2022
- – NPR
A substance found in young spinal fluid helps old mice remember
A team at Stanford University has reversed memory loss in old mice by flooding their brains with spinal fluid taken from young animals. The finding may hold promise for Alzheimer's research. A growth factor found in the fluid also improved memory, though to a lesser degree, says Tony Wyss-Coray, a neuroscientist and senior author of the study.
- – Scope
A new approach to vaccinations: 3D printed patches
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit and vaccine development went into hyperdrive, Joseph DeSimone, an expert in precision drug delivery and 3D printing technology, had an idea for a new research project: a 3D-printed vaccine patch. In partnership with Peter Kim, PhD, professor of biochemistry at Stanford, we've recently tested a SARS-CoV-2 protein-based vaccine patch in mice, and we're also starting to test mRNA vaccines via patch. By the end of this year, I hope we'll finalize the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine formulation.
- – KCBS Radio
New research out of Stanford links marijuana use with heart disease
New research out of Stanford University links marijuana use with heart disease but a molecule found in soymilk may be the key to combating that. The research showed that THC causes inflammation. Dr. Joseph Wu, Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Professor of Medicine and Radiology told KCBS Radio that if someone smokes or takes edibles it causes the same amount of inflammation.
- – SciTechDaily
Not All Dietary Fibers Are Equal – Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber Vary
Researchers revealed in the journal Cell Host & Microbe on April 28th, 2022, that the health benefits of dietary fiber vary between individuals and may depend on the precise kind of fiber and the dose taken. “Our results demonstrate that the physiological, microbial, and molecular effects of individual fibers differ substantially,” says senior study author Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford School of Medicine. “Further, our results demonstrate the tantalizing prospect of using targeted fibers, mediated by the microbiome, to drive health and systems biology in a predictable, personalized direction.”
- – New Atlas
Stanford study links marijuana use to increased heart attack risk
A robust new study led by researchers from Stanford University has found a strong association between increased risk of heart attack and regular marijuana use. Joesph Wu, senior author on the new study, said it is important medical and recreational marijuana users are aware of the potential adverse cardiovascular effects of the drug. And moving forward it will be crucial to develop ways to mitigate these adverse effects.
2021
- – Scope
Who's on first? Duking out scientific paper authorship order
Determining the order of authors on a scientific paper can be tricky. Unless you're a pair of video gaming graduate students. Recently Stanford researcher Garry Nolan, PhD, tweeted about an unconventional way two researchers in his laboratory who had each contributed equally to a study decided who should be listed first on the print version of the paper.
- – BBC
BBC Radio 5 live - 5 Live Science Podcast, Life in plastic, is it fantastic?
As the government moves to Plan B - what actually happens when you catch the new variant?
- – Stanford Professor Garry Nolan Is Analyzing Anomalous Materials From UFO Crashes
Stanford Professor Garry Nolan Is Analyzing Anomalous Materials From UFO Crashes
A Q&A with one of the foremost scientists studying UAPs, and what he hopes to learn by systematically studying bizarre and difficult-to-explain incidents. Dr. Garry Nolan is a Professor of Pathology at Stanford University. His research ranges from cancer to systems immunology. Dr. Garry Nolan has also spent the last ten years working with a number of individual analyzing materials from alleged Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon.
- – Gizmodo
The Coronavirus Can Infect and Possibly Hide in Fat Cells, Study Finds
The preliminary findings could partially explain why people living with obesity are at higher risk of severe covid-19. “This could well be contributing to severe disease,” senior author, Catherine Blish, an immunologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, told the New York Times. “We’re seeing the same inflammatory cytokines that I see in the blood of the really sick patients being produced in response to infection of those tissues.”
- – Mail Online
Blood from ultra-fit mice 'could hold the key to staving off dementia'
Injections of blood from young adult mice that are getting lots of exercise benefited the brains of sedentary mice the same age, according to a study by the Stanford School of Medicine in California. 'The discovery could open the door to treatments that, by taming brain inflammation in people who don't get much exercise, lower their risk of neurodegenerative disease or slow its progression,' said Professor Tony Wyss-Coray, of the Stanford School of Medicine in California, which carried out the research.
October 7, 2021 - The Edge
How can technology help you track real time data about your health and wellbeing? And why should you track anyway? In this episode, Michael Snyder, professor of genetics, talks about how tracking can help you gain deeper understanding of what is going on in your body at a physiological level. Often, illnesses begin developing in our bodies quietly, before any symptoms begin to show up. Snyder’s research shows that by tracking on a regular basis, we can pre-empt diseases. Health data collection using wearable tech can help us take a proactive approach toward prevention of disease. And like they say, prevention is better than cure.
- – Scope
What to do (and not do) when you win the Nobel Prize
Three of Stanford Medicine's Nobel laureates, including Andrew Fire, George D. Smith Professor of Molecular and Genetic Medicine and Professor of Pathology and of Genetics, offer advice to future winners about hearing the news and what to expect next in their careers.
- – The Scientist Magazine
When the Immune Response Makes COVID-19 Worse
If the immune system makes mistake--reacting late or getting the target wrong--it can amplify the damage wrought by SARS-CoV-2.
- – News Center
Statins may be effective treatment for patients with ulcerative colitis
People with ulcerative colitis who are also taking statins have about a 50% decreased risk of colectomies and hospitalization, according to a Stanford Medicine study. Purvesh Khatri, PhD, associate professor of medicine and of biomedical data science, and his team tracked down a connection between a handful of drugs and decreased symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
- – Business Insider
Why Stanford is spending millions to incorporate Apple Watches and Fitbits into medical care
Stanford is exploring consumer wearable devices, including Apple Watches and Fitbits, to monitor heart rates and predict COVID-19 symptoms. Michael Snyder, professor of genetics, leads many of the health systems' wearable projects and says it's up to health systems to quickly figure out whether the data's useful to doctors and how to efficiently extract it from the devices.
- – Scope
Blood test predicts chances of lymphoma relapse after therapy
Stanford Medicine Scientists have devised a blood test to predict some cancer relapses after patients have already been treated.To understand whether ctDNA tracking might hint at relapse, Miklos, who heads Stanford Medicine's Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy division, Matthew Frank MD, PhD assistant professor of medicine, and their labs enrolled 72 patients with large B-cell lymphoma, who had received CAR-T cell therapy, which involves genetically engineering certain immune cells to find and eliminate specific cancer cells.
June 23, 2021 – NBC Bay Area
NBC Bay Area: COVID-19 and brain inflammation
Stanford researchers have found signs of inflammation, genetic changes and impaired circuitry in the brains of people killed by COVID-19, important clues to the mysterious “brain fog” and mental struggles reported by many patients. Tony Wyss-Coray, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford Medicine provides comments.
- – FierceBiotech
A cancer vaccine built from stem cells? Stanford candidate shows promise in pancreatic tumors
A team at Stanford University showed that a cancer vaccine made from induced pluripotent stem cells, together with an immune adjuvant, could protect against pancreatic cancer in mouse models. It induced strong T-cell and antibody responses while dialing down immune suppressor cells. Stanford Immunology researchers include Edgar G. Engleman, professor of pathology and of immunology and rheumatology and Joseph C. Wu, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, professor of medicine and radiology.
- – Scope
Evading exhaustion to improve CAR-T cell therapy
'Resting' exhausted cancer-fighting immune cells enhances their tumor-killing activity, which may help people with blood and solid cancers. Crystal Mackall, the Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family professor and professor of pediatrics and of medicine, and instructor Evan Weber are featured in this post.
- – Scope
Stanford postdoc enters her youngsters in vaccine COVID trial
Anxious to protect her children, Stanford immunology researcher Zina Good has enrolled her two young children Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial for kids. Yvonne Maldonado is also quoted in this post.
- – News Center
Team science award recognizes 8 pediatric cancer researchers at Stanford
The team, composed of researchers at nine academic institutions, has published more than 100 papers and treated nearly 1,000 children with cancer in early-phase clinical trials. Eight Stanford Medicine scientists are among a group of pediatric cancer researchers being honored with the 2021 Team Science Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. Stanford Immunology recipients of this year’s award are Crystal Mackall, MD and Jennifer Cochran, PhD.
- – Scope
Milestone stem cell transplant helps child beat rare disease
A revolutionary technique helps cure a 9-year-old girl who was Stanford Children's Health's 1,000th stem cell transplant patient. Alice Bertaina, associate professor of pediatrics in stem cell research, is mentioned in this post.
2020
- – PLOS ONE
Biosciences Proposal Bootcamp: Structured peer and faculty feedback improves trainees’ proposals and grantsmanship self-efficacy
Grant writing is an essential skill to develop for academic and other career success but providing individual feedback to large numbers of trainees is challenging. In 2014, we launched the Stanford Biosciences Grant Writing Academy to support graduate students and postdocs in writing research proposals. Overall, this structured program provided opportunities for feedback from multiple peer and faculty reviewers, increased the participants’ confidence in developing and submitting research proposals, while accommodating a large number of participants.
- – News Center
COVID-19 severity affected by proportion of antibodies targeting crucial viral protein, study finds
A comprehensive study of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 associates mild disease with comparatively high levels of antibodies that target the viral spike protein. But all antibodies wane within months.
- – Scope
After George Floyd's death, a Black neurosurgeon discusses racism, despair and hope
For Black neurosurgeon Samuel Cheshier, George Floyd's killing confirmed that his country is racist; but the aftermath brought hope that change is possible.
- – BioSci Careers
BioSci Connect: Want to get career advice from alumni mentors? One click connects Biosciences trainees & postdocs with like-minded graduates
Have you ever wanted to know more about careers, but were afraid to ask? Don’t know where to start, or whom to ask? Problem solved.
- – Apple Podcasts
Should This Exist?: Young blood / old brains on Apple Podcasts
This podcast featured Tony Wyss-Coray, the D.H. Chen Professor II and a professor of neurology and neurological sciences, who discovered that proteins found in the blood of young mice may reverse the effects of aging when transfused into older mice.
2019
- – News Center
Stanford scientists reliably predict people’s age by measuring proteins in blood
Protein levels in people’s blood can predict their age, a Stanford study has found. The study also found that aging isn’t a smoothly continuous process.
- – News Center
Stanford researchers program cancer-fighting cells to resist exhaustion, attack solid tumors in mice
CAR-T cells are remarkably effective against blood cancers, but their effect can be transient as the cells become exhausted. Stanford researchers found a way to keep the cells effective in mice with human tumors.
- – News Center
Three professors elected to National Academy of Medicine
Hongjie Dai, Julie Parsonnet and Joseph Wu are among the 90 regular members and 10 international members elected this year to the academy, which aims to provide independent, scientifically informed analysis and recommendations on health issues.
- – BioSci Careers
Devavani Chatterjea discovers link to chronic pain ailment in women
“Never could I have imagined the work I am doing now – not even ten years ago.” - Devavani Chatterjea, PhD, MPH
- – News Center
Protein decoy stymies lung cancer growth in mice, Stanford-UCSF study finds
Researchers at Stanford and UCSF slowed the spread of a type of nonsmall cell lung cancer in mice by neutralizing a single protein that would otherwise set off a chain reaction, causing runaway tumor growth.
2018
- – News Center
Four faculty members appointed to endowed professorships
Andra Blomkalns, Gerald Grant, David Kingsley and Crystal Mackall have been appointed to endowed professorships.
- – News Center
Rosenkranz Prize winner hopes to develop malaria vaccine for pregnant women
Prasanna Jagannathan said the $100,000 prize will allow his lab team to ramp up their research in Uganda.
- – Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Michal Caspi Tal, PhD | Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Michal Caspi Tal, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, leads the infectious disease team within Irving Weissman’s lab at Stanford University receives the 2018 Emerging Leader Award ($100,000 grant).
2017
- – News Center
David Schneider appointed chair of microbiology and immunology
David Schneider, whose research focuses on resilience to infection and developing mathematical models to predict recovery and well-being, succeeds Peter Sarnow in post.
- – News Center
Trial led by Mark Genovese wins Clinical Research Forum award
In the trial, a new drug proved safe and effective for hard-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis patients. A national organization of senior researchers named the trial one of the top 10 for 2016.
- – News Center
Fibrosis reversed when ‘don’t eat me’ signal blocked
A common signaling pathway unites diverse fibrotic diseases in humans, Stanford researchers have found. An antibody called anti-CD47, which is being tested as an anti-cancer agent, reverses fibrosis in mice.
- – News Center
Drug combination defeats dengue, Ebola in mice
To develop a potential antiviral treatment, Stanford researchers adopted an unusual approach: Rather than trying to disable viral enzymes, they targeted proteins the infected individual makes — and the virus needs.
- – News Center
15 School of Medicine researchers named CZ Biohub investigators
The researchers will be given funding by the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to develop tools and technologies that support the organization’s goal of curing, preventing or managing every disease.
2016
- – News Center
Gene activity predicts progression of autoimmune disease
Stanford researchers and their collaborators have found a way to tell whether patients with systemic sclerosis were improving during drug treatment a year before a standard clinical test could.
- – News Center
Samuel Strober awarded $6.6 million from state stem cell agency
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine awarded Samuel Strober, MD, $6.6 million to study a “deceptively simple” way to help kidney transplant recipients tolerate their new organ.
- – News Center
NIH awards $26.4 million to Stanford researchers for physical activity study
The medical school professors were awarded the grants as part of a large-scale National Institutes of Health program to study the biology of how physical activity improves health.
- – News Center
Three faculty elected fellows of AAAS
Stanford faculty members in medicine and in Earth science have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- – News Center
$25 million awarded to center for study of regulatory science
The FDA is funding a collaboration between Stanford and UCSF to improve the regulatory infrastructure that helps to shape modern biomedical research.