A stem cell trial halted, but the pursuit continues Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD When Stanford neurosurgeon Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, injected human stem cells this fall into the damaged spinal cord tissue of specially-selected patients, it was considered a major step forward in moving research discoveries toward clinical application. In November, however, the Menlo Park-based Geron Corp. announced it was ending the […]

Gluten: The “new diet villain?” Last week, I treated myself to something sweet on Valentine’s Day: a mini, gluten-free coconut cream cupcake. Do I suffer from celiac disease? No, but for some reason I thought going gluten-free (for the afternoon, anyway) would be a healthier route to take. As it turns out, authors of a newAnnals […]

For patients with advanced hepatitis C, benefits of new drugs outweigh costs Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues used a computer model to determine that giving new types of medication to patients with advanced cases of hepatitis C is cost-effective. Using a computer model of hepatitis C, Stanford researchers have determined that two new virus-targeting drugs called […]

Anticipation of Stressful Situations Accelerates Cellular Aging Short Telomeres Associated with Increased Risk for Chronic Diseases Elissa Epel, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF, examines the psychological process of how people respond to a stressful event and how that impacts their neurobiology and cellular health. The ability to anticipate future […]

How one quantified-self patient is working to transform health care There’s a fascinating profile of Larry Smarr, PhD, a physicist turned quantified-self pioneer in Technology Review today. Over the years, Smarr has scrupulously measured and tracked his own biological data using laboratory analysis services and devices that monitor his sleep, fitness and eating habits. The information not only […]

Wilmot Cancer Center Recognized as One of Top 70 in Nation Becker’s Hospital Review analyzes data from independent sources to identify top Oncology programs The James P. Wilmot Cancer Center has been named as one of the Top 70 Oncology programs in the United States by Becker’s Hospital Review, one of the nation’s foremost publications on up-to-date […]

Q&A With Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD & Chair, Department of Neurosurgery Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD Stanford’s Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, has an international reputation as a neurosurgeon. For more than 16 years, he has chaired the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford and pioneered life-saving surgical procedures for several complex brain conditions. People with Moyamoya, a […]

Babies’ Colic Linked to Mothers’ Migraines UCSF Study Reveals Possible Cause of Excessive Crying in Babies A study of mothers and their young babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers who suffer migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers […]

One in Ten Children Face Elevated Risk of Abuse, Future PTSD, Due to Gender Nonconformity Boston, MA — Children in the U.S. whose activity choices, interests, and pretend play before age 11 fall outside those typically expressed by their biological sex face increased risk of being physically, psychologically, and sexually abused, and of suffering from […]

Benefits of hepatitis C treatment outweigh costs for patients with advanced disease, study shows Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues used a computer model to determine that giving new types of medication to patients with advanced cases of hepatitis C is cost-effective. A towering $60,000 bill, a year of fierce, flu-like symptoms and a running risk […]