Points of Pride from the Past Year
A research team led by Bharat Ramratnam, an Alpert Medical School professor,
has genetically modified bacteria found in yogurt so that the bugs
produce a protein proven to block HIV infection in monkeys. The results
offer hope for a microbicide that can prevent the spread of HIV, which now
affects about 40 million people.
Two research studies on progeria by an Alpert Medical School alumna, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, detail the damage a mutant protein does to blood vessel cells of humans and mice. The discoveries offer increased hope for a cure for progeria, a genetic condition fatal in children, but may also provide key insight into the cause of adult heart disease.
Biologists at Brown and the University of California–Berkeley discovered that two proteins team up to turn on an assortment of ovarian genes critical to the production of healthy eggs. This finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds important light on the biochemical processes underpinning fertility.
The largest, most comprehensive study of young people with bipolar disorder was conducted by researchers at Alpert Medical School, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Its initial finding is that compared with adults, children and teen-agers with bipolar disorder struggle with longer-lasting and more rapidly changing symptoms.
Brown researchers showed that a "dead zone" that formed in 2001 in Narragansett Bay left a lethal legacy. In their study of nine mussel reefs, published in Ecology, they report that oxygen-depleted water killed one reef and nearly wiped out the rest. A year later, only one of the nine reefs was recovering. The result was a sharp reduction in the reefs’ ability to filter phytoplankton, a process that helps control "dead zone" formation.
Results from the first large-scale, prospective study of prenatal methamphetamine
use, led by Professor Barry Lester, showed that newborns
exposed to the drug are more than three times as likely to be born underweight.
The findings mirror those from studies of prenatal cocaine use.
According to a study conducted by Alpert Medical School and Harvard Medical School researchers, blacks do not achieve the same health outcomes as whites in managed care plans under Medicare. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the analysis showed that significant racial disparities persist within Medicare plans based on outcomes related to control of diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
A team led by Professor John Donogue published detailed clinical trial results that show a tiny new brain sensor enables a quadriplegic to open a prosthetic hand, control a robotic limb, and move a computer cursor – using thoughts alone. The work, featured on the cover of Nature, offers important insights into the human brain and how to tap its power to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury and other severe motor impairments.
Brown University professors helped sequence the entire genome of the sea urchin, revealing that they are even closer genetic cousins to humans than suspected. Their work helped reveal the urchin’s secrets – from its powerful immune system to its formidable gene regulatory network – by identifying individual genes and creating the first high-resolution map of genes activated in its embryo. The work appeared on the cover of Science.
According to results of the largest clinical trial ever conducted on drug and therapy interventions for alcoholism, attention from doctors, nurses and other health professionals, combined with either the drug naltrexone or specialized counseling, is the most effective way to treat alcohol dependence. Alpert Medical School researchers ran the largest clinical site for the trial at Roger Williams Medical Center. Results appeared in JAMA.
Brown biomedical engineer Diane Hoffman-Kim and her research team made plastic replicas of real cells through a novel two-part molding process. The copies looked so authentic that the professor had a difficult time telling them apart. The rubbery replicas could be used for all sorts of cell types in laboratory research or medical treatments for repairing nerve damage.
In a groundbreaking national study, Brown University researchers traced the connections between state nursing home policies and resident hospitalizations rates. The team found that state policies unwittingly create financial incentives for nursing homes to hospitalize their frail elderly residents, even though hospital stays can be disorienting or dangerous. Results were published in Health Services Research.
Alpert Medical School named Brian J. Zink, MD, inaugural chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine – the "youngest" clinical department, and one that is already outstanding in its field.
Brown received a $3.3 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation under the foundation’s ADVANCE program, which aims to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. The grant aims to help Brown boost the ranks of women scientists in its faculty and ensure that they go on to have productive careers and leadership opportunities.
First-year student Rajiv Kumar formed Shape Up Rhode Island, a statewide weight loss challenge that encourages participants across the state to develop healthy activity levels and smart eating habits. Participants compete on teams to see who can lose the greatest percentage of collective team weight, log the most hours of physical activity, and walk the highest number of pedometer steps over a four month period. In the program’s first year 1,738 Rhode Islanders on 205 teams lost 5,911 pounds and logged 69,132 hours of exercise.
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation awarded Brown a $2 million grant to strengthen geriatrics training for medical students. The goal is to improve the quality of health care for elderly people by preparing physicians to address their special needs.