SUMC in the News (08/28/06)

Print media coverage

Los Angeles Times, 08/28/06
Biotech's bright hope
This article discusses the hope of using gene therapy to fight serious diseases. Mark Kay, the Dennis Farrey Family Professor in Pediatrics, is quoted.

San Francisco Chronicle, 08/28/06
Increase of rickets in young tracked in Bay Area
This article discusses rickets, a disease caused by vitamin D deficiency and characterized by bowed legs, fractured bones and poor overall growth. Laura Bachrach, professor of pediatrics with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, provides comment.

Obesity war's latest battlefront: the school cafeteria
This article profiles four people who are working to help Bay Area people eat right. Maria Mosquera, pediatric senior resident at Packard, is featured here.

St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 08/28/06
Know details before taking cancer preventive agents
A recent study suggests the drug raloxifene helps prevent cancer but raises the risk of blood clots and fatal strokes in women. Marcia Stefanick, professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, is mentioned here.

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, Texas), 08/28/06
Wi-Fi for your heart
Amin Al-Ahmad, clinical instructor in cardiovascular medicine, provides comment in this Associated Press article on the benefits of using "telemedicine" technologies, such as easier and more frequent remote tracking of heart conditions. The story also appears in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

Wall Street Journal, 08/28/06
Medical journal editor Nemeroff steps down over undisclosed ties (No online version available)
The editor of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology is stepping down after he wrote a favorable review of a new device for treating depression that didn't disclose his financial ties to the device's maker. Although Stanford is not referenced, this article may be of interest to readers.

Newsweek.com, 08/26/06
Escape hatch
This commentary discusses a new way of growing stem cell lines without destroying human embryos. Irving Weissman, the Virginia and DK Ludwig Professor for Clinical Investigation and director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, provides comment here. Weissman is also quoted in an editorial piece that appears in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

San Jose Mercury News, 08/26/06
Drug trial fails, stock plummets
This article discusses recent findings from a Corcept Therapeutics trial. Alan Schatzberg, the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is referenced.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 08/26/06
Only you have what it takes to save a life
This article discusses the urgent need for bone marrow donors. Packard is mentioned here.

Reuters, 08/25/06
Skin resurfacing may reduce risk of skin cancer
A Stanford study has found that treatments used to promote a younger appearance, including laser facial resurfacing, may reduce precancerous lesions and lower the risk of skin cancer. Susan Swetter, associate professor of dermatology with the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Health Care System, was lead author of the study and is quoted here.

Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, Calif.), 08/25/06
It's hotter than you think in that parked car
This article mentions a Stanford study that found that even on a relatively cool day, the temperature inside a parked car can quickly spike to life-threatening levels if the sun is out.

Wichita Falls Times Record News (Wichita, Texas), 08/24/06
Competition ahead in stem cell research
This article discusses how a proposed new method of generating human embryonic cells raises intellectual property issues that could affect California. Hank Greely, with the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics (SCBE), is quoted here. The story also appears in the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.).

Broadcast media coverage

WPRI-TV (Providence, R.I.), 08/26/06
Stefan Heller, associate professor of otolaryngology, discussed how stem cells may be the key to cure deafness.

KGO-AM, 08/24/06
During this segment, David Magnus, director of the SCBE, discussed the alternative stem cell method.

KSTS-TV (Telemundo), 08/24/06
This segment discussed a simulation baby being used as a training tool at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital's Center for Nursing Excellence.