UW School of Medicine Online News 12-7-07

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University of Washington School of Medicine

Online News

Vol. 11, No. 47
Dec. 7, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW
Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm

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This week’s news:

* UW researcher Randall Moon joins other stem-cell scientists in creating biotechnology start-up company Fate Therapeutics

* Prices of lower-calorie foods rising faster than those of high-calorie foods, making a healthy diet less affordable for many consumers

* New discussion group kicking off in February will focus on medical education research and scholarship

* UW Alert system allows faculty, staff, and students to receive e-mail and text message updates in an emergency or crisis situation

* Lucas Hoffman, assistant professor of pediatrics, receives American Society for Microbiology Young Investigator Award


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UW STEM-CELL RESEARCHER IS CO-FOUNDER OF NEW BIOTECH FIRM

Randall Moon, UW professor of pharmacology, has joined with several other prominent scientists around the country to create Fate Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company specializing in stem-cell biology.

Fate Therapeutics will focus on using pharmaceuticals to affect the fate of cells and use them for stem-cell treatments. One of the company's approaches is to use drugs to try to reprogram regular adult cells into stem cells, which could then be used to heal damaged cells or tissue. Another method would use pharmaceuticals to awaken adult stem cells in the body, also for the purpose of healing damaged cells or tissue. Either approach would bypass the ethical debate over the use of embryonic stem cells, since it would rely on adult cells already present in the body.

According to a company press release, Fate Therapeutics expects to have a stem-cell modulating drug next year.

The firm's other founders include Philip Beachy at Stanford University, Sheng Ding at Scripps Research Institute, David Scadden and Leonard Zon at Harvard University, and Alex Rives, associate at ARCH Venture Partners, one of the venture capital firms funding the start-up. The company's scientific advisory board will include Robert Langer and Ram Sasisekharan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ben Shapiro, a retired executive from Merck Research Laboratories and former chair of biochemistry at the UW. Rives is the company's founding president.

For more information, visit the company's Web site at:
http://www.fatetherapeutics.com/


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PRICES OF LOWER-CALORIE FOODS RISING FASTER THAN THOSE OF OTHER FOODS

As food prices rise, the costs of lower-calorie foods are rising the fastest, according to a UW study appearing in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. As the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables and other low-calorie foods have jumped nearly 20 percent in the past two years, the UW researchers say, a nutritious diet may be moving out of the reach of some American consumers.

UW researchers Adam Drewnowski, professor of epidemiology and adjunct professor of medicine, and Pablo Monsivais, a research fellow in the Center for Public Health Nutrition, studied food prices at grocery stores around the Seattle area in 2004. They found that the foods which are less energy-dense -- generally fresh fruits and vegetables -- are much more expensive per calorie than energy-dense foods -- such as those high in refined grains, added sugars, and added fats.

When the researchers surveyed prices again in 2006, they found that the disparity in food prices only worsened with time. Lower-calorie foods jumped in price by about 19.5 percent in that two-year period, while the prices of very calorie-rich foods stayed stable or even dropped slightly, the researchers found. The general rate of food price inflation in the United States was about 5 percent during that period, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Research conducted by Drewnowski and others at the UW Center for Obesity Research had previously shown that per calorie food costs were much higher for fresh produce and other recommended foods than for fats and sweets. Those studies were based on prevailing food prices in the United States and in Europe.

The UW study looked at price inflation in foods grouped by energy density, or calories per gram of food. Energy density is one measure of food quality, since many energy-dense foods also tend to be low in nutrients. People who eat energy-dense foods may consume more calories than they need. Those two factors can lead to people being overfed but undernourished, Drewnowski said.


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MONTHLY MEDICAL EDUCATION FORUM KICKS OFF IN FEBRUARY

The UW School of Medicine has created a new discussion group for people involved with medical education. The Medical Education Research and Scholarship Forum, which kicks off in February, will be a monthly forum for anyone interested in talking or learning about medical education. The group will serve as a discussion and feedback forum about research activities and proposals, scholarship, and curriculum, and as a journal club for discussion of medical education articles.

Forum organizers will schedule one or two presenters and discussion leaders, who will present, lead discussion, and share information or ideas about research or curriculum projects, manuscripts, publications, presentations, or conferences. Organizers will maintain a sign-up schedule for discussion leaders.

Beginning Feb. 5, the forum will be held from noon to 1:15 p.m. on the first Monday of each month, in a location to be determined in the Health Sciences Building. The forum may expand to twice monthly, depending on interest. Lunch will be provided. All in the School of Medicine community are welcome, including those in clinical and non-clinical settings.

This is a great opportunity to get to know others involved or interested in medical education throughout UW Medicine, and to receive feedback and to share ideas, grants, and manuscripts. The group is intended to be interactive and participatory.

The steering committee for the Medical Education Research and Scholarship Forum consists of Molly Jackson, Sara Kim, Lynne Robins, Sherilyn Smith, and Marjorie Wenrich. If you would like to participate or have questions, please contact Molly Jackson at blackley@u.washington.edu or Marjorie Wenrich at maxter@u.washington.edu.


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UW ALERT OFFERS EMERGENCY INFORMATION OVER E-MAIL AND CELL PHONES

The UW has developed a new system, UW Alert, to disseminate official information during emergencies or crisis situations that may disrupt the normal operation of the campus or threaten the health or safety of members of the UW community. UW Alert is offered on a voluntary self-subscription basis for current UW faculty, staff, and students at UW Bothell, UW Seattle, UW Tacoma, and UW Medicine.

The program delivers messages to subscribers on a "best effort" basis to e-mail and to Short Message Service (SMS) text-capable wireless devices, such as many cellular telephones. Additional delivery options are planned in future phases of the UW Alert system.

UW Alert is a personalized service that is designed to complement other tools already used by UW to communicate with the UW community during emergencies, such as special alerts posted to the Web, the UW information line at 206-UWS-INFO (897-4636), e-mail sent to all current faculty, staff, and students, and official messages disseminated via the local media.

For more information or to sign up, visit:
http://www.washington.edu/alert/index.php


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HOFFMAN HONORED BY AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

Lucas Hoffman, UW assistant professor of pediatrics, has been honored with a Young Investigator Award by the American Society for Microbiology. Hoffman practices at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle.

Hoffman's research is focused on microbiology and infectious disease, especially the bacteria involved in cystic fibrosis. His work has explored how some antibiotics induce the formation of biofilms, the aggregations of bacteria that can form in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. He has also studied how Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, two bacteria involved in cystic fibrosis, can interact in the presence of antibiotics.

Hoffman received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his residency and fellowship at Children's Hospital in Seattle. He joined the UW faculty as an acting assistant professor in 2004. Hoffman may be reached at lhoffm@u.washington.edu


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Justin Reedy, editor:
206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu

Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic
redistribution, are reserved.

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