Category: School of Medicine
‘Stimulated’ stem cells found to stop donor organ rejection
October 24, 2011
Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a way to stimulate a rat’s stem cells after a liver transplant as a means of preventing rejection of the new organ without the need for lifelong immunosuppressant drugs. The need for anti-rejection medicines, which carry serious side effects, is a major obstacle to successful long-term transplant survival in people. […]
Baking better bread
October 24, 2011
Any way you slice it, a bread that contains critical nutrients could help combat severe malnutrition in impoverished regions. That’s the goal of Johns Hopkins undergraduates who are using synthetic biology to enhance common yeast so that it yields beta carotene, the orange substance that gives its color to carrots—and, when eaten, turns into vitamin […]
Survey reveals reasons doctors avoid online error-reporting tools
October 24, 2011
Too busy and too complicated. These are the typical excuses one might expect when medical professionals are asked why they fail to use online error-reporting systems designed to improve patient safety and the quality of care. But Johns Hopkins investigators found instead that the most common reasons among radiation oncologists were fear of getting into […]
Brain Science Institute hosts conference to explore new drug paradigm
October 17, 2011
A symposium hosted by the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Baltimore Convention Center will bring together the pharmaceutical industry and academic-based research institutions with the common goal of exploring how the two can best work together to enhance and facilitate the discovery of new drugs. Although pharmaceutical companies and new […]
Invasive melanoma may be more likely in children than adults
October 17, 2011
A Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study of young people with melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, has found that some children have a higher risk of invasive disease than do adults. The study, published online Oct. 5 in the journal Cancer, is believed to be the first to compare disease spread in children and adults, […]
Unusual repeated segment responsible for third of familial ALS
October 10, 2011
A team led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and a related disease called frontotemporal dementia that appears to account for more than a third of all inherited cases of these diseases. In a new study published online Sept. 21 in Neuron, […]
Blood tests may hold clues to pace of Alzheimer’s disease progression
October 10, 2011
A team of scientists, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, says that it may have found a way to predict how quickly patients with Alzheimer’s disease will lose cognitive function by looking at ratios of two fatty compounds in their blood. The finding, the researchers say, could provide useful information to families and caregivers, and might also […]
Efforts to defund, ban infant male circumcision unfounded
October 10, 2011
Johns Hopkins infectious disease experts say that the medical benefits of male circumcision are clear, and that efforts in an increasing number of states (currently 18) to not provide Medicaid insurance coverage for male circumcision—as well as an attempted ballot initiative in San Francisco to ban male circumcision in newborns and young boys—are unwarranted. Moreover, […]
Scuba diving improves function in vets with spinal cord injury
October 10, 2011
A small group of veterans with spinal cord injuries who underwent a four-day scuba-diving certification saw significant improvement in muscle movement, increased sensitivity to light touch and pinprick on the legs and large reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. The researchers, while calling the advances made over the course of a […]
Stopping infection saves hundreds of kids, millions of dollars
October 3, 2011
Following some basic rules of central line hygiene and maintenance, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 87 other pediatric hospitals have, over five years, saved hundreds of patient lives and more than $100 million by preventing nearly 3,000 central line bloodstream infections, hospital officials announced on Sept. 12. The results mark a pivotal milestone in an […]