News Releases

Cardiac researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have received a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pioneer studies in cardiovascular disease management and participate in a novel collaboration network to develop and implement research in this critically important field.

In the first clinical trial of its kind, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center will lead a nationwide test of anti-cancer drug combinations that target blood vessel growth in patients with advanced kidney cancer. The trial is being conducted with colleagues in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a network of researchers, physicians, and health care professionals at public and private institutions.

In the first clinical trial of its kind, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center will lead a nationwide test of anti-cancer drug combinations that target blood vessel growth in patients with advanced kidney cancer. The trial is being conducted with colleagues in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a network of researchers, physicians, and health care professionals at public and private institutions.

James Shorter, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been named an inaugural recipient of the 2007 NIH Director's New Innovator Award. This highly prestigious award totals $1.5 million in direct costs over five years to each of 29 investigators, many of whom are in the early stages of their careers. More than 2,100 applications were received for this extremely competitive program.

A family affected by multiple myeloma will visit the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania as part of its cross-country jaunt to raise awareness of this form of cancer. Myeloma, also called multiple myeloma, affects the production of red cells, white cells, and stem cells and is the second most common of the blood cancers affecting an estimated 75,000 people worldwide.

In an opinion article in the September 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, lead author Scott D. Halpern, M.D., a fellow in the division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and colleagues, argue that these concepts applied by marketers should also be used by the medical community to benefit patients. Additional authors are Peter A. Ubel, M.D., and David A. Asch, M.D., M.B.A.

As the school year gets underway, common back-to-school activities like reading the blackboard and completing homework assignments may reveal children's vision problems. ''Good vision is essential for proper physical development and educational progress in growing children,'' says Brian Forbes, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Forbes offers the following advice on preventing, identifying, and correcting children's vision problems.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have developed a framework to help hospital managers, physicians, and nurses handle the tough challenges of implementing health information technology (HIT) by directly addressing the unintended consequences that undermine safety and quality.

The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has been awarded $2.3 million over the next four years to study biological indicators of exposure to cigarette smoke. The grant is part of the National Institutes of Health new Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The GEI represents a unique collaboration between geneticists and environmental health scientists. In this first round of awards genetic studies were funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute and biomarker studies were funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Brian Strom, MD, MPH, George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, has been additionally appointed to the newly created positions of Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs in the School of Medicine and Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Health Initiatives.