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

  • Figuring out fat's role (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
    The Fort Worth Telegram reports: "New finds give those floundering in the fight against fat urgent reasons to take control and make changes." --- Robert Lustig, director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital, is quoted.
  • Newsom ready to sue over cuts in Medi-Cal (San Francisco Chronicle)
    The Chronicle reports: "San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is considering a run for governor in 2010, injected himself into California's heated budget battle Tuesday by threatening to sue the state over cuts to its medical insurance program for the poor. Newsom called the cuts -- a 10 percent reduction in reimbursements to doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients -- 'unconscionable.' ... Dr. Michael Potter, associate professor of family and community medicine at UCSF, said the cuts approved in Sacramento will only further discourage physicians from accepting Medi-Cal patients."
  • AIDS Scientist Calls for Basic Tack (Wall Street Journal - San Francisco Bureau)
    The Wall Street Journal reports: "After a string of disappointments climaxed by the surprising failure of a leading [AIDS] vaccine candidate by Merck & Co. last fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci [director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] said Tuesday that it is time to adjust the balance between spending on clinical and basic research back toward fundamental discoveries about the immune system, animal models and innovative vaccine concepts. ... 'The fact is that an HIV vaccine in 2008 eludes our grasp,' said Warner Greene, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, affiliated with the University of California at San Francisco." --- [Subscription required to access the full WSJ article; access the story with the Warner Greene quote at the Boston Globe, reported by Reuters: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/26/us_seeks_new_focus_for_aids_vaccine/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Today%27s+paper+A+to+Z.]
  • Australian scientist hopes to put breast cancers to sleep (Yahoo! News/Agence France Press)
    Dr. Alex Swarbrick of Sydney's Garvan Institute reports today in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that "highly aggressive breast cancers might in future be 'put to sleep' rather than attacked with chemotherapy," said Agence France Press. Swarbrick conducted his research in collaboration with Nobel prize winning Professor and UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop.

UCSF RADIO COVERAGE

  • Health Disparities (KQED -- Forum)
    KQED reports: "Recent government research highlights growing disparities in life expectancy across socioeconomic backgrounds. We discuss why health disparities exist between the rich and poor and among minority groups." --- Dr. Nancy Adler, professor of Medical Psychology at UCSF and chair of the MacArthur Foundation Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health, is a panel guest. --- Air Time: 9 AM

UCSF HEADLINES

  • Key factor in brain development revealed, offers insight into disorder (UCSF News Office)
    Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics, and the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues report in the Feb. 8 issue of Cell they have identified a gene in mice necessary for brain cell development. The finding may shed light on a rare pediatric disorder known as lissencephaly.
  • UCSF Gains Positive Presence on YouTube, Social Networking Sites (UCSF Today)
    In recent years, the UCSF community has joined the rest of the world in putting their faces forward in various types of videos on YouTube and connecting with those with similar interests on social networking sites.