SUMC in the News (date here)

Press releases

Pedometers help people stay active, Stanford study finds
Researchers here have found that the use of a pedometer - a small, inexpensive device that counts the number of steps walked per day - is associated with significant increases in physical activity and weight loss and improvements in blood pressure.

Rapid response teams save children's lives at pediatric hospital, Stanford/Packard study shows
A new study shows that proactively deploying a children's hospital's "rapid response team" can significantly reduce death rates.

Stanford researchers say new stem cell method has promise
Researchers from Wisconsin and Japan have reprogrammed adult human cells to act like embryonic stem cells, a discovery that Stanford researchers are calling a big step toward new therapies for disease.

Print media coverage

Los Angeles Times, 11/21/07
A 'great little motivator' for exercise
This article discusses the Stanford study on pedometers and quotes Dena Bravata, the study's lead author and a senior research scientist in medicine. The piece also appears in the Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.), Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) and Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.). Similar articles appear in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today and Globe and Mail (Canada), and on ABCNews.com, FOXNews.com, WebMD.com and blog entries on ZDNet.com and the New York Times' website. An Associated Press article appears on MSNBC.com; Bravata is also featured in articles from HealthDay News and Reuters.

Wall Street Journal, 11/21/07
Pediatric study bolsters case for rapid-response team
This article discusses the study on emergency response teams in children's hospitals. Paul Sharek, assistant professor of pediatrics and chief clinical patient safety officer at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, is quoted. Similar articles were prepared by HealthDay News and Reuters.

USA Today, 11/21/07
Discovery could ease stem-cell controversy
Scientists have reprogrammed adult human cells to act like embryonic stem cells. Irving Weissman, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor for Clinical Investigation and director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, provides comment in this article, which also appears in the Nashville Tennessean. Weissman is also quoted in a Palo Alto Online News article. Christopher Scott, director of the Program on Stem Cells in Society in the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, provides comment in a San Francisco Chronicle article; William Hurlbut, a consulting professor of neurology, is quoted in an article on MSNBC.com; and Renee Reijo Pera, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of human embryonic stem cell research and education for the stem cell institute, is in the Seattle Times.

Palo Alto Weekly, 11/21/07
New phase begins in Stanford med center
This editorial discusses the major issues surrounding the medical center's rebuilding project.

Separated twin girl has successful heart surgery
One of the 2-year-old conjoined twins who underwent successful separation surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital last week has undergone cardiac surgery to repair a heart defect.
Frank Hanley, the Lawrence Crowley, M.D., Endowed Professor in Child Health, and Gary Hartman, clinical professor of pediatric surgery, are quoted in this brief article.

San Francisco Chronicle, 11/11/07
American vampire
William Hurlbut is quoted in this article on the organ trade in third-world countries.

Broadcast media coverage

NBC Nightly News, 11/20/07
Dena Bravata was interviewed for a segment on her pedometer study; she was also interviewed by AP Radio, KPIX-TV and KGO-AM. Segments on the study also aired locally on
KGO-TV, KTVU-TV and KCBS-AM and on TV stations across the country, including ones in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.

KGO-TV, 11/20/07
This segment discussed the impact of yesterday's stem cell news on biotechnology companies. Irving Weissman was interviewed. Weissman also discussed research developments during a KGO-AM interview.