News

Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Subclinical atherosclerosis linked with dementia in people over 80

A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests starting early to prevent calcification in your coronary arteries to stay sharp in old age. Learn More

Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Mosquito-borne Zika virus may trigger paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome

A new Lancet study "tells us what I think a lot of people already thought," says Ernesto Marques, MD, PhD, who is probing Zika's possible link with microcephaly. Learn More

Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Older adults urged to try mindfulness training for chronic low back pain

A study in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that eight weeks spent learning mind-body meditation can help reduce severe pain in adults over 65, for months after the training is over. Learn More

Sunday, February 28, 2016
MicroPET studies for Alzheimer's are encouraging, but no sure bet

Amyloid imaging expert William E. Klunk, MD, PhD, and radiochemist Chester Mathis, PhD, who co-discovered Pittsburgh Compound B, comment on Swedish research findings. Learn More

Sunday, February 28, 2016
Big Data and autism research

Pitt and Harvard are working together to tease out clues about autism from enormous datasets stored on the cloud. Learn More

Saturday, February 27, 2016
PittMed: On FedExing zebra fish embryos for vision research

Jeffrey Gross, PhD, the new Salvitti Professor of Ophthalmology Research, talks about bridging basic science and clinical studies to advance ocular regenerative medicine. Learn More

Saturday, February 27, 2016
Youth with a bipolar parent and certain symptoms are at high risk themselves

Anxiety with depression, unstable mood and low-level manic behavior, combined with a bipolar parent who was young when diagnosed, add up to a 50-50 future risk, Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, finds. Learn More

Friday, February 26, 2016
PittMed: Think zinc for brain balance

Zinc is a neurotransmitter in its own right, and appears to play a neuroprotective role, according to findings by Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, holder of the Auditory Physiology Endowed Chair. Learn More

Thursday, February 25, 2016
PittMed: Using mass spectrometry and proteomics in brain research

With chemist Nathan Yates, PhD, on the team, research into Alzheimer's disease and the auditory hallucinations of schizophrenia speeds up. Learn More

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
First trials of Salk vaccine were exactly 62 years ago

On this day in 1954, children from Arsenal Elementary School  received the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk. Learn More

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Trib Review: Brazilian-born microbiologist is fighting Zika epidemic at its core

Ernesto Marques, MD, PhD, born in Recife, Brazil, talks about his work on a vaccine.  Recife is the epicenter of an outbreak of Zika virus, tentatively linked to microcephaly in newborns. Learn More

Sunday, February 21, 2016
PittMed launches podcasts that feature brain research

Listen to Sarah Ross, PhD, on the neurobiology of itch, Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, on tinnitus, and Jim Funderburgh, PhD, on using stem cells from wisdom teeth to fight corneal blindness. Learn More

Sunday, February 21, 2016
Too little sleep during pregnancy linked with both excessive and low weight gain

Sleeping less than six hours or more than nine hours a night were detrimental to healthy weight gain, reports obstetrician Francesca Facco, MD. Learn More

Sunday, February 21, 2016
Richardson to test gene therapy for Parkinson's patients

Neurosurgeon Mark Richardson, MD, PhD, aims to prolong the effectiveness of levo-dopa by increasing production of a key enzyme essential to convert the drug into the neurotransmitter dopamine.     Learn More

Sunday, February 21, 2016
REUTERS HEALTH: Do proton pump inhibitors increase dementia risk?

The facts aren't clear, epidemiologist Lewis H. Kuller, MD, DrPh, writes in an editorial in JAMA Neurology.   Learn More

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Skidmore and Goldstein get Presidential Early Career Awards

Elizabeth Skidmore, PhD, was recognized for interventions following brain injury. Tina Goldstein, PhD, was honored for assessing mood disorders and preventing suicide in young patients. Learn More

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Neural control expert Zhi-Hong Mao receives Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award

The William Kepler Whiteford Faculty Fellow has advised more than 100 postgraduate students since his arrival from Harvard in 2005. Learn More

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
USA TODAY: Scientists debunk theory that pesticide caused microcephaly in Brazil

Infectious disease expert Ernesto Marques, now conducting research in Recife, Brazil, calls the claim, by Argentine environmentalists, "ridiculous." Learn More

Monday, February 15, 2016
Association for Psychological Science names three "Rising Stars"

Melissa-Evelyn Libertus, PhD, Rebecca B. Price, PhD, and Ming-Te Wang, PhD, were recognized for innovative work that has advanced the field and signals great potential for continued contributions. Learn More

Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Children's receives $2.5M to study and treat rare neural disorders

The grants, from Legacy of Angels, support ongoing research of genetic neurodegenerative diseases, such as Krabbe disease and other leukodystrophies. The program is headed by Maria Luisa Escolar, MD. Learn More

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