SUMC in the News (10/24/07)

Press release

Volunteers sought for flu vaccine study at Stanford
Researchers at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital are looking for adults and children to participate in three studies that will help them better understand how the flu vaccine works in people of different ages.

Print media coverage

Newsweek, 10/29/07
Caution: Killing germs may be hazardous to your health (No online version available)
Researchers are embracing the idea that bacteria are crucial components of our health. David Relman, associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, is featured in this article.

San Francisco Chronicle, 10/24/07
Rebel farm bill would help state, but puts Boxer, Feinstein in bind
This article discusses the Fresh Act, federal legislation that would replace billions of dollars in payments to farmers of a handful of crops with an insurance program that would be available free to all farmers. It notes that many physicians, seeing a link between rising obesity and farm programs, are supportive of the bill. Seth Ammerman, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Packard Children's, provides comment.

Stanford Daily, 10/24/07
Far from puzzled
This article profiles Thomas Snyder, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Bioengineering, who won the first national Sudoku championship on Saturday. He is also featured in USA Today.

Dow Jones News Service, 10/23/07
New stent heart device takes long road (No online version available)
Alan Yeung, the La Ka Shing Professor in Cardiology, is quoted in this article on a new stent system from Menlo Park-based Xtent Inc.

San Francisco Examiner, 10/23/07
Helipad plans land with a thud
This article discusses a proposed helipad for a new UCSF hospital. It mentions that the nearest hospital landing sites to San Francisco are at Stanford and Childrens Hospital Oakland.

Capital Times (Madison, Wis.), 10/23/07
Gains in spotting dementia hold promise
Stanford scientists have developed a test that is about 90 percent accurate in distinguishing the blood of people with Alzheimers from the blood of those without the disease. The test is discussed in this column.

Palo Alto Online News, 10/23/07
Stanford hospitals reach out to residents
Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Packard Children's and the School of Medicine published an eight-page newsletter that was mailed to area residents last week.

Stanford to fashion stem cells into heart cells
Stanford researchers have received a $2 million, four-year federal grant to design stem cells to repair damage caused by heart attacks. Members of the research team include Joseph Wu, assistant professor of medicine and of radiology, and Christopher Zarins, the Walter Clifford Chidester and Elsa Rooney Chidester Professor of Surgery.

USNews.com, 10/23/07
The right way to recover after a race
This fitness column mentions a Stanford study that found extra sleep helped basketball players run faster, sink more free throws, and feel more energized.

Broadcast media coverage

KNTV-TV, 10/23/07
UC Berkeley researchers are the first to use MRI technology to show exactly what areas of the brain are affected by sleep deprivation; they found that lack of sleep is connected to negative emotions. Rafael Pelayo, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, was interviewed for this segment on the study.

KGO-AM, 10/23/07
During this segment, Corry Dekker, professor of pediatric infectious diseases and the medical director of the Stanford-LPCH Vaccine Program, discussed flu vaccine studies at Stanford.