My difficult pregnancy is but one reason I oppose Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination

Dovie Salais 6 hours ago

Right now, we are standing at an inflection point. As a nation, we are forced to reckon with what the next generation of Americans will experience, and whether they will be able to look to their elected leaders and the U.S. Supreme Court to protect their rights, or see decades of progress slowly peeled away.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett discusses abortion, Roe v. Wade

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Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination represents that backward step. At a time when reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality and access to health care seem so precarious, Barrett’s nomination is a looming danger to far too many. Her nomination, as a virulently anti-choice judge, is also a personal danger to people like me.



a person standing in front of a building: Amy Coney Barrett speaks to graduates during the University of Notre Dame's Law School commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 19, 2018, in South Bend.

© Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune
Amy Coney Barrett speaks to graduates during the University of Notre Dame’s Law School commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 19, 2018, in South Bend.

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SEngine Precision Medicine to Present at Society of Functional Precision Medicine Virtual …

Dovie Salais 6 hours ago

Press release content from Globe Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.

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SEATTLE, Oct. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SEnginePrecision Medicine, a precision oncology company revolutionizing cancer diagnostics and drug discovery by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived tumor organoids, today announced that Chief Medical Officer Astrid L. Margossian, MD, PhD, will present at the Society for Functional Precision Medicine (SFPM) Virtual Monthly Seminar on October 14th at 11:30 am ET.

Dr. Margossian is leading SEngine’s clinical validation initiatives for the PARIS® Test, a CLIA certified cancer organoid based drug sensitivity test for all solid tumors. The presentation is entitled, “Predictive Clinical Value of a CLIA-Approved Organoid Based Drug Sensitivity Test,” and will highlight the data on the PARIS® Test, recently presented at the ASCO 2020 and ACCR 2020 annual meetings, inclusive of organoids sensitivity results, showing clinical correlation with genomics and previous

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Portland wants to ‘prescribe a bike’ to Black Portlanders with chronic diseases

Dovie Salais 7 hours ago

Portland is proposing what transportation leaders say is a “truly innovative effort” that would allow health officials to prescribe an annual Biketown membership to Black residents with certain chronic diseases.

The city transportation bureau is collaborating with the Multnomah County Health Department on a $200,000 grant application. The City Council is expected to sign off on the proposal Wednesday. If approved, the grant would be for two-and-a-half years and the city and county would each contribute $10,000 to the program.

City and county officials say they built the proposal on a similar effort in New York City, which has had positive results. They say it’s a way to make the on-demand bike rental service more accessible to people of color while also encouraging more bike riding.

Charlene McGee, who leads the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health, a federally funded program housed at Multnomah County, said eight out of

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Two drinks a week in early pregnancy could stunt a baby’s brain

Dovie Salais 7 hours ago


a man holding a glass of wine: MailOnline logo

© Provided by Daily Mail
MailOnline logo

Downing just over two drinks a week in very early pregnancy could be enough to stunt a baby’s brain development, warn scientists.

Even if the mother stops, the alcohol raises the risk children will suffer later from psychological and behavioural disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Many women may not know they are expecting in the first six to seven weeks of pregnancy but having 16 drinks in this time is enough to cause damage, said the study.

Around 40 per cent of women in the UK drink while expecting, one of the highest rates in Europe.



a man holding a wine glass: Just over two alcohol drinks a week could stunt a baby's development, even in the very early stages of when a woman may not know she is pregnant

© Provided by Daily Mail
Just over two alcohol drinks a week could stunt a baby’s development, even in the very early stages of when a woman may not know she is pregnant

Lead author, doctoral student Briana Lees, said: ‘Our research found even small amounts

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Kuur Therapeutics Announces Publication of Interim Phase 1 Data for CAR-NKT Cell Therapy KUR-501 in Nature Medicine

Dovie Salais 7 hours ago

Kuur Therapeutics, a leader in the development of off-the-shelf CAR-NKT cell immunotherapies for the treatment of solid and hematological malignancies, today announced the publication in Nature Medicine of interim findings from its ongoing phase 1 GINAKIT2 clinical trial collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, in high risk relapsed refractory (R/R) patients with neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer.

The interim results demonstrated that expressing the CAR with interlukin-15 (IL-15), a natural protein that supports NKT survival, enhanced the tumor-fighting capabilities and in vivo persistence of autologous NKT cells. Two of three patients studied showed tumor reduction following CAR-NKT infusion: one classified as stable disease and the other as a partial response. Imaging revealed a dramatic reduction in the size and metabolic activity of bone metastases in the patient with the partial response. CAR-NKT cells demonstrated a favorable safety profile and localized to the site of the

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Study provides new hope for children suffering from rare muscle diseases

Dovie Salais 8 hours ago

IMAGE

IMAGE: Alexander enjoying the gaming computer that he assembled from components provided by the Make a Wish Foundation.
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Credit: Credit: Stephen Greenspan

. Known as myofibrillar myopathies, these rare genetic diseases lead to progressive muscle wasting, affecting muscle function and causing weakness.

Using the tiny zebrafish, Associate Professor Robert Bryson-Richardson from the School of Biological Sciences and his team of researchers were able to show that a defect in protein quality control contributes to the symptoms of the diseases.

“We tested 75 drugs that promote the removal of damaged proteins in our zebrafish model and identified nine that were effective” explained first author Dr Avnika Ruparelia, who completed her student and post-doctoral training in the team working on the disease. “Importantly two of these are already approved for human use in other conditions”.

“We found that one of the drugs, metformin, which is normally used to treat diabetes,

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Regular cannabis exposure during pregnancy may cause cognitive deficiencies, anxiety in offspring

Dovie Salais 9 hours ago

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 14 2020

Regular cannabis exposure in rats during pregnancy may cause their offspring to have long-term cognitive deficiencies, asocial behavior, and anxiety later in adulthood.

That’s according to a new study by neuroscientists in Washington State University’s Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience unit that provides a rare look at the effects of using cannabis during pregnancy.

The reality of cannabis research is there’s not a lot of it. This research helps get information out to women so they can make an educated decision that is best for them.”


Halle Weimar, Study First Author and Graduate Student in Neuroscience Program

Weimar and her colleagues found the offspring of pregnant rats exposed to cannabis vapor were more likely to make regressive errors after they were trained new methods to receive sugar pellets. They were also less social and more anxious when placed in

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UNE to move its College of Osteopathic Medicine to Portland

Dovie Salais 9 hours ago

BIDDEFORD, Maine — Funding from the Harold Alfond Foundation will help the University of New England move the College of Osteopathic Medicine from the main campus in Biddeford to a 100,000-square-foot building in Portland, the university announced Tuesday.

The $30 million grant also will be used to accelerate high-growth undergraduate and graduate programs to meet student demand and workforce needs in areas like aquaculture, entrepreneurship, criminal justice and sports media communication, among others, officials said.

The move of the College of Osteopathic Medicine will put it on the Portland campus along with other health-related programs like dentistry, pharmacy, physician assistant, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, dental hygiene and nurse anesthesia.

“With a truly integrated health care campus, like none other in our region, our health professions students will capitalize on opportunities for cross-professional learning, enhance their team-based competencies, and will benefit from amazing new learning spaces that will

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St. Louis receives funds to reduce sexually transmitted diseases

Dovie Salais 9 hours ago

Last year, St. Louis cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis made up one-third of the state’s total cases

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis will receive funds directly from the Centers for Disease Control to reduce sexually transmitted diseases, one of four jurisdictions across the country will receive this funding.

Missouri STD rates have increased every year for the past three years, according to a press release from the city’s health department. Last year, St. Louis cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis made up one-third of the state’s total cases

The health department said “stigma, clinic closures, lack of culturally sensitive and trauma-informed service providers, lack of or improper condom use, poverty, drug use, and unstable living conditions” have kept the St. Louis metropolitan area near or at the top of federal rankings for poor sexual health outcomes.

“The CARS award will allow us to focus on a segment of our

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Managing seasonal depression amid the coronavirus pandemic

Dovie Salais 9 hours ago

As long sunny days turn shorter and darker some people begin to experience seasonal depression.

But, many of us are already feeling low-grade depression due to COVID-19 restrictions, which could turn fall and winter into a real mental health struggle.

“If we’re already feeling some helplessness, hopelessness, irritability, confinement and we add the winter months to it — short daylight hours, limited exposure to daylight; those that are experiencing seasonal affective disorder are going to really be challenged,” said Scott Bea, PsyD, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Bea suggests taking action before winter arrives.

He said committing to an exercise program is a great place to start because exercise — just about any type — has a positive impact on mood.

It’s also a good idea to plan and maintain social connections — he said virtual interactions with family and friends or socially distanced outdoor activities, can be helpful.

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