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Investigating Why The Immune System Fails To Control Hepatitis C: Mass. General-Based Research Center
A research consortium based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has been awarded $15 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to investigate how the hepatitis C virus (HCV) resists suppression and clearance by the immune system. The five-year grant will support a Cooperative Center for Translational Research in Human Immunology, which also will focus on how some individuals successfully recover from HCV while the infection becomes chronic in most of those infected, with a special emphasis on immunological events in the liver as the site of HCV replication.

Poll: Most Want Health Reform But Fear Its Side Effects
"A majority of Americans see government action as critical to controlling runaway health-care costs, but there is broad public anxiety about the potential impact of reform legislation and conflicting views about the types of fixes being proposed on Capitol Hill, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll," The Washington Post reports. "Most respondents are "very concerned" that health-care reform would lead to higher costs, lower quality, fewer choices, a bigger deficit, diminished insurance coverage and more government bureaucracy. About six in 10 are at least somewhat worried about all of these factors, underscoring the challenges for lawmakers as they attempt to restructure the nation"s $2.3 trillion health-care system." Many respondents are "nervous about future changes" because of a "fear they may lose what they currently have. "More than eight in 10 said they are satisfied with the quality of care they now receive and relatively content with their own current expenses." In his news conference Tuesday, President Barack Obama "sought to leverage that apprehension" by noting that "premiums have been doubling every nine years, going up three times faster than wages."
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Quality Of Care Delivery In Colorectal Cancer Improved By Educational Initiatives
A study of targeted educational initiatives between the clinical staff at Fox Chase Cancer Center and the hospitals within their Partners program suggest that educational interventions by academic cancer centers can improve quality of care for cancer patients at community hospitals. The study, to be presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, looked specifically at the number of lymph nodes that were surgically removed in colorectal cancer patients at Fox Chase"s partner hospitals and the impact that educational initiatives by clinical staff had on improving the number of nodes removed.
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Brain Neural Circuit Formation Requires Identification Of A Key Molecular Pathway

The research group of Dr. Frçİdçİric Charron, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montrçİal (IRCM), has made a discovery which could help treat spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. This new finding has been published in the current issue of the prestigious scientific journal Neuron. Patricia T. Yam, Sçİbastien D. Langlois and Steves Morin, all at the IRCM, are listed as co-authors. The brain is composed of billions of interconnected neurons. To correctly form neuronal circuits, the developing axons (a long extension of a neuron) require attractive and repulsive molecules to lead them to their appropriate targets. One such molecule is Sonic Hedgehog (Shh). Five years ago, as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne at Stanford University, Frçİdçİric Charron discovered that Shh acted as an axonal attractant for brain and spinal cord neurons. "How exactly Shh elicited this effect has remained unknown so far," pointed out Dr. Charron. "The molecular pathway my team discovered provides part of an answer." Their recent work showed that Shh exerts its attractive effect through a group of molecules called Src family kinases (SFKs) that, until now, were not known to be linked to Shh function. Remarkably, these novel Shh effector molecules are absolutely required for the ability of Shh to guide axons. Connecting axons with an appropriate set of targets is very complex. Inappropriate wiring or damage to these neuronal connections leads to severe abnormalities of the nervous system. "Knowing the effectors of axon guidance molecules such as Shh", adds Dr. Charron, "helps us to understand the molecular mechanisms by which axons reach their target. It paves the way to new therapies to treat spinal cord injuries, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases." This new discovery was made possible through the invention of a novel technique to control and observe the behavior of axons in response to guidance molecules. A patent application for this technique has been filed recently. This invention is expected to speed up the discovery of drugs that control axon pathfinding. "Dr. Charron is one of the country"s leading newly arrived neuroscientists. This research has important long-term implications for the repair of spinal cord injury: if we knew all of the molecules required to guide axons correctly during spinal cord healing, we would probably know how to heal spinal cord injuries," says Dr. Rod McInnes, Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Genetics. "This is beautiful research that adds another major brick to our building a complete understanding of how the spinal cord is made, and how injury of it can be treated." This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the McGill Program in Neuroengineering, the Fonds de recherche en santçİ du Quçİbec (FRSQ) and the Peter Lougheed Medical Research Foundation. Olivier Lagueux Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal


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