With obesity emerging as a leading health threat to Americans, it's easy to blame a couch-potato culture addicted to calorie-rich foods. But UC Irvine biologist Bruce Blumberg doesn't believe lifestyle alone explains this phenomenon; he thinks industrial pollutants play a part too. Blumberg (pictured) is among a growing number of researchers exploring how chemicals used in plastics, food packaging, pesticides and cosmetics can trigger dramatic increases in body fat. He has even coined a word for these compounds that corrupt the normal function of metabolic hormones: obesogens. While it's unclear to what degree these chemicals contribute to the obesity epidemic, what Blumberg and other researchers around the world are finding is troubling. In ongoing studies, Blumberg has identified how obesogens target signaling proteins to prompt a developing fetus to make more fat cells. This can have lifelong consequences, raising the likelihood of body fat accumulation as a person ages and making it more difficult to lose excess weight.   More »

Jill Berg, nursing science associate professor, will be among those feted at a Nov. 3 banquet for the Chancellor's Awards in Clinical & Translational Science. Organized by UCI's Institute for Clinical & Translational Science, the event - which encompasses a community health workshop earlier in the day - was created to recognize exceptional community-based clinical research and treatment efforts and to raise awareness of the need to quickly translate lab discoveries into clinical practice. Berg (pictured) will be honored as Outstanding Community Research Nurse. Other awardees include Cynthia Barnes-Boyd with the Chicago-based UIC Neighborhood Initiatives, who will receive the Chancellor's Commendation for Community-Based Participatory Research, and Costa Mesa's Share Our Selves, named Outstanding Community-Based Organization. Registration for the workshop and banquet is required.   More »

As America's reliance on cell phones, MP3 players and digital cameras grows, so too do concerns that toxic waste elements in these devices can cause significant environmental and health damage when they are disposed of. In the Oct. 30 issue of Science, UCI researchers Dele Ogunseitan (pictured), Jean-Daniel Saphores and Andrew Shapiro discuss this steadily increasing volume of e-waste and current federal policies for recycling and eliminating hazardous materials like mercury, lead, zinc and cadmium from these devices. They advocate better education programs, increased research efforts and a "cradle to grave" approach to the design, use and disposal of such products.   More »

Researchers and physicians with UC Irvine's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center have teamed with University of California colleagues to launch the Athena Breast Health Network. The groundbreaking project will screen an initial 150,000 California women for breast cancer and follow them for decades through the five UC medical centers. Ultimately, as many as 400,000 women may participate in the network. Athena's organizers say the multiyear study will lead to more effective methods for screening, diagnosis and treatment, as well as improving survivors' quality of life. "In terms of depth and breadth, from detection to survivorship, this will be the largest study of its kind," says Hoda Anton-Culver, epidemiology professor and chair who is heading UCI's effort.   More »

UC Irvine neurobiologist Christopher Rex was selected as one of the first 13 Kauffman Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Fellows. During the yearlong program, the fellows will have their salaries and benefits provided by the Kauffman Foundation and receive internship experience and mentoring in how to take discoveries from lab to market. Rex, a postdoctoral researcher in anatomy & neurobiology, studies molecular and cellular activity in the brain to understand memory coding and psychiatric illnesses. He intends to pursue a career in academic science and as an entrepreneur in diagnostic and pharmaceutical products.   More »

Stress is an everyday part of life, but too much of it for pregnant women can be detrimental to their babies' development. Researchers at UC Irvine are working with 600 Southern California women and their children to understand why. They're investigating the correlation between prenatal levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, and infant/child cognition and behavior. Their Women & Children's Health & Well-Being Project is among the first large-scale studies in the country on prenatal stress and child development. "This is a new area of study, and what we learn now will go a long way toward the creation of treatments to improve prenatal health," says project researcher Elysia Poggi Davis.   More »

The National Cancer Institute has reapproved the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine as one of 40 comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S. Comprehensive centers are chosen for their commitment to integrated research, prevention, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation programs. The designation is the highest honor given by the NCI in recognition of excellence in cancer research and treatment. The Chao center first received comprehensive status in 1997 and is the only facility of its kind in Orange County. "This is a great testament to our faculty, staff and community supporters who are committed to finding new and improved preventions and treatments for cancer," says center director Dr. Frank L. Meyskens Jr.   More »

Surgery can be traumatic for children – and their parents. To guide families through the experience, Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology & perioperative care chair and professor, has received a $1.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to create and implement a unique Web site to help parents ease children’s anxiety (and their own), properly manage postsurgical pain and, ultimately, facilitate healing. The Tailored Intervention Preparation for Surgery site will address one of the most pressing needs in pediatric surgical care. About 60 percent of the 5 million children who undergo surgery in the U.S. each year develop extreme anxiety beforehand and suffer from unnecessary pain afterward. “The site will create a program specifically tailored to the child’s needs and the parents’ ability to provide care,” Kain says. “We want to provide the guidance for families to manage their children’s surgeries.”   More »

An influential Institute of Medicine advisory panel co-chaired by Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, the Donald Bren Professor of Medicine at UC Irvine, has issued a report urging the U.S. government to fund studies comparing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit disorder and other conditions to determine which strategies work best. The recommendations were included in a list of 100 priorities developed by the panel, which was charged with advising the government on how to spend money allocated by Congress for “comparative effectiveness” research. “This report lays the foundation for an ongoing enterprise to provide the evidence that healthcare providers need to make better decisions and achieve better results,” Greenfield said.   More »

Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology & perioperative care professor and chair at UC Irvine, has found that treating children with the hormone melatonin before they undergo surgery significantly reduces emergence delirium, a distressing incidence of acute behavioral changes experienced when waking up from anesthesia. Affecting up to 20 percent of children who undergo surgery, emergence delirium in the post-anesthesia care unit can include crying, thrashing and need for restraint. This also can lead to behavioral changes outside the recovery suite, with the onset of nightmares, bed-wetting and separation anxiety, according to Kain. Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep and moods. The study, which involved 148 subjects between the ages of 2 and 8 undergoing outpatient surgery, appears in Anesthesiology.   More »

Women exposed to air pollution from freeways and congested roads are much more likely to give birth to premature babies and suffer from preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension), according to a University of California study led by UC Irvine public health assistant professor Jun Wu. The findings, based on pregnant women in the Long Beach/Orange County region, add to the growing evidence that car and truck exhaust can jeopardize the health of babies while they are in the womb. Reviewing the birth records of more than 81,000 infants, researchers found that the risk of having a baby born before 30 weeks of gestation increased 128 percent for women who live near the worst traffic-generated air pollution. The study appears online in Environmental Health Perspectives.   More »

Dr. Steven George has been named founding director of The Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology at UC Irvine. George, the William J. Link Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering, will lead the center’s initiatives in cardiovascular research and training. The center’s multidisciplinary effort focuses on heart and vascular diseases and advanced cardiovascular device technology, with strong collaboration among students, faculty and cardiovascular experts. Although programs will be directed by the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the center will integrate many disciplines, such as tissue engineering, materials science, computer science, and advanced imaging and microfabrication, all of which may play a role in creating devices that can help treat cardiovascular diseases.   More »

UC Irvine researchers are leading the effort to see how - or if - natural compounds in tomatoes, kava and other “superfoods” work in the human body to prevent or treat cancer. Since joining the UCI urology department in 2002, Xiaolin Zi has made key discoveries showing that kava compounds called flavokawains stop bladder tumor growth in cell cultures and animal studies, and he believes they hold hope for staving off bladder cancer in humans. And in recent work, he’s finding that lycopene – an antioxidant compound in tomatoes – is proving to be a promising supplement for prostate cancer chemotherapy. “Although there are not yet a lot of studies showing the cancer-fighting effectiveness of natural treatments, many cancer patients are using them,” he says. “There is a lot of exciting potential is this area of research.”   More »

The residency program in the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care at UC Irvine has received a full five-year accreditation and will expand from a traditional three-year to four-year program that will provide a complete training for future anesthesiologists. UCI now offers one of only two California anesthesia four-year residencies with full accreditation. In addition, the department moved from 44th to 26th nationally in National Institutes of Health research funding for anesthesiology departments. “With this accreditation and rankings achievement, the efforts we have made to transform our department are starting to bear fruit, and we are continuing to build teaching and patient-care programs that will take their place among the nation’s finest,” says Dr. Zeev Kain, anesthesiology professor and chair.   More »

Epidemiologist Dr. Ralph Delfino and his UC Irvine colleagues provide some of the first evidence that air-pollution particles, especially unregulated ultrafine particles, may be involved in deactivating antioxidant enzymes in red blood cells. The associated oxidative stress, they say, can trigger inflammation in arteries and veins and can activate platelets that cause blood clots in people with a history of coronary heart disease, thus elevating heart attack and stroke risk. The study, which currently appears in the online version of Environmental Health Perspectives, followed 60 elderly persons with coronary artery disease living in Southern California retirement communities.   More »

A new drug made from antibody compounds created by UC Irvine researchers Tom Lane and Hans Keirstead has successfully completed a phase II clinical trial for treating rheumatoid arthritis. The pharmaceutical company Medarex has licensed the antibodies, which block immune-system response, to create new treatments for autoimmunity diseases. Medarex will now enter the drug, called MDX-1100, into a large-scale phase III trial, which if successful will make the drug eligible for FDA approval and consumer use. Medarex also is testing a drug made from the UCI anti-IP-10 antibodies for treating ulcerative colitis. Lane and Keirstead created the antibodies earlier this decade for studies on autoimmunity response in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.   More »

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded UC Irvine $45 million over five years for infectious disease research. The renewal grant, which is the campus’s largest ever, went to the Pacific-Southwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research and its director, Dr. Alan Barbour, a UCI infectious disease expert (pictured). The Pacific-Southwest center is one of only 11 federally funded research sites dedicated to countering threats from bioterrorism agents and emerging infections, and its researchers are located at UCI and 19 other universities and institutes in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.   More »

Public health professor Guiyun Yan received a $135,000 Framework grant from the Fogarty International Center to expand global health studies at UC Irvine. The grant is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is investing $10 billion into health-related research and infrastructure. Yan said the grant will fund fellowship opportunities for UCI students and faculty, support new course development and help establish a global health concentration in the master of public health program. The Fogarty center, the international component of the National Institutes of Health, addresses global health challenges through support of research and training programs. It has been providing Framework grants since 2005.   More »

UC Irvine researchers have found that eating fat-rich foods triggers the formation of long-term memories of that activity. Daniele Piomelli (pictured) and James McGaugh found that compounds created during digestion are involved memory consolidation, the process by which superficial, short-term memories are transformed into meaningful, long-term ones. Such memory enhancement may have been a survival mechanism for early humans, Piomelli said, but it is not as beneficial today and may cause long-term craving for rich, fatty foods. Understanding this mechanism, he said, may herald new approaches for treating obesity and eating disorders. Study results appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   More »

Nicotine – the addictive drug component of cigarette smoke – seems to play an important role in calming negative emotions like anger, UC Irvine psychiatric researchers found. In computer game tests on non-smokers, Jean Gehricke (pictured) and colleagues saw that subjects wearing nicotine patches were more inclined to retaliate less severely to anger provocation. Subsequent brain scan tests showed that nicotine induced metabolic changes in brain areas associated with anger response. The findings support previous UCI work showing that people of an angry disposition are more susceptible to nicotine’s effects. Study results appear in the journal Behavioral and Brain Functions.   More »

Dr. Tallie Z. Baram, the Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Sciences at UC Irvine, has received the Epilepsy Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Pharmacology of Antiepileptic Drugs. Presented by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the award recognizes and stimulates outstanding research leading to better clinical control of epileptic seizures. Baram is considered the world’s leading investigator of the basic neural mechanisms involved in childhood febrile seizures – seizures caused by high fever – and how these prolonged seizures can lead to adult epilepsy. She also won the 2006 Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences, the nation’s most prestigious prize for cutting-edge research into brain disorders. She will receive the ASPET award April 18 at the organization’s annual meeting in New Orleans.   More »

The National Children’s Study will begin recruiting future Orange County mothers to take part in the largest and most comprehensive long-term study ever conducted in the United States on child development and health. Starting this spring and summer, interview teams will canvass scientifically selected Orange County neighborhoods for women 18 to 44 who plan to bear children within five years. By tracking their children’s development from gestation to age 21, researchers hope to determine the root causes of many childhood and adult ailments, potentially leading to new preventions and treatments for birth defects and pregnancy-related problems; asthma; obesity; diabetes; and behavior, learning and mental health disorders. UCI is helping to lead this effort in Orange County, where organizers plan to enroll 1,250 women.   More »

Hsiang Ho, a biological chemistry doctoral student at UC Irvine, has received a 2008 Research Scholar Award from the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation. Ho was awarded $10,000 to explore how enzymes that regulate tanning are involved with the progression of the deadly skin cancer. The awards, which began in 2006 for promising melanoma research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, this year included graduate student researchers at comprehensive cancer centers across the country. Ho works in the laboratory of dermatology professor Dr. Anand Ganesan at UCI’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center   More »

NARSAD, the leading charity for research on mental health disorders, has honored Daniele Piomelli with its prestigious Distinguished Investigator Award. The award includes one-year $100,000 grant that will allow Piomelli, the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the Neurosciences, to advance his research on new anti-anxiety medicines. He is one of 16 outstanding scientists receiving NARSAD’s 2009 Distinguished Investigator Award. This highly competitive grant program is designed for investigators of brain and psychiatric disorders who have established themselves as leaders in their fields.   More »

Oladele A. Ogunseitan, population health and disease prevention professor and chair at UC Irvine, has been selected to the state’s new Green Ribbon Science Panel. The advisory panel was created for California’s Green Chemistry program, an innovative approach to removing or reducing toxic chemicals in products sold in the state. The panel will help direct the Department of Toxic Substances Control to significantly reduce adverse health and environmental impacts of chemicals used in commerce and develop a green chemistry and chemicals policy in California. Ogunseitan, who studies the environmental and human-health effects of industrial pollutants, also directs the Research and Education in Green Materials component of the University of California’s Systemwide Toxic Substances Research & Teaching Program.   More »

Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center has started an integrative oncology program to gauge the effectiveness of alternative dietary and lifestyle therapies in cancer prevention and care. Research and patient-care efforts will explore the effectiveness of new treatment and preventative approaches more and more people are trying, such as herbal supplements, nutrition, meditation, pet/animal-assisted therapy, healing touch, acupuncture, music and art therapy and exercise. “Eighty percent of cancer patients use some form of complementary or alternative medicine,” says UCI oncologist Dr. Randall Holcombe (pictured), who started the program. “We recognize that alternative therapies can be effective, and we hope to establish a standard of care for those that work.”   More »

As one of the world’s leading experts on stuttering, Dr. Gerald Maguire of UC Irvine Medical Center is accustomed to media attention, but nothing can compare to his upcoming appearance on Brazilian television that will be seen by 30 million viewers. While he was presenting at a conference there last week, the folks at “Fantástico!” – a highly respected Sunday-evening news magazine show on the Globo network – interviewed him about his cutting-edge research and treatment of stuttering at UCI’s Center for the Medical Treatment of Stuttering, and Maguire’s own experiences as a stutterer. Considered the “60 Minutes” of Brazil, “Fantástico!” has been on the air 35 years and is one of the top-rated TV shows in the world. Maguire’s segment will air Sunday, April 12, so if you’re in Rio, tune in.   More »

Compounds created to combat Alzheimer’s disease, sleep disorders and other neurological ailments reverse Huntington’s disease-related memory loss, according to a UC Irvine study. In tests on mice with HD, neurobiologists Gary Lynch (pictured), Danielle Simmons and colleagues found that a very mild ampakine treatment produced dramatic increases in the brain’s chemical processes for creating and storing memories. The study points to the potential of ampakine-based drugs – which Lynch helped discover and are already used in Alzheimer disease clinical trials – as a treatment for people with HD, a rare and fatal neurological disease. Study results appear in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   More »

UC Irvine has created a new Institute for Immunology that expands research for treatments of immune-system illnesses and diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. According to institute director Dr. Paolo Casali (pictured), the institute allows for a broader range of immunology research and supports collaborations among biological sciences and medicine faculty members with their colleagues in biomedical engineering, public health and other campus areas. “The expanded scope of the institute gives us the means to better integrate basic science with medical applications,” he says. The institute also hosts a year-round speaker series that will culminate in the annual Immunology Fair in November and played a key role in establishing the Jeffrey Modell UCI Diagnostic Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies at the Gottschalk Medical Plaza this month.   More »

UCI orthopedic researcher Joyce Keyak has found that radioactive bone cement she helped invent can improve treatments for patients when their breast cancer has spread to the spine. In cases where breast cancer metastasizes, almost 75 percent of patients develop spine tumors. In her study, Keyak and UCI colleagues in radiological oncology found that when injected into vertebrae, her bone cement irradiates the tumor while strengthening the bone, making it a valuable alternative to multiple radiation treatments. She presented her data at the annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society Feb. 22. "With further development, this may provide a safe treatment for patients with recurrent spinal tumors who currently have few treatment options," she said.   More »

Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, Center for Health Policy Research executive director, has been appointed co-chair of an Institute of Medicine committee that will establish how to spend the $400 million Comparative Effectiveness Research portion of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. The committee will work with healthcare leaders to prioritize funding for clinical research on new drugs, devices, procedures, imaging and healthcare delivery systems. The committee report, presented to Congress by June 30, will influence long-term strategies for research funding, Greenfield said. “This is the beginning of a process that will provide important information that will improve the ability of doctors and patients to choose the best treatment options,” he said.   More »

UC Irvine postdoctoral researcher Dr. Bertrand Tseng (pictured) is one of four young investigators to be named a National Space Biomedical Research Institute fellow. The two-year program offers fellows the opportunity to manage their own space-related biomedical research project. Tseng, who works in the lab of radiation oncology professor Dr. Charles Limoli, will study how solar radiation increases oxidative stress in the body, which can affect the function and regenerative abilities of muscles and organs. He also will receive a $40,000 stipend and attend a summer institute that provides an introduction to NASA’s research facilities programs at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.   More »

Researchers from the UC Irvine Reeve-Irvine Research Center and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery received a top award at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Cervical Spine Research Society. The research team of Dr. Jeremy Smith, Thu Pham, Ryan Anderson, Dr. Nitin Bhatia, Oswald Steward and Dr. Ranjan Gupta won the Resident/Fellow Award for their project, “The role of durotomy and duroplasty following cervical spinal cord injury in an animal model.” Smith (pictured), an orthopedic resident and the study’s first author, also received an award of $2,000. The meeting took place Dec. 4-6 in Austin, Texas   More »

The UC Irvine Medical Center has been named one of the sites for a novel national study on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Dr. Tahseen Mozaffar, director of the UCI MDA-ALS Research & Clinical Center, will lead the local effort to collect blood and tissue samples from ALS patients. Knowledge generated from study of these samples will speed the development of biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of this chronic, fatal neuromuscular disease. Study leaders from the ALS Therapy Development Institute also believe the data will help researchers worldwide develop effective therapeutics.   More »

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine is the only cancer clinic in Orange County to be an exemplary clinical trial site, meeting the stringent standards and attributes established this summer by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Chao’s doctors and researchers maintain a robust diversity of studies designed to advance new cancer treatments. According to Dr. Randall Holcombe (pictured), chief of hematology/oncology and director of clinical trials, the Chao Center has more than 50 ongoing clinical trials, ranging from ones for cancer prevention and early detection to others focusing on advanced treatments. “Our talented team of investigators, nurses, researchers and support staff are on the cutting edge of developing and testing tomorrow’s cancer cures,” Holcombe said. “It’s a tribute to them that we meet these rigorous national clinical trial standards.”   More »

Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Distinguished Professor and chair of pharmacology at UC Irvine, and his colleagues have found a molecular link between circadian rhythms – our own body clock – and metabolism. The discovery reveals new possibilities for treating diabetes, obesity and other related diseases. “This link has far-reaching implications for human illness and aging,” said Sassone-Corsi. Circadian rhythms of 24 hours govern fundamental physiological functions in almost all organisms. Disruption of these rhythms can profoundly influence human health and has been linked to metabolic disorders, insomnia, depression, coronary heart diseases and cancer. The study appeared in the July 25 issue of Cell.   More »

Daniel Stokols, Chancellor’s Professor of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, is co-editor of the current special issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on the “Science of Team Science.” The July 2008 supplement (volume 35, issue 2) is devoted to assessing the need and value of interdisciplinary research. The study of team science is aimed at understanding and enhancing the results of collaborative research and training programs. According to Stokols, complex problems like global warming, AIDS, cancer, food security and terrorism require greater collaboration among scientists trained in different fields. For more information, visit the AJPM or National Cancer Institute Web site.   More »

UC Irvine has been awarded $1.62 million to lead a University of California program on development of nontoxic alternatives to everyday products, such as electronics, plastics, lighting products, fuels and pesticides. As the Lead Campus for a Green Materials Program, UCI will foster research and graduate-level training at UC campuses and bring together public health, toxicology, materials science, engineering and social science experts to work on innovative approaches to reducing health and environmental hazards associated with materials use in society. Oladele Ogunseitan, professor of public health and social ecology at UCI and international expert on environmental health sciences, will serve as inaugural director. “This program will have great impact on the people of California, because it will draw upon our expertise in these areas and employ it for the health and benefit of society,” he said.   More »

Last year, UC Irvine neurobiologist Gary Lynch (pictured) published a groundbreaking set of research studies showing how the brain forms memory. And beside him every step of the way was Los Angeles Times staff writer Terry McDermott, who chronicled the struggle and ultimate achievement of the Lynch research team. Last August, the Times published a lengthy four-part series on their effort, titled “Chasing Memory: One Man’s Epic Quest for Understanding,” for which McDermott recently received the 2008 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award. The judges praised him for bringing to light a scientific problem – how memory is stored – that has defied explanation for decades, and for capturing what it's like to work in a research lab. McDermott’s reporting on Lynch will be expanded into a book, 101 Theory Drive: A Scientist’s Pursuit of the Memory Machine in the Brain, due next year.   More »

Dr. Ronald Gaster, UC Irvine professor of ophthalmology, participated in a national study showing that older corneas are as suitable for transplant as younger ones. Researchers found the transplant success rate for recipients was the same – 86 percent – for transplants performed with corneas from donors ages 12 to 65 years as for those from donors ages 66 to 75. More than 33,000 corneal transplants are performed each year; the study suggests the pool of corneas for transplants could expand significantly to include donors up to age 75.   More »

An increased number of neuron “hubs” in the epileptic brain may be the root cause for the seizures that characterize the disorder, according to a UC Irvine study. Using a computer model, researchers Robert Morgan and Ivan Soltesz with the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology identified that these hubs – a small number of highly connected neurons – are formed in the hippocampus during the transition from a healthy brain to an epileptic one. The increased number of connections among these hubs, they found, circulate and amplify signals to such a degree that they overwhelm brain networks, leading to epileptic seizures. The study appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   More »

Lovastatin is one of the most widely prescribed cholesterol management drugs in the world, but doctors at the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center are testing whether this popular drug can prevent melanoma, a potentially lethal skin cancer. Dr. Kenneth Linden (pictured) is looking for adults with a history of melanoma to participate in a clinical trial to see if Lovastatin can reverse precancerous changes in abnormal moles. Recently, two large cardiovascular clinical trials found a significant reduction in the incidence of melanoma in patients taking blood lipid-lowering statin drugs. The study is part of a robust effort by Chao Center clinical researchers to discover and test novel compounds and drugs that can prevent cancers. For more information, contact Vanessa Wong at 714-456-6210 or vanessw@uci.edu   More »

Dr. Zeev N. Kain, a Yale anesthesiologist widely recognized for work helping children through the stress and pain of surgery, has been named professor and chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Anesthesiology. Kain, who was appointed after a national search, also will serve as UC Irvine Medical Center’s anesthesiologist in chief and as associate dean for clinical research in the School of Medicine. He was executive vice chair of anesthesiology at Yale University School of Medicine and anesthesiologist in chief and director of the Pediatric Surgery Center at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital. “The recruitment of Zeev Kain is a boon for the Department of Anesthesiology and for all of UC Irvine Health Affairs,” said Dr. David N. Bailey, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He will bring inspired leadership to anesthesiology and be instrumental in spearheading new research initiatives.”   More »

Ivan Soltesz, professor and chair of anatomy & neurobiology at UC Irvine, is co-editor of a new book titled Computational Neuroscience in Epilepsy. Soltesz, who has received a Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences, the nation’s most prestigious prize for cutting-edge research on brain injuries and illnesses, is on the forefront of research looking into epilepsy, and his book looks at the ever-increasing power of computers to analyze and predict the behavior of brain-cell networks in healthy and diseased states. The book also offers new approaches for the use of technology to point the way for novel treatments for neurological diseases like epilepsy. His co-editor is Kevin Staley of the University of Colorado, and the book is published by Academic Press.   More »

Can a diet rich in grapes help prevent colon cancer? Dr. Randall Holcombe of the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is recruiting participants to see whether a component in grapes, resveratrol, blocks genes involved in the development of colon cancer. Study participants will be placed on a monitored diet for two weeks that avoids foods rich in resveratrol, then they will get a biopsy of the colon lining. Next, they will supplement their diet each day with 1/3 of a pound to 1 pound of fresh grapes for two weeks and have the biopsy procedure repeated. Holcombe has shown resveratrol’s effectiveness in previous studies. Those interested should call study coordinator Micii Martinez at 714-456-7069.   More »

Dr. Ninh Nguyen, chief of gastrointestinal surgery at the UC Irvine Medical Center, and colleagues are seeking participants in a nationwide clinical study to test a new, minimally invasive way to treat morbid obesity without altering the stomach through gastric bypass surgery or laparoscopic banding. The Empower study will employ a novel VBLOC Therapy, in which implanted electrodes will block nerve signals carried between the brain and the digestive system that control sensations of hunger, satisfaction and fullness. The five-year safety and efficacy study is being held at five U.S. locations and a site in Australia.   More »

UC Irvine researchers received $134,622,587 in award funding during the first half of fiscal year 2007-08, a 25.4 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. In addition to having more investigators submitting more proposals that led to more awards, Christina Hansen, associate vice chancellor for research, attributes the gain to faculty efforts to develop competitive, innovative programs featuring larger, interdisciplinary research teams. Highlighting the 1,173 awards are a $26 million grant from the NIH for the National Children’s Study and a $14.5 million NIH award over five years to support the Center for Complex Biological Systems (center director Arthur Lander pictured). UCI also received $12 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for the campus’s growing stem cell research effort.

The world’s largest long-term study of people with a genetic blood disorder has found that men with a specific pair of genes are 30 times more likely than women to develop complications, including major organ damage to the liver and heart, as a result of blood iron overload, or haemochromatosis. Christine McLaren, professor of epidemiology at UC Irvine and study investigator, said her work is the first to quantify how many people carrying the most common genes for haemochromatosis will develop disease. While a common concern for women is having too little iron, this study clearly demonstrates that far more men need to be concerned about absorbing too much iron than previously thought. Results appear in the Jan. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.   More »

Dr. Edwin Monuki, doctoral student Karla Hirokawa and their colleagues in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Developmental & Cell Biology have identified a gene that is specifically responsible for generating the cerebral cortex, a finding that could lead to stem cell therapies to treat brain injuries and diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer’s. The researchers found that a gene called Lhx2 serves as the long-sought cortical “creator” gene that instructs stem cells in the developing brain to form the cerebral cortex. This portion of the brain is responsible for higher sensory and cognitive functions, such as language, decision-making and vision. Without this gene, cortical cells will not form. This new understanding of Lhx2’s role in cortical development can potentially be used in stem cell research efforts to grow new cortical neurons that can replace damaged ones in the brain. Study results appear in the Jan. 18 issue of Science.   More »

UC Irvine researchers, led by Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Distinguished Professor and pharmacology chair, have identified the chemical switch that triggers the genetic mechanism regulating our internal body clock. The finding, which uncovers the most specific information about the body’s circadian rhythms to date, identifies a precise target for new pharmaceuticals that can treat sleep disorders and a host of related ailments. The study appears in the Dec. 13 issue of Nature. Sassone-Corsi is one of the world’s leading researchers on circadian rhythms, which help regulate a host of body functions, from sleep patterns and hormonal control to metabolism and behavior.   More »

Nearly three-fourths of American adults with coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes or other conditions that raise the risk for cardiovascular complications also have high blood pressure, according to a UC Irvine Heart Disease Prevention Program study. The report also notes that although most of these individuals are treated for hypertension, only one-third to one-half reach blood pressure goals. Blood pressure control remains a problem in the United States and around the world, said Nathan Wong, program director, and recent estimates indicate little change in the prevalence of hypertension. Although there seems to be some improvements in treatment, hypertension remains inadequately controlled, the study concludes.   More »

The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant indigenous to the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia increased the lifespan of fruit fly populations, according to a UC Irvine study. Flies that ate a diet rich with Rhodiola rosea, an herbal supplement long used for its purported stress-relief effects, lived on an average of 10 percent longer than fly groups that didn’t eat the herb. Although this study does not present clinical evidence that Rhodiola can extend human life, the herb is a promising candidate for further anti-aging research, said Mahtab Jafari, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences and study leader. Study results appear in the online version of Rejuvenation Research.   More »

UC Irvine hearing researchers tested the noise levels of some of the more popular toys this holiday season. They found that if parents aren’t careful about how these and other popular toys are used, a season of joy might turn into a lifetime of hearing loss for their children. The researchers warn that many of these emit sounds at decibel levels high enough to cause permanent hearing damage if not used properly. They found that a number of the toys reach decibel levels of 100 or more, equivalent to the sound of a power saw, subway train or power mower. This doesn’t make these toys unsafe, they say, if they are used properly, making it important for parents to offer greater guidance for their proper and safe use.   More »

James Jester, professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering, has been named the Jack H. Skirball Endowed Chair, a position established this year in recognition of the contributions made to ophthalmology research by the Skirball Foundation. The chair, which carries a $1 million endowment, was created to honor a scholar and teacher of the highest distinction whose research has had an impact. The chair may be held for five-year renewable terms. Jester is a recognized international leader in the cell biology of corneal wound healing. He maintains an active interest in developing new imaging approaches using advanced laser technology and is part of the Refractive Surgery Group at UC Irvine.   More »

The American Cancer Society has awarded UC Irvine a three-year, $300,000 Institutional Research Grant to allow junior faculty members, including those newly recruited, the opportunity to establish new cancer research projects. In addition, the Office of Research and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center will contribute $180,000 to the effort. Les Redpath (pictured), principal investigator for the grant and a professor of radiation oncology, says the funding will support a minimum of four new projects annually. Any cancer-related research by an eligible UCI faculty member will be considered for funding; a call for proposals will go out Jan. 1. The grants, Redpath adds, will help foster new research and can be a valuable recruiting tool for new faculty members.   More »

Low doses of freeze-dried grape powder inhibit genes linked to the development of sporadic colorectal cancer, UC Irvine cancer researchers found. Their study suggests that a diet rich in grapes may help prevent the third most common form of cancer, one that kills more than a half a million people worldwide each year. The effective amount of grape powder used in the study equals a half glass of wine or 1 pound of grapes, which is equivalent to three dietary servings of grapes. Study leader Dr. Randall Holcombe of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and his colleagues are currently designing a clinical cancer prevention study to see how a daily diet of 1 pound of grapes affects the genetics behind colon cancer.   More »

For the millions of Americans whose native tongue isn’t English, language remains a critical road block to quality healthcare, according to researchers in UC Irvine's Center for Health Policy Research. They found that language barriers between patients and healthcare providers result in longer hospital stays, more medical errors and lower patient satisfaction. In a nationwide study of more than 2,700 patients who have limited English-language proficiency, Dr. Quyen Ngo-Metzger (pictured) and colleagues found that these language barriers were associated with less health education, poorer doctor-patient interactions and lower patient satisfaction. The study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, stresses the importance of training bilingual healthcare providers to meet the needs of the growing multicultural U.S. population.   More »

Dana Mukamel, UC Irvine professor of medicine and researcher in the Center for Health Policy Research, was presented with the 2007 Aetna Susan B. Anthony Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health by the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association. Mukamel received the award Nov. 5 in Washington, D.C. at the association's 135th annual meeting and exposition. The Gerontological Health Section's mission is to stimulate public health actions to improve the health, functioning and quality of life of older persons and to call attention to their healthcare needs. Section members engage in research and advocacy aimed at reforming governmental healthcare programs, particularly Medicare and Medicaid.   More »

Sherrie Kaplan and Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, executive co-directors of UC Irvine’s Center for Health Policy Research, have been awarded a five-year grant for $2.7 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to increase the adoption of best practices for improving health outcomes for diabetes patients. With a focus on addressing disparities, the study will include a randomized trial of “community coaches” (volunteer Latinos and Vietnamese-Americans drawn from the patients’ community who themselves have diabetes), who will be training patients to be more participatory in their interactions with the treating physicians and thereby taking more control over their disease management. This grant is a follow-up to a three-year, $1.9 million grant awarded to Kaplan (pictured) from the Novo Nordisk Corporation in 2005.   More »

Daniele Piomelli, the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in Neurosciences and director of the Center for Drug Discovery at the University of California, Irvine, and researchers have found that boosting the amounts of a marijuana-like brain transmitter called anandamide effectively works as an antidepressant. The findings raise the hope that the mood-elevating properties of marijuana can be harnessed to treat depression. Marijuana itself has shown no clinical use for depression, Piomelli said, but specific drugs that amplify the actions of natural marijuana-like transmitters in the brain are showing great promise. For the study, Piomelli and colleagues in Italy and the U.S. employed a synthetic molecule they created called URB597. Clinical studies on drugs based on the molecule will begin in 2008.   More »

Dr. Frank L. Meyskens Jr., associate vice chancellor for the UC Irvine College of Health Sciences and director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, has published a book of poetry titled Aching for Tomorrow. Meyskens, a renowned professor and researcher in the area of cancer prevention and treatment, uses poetry to convey the emotional journey experienced by cancer patients and their physicians. Advanced copies of Aching for Tomorrow will be sold at Meyskens’ book signing at noon Friday, Nov. 16, at the UC Irvine Medical Center cafeteria patio (cost: $14). Royalties will be contributed to the Meyskens Patient Care Fund of the Chao Family Comprehensive Center, which is used for non-medical expenses. The Cancer Center is one of only 39 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive centers in the nation and the only one in Orange County.   More »

UC Irvine oncologist Dr. Randall Holcombe has been appointed as the associate vice chancellor for research. In this position, Holcombe will oversee research compliance in all aspects of campus research programs, including human and animal subjects, stem cell research and issues related to conflict of interest. A professor of medicine and chief of hematology/oncology with UC Irvine Healthcare, Holcombe is director of clinical research for the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the School of Medicine’s Office of Clinical Research and Trials. He also runs his own laboratory research into cancer immunology and clinical studies on natural compounds that may prevent colon cancer. Holcombe will assume his new role Jan. 1, 2008.   More »

Qun-Yong Zhou, UC Irvine professor of pharmacology, has helped lead a study in which a new molecular pathway required for normal development of the reproductive, olfactory and circadian systems was identified. In the study, conducted with Massachusetts General Hospital clinical researchers and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes defects in a gene called prokineticin 2 in human siblings with two different forms of infertility. The defects link to a rate condition called hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, in which puberty does not take place naturally. Zhou’s group contributed to the understanding of the neurobiological functions of prokineticin and its receptors; researchers hope this finding may lead to clinical efforts for developmental disorders.   More »

Dr. David B. Hoyt, the John E. Connolly M.D. Professor and Chair of Surgery, has been awarded with the American College of Surgeons’ highest honor, the 2007 Distinguished Service Award. Hoyt was recognized for his service with the College and for his significant contributions to the field of trauma surgery. The College cited Hoyt as an architect and sustaining force of the San Diego Trauma System and for his natural leadership, integrity, vision and service as a role model to surgeons everywhere. Hoyt came to UC Irvine last year from UC San Diego. He oversees all surgical services and training provided through the Department of Surgery, which encompasses 10 surgical divisions and the highly acclaimed UC Irvine Regional Burn Center and Beckman Laser Institute. He was presented with the award Oct. 11 at the College’s Annual Meeting of Fellows in New Orleans.   More »

In a review of 37 imaging studies related to intelligence, UC Irvine’s Richard Haier and Rex Jung of the University of New Mexico have uncovered evidence of a distinct neurobiology of human intelligence. This Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory identifies a network related to intelligence, one primarily involving areas in the frontal and the parietal lobes. The data suggest that some of the brain areas related to intelligence are the same areas related to attention and memory and to more complex functions like language. Haier and Jung say this possible integration of cognitive functions suggests that intelligence levels might be based on how efficient the frontal-parietal networks process information. Their report includes peer commentary from 19 researchers and appears online in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences.   More »

Dr. Frank L. Meyskens, the Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. Endowed Chair and director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine, was appointed by the Southwest Oncology Group as its new associate chair of cancer control and prevention. Meyskens will head all cancer control and prevention efforts for the group, which is a major National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials network. Last year, Meyskens received the American Society of Preventive Oncology’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his significant research contributions in the areas of cancer prevention and treatment over the past 30 years. The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only 37 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive centers in the nation and the only one in Orange County.   More »

As the baby boomer generation faces retirement, there is heightened interest in the best ways to care for older adults and prolong their abilities to live independently. A new study looks at seniors’ abilities to perform essential daily functions after entering the PACE program, a large-scale managed-care initiative with 15,000 current U.S. participants. Dana Mukamel, lead study author and senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy Research at UC Irvine, says PACE's objective is to enable individuals to live independently in the community with a high quality of life. Study data showed that at three months 61 percent of enrollees reported no decline in functional skills, and by 12 months 43.3 percent still reported no decline. The average age of participants is 80. Study authors considered the slower rate of decline an important factor in the ability to prolong independent living. The study appears in the latest issue of The Milbank Quarterly.   More »

Gary Lynch, a UC Irvine neurobiologist, and his laboratory were recently the subject of a mammoth four-part series in the Los Angeles Times looking into Lynch’s epic effort to understand how memories form in the brain. The series appeared Aug. 19-22. Over the past two years, reporter Terry McDermott spent time with the Lynch team as they worked to make a scientific breakthrough. The effort paid off – Lynch and his colleagues have published a series of breakthrough papers this year, showing the first images of the physical changes in brain cells thought to underlie memory, a discovery that is already uncovering clues about memory loss linked to cognitive disorders. Ultimately, Lynch wants to use this information to map human memory.   More »

A UC Irvine research team led by Rainer Reinscheid, associate professor of pharmacology and the program in pharmaceutical sciences, has found that a genetic variant of the Neuropeptide S (NPS) receptor is associated with panic disorder in male patients. In addition, the researchers confirmed that the NPS gene is found in a region on human chromosome 7 that had been previously associated with panic disorder in two independent studies. Reinscheid was the first to describe and name NPS in 2004, finding that this brain protein is involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, and can modulate anxiety behavior. Studies on how the NPS system works can lead to development of pharmaceutical compounds that can potentially treat mental illnesses. The study appears online in the journal Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry.   More »

Dr. Tahseen Mozaffar, a neurologist and director of the MDA ALS and Neuromuscular Diseases Center at the UC Irvine Medical Center, is part of a national group of scientists who have identified the active genes in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a discovery that provides expanded opportunities for developing therapies to treat this chronic, incurable disease. A comprehensive scan of the human genome has identified more than 50 genetic abnormalities in people with sporadic ALS, the most prevalent form of the disease. Study results appear online in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was supported by Augie’s Quest, a fast-track ALS research program, in conjunction with Muscular Dystrophy’s ALS Division. Fitness pioneer Augie Nieto started Augie’s Quest after being diagnosed with ALS in March 2005. He receives treatment at UC Irvine. Last year, Augie’s Quest donated $500,000 to UC Irvine’s MDA ALS and Neuromuscular Diseases Center.   More »

UC Irvine garnered $276 million in contract and grant funding for the fiscal year ending June 30, continuing a strong upward trend in support for research, education and public service projects. Although dropping slightly below last year, when a single $19.7 million award boosted the total, this year’s funding included more than $197 million from federal sponsors for projects including research, clinical trials, training and fellowships. “We are very pleased to see our UC Irvine investigators achieving such success in this fiercely competitive environment,” said Susan V. Bryant (pictured), vice chancellor for research.   More »

At the annual International Anesthesia Research Society meeting this spring, Dr. Michael Alkire, associate professor in residence and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology, was presented with the “Best of Meeting” abstract award. The award, which includes a plaque and $1,000, was given for Alkire’s work identifying brain sites that regulate unconsciousness and arousal during anesthesia.   More »