Harvard Medical School: No-surgery option of aortic stenosis not for everyone

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QUESTION: My cardiologist says I have aortic stenosis and need a new aortic valve. Apparently the FDA has approved a new procedure that replaces the aortic valve without open-heart surgery. This option sounds safer to me, but my doctor says it is not for everyone. Can you walk me through the pros and cons of these two approaches?

ANSWER: Ask your doctors. This is a complicated decision that requires an individualized answer depending on your health, your preferences and -- above all -- the experience and skill of your cardiac care team. With that said, let's discuss some general considerations.

The aortic valve is a three-flapped structure that ensures the one-way flow of blood from the heart's main pumping chamber to the rest of the body. In some people, the aortic valve becomes encrusted with calcium deposits that stiffen and narrow it, restricting blood flow.

When people with aortic stenosis start feeling symptoms such as light-headedness or fainting, breathlessness, fatigue and loss of appetite, quality of life goes downhill quickly until the valve is replaced.

Until recently, replacing the aortic valve required open-heart surgery. Now that the FDA has approved a no-surgery technique for replacing a failed aortic valve, many people with aortic stenosis are asking, "Can I get this procedure?"

The answer is "Maybe." That's because the FDA has currently restricted its use to people who are not good candidates for open-heart surgery.

As you point out, it's easy to see why people might prefer the new approach, called transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI. The new valve is placed using a wire, or catheter, that is maneuvered into the heart from a blood vessel in the groin. Both the hospital stay and recovery are shorter and less painful than with open-heart surgery.

The FDA based its approval on a clinical trial dubbed PARTNER. In this trial, 69% of the patients undergoing TAVI were alive after a year, compared with 50% of a group that received standard therapy, which included balloon valvuloplasty, an attempt to increase the valve opening with a balloon-tipped catheter.

PARTNER data presented at a scientific meeting in late 2011 showed that more than two-thirds of the people in the standard-care group had died after two years, compared with 43% in the TAVI group. Another analysis found that quality-of-life scores after one year among the TAVI group improved by 32 points on a 100-point scale, while scores among the standard-care group improved by only 4 points.

But although it prolongs life and is less invasive than open-heart surgery, TAVI has its drawbacks. TAVI recipients in the trial had more than twice the number of strokes and many more serious bleeding complications than patients in the other group.

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Harvard Medical School: No-surgery option of aortic stenosis not for everyone

IBM Sends Jeopardy Supercomputer to Medical School

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IBM's Watson ruled on Jeopardy, but how can scientists make it into a doctor or a banker? Photo: Courtesy IBM/Bob Goldberg/Feature Photo Service

IBMs Watson may have trounced former champion Ken Jennings in Jeopardy, but now its facing an even bigger challenge: proving that it can make money for its creators.

Its well on the way. Last week, IBM said that it was working with Citi to explore how the Watson technology could help improve and simplify the banking experience, but for the past six months, Big Blue has also teamed up with health insurer WellPoint to turn Watson into a machine that can support the doctors of the world.

IBM isnt saying too much about what Watson will be doing at Citi. The two companies plan to build the first consumer banking applications for the supercomputer. WellPoint is a bit more forthcoming. In December, the health insurer said that it was working with Cedars-Sinai Hospitals Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute to help physicians treat cancer patients.

It turns out that training Watson to help doctors and financial services customers has a lot in common with cramming for Jeopardy. In both cases, the computer has to do two things that machines have traditionally flubbed. First off, theres natural language processing. That means figuring out what the question actually is. Then theres machine learning: understanding what facts are important for which question. In others words, you give Watson questions, it gives you answers.

If we can parse the clue and understand what the question is asking about, and we can parse this text in our documents and understand what our text is talking about then we can try to match, says David Gondek, a scientist with IBM who has worked on Watson for the past five years.

But there are differences too. When Watson helps out Cedars-Sinai doctors, its not engaging in a vicious death-match for Triva-God bragging rights. Its a collaboration.

Its a very different situation. Because in Jeopardy we were kind of constrained in that you get a question, you get an answer, and thats it, says Gondek. In the medical case, we think more about interacting with a medical professional. that means that its not just a question and answer.

The processing is different, too. The Jeopardy system was trained to answer quiz show questions, where the answers are pretty much black and white. Feed Watson a copy of the Bible, and its pretty much good to go on Bible trivia questions. In business and medicine, there are a lot of different sources, and some of them are considered more important than others.

So IBM is working with doctors to ensure that it has the right data sources and that the different sources its using medical journals, papers and textbooks are given each given the proper weight.

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Shaker Heights University School enrichment program assists young surgeons

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SHAKER HEIGHTS -- Students in University Schools Young Surgeons Club are getting the kind of experience some dont receive until medical school.

The Young Surgeons Club at University School Shaker Campus is an afterschool enrichment program started last year by middle school science teachers Dr. Roberta Brown and Kathy Osborne.

Osborne said when Brown came on board at University School, the teachers were required to find another dimension of teaching. While other teachers coached sports teams after school, Osborne and Brown honed in on a medicine course they could develop. Out of that idea came the Young Surgeons Club.

Club Activities

The club consists of 12 seventh and eighth grade boys who get to experience the ins and outs of the medical field. Recently, the group took a trip to MetroHealth and attended an emergency room simulation where they learned intubation and resuscitation.

The simulation lends them the opportunity to understand a more hands-on approach and what a medical staff needs in an emergency, Brown said. They can see a combination of how technology can be used in medical training. They can use their communication abilities so each person knows what his partner is doing together to help a patient.

Osborne said the group also got to conduct ultrasounds on each other, got to see the Metro Life Flight helicopter up close and met the medical crew and pilots during the visit.

They were trained how an intern or resident would be trained. They got to see the training dummy that breaths, has a pulse and bleeds. The doctors spent a lot of time with them, she said.

The group plans to take a trip to the Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family and Health Center to take a tour of the surgical suite and learn how to scrub in for surgeries.

Brown said the students enthusiasm is infectious. Its very satisfying to see them get excited about learning about medicine, learning to use tools and dissections.

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Dr. Dan Hale Announces Retirement from HRC Medical

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NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Dr. Dan Hale, 67, founder of HRC Medical and the visionary developer of the companys Amor Vie, has announced his intention to retire from the natural hormone replacement company.

The company also announced the launch of a new website which features hundreds of stories from real people who have had profound improvements in their health and well-being as a result of HRC Medicals Amor Vie. http://www.hrcmedical.com

HRC Medical is a privately held company that manages 37 HRC Medical Centers located in 21 states. Through its affiliated physicians, the company has served more than 30,000 patients with its Amor Vie. Amor Vie therapy is a highly personalized treatment plan that seeks to improve natural hormone levels to improve the health and well-being of patients.

To everything there is a season, Dr. Hale said. The time has come for me to step back from active involvement in HRC Medical.

Don Hale, President of HRC Medical and Dr. Dan Hales brother, said, This is a bittersweet time for me and for this company. Dr. Dans vision is now being realized as we grow HRC Medical to a national company helping thousands of people. My brother is a true visionary who developed our Amor Vie and trained our medical staff in its effective use for our clients.

Dr. John Argerson will succeed Dr. Dan Hale as Interim Chairman of the HRC Medical Advisory Board.

HRC Medical also announced plans to establish the HRC Medical Foundation as a vehicle to fund ongoing research and education in the arena of hormone replacement therapy. Through the HRC Medical Foundation, HRC will seek to initiate and fund independent research in the area of personalized wellness care.

Dr. Hale will continue to practice medicine in his East Tennessee practice and increase his dedication to charitable work. Dr. Hale has been responsible for building a school in the African country of Benin where 300 students now have access to a high quality education. This has been a 15-year passion for Dr Hale.

The solid growth of HRC Medical means it is time for me to turn over the reins to the next generation so that our ongoing leadership and commitment to the highest standards of care can continue now and into the future, Dr. Hale said. There are simply not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. HRC Medical will be in good hands with the scores of highly capable doctors and staff that deliver outstanding care as shown by the unprecedented volume of stories noted in our website.

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Dr. Dan Hale Announces Retirement from HRC Medical

Parents turn up the heat on UBC medical school for acceptance

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VANCOUVER - Parents desperate to see their sons and daughters get a highly coveted seat at the University of B.C. medical school are trying everything, from calling their MLAs and the dean to waving around their chequebooks.

We do get a number of calls, requests and even offers to pull out chequebooks from people who say, What would it take to get [my kid] into this medical school? said Dr. Gavin Stuart, dean of the UBC medical school.

Although I am fairly shielded from the process, I do get sporadic calls from angry people yelling at me. Its a competitive process, a highly charged area, he added.

The school accepts 288 into its four- year, undergraduate medical degree program, but gets about 1,800 applications a year. Its considered to be in the top tier of Canadas 17 medical schools. The competition for spots is so overheated that, as an internal memo obtained by The Vancouver Sun attests, even prominent individuals are not above asking for special consideration.

The memo, sent nearly a year ago by former admissions director Denis Hughes to Dr. David Snadden, executive associate dean of education at the medical school, states:

Allowing submission of late documents has become a recurring theme this cycle. We have made more exceptions this cycle than in all three previous years combined. I find this troubling on many fronts.

The memo, which contains some blacked-out parts, mentions one case in which the applicants father contacted UBC to plead for late filing of documents due to circumstances beyond his daughters control. In that case, the father was a Victoria surgeon with an affiliation to UBC. His email message included his full signature clinical faculty, UBC and University of Victoria.

The memo states that the applicant was allowed to file late documents even though she was given six (automated) email reminders that her application would become ineligible if she missed the deadline.

Hughes, who left his position last summer, confirmed he wrote the memo. It ends with this statement:

It is in the best interest of the faculty of medicine to uphold a transparent and unbiased admissions process.

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Med school recognized for conflict-of-interest policies

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SACRAMENTO The UC Davis School of Medicine ranks among the top medical schools on the 2012 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) PharmFree Scorecard, a national assessment of medical school policies governing how the pharmaceutical industry interacts with faculty and students.

UC Davis received an "A" rating on the scorecard, which it has received every year since AMSA established the scorecard in 2007. Of the 152 U.S. medical schools and colleges of osteopathic medicine included in the report, 28 received As (18 percent) 74 Bs (49 percent), 15 Cs (10 percent), and 13 Ds (9 percent) and 9 Fs (6 percent).

The AMSA PharmFree Scorecard uses letter grades to assess a school's performance in 11 potential areas of conflict, including gifts and meals from industry to doctor; paid promotional speaking for industry; acceptance of free drug samples; interaction with sales representatives and industry; and funded education. It offers a comprehensive look at the current and changing landscape of conflict-of-interest policies across American medical education, as well as more in-depth assessment of individual policies that govern industry interaction. The report included 98 percent of all eligible medical institutions in the United States.

UC Davis's policies scored highest in six specific domains AMSA assessed, including policies related to acceptance of gifts and meals from industry; limiting pharmaceutical samples accepted; individuals with financial conflicts participating in university purchasing decisions; financial support for attending industry-sponsored lectures and meetings (off-campus); industry support for scholarships and trainee funds; and inclusion of education about conflict of interest within the academic curriculum. The report also noted the presence of oversight and sanctions for noncompliance, although these factors were not included in the grade calculation.

Other schools receiving an A grade included UCLA, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, which adopted strong policies modeled after those first introduced at UC Davis, as well as the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the University of Pennsylvania.

According to AMSA, the PharmFree Scorecard reflects the growing public outcry over conflicts of interest, both real and perceived, that are occurring throughout the health-care industry. The organization notes the increasing concerns among the public, policymakers and medical professionals focused on the potential for these conflicts to influence medical care, with profit potentially taking precedence over the interests of patients. A major part of the national discussion aims to balance the benefits of industry partnerships with the risks of industry marketing adversely impacting medical care, clinical research and medical education.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at medschool.ucdavis.edu.

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Medical school split a 'disaster'

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5 March 2012 Last updated at 14:36 ET

Doctors have called for a rethink of plans to split the Plymouth-based Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD).

A letter from the Devon Local Medical Committee (DLMC) called the move by PCMD founders University of Exeter and Plymouth University a "disaster".

The plans would mean a medical and dental school at Plymouth and a medical school at Exeter.

PCMD, which opened in 2000, has 200 medical and 64 dentistry students.

The DLMC, which represents Devon GPs, said in a letter to Plymouth University Vice Chancellor Wendy Purcell that the announcement in January was a "momentous shock to all students and staff involved with the medical school across the peninsula".

It feared that the "excellent collaborative work" in research projects at the college would be disrupted.

It added that if a split was the only way forward, it was "essential" that medical student numbers were distributed fairly "to ensure two sustainable medical schools emerge".

The proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region

The letter said: "The NHS should be working together across the peninsula and the proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region."

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Holland Medical School to Offer Prerequisite to Students Outside District

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For the first time, students who live outside the Abilene Independent School District will be able to take the prerequisite course for Holland Medical School.

Students who will be in 10th grade or higher next year can enroll in Principles of Health Science which is required to attend Holland.

Once students complete the course, they are eligible to transfer districts to attend the medical school.

Holland Principal Gail Gregg says this is a great opportunity for students who may have considered this as an option but thought it wouldn't be possible.

"Whether it be kids from in the district, or even outside of the district, their plans change. Their sophomore year they decide, 'boy I'd like to be a nurse but I haven't taken the prerequisite classes that I need to take to go to Holland,'" Gregg says.

AISD's 2012 summer school will be held at Abilene High and registration is June 7 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Memorial Hermann — Texas Medical Center Offers Houstonians an Option in High-Quality Cancer Care With Opening of New …

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HOUSTON, March 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Memorial Hermann -- Texas Medical Center has established a new cancer center to provide Houstonians with an option for exceptional cancer care. The Center offers advanced treatment from a highly-skilled team of affiliated specialists with the University of Texas (UT) Health Medical School and access to innovative technology and supportive personalized care in a comforting environment.

"We recognize that people have a choice for cancer treatment and we are proud to be leaders in providing superior, comprehensive and accessible patient-centered care to the Houston community," said Dr. Robert J. Amato, medical director of the Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- TMC and a professor at UTHealth.

The state-of-the-art Cancer Center introduces cutting-edge clinical capabilities, physician expertise and services within a fully integrated space that promotes holistic care and healing. The facility is designed to provide a highly-personalized and comforting environment to support the needs of patients throughout the continuum of care with private treatment suites and counselor guidance during every step of the process.

The team of nationally-recognized oncologists and researchers are equipped to address the needs of all diagnoses and stages of cancer offering access to the latest procedures and clinical trials. The dynamic team works together to develop new and successful treatments to improve cancer survival rates and quality of life for patients. Comprehensive and coordinated care is initiated by an accredited, multidisciplinary tumor board that meets regularly to evaluate the most effective treatment plan for each patient, tailored to the type, stage and aggressiveness of the tumor.

"The Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- TMC is built on years of experience and extensive knowledge in helping thousands of cancer patients in Houston find hope and healing," said Paul O'Sullivan, Oncology Service Line Executive. "Our cancer center features the hallmarks that Memorial Hermann patients have come to expect, putting patients first and supporting them with physician expertise, advanced treatments and gifted caregivers."

In addition to personalized physical care, the cancer care team provides emotional support during the entire course of each patient's treatment. As an essential part of the care team, patients are provided with the information and support they need to take an active role in all decisions. Patients have access to a combination of therapies -- medical, nutritional, physical, psychological and spiritual -- and treatment plans personalized by professionals who understand the concerns of cancer patients and their families.

Social workers are available to help with non-medical needs associated with a patient's illness and can offer assistance to connect with legal and home health services, communicate with their physicians, and complement the healing process through customized therapy. Further comprehensive patient support services include: nutritional counseling, support groups, cancer education and resources, pastoral care, genetic counseling and psychosocial support.

The Center houses advanced technologies to enhance patient care including the Varian Trilogy linear accelerator, which is considered one of the most versatile cancer treatment devices available in the field of radiation therapy. The Trilogy accelerator enables any area of the body to be treated with the latest approaches in radiosurgery and radiation therapy and is highly accurate, flexible and reliable.

"Memorial Hermann-TMC and UTHealth have taken cancer treatment to the next level and we are glad to offer Houstonians a viable option in their cancer care," said Amato.

For more information, visit Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- Texas Medical Center or call 713.222.CARE.

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Accreditation group finds erratic learning environment at Upstate medical school

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Syracuse, N.Y. -- When members of a national accreditation group visited Upstate Medical University in March last year to evaluate its medical school, they discovered some striking inconsistencies.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education LCME for short learned the medical schools entire first-year class of students was participating in community service. But that positive impression was tarnished by the discovery the school was grappling with the fallout of a cheating scandal involving more than 100 members of the senior class.

The learning environment for SUNY Upstate in some ways is very strong and in other ways is an area of concern, the LCME says in a 192-page report that explains why it put the medical school on probation.

Upstate provided a copy of the report to The Post-Standard after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the document.

The report shows the committee found the school out of compliance with 15 accreditation standards. Upstate must fix the problems within two years to keep its accreditation so it can continue offering medical degrees.

The LCME recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Upstate filed an appeal last month, rebutting nearly all of the committees findings. After reviewing the appeal, the committee rescinded its original findings of noncompliance on three standards, but affirmed its position on the other 15. It also affirmed its decision to put the school on probation.

The report says the medical schools curriculum is out of sync, student complaints often go ignored and the dean is a paper tiger. It also says complaints by graduating medical students of discrimination or mistreatment on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity or sexual orientation are being reported at above-average rates at Upstate.

Students interviewed during the survey repeated over and over that the most serious issue facing them and their school was the lack of central authority to address issues that were of concern to them, the report says. Faculty echoes those concerns as well.

One of the committees major criticisms is the schools lack of administrative oversight over curriculum and its inability to modify and coordinate courses.

The dean, who serves as the chief academic officer, does not have the explicit authority to ensure the implementation and management of the medical education program when modifications to the curriculum are determined to be necessary, the report says.

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New medical school 'crucial' to Austin

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AUSTIN (KXAN) - What will Central Texas need in the next decade to offer world class healthcare for a growing population? Some say it will take a medical school and teaching hospital.

Sen. Kirk Watson is leading the effort to get one.

When Dr. TJ Milling visits Houston's Medical Center he can't help but think of what Austin could be.

"All those buildings, all that research, all that medical education going on and across the street is Rice University and it made me think about the Northeast corner of our downtown," said Milling, an emergency room physician.

That's why Milling and others are pushing for a medical school and teaching hospital to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge.

On Wednesday, March 7, KXAN will host a live town hall discussion called " ATXpansion : Healthcare in Central Texas. Community leaders will talk about the various issues we face in the coming years. It will take place from 7 p.m . to 8 p.m . at the Hill Country Bible Church - Northwest Campus in Cedar Park. Register here to attend free of charge.

"The truth is you need to have that infrastructure surrounding a medical center to draw the best and brightest positions to a community," he said.

According to officials at Seton, Texas ranks 42nd in the number of physicians per capita, and in 2016, Seton anticipates a shortage of 770 physicians in Central Texas.

The largest deficits will be in specialties like family practice, internal medicine, as well as infectious disease, pulmonology and rheumatology.

"Having a medical school here will enable us to provide more support personnel, more doctors, doctors tend to stay in the areas where they train," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

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Governor says he won’t back UCR medical school

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California Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday hes not prepared to support funding the UC Riverside medical school at a time when the state still faces a $9 billion deficit.

Brown asserted that position during a talk at The Press-Enterprise that ranged from his tax proposal to high-speed rail, pension reform and drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.

Im not ruling it out, but Im not ruling it in right now, Brown said of funding for the medical school. Weve got to get our house in order before we expand.

While acknowledging he hasnt looked at the schools merits, Brown said he is less inclined to fund it when the University of California regents havent committed any of the systems state funding to the school.

The medical school has been in the works for years and originally was set to open this year. But so far, UCR officials have not been able to secure ongoing state funding.

UCR leaders are pushing ahead with private fundraising the goal is $10 million a year for the next decade and hope to open the school next year, but with only 50 students to start. To be viable long term, though, the school must have ongoing state support, UCR officials have said.

The money has yet to be included in any of the governors budget proposals.

Browns comments about the medical school go against what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said during a visit to Riverside last week.

Feinstein sent a letter to Brown urging him to support the medical school, and during a speech before the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, she urged local officials to contact the governors office on the issue.

I am going to need your help to call on our great governor and say, Jerry, youve got to find $15 million, she said. It can be found.

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Harvard Medical School Adviser: Lifestyle changes help combat liver disease

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QUESTION: My doctor just told me that I have fatty liver disease. She says that in my case it has nothing to do with drinking alcohol, which makes sense since I rarely drink. But I still don't understand it. She says it has to do with the fact that I've been overweight most of my life.

ANSWER: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was rarely diagnosed before 1980. But today, it is believed to affect as many as 30% of adult Americans.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is actually not a single disease. Instead, it's a spectrum of disorders, all marked by the accumulation of fat inside liver cells. Under the microscope, this fatty buildup looks just like alcohol-induced fatty liver disease, but it occurs in people who consume little or no alcohol.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease usually causes no symptoms and few, if any, complications. However, some people go on to develop serious problems.

The exact cause of NAFLD is unknown. But its emergence as a recognized and increasingly common disorder coincides with the epidemics of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Both of these are associated with insulin resistance.

Obesity and insulin resistance, in turn, are implicated in metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, including a large waist and high triglycerides (a type of blood fat). Some experts consider nonalcoholic fatty liver disease a symptom of metabolic syndrome.

The leading theory about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is that it's a result of metabolic changes driven by insulin resistance. More fat stays in the liver, accumulating in tiny sacs in the liver cells.

In its simplest form, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is just fat in the liver cells. This condition is called steatosis. While steatosis is not normal, it causes no symptoms and by itself is usually harmless. However, 5% to 20% of people with steatosis will develop a more serious form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. In NASH, the fattened cells cause inflammation, swelling and cell death.

We don't know the cause of this more serious, inflammatory form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or who is most likely to develop it, but it is not simply related to the amount of fat in the liver cells.

NASH is usually a relatively stable condition with few symptoms. Most people don't know they have it unless it shows up during a blood test or imaging procedure performed for other reasons. But unlike steatosis, NASH is not harmless.

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Harvard Medical School Adviser: Lifestyle changes help combat liver disease

Bill would raise UA medical campus funding

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by Emily Gersema - Mar. 4, 2012 09:29 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

The University of Arizona is asking state lawmakers for $15 million in state funds for its downtown Phoenix medical campus next school year so it can boost enrollment and hire more professors.

Rep. Ted Vogt, R-Tucson, is sponsoring House Bill 2551, which, if approved, would increase the UA Phoenix campus' budget by an estimated $540,000 from the $14.36 million in state funding approved by legislators for this school year.

"This is a strategic investment," Vogt said. "It's not just an investment in a university or education, it's an investment that will produce more doctors who will go out and serve the state of Arizona."

Vogt and other proponents of the campus say its flagship program, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, is producing new doctors who can provide health care in underserved areas, such as poor and rural communities. Vogt said the campus is helping to address issues with shortages of medical professionals.

The campus graduated its first class of medical doctors -- 24 students -- last spring and currently has 192 students.

Also growing the student population downtown is the addition of Northern Arizona University, which next year will draw some 50 students to the UA campus with its physical-therapy and physicians-assistant programs.

NAU is moving into the new Health Sciences Education Building at Seventh and Van Buren streets.

Both universities have said they are attempting to keep within the state most of the graduates from their Phoenix campus programs. UA officials note that about half of last year's graduating class of doctors from the campus are in residency in Arizona hospitals.

Vogt anticipates that some members of the Arizona Legislature who consider themselves fiscal conservatives will resist his proposal, but he believes others will see the school's continued financing as critical for boosting the local and state economy.

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Alnylam and UMass Medical School announce Tuschl I patent upheld in European opposition proceedings

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Public release date: 1-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mark Shelton mark.shelton@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

Cambridge, Mass., and Worcester, Mass., March 1, 2012 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) reported today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has upheld the Tuschl I '726 patent (EP 1309726) in oral opposition proceedings held in Munich, Germany. The requested claims of the '726 patent were upheld without any modification. Opponents included Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Silence Therapeutics AG, and BASF SE.

Inventors on the patent are David P. Bartel, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, Institute Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a 1993 Nobel Laureate; Thomas Tuschl, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor at Rockefeller University; and Phillip D. Zamore, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he co-directs the RNA Therapeutics Institute.

"The Tuschl family of patents defines key discoveries central to the advancement of RNAi therapeutics to patients," said James P. McNamara, PhD, executive director, Office of Technology Management, University of Massachusetts Medical School. "The Tuschl I patent is a critical invention by Professors Tuschl, Zamore, Bartel, and Sharp regarding the RNAi mechanism. We are pleased to see this patent fully upheld in Europe in these opposition proceedings."

"We are very pleased with the outcome of these opposition proceedings which resulted in the claims from the Tuschl I '726 patent being fully upheld. This decision by the EPO affirms our belief in the validity of these claims, and the novelty of the Tuschl I invention, and supports the relevance of Tuschl I for the development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics," said Laurence Reid, PhD, senior vice president and chief business officer of Alnylam. "Alnylam continues to leverage its leading patent estate for the advancement of innovative medicines to patients and also continues to enable the entire RNAi therapeutics field with over 30 license agreements formed to date."

"The research discoveries that form the basis for this patent were a significant milestone in the explication of the basic science of RNAi and the path to the world of RNA therapeutics," said Zamore. "The affirmation of the intellectual basis of these discoveries by the EPO will accelerate the opportunities for laboratories and research organizations around the world to use this science to work toward therapeutics to treat human disease."

Alnylam is the co-exclusive licensee of the Tuschl I '726 patent which is owned by the Max Planck Society, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This patent is a key component to Alnylam's fundamental intellectual property estate that comprises numerous issued or granted patents and a large number of pending patent applications that together broadly cover RNAi therapeutics, including small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, the molecules that mediate RNAi. The Tuschl I '726 patent consists of 14 claims broadly covering RNAi methods, including methods of reducing the expression of a gene, with double stranded RNAs between 21 and 23 nucleotides in length of mammalian or viral origin. The patent also includes claims covering methods of examining the function of a gene, as well as the use of both unmodified and chemically modified double stranded RNAs.

About RNA Interference (RNAi)

RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery has been heralded as "a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so," and represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam's RNAi therapeutic platform, target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific mRNAs, thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.

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Alnylam and UMass Medical School announce Tuschl I patent upheld in European opposition proceedings

Southborough Primate Center director steps down

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Dr. Fred Wang, interim director of Harvard Medical Schools New England Primate Research Center, has stepped down, a Harvard Medical School spokesperson confirmed this morning.

Wangs departure comes shortly after the school announced it will suspend new experiments at the center in the wake of the death of a cottontop tamarin monkey at the facility Sunday.

That death was the third death at the center since October 2011 and the fourth death there in the last 21 months.

Harvard Medical School dean Jeffrey Flier called the deaths absolutely unacceptable, deeply regrettable and personally disturbing to me in a strongly worded statement this week, and vowed to take aggressive action to resolve systems, processes and human errors at the facility.

When I learned of the most recent incident on Sunday, I immediately halted all new research protocols and new research on existing protocols at the (New England Primate Research Center), Flier wrote. The goal of this action is to provide time for our personnel to create and implement a corrective action plan.

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Southborough Primate Center director steps down

Mesa doctor new president of Missouri-based university

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by Art Thomason - Mar. 2, 2012 02:11 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

A well-known Valley doctor who helped establish a Missouri-based university's medical school in Mesa will lead the university as its new president.

Dr. Craig Phelps, who also serves as the Phoenix Suns' primary-care physician, was selected for the post at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences in Kirksville, Mo., after an extensive search that included a number of national leaders in health-care education, according to university officials. The appointment becomes effective July 1.

Phelps is provost of the university's Mesa campus and has been a member of the Suns' medical staff for 26 years, providing non-orthopedic care for players and other team employees.

"I am honored and humbled to be selected by the board as ATSU's next president," said the 55-year-old physician and scholar. "I will continue to work closely with President (Jack) Magruder to ensure a smooth transition.

"With everyone's help, we will bring ATSU to the next level and achieve the board's vision of preeminence."

Phelps has been involved in the university's Mesa campus development since 2001 when the university moved its Arizona health sciences programs to Mesa from its first Arizona location at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

In 2003, the university opened Arizona's first dental school on the Mesa campus, the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health. In 2007, the campus' four-year college of osteopathic medicine accepted its first class of students.

The 50-acre campus is the only one of its type in the state with a comprehensive curriculum of disciplines in medicine, dentistry and health care.

Phelps said university officials had long supported the idea of opening a medical school in Mesa.

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Mesa doctor new president of Missouri-based university

Former UBC staffer must repay $600,000 in excess salary: judge

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VANCOUVER A former University of British Columbia medical school employee is on the hook for more than a half a million dollars after she secretly accepted almost twice the pay she was owed.

Dating back to 1998, Wanda Barbara Moscipan, a financial administrator at the school, received $610,427.82 she wasn't entitled to, according to B.C. Supreme Court documents.

Moscipan's employment arrangement with the school stipulated that 20 per cent of her salary would be paid by UBC, while 80 per cent would be covered by Vancouver Coastal Health.

In its termination notice to Moscipan, the school accused her of fraudulently accepting 100 per cent of her pay from the school, and an additional 80 per cent from the health authority.

"Effectively, Ms. Moscipan claimed and received an income amounting to 180 per cent of pay for 100 per cent of work," Justice Richard Blair wrote in his Tuesday ruling.

The judge granted the school an injunction to try and recoup its money.

"My order freezes Ms. Moscipan's assets before judgment and also permits UBC to obtain information about Ms. Moscipan's assets through access to her banking and other financial records," the judge wrote.

He said he was convinced Moscipan tried to bilk the school of its money, and he believed there was a real risk that she could hide or get rid of her assets.

Moscipan was fired from her job in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in November 2011.

The injunction comes on the heels of the conviction of John Mwotassubi, a former financial manager in UBC's pediatrics department, who admitted to stealing nearly $460,000 from the school over seven years, dating back to 2003.

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Former UBC staffer must repay $600,000 in excess salary: judge

Alnylam and the University of Massachusetts Medical School Announce Tuschl I Patent Upheld in European Opposition …

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY - News), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) reported today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has upheld the Tuschl I 726 patent (EP 1309726) in oral opposition proceedings held in Munich, Germany. The requested claims of the 726 patent were upheld without any modification. Opponents included Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, Silence Therapeutics AG, and BASF SE.

Inventors on the patent are David P. Bartel, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a 1993 Nobel Laureate; Thomas Tuschl, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor at Rockefeller University; and Phillip D. Zamore, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he co-directs the RNA Therapeutics Institute.

The Tuschl family of patents defines key discoveries central to the advancement of RNAi therapeutics to patients, said James P. McNamara, Ph.D., Executive Director, Office of Technology Management, University of Massachusetts Medical School. The Tuschl I patent is a critical invention by Professors Tuschl, Zamore, Bartel, and Sharp regarding the RNAi mechanism. We are pleased to see this patent fully upheld in Europe in these opposition proceedings.

We are very pleased with the outcome of these opposition proceedings which resulted in the claims from the Tuschl I 726 patent being fully upheld. This decision by the EPO affirms our belief in the validity of these claims and the novelty of the Tuschl I invention, and supports the relevance of Tuschl I for the development and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics, said Laurence Reid, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Alnylam. Alnylam continues to leverage its leading patent estate for the advancement of innovative medicines to patients and also continues to enable the entire RNAi therapeutics field with over 30 license agreements formed to date.

The research discoveries that form the basis for this patent were a significant milestone in the explication of the basic science of RNAi and the path to the world of RNA therapeutics, said Zamore. The affirmation of the intellectual basis of these discoveries by the EPO will accelerate the opportunities for laboratories and research organizations around the world to use this science to work toward therapeutics to treat human disease.

Alnylam is the co-exclusive licensee of the Tuschl I 726 patent which is owned by the Max Planck Society, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This patent is a key component to Alnylams fundamental intellectual property estate that comprises numerous issued or granted patents and a large number of pending patent applications that together broadly cover RNAi therapeutics, including small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, the molecules that mediate RNAi. The Tuschl I 726 patent consists of 14 claims broadly covering RNAi methods, including methods of reducing the expression of a gene, with double stranded RNAs between 21 and 23 nucleotides in length of mammalian or viral origin. The patent also includes claims covering methods of examining the function of a gene, as well as the use of both unmodified and chemically modified double stranded RNAs.

About RNA Interference (RNAi)

RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery has been heralded as a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so, and represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylams RNAi therapeutic platform, target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific mRNAs, thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

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Alnylam and the University of Massachusetts Medical School Announce Tuschl I Patent Upheld in European Opposition ...