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Obama Issues Directive To Enact New Embryonic Stem Cell Research Rules
President Obama on Thursday issued a directive to federal agencies to begin following new NIH guidelines on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, Reuters/New York Times reports (Reuters/New York Times, 7/30). NIH announced the final guidelines earlier this month. The guidelines assess whether newly created embryonic stem cell lines can be used for federally funded research, as well as clarify how old lines will be evaluated (Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, 7/7).In March, Obama overturned President George W. Bush"s policy limiting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. In a statement Thursday, Obama said, "I hereby direct the heads of executive departments and agencies that support and conduct stem cell research to adopt these guidelines, to the fullest extent practicable in light of legal authorities and obligations" (Reuters/New York Times, 7/30).
Polygraphy
Patient Radiation Exposure During Interventional Procedures Is A Concern For Some Developing Countries
Interventional radiology procedures are on the rise in developing countries and there is a significant need for optimization of these procedures to ensure patient safety. Many facilities in these countries lack the concept of patient dose estimation and dose management, putting patients at a higher risk of developing complications due to overexposure from radiation during interventional procedures, according to a study performed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.
News of the day
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Awards $2.7M To 7 Top Young Clinical Investigators
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named 4 new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its April 2009 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research at major research centers under the mentorship of the nation"s leading scientists and clinicians. Each will receive $450,000 to support the development of his cancer research program.
Cardiovascular

Researchers Identify New Method To Selectively Kill Metastatic Melanoma Cells

An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma - a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, in collaboration with a team of researchers led by Maria S. Soengas, Ph.D., with the Spanish National Cancer Research Center in Madrid, Spain, found that activation of a specific molecular pathway triggers melanoma cells to begin a process of self-destruction - through self-digestion and programmed cell death. The study is published in the August 4 print issue of the journal Cancer Cell. "The present research provides a path that could lead with further studies and a phase I clinical trial for safety to the development of a strategy that reenergizes the immune system to destroy this highly aggressive cancer," said lead investigator at VCU, Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., the first incumbent of the Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research with the VCU Massey Cancer Center. According to Fisher, the pathway that is activated involves the melanoma differentiation associated gene-5, or mda-5, a gene initially cloned in Fisher"s laboratory, that activates a protein called NOXA that is involved with programmed cell death. This series of chemical reactions results in induction of a cell-killing process involving self-digestion that leads to programmed cell death specifically in melanoma cells. Fisher said that mda-5 is a key regulator of innate immunity that induces interferon beta production limiting replication of specific pathogenic viruses. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish Association Against Cancer and the Spanish National Cancer Research Center. The project team in Spain was led by Soengas, with the Melanoma Laboratory, Molecular Pathology Program, Spanish National Cancer Research Center, Madrid, Spain. Fisher, who also is professor and chair of the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine in the VCU School of Medicine, lead the investigative team at VCU which included Paola M. Barral, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics; and Rupesh Dash, Ph.D., postdoctoral research scientist, in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine. Sathya Achia Abraham Virginia Commonwealth University


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