In this issue... Issue #11, June 2012
Cardiology Cancer Metabolism Opthalmology
Genetics Psychiatry Aging/Neurology Microbiology/Immunology

   
   


Cardiology @ Penn Medicine

NSAIDs and Cardiovascular Risk Explained

Published in Science Translational Medicine

After 13 years of study and debate, exactly how a once-popular class of anti-inflammatory drugs leads to heart attacks is confirmed.

News Release

The research of Garret FitzGerald, MD, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and chair of the department of Pharmacology, is highlighted.

 Source: PNAS


Cancer @ Penn Medicine

New Member in Breast-Cancer Gene Network

     Source: Science Translational Medicine

Published in Science Translational Medicine

The infamous BRCA genes do not act alone in causing cancer.

News Release


The lab of Roger Greenberg, PhD, associate professor of Cancer Biology, is highlighted.

Metastasis of Pancreatic Cancer in Action

     Source: Cell

Published in Cell
 
Pancreatic cancer cells in mice begin to spread before clinically obvious tumor tissue does.

News Release

The research of Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, and Andrew Rhim, MD, a Gastroenterology Fellow, is highlighted.

Block Its Recycling System, and Cancer Kicks the Can
          Source: koeb via Flickr

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

All cells have the ability to recycle damaged proteins, but cancer cells use autophagy to their advantage. 

News Release

The research of Ravi K. Amaravadi, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, and Jeffrey Winkler, PhD, Chemistry Department, is highlighted.

 

Metabolism @ Penn Medicine

Duality of Longevity Drug

Published in Science

Rapamycin, a drug that extends mouse lifespan, also causes insulin resistance.

News Release

The research of Joseph A. Baur, PhD, assistant professor of Physiology, is explained. Baur is also a member of Penn's Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism.

 		 Source: Ian Sewell

Ophthalmology @ Penn Medicine

Curing RP in Dogs
Source: dharries via Flickr

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Preventing, or even reversing, X-linked retinitis pigmentosas, in dogs.

News Release

The research of Artur Cideciyan and Samuel Jacobson at the Scheie Eye Institute, and William Beltran, School of Veterinary Medicine, and Gustavo Aguirre, professor of medical genetics and ophthalmology, also at Penn Vet, is featured.

Genetics @ Penn Medicine

Why Some of Us Hate Broccoli

Published in Molecular Biology and Evolution

Long the bane of picky eaters everywhere, broccoli’s taste is not just a matter of having a cultured palate.

News Release

The research of Sarah Tishkoff, a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor with appointments in the Department of Genetics in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences, and Michael C. Campbell, a postdoctoral fellow in Genetics, is highlighted.

 Source: Transguyjay via Flickr

Accidental Shortness

Published in PLoS Genetics

If Pygmies are known for one trait, it is their short stature, but does evolution explain it.

News Release

The research of Sarah Tishkoff, a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor with appointments in the Department of Genetics in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences, is highlighted.

 		 Source: Sarah Tishkoff, PhD

Psychiatry @ Penn Medicine

Brain Gatekeeper Boosts Resilience to Stress
Source: Journal of Neuroscience

Published in the Journal of Neuroscience
 
A regulator of glucocorticoid receptors may provide a path towards resilience to stress.

News Release

The lab of Olivier Berton, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry, is highlighted.

 

Aging/Neurology @ Penn Medicine

Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Alzheimer's Mice

Published in the Journal of Neuroscience

EpoD is effective in preventing further neurological damage and improving cognitive performance in AD mice.

News Release

The work of Bin Zhang, MD, PhD, senior research investigator; Kurt R. Brunden, PhD, Director of Drug Discovery at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR); Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD, CNDR director; John Trojanowski, MD, PhD, director of the Penn Institute on Aging, and Amos B. Smith, III, PhD and Carlo Ballatore, PhD, Chemistry Department, is highlighted.

 		 Source: Bin Zhang, MD, PhD

Microbiology/Immunology @ Penn Medicine

Inner Weapons Against Allergies
Source: Nature Medicine

Published in Nature Medicine
 
When poet Walt Whitman wrote that we "contain multitudes," he was speaking metaphorically, but he didn't know about the human gut.

News Release

The research of David Artis, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology, along with postdoctoral fellow David Hill, PhD, is highlighted.