2005 Archive

Irv Weissman on the South Korea stem cell controversy

Last June, scientists in South Korea announced that they had created 11 human embryonic stem cell lines using a novel, more efficient technique. This was big news considering that new stem cell lines will be needed for the field to move forward. In recent days, however, the American researcher involved in the work has asked to have his name removed from the paper, and the lead researcher in South Korea wants the paper withdrawn from the prestigious journal Science under allegations that the data had been faked. Irving Weissman, MD, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, comments on the controversy and says it’s too soon to judge how these events will affect the field. More 

Dannenberg on emergency medical services for children

Bernard Dannenberg, MD, is the first Davies Family Endowed Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He planned to become a pediatrician, but the fast pace of the emergency department and the chance to have the first shot at making a diagnosis led him to complete a second residency in emergency medicine after his pediatric residency. He then became the fellowship director in pediatric emergency medicine at Loma Linda University before arriving at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in February 2004—shortly before construction began on the new pediatric emergency department. Here he talks about the importance of the new facility and what children and their parents can expect when they visit. More 

Samuel LeBaron, MD, PhD on post-hurricane relief

Professor of family medicine Samuel LeBaron, MD, PhD, returned on Oct. 21 from doing a week of health-care relief in Mississippi with six Stanford medical students. He spoke with Medical Center Report managing editor Jonathan Rabinovitz about the tent clinic where he worked in Waveland (pop. 6,674), about 50 miles east of New Orlean. More 

Garber, MD, PhD, on Medicare

Medicare has been in the health policy spotlight in recent months, with the launch of political ads and bus tours to promote the new prescription-drug benefit; a flurry of behind-the-scenes lobbying by health-care providers to influence implementation of the broader Medicare Modernization Act, and other recent initiatives announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also known as CMS. To gain an understanding of the challenges the program faces, Medical Center Report turned to Alan Garber, MD, PhD, the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor, who is chair of the CMS Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee and is lead investigator for a research project to develop a proposal to reform the Medicare program.
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Scandling on Stanford’s top-ranked kidney transplant program

Fifty-one years after the first successful kidney transplant, the operation has gone from being a medical miracle to almost routine. Perhaps no transplant program highlights that success as well as the one at the Stanford University Medical Center. For the fourth consecutive year, the Stanford adult kidney transplant program had the best one-year survival rate—about 98 percent. That’s out of a nationwide field of 246 centers evaluated in the latest report from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. John Scandling, MD, professor of medicine (nephrology) and director of the Stanford kidney transplant program, spoke with Medical Center Report managing editor Jonathan Rabinovitz about the improved outcome in kidney transplants and the effort to achieve better long-term success. More 

Weiss on public health post-Katrina

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina raises the risk of a host of medical problems: outbreaks of infectious diseases, sicknesses caused by environmental hazards, exacerbation of pre-existing chronic conditions and widespread post-traumatic stress disorder. Eric A. Weiss, MD, assistant professor of surgery (emergency medicine), has been explaining these potential public health consequences to reporters from the Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press and other media outlets. Paul Costello, executive director of the Office of Communication & Public Affairs, asked him for an overview of the situation. More 

Keith Humphreys, PhD, on substance abuse in Iraq

A year ago, Keith Humphreys, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, was asked to help rebuild Iraq’s mental health care system. As the lead American addiction expert on a team that includes officials from U.S., U.K. and Iraqi agencies, he collaborated with a group of Iraqi psychiatrists, pharmacists, nurses, judges and religious leaders during a week-long meeting in Jordan last March; later in the spring, he helped provide training to a smaller group of Iraqi doctors in England. Medical Center Report recently sat down with Humphreys to discuss the crisis in mental health care in Iraq and his work with the country. More 

James Lock, MD, PhD, on eating disorders

Eating disorders can confound parents and medical professionals. But they’re not impossible to overcome. Science writer Krista Conger discusses the causes and treatments with James Lock, MD, PhD, the co-author of the recently published Help Your Child Beat an Eating Disorder. Lock is director of psychiatric services at the Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and an associate professor of child psychiatry. More 

Ellen Jo Baron on 'staph' outbreaks

Krane on children's pain

Ammerman on adolescents

The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital's Teen Health Van is a mobile clinic that provides free, comprehensive primary health care services to homeless and uninsured adolescents from San Francisco to San Jose. The van, which is in its ninth year of operation, is supported through the Packard Foundation for Children's Health by grants and gifts from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Medical Center Report writer Krista Conger talked with Seth Ammerman, MD, associate clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine and a member of the LPCH staff, about his work on the van. More 

Maldonado on polio vaccine

April 12 marked the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of a polio vaccine. A viral infection that affected mostly children, polio came in sporadic and unpredictable outbreaks, killing thousands of youngsters and leaving others on crutches, in wheelchairs, paralyzed and relying on “iron lungs” for breathing. Although polio was eliminated from the Americas in 1994, the disease still circulates in Asia and Africa. To gain some perspective on the global significance of the polio vaccine, Medical Center Report turned to Yvonne Maldonado, MD, associate professor of pediatrics (infectious diseases). More 

Longaker on stem cell research

In November Californians passed Proposition 71, opening up $3 billion for stem cell research over the next 10 years. Stanford has begun organizing a Program in Regenerative Medicine to help capitalize on this new source of funding. Medical Center Report writer Amy Adams spoke with Michael Longaker, MD, professor of medicine and chair of the program's advisory committee, about how this effort will take advantage of this new funding source.  More 

Magnus on the Terri Schiavo case

Terri Schiavo's death is unlikely to end the national debate about how end-of-life decisions should be made. The feeding tube for Schiavo, the Florida woman who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago, was removed March 18 because her husband said she wouldn't want to be kept alive by artificial means—a sentiment her parents refute. To sort through the thorny dilemmas surrounding the issue, Medical Center Report turned to David Magnus, PhD, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics.   More 

Albers on stroke treatment

Ten years ago a clot-busting drug was shown to be effective for limiting the damage caused by a stroke. But today only about 3 percent of stroke patients receive the drug, called tPA. Amy Adams, a science writer in the Office of Communication & Public Affairs, turned to Gregory Albers, MD, professor of neurology and neurological science and director of the Stanford Stroke Clinic, to explain this discrepancy. More 

Shafer on new HIV strain

Health officials in New York City sent out a nationwide alert last week that they had detected in one man a rare strain of the HIV virus that is resistant to virtually all retroviral drugs and led to the rapid onset of AIDS. To understand better the significance of this news, Medical Center Report managing editor Jonathan Rabinovitz turned to Robert W. Shafer, MD, assistant professor (research) of medicine (infectious diseases and geographic medicine), who maintains the Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Database. More 

Christopher Gardner, PhD, on dietary guidelines

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services unveiled new dietary guidelines last week in a bid to improve Americans’ eating and exercise habit. But can the guidelines help stem the rising tide of obesity in this country? For a look at their potential impact, Susan Ipaktchian, communication director in the Office of Communication and Public Affairs, spoke with nutrition expert Christopher Gardner, PhD, assistant professor (research) of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. More