2012 Press Releases
February 21, 2012
Energy network within cells may be new target for cancer therapy
Mitochondria, tiny structures within each cell that regulate metabolism and energy use, may be a promising new target for cancer therapy, according to a new study.
February 19, 2012
A classic model for ecological stability revised, 40 years later
A famous mathematical formula which shook the world of ecology 40 years ago has been revisited and refined by two University of Chicago researchers in the current issue of Nature.
February 15, 2012
Smoking cessation aide shows promise as alcoholism treatment
A medication commonly used to help people stop smoking may have an unanticipated positive side effect for an entirely different vice: drinking alcohol. A new study by University of Chicago researchers finds that varenicline, sold as Chantix, increases the negative effects of alcohol and therefore could hold promise as a treatment for alcoholism.
February 7, 2012
University of Chicago Medicine, CeaseFire partner to address violence
In an effort to address urban violence on the South Side, the University of Chicago Medicine is partnering with CeaseFire Chicago to sponsor a "Violence Interrupter" who will focus on monitoring, mediating and defusing disputes in neighborhoods that the medical campus serves.
February 6, 2012
Antidepressant-suicide link in youths absent in new analysis
In 2004, concerns about antidepressant drugs increasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young patients prompted the FDA to issue a rare "black box warning." Now, a new analysis of clinical trial data finds that treatment with the antidepressant fluoxetine did not increase -- or decrease -- suicidality in children compared to placebo treatment.
February 3, 2012
Do patients pay when they leave against medical advice?
There are ways in which patients who leave the hospital against medical advice wind up paying for that decision. Being saddled with the full cost of their hospital stay, however, is not one of them.
January 31, 2012
Lung transplant system often skips over those most in need
The system for allocating donated lungs based on proximity and not on need appears to decrease the potential benefits of lung transplantation and increase the number of patients who die waiting. In 2009, lungs were routinely allocated to less urgent, local candidates even when there were patients within the region but outside the local donor service who were in much greater need.
January 25, 2012
Janet Rowley, MD, to receive Japan Prize for her role in the development of targeted cancer therapy
Janet Davison Rowley, MD, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, will share the 2012 Japan Prize for Healthcare and Medical Technology with Brian J. Druker, MD, from the Oregon Health and Science University, and Nicholas B. Lydon, PhD, formerly with Novartis.
January 23, 2012
University of Chicago Medicine looks ahead to new brand, new hospital
The University of Chicago Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical institutions in the country, is introducing a new brand as it prepares to open a modern 10-story hospital on its South Side campus next January.
January 19, 2012
Study: Communicating health risk is a risky task for FDA
The impact of efforts by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to notify the general public and health care providers about unanticipated risks from approved medications has been "varied and unpredictable," according to a systematic review of published studies about FDA warnings and alerts over the last 20 years.
January 17, 2012
Four faculty members in Pritzker, BSD receive named appointments
Four members of the faculty in the Biological Sciences Division -- Habibul Ahsan, Peter Angelos, David Song and Jerrold Turner -- have received named professorships.
January 16, 2012
Neural balls and strikes: where categories live in the brain
Hundreds of times during a baseball game, the home plate umpire must instantaneously categorize a fast-moving pitch as a ball or a strike. In new research from the University of Chicago, scientists have pinpointed an area in the brain where these kinds of visual categories are encoded.
January 9, 2012
Top Japanese scientist leaving government post to move to the University of Chicago Medical Center
Yusuke Nakamura, MD, PhD, Secretary General in the Japanese Government's Office of Medical Innovation and a professor of molecular medicine at Tokyo University's Human Genome Center, has stepped down from his leadership position in the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat. He will join the faculty at the University of Chicago in April 2012.
January 9, 2012
For those with diabetes, controlling blood pressure is crucial, but not urgent
A new study suggests that middle-aged adults recently diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension have time to try to learn how to control their high blood pressure without medications, but not too much time.
January 9, 2012
Evolution of complexity recreated using "molecular time travel"
Much of what living cells do is carried out by "molecular machines" -- physical complexes of specialized proteins working together to carry out some biological function. How the minute steps of evolution produced these constructions has long puzzled scientists, and provided a favorite target for creationists.
January 4, 2012
Experts urge BMI method for calculating weight in kids with eating disorders
An exact determination of expected body weight for adolescents based on age, height and gender is critical for diagnosis and management of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. However, there are no clear guidelines regarding the appropriate method for calculating this weight in children with such disorders.
