News Releases

Patients who report receiving written and verbal instructions on the proper way to take the blood thinner warfarin are significantly less likely to suffer the serious gastrointestinal and brain bleeding problems that are associated with misuse of the drug, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The study, published in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, also shows that patients who see only one physician and fill their prescription at a single pharmacy are less apt to experience serious bleeding events.

Four School of Medicine professors, a School of Nursing professor, and the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, have been elected as members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine. The new members bring Penn's total to 68, out of over 1600 worldwide. Overall, the IOM named 65 new members this year.

Women troubled by hot flashes and night sweats during the years around menopause want safe, effective treatment options. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is part of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to conduct clinical trials of promising treatments for the most common symptoms of the menopausal transition.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that some proteins of the immune system can promote tumor growth. Investigators found that instead of fighting tumors, the protein C5a, which is produced during an immune response to a developing tumor, helps tumors build molecular shields against T-cell attack. These findings appeared online this week in Nature Immunology.

Carl June, MD, Director of Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Penn's School of Medicine, has received $1 million over the next three years from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Inc. (ACGT) to harness the immune system to fight the worst cases of ovarian cancer.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are conducting studies on an experimental medication to block nerve damage and inflammation in the brain that can lead to progressive memory loss and behavioral changes in people with Alzheimer's disease. Current Alzheimer's disease therapies focus on improving symptoms rather than attacking the root of the disease progression.

James Eberwine, PhD, the Elmer Holmes Bobst Professor of Pharmacology and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, has been awarded the National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award, which provides $2.5 million over the next five years. Aaron Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, has been awarded the NIH New Innovator Award, which provides $1.5 million over the same timeframe. Eberwine investigates how single neurons work in the context of surrounding cells and how this relates to the emerging field of RNA-based therapeutics and Gitler studies yeast cells to define mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and screen for new treatment targets.

Using the drug darapladib, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues have inhibited a cholesterol-and immune system-associated protein, thereby reducing the development of heart-disease plaques that may cause death, heart attacks, and strokes in a pig model of atherosclerosis and diabetes.

Researchers led by Zhe Lu at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have modified a honeybee venom toxin so that it can be used as a tool to study the inner workings of ion channels that control heart rate and the recycling of salt in kidneys. In general, ion channels selectively allow the passage of small ions such as sodium, potassium, or calcium into and out of the cell.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a key step in the formation - and suppression - of esophageal cancers and perhaps carcinomas of the breast, head, and neck. By studying human tissue samples, they found that Fbx4, a naturally occurring enzyme, plays a key role in stopping production of another protein called Cyclin D1, which is thought to contribute to the early stages of cancer development.