Merzenich (PBS Weekend Primetime - PBS)
    Michael Merzenich appears on PBS discussing his Brain Fitness program for a PBS fundraising event. He's interviewed by Joe Campbell.

UCSF HEADLINES

  • UCSF Unveils New Strategic Plan Website (UCSF Today)
    The University has launched this new website to regularly communicate progress made in implementing the first-ever UCSF Strategic Plan. The website contains news and information about the plan, which articulates UCSF’s mission, advancing health worldwide™, its vision and these seven strategic directions: * Fostering innovation and collaboration * Translating discoveries into improved health * Educating future leaders * Providing highest-quality care * Nurturing diversity * Promoting a supportive work environment * Serving our community
  • UC Reaches Agreement with CNA on Three-Year Contract for University Nurses (UCSF Today)
    University of California officials today (March 17) announced they have reached a tentative agreement with the California Nurses Association (CNA) regarding a labor contract for the more than 8,500 nurses who work in UC medical and student health facilities.