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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 31
Aug. 10, 2007
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This week’s news:
* UW Medicine women physicians honored in National Library of Medicine's Local Legends online exhibit
* Gene therapy delivery method associated with liver cancer in mice, UW and Washington University scientists find
* David Mankoff chairing new Experimental Imaging Committee of American College of Radiology Imaging Network
* Surgery Department fellows Farhood Farjah and Nozomi Fukai receive funding for research projects
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UW PHYSICIANS HONORED IN LOCAL LEGENDS EXHIBIT
Several UW School of Medicine faculty are being featured in Local Legends, a National Library of Medicine online exhibit honoring women physicians in rural and urban areas around the country. Local Legends is a companion gallery to Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians, an exhibit at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md.
The UW physicians featured in Local Legends include:
* Margaret Allen, principal investigator of the Hope Heart Program at the Benaroya Research Institute of Virginia Mason Medical Center, and UW affiliate professor of surgery
* Wylie Burke, UW professor and chair of medical history and ethics
* Ann C. Collier, UW professor of medicine in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and director of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Unit
* Carla Greenbaum, director of diabetes clinical research at the Benaroya Research Institute, and UW clinical associate professor of medicine
* Bonnie W. Ramsey, UW professor of pediatrics and director of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center
* Christina M. Surawicz, UW professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and assistant dean for faculty development
The UW physicians were nominated for the exhibit by U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and former U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Bellevue. To view the Local Legends online exhibit, and read profiles of the honored physicians, visit:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/locallegends/
Changing the Face of Medicine is also being featured in a traveling exhibit visiting libraries around the country. It will appear at the UW Health Sciences Library in October 2008. For more information on that exhibit, visit:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/
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GENE THERAPY METHOD ASSOCIATED WITH LIVER CANCER IN MICE
A common method of delivery in gene therapy, known as adeno-associated viruses, has been associated with an increased risk of liver cancer in mice, scientists have found. Researchers from the UW and Washington University in St. Louis conducted the study, which was published July 27 in the journal Science.
Though there have been no links between gene therapy and cancer in humans, the findings suggest that there could be a risk of cancer associated with the treatment method and that more research is needed on the safety of adeno-associated viruses.
Gene therapy through adeno-associated viruses involves taking a corrective gene and inserting it into a disabled virus, which delivers the gene into cells in the target organism. This new research suggests that the disabled virus may also cause genetic mutations in mice that help spur tumor growth.
The team was led by Mark Sands, associate professor of medicine and genetics at Washington University, and David W. Russell, UW professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology.
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DAVID MANKOFF HEADING EXPERIMENTAL IMAGING COMMITTEE
David Mankoff, UW professor of radiology, is chairing a new committee of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN). The Experimental Imaging Sciences Committee will work with the network's research sites in developing and testing new imaging technology and testing new uses for existing technology.
ACRIN is a cooperative project funded by the National Cancer Institute aimed at studying diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapeutics in the treatment and management of various types of cancer. The network includes dozens of research sites around the country.
The new committee will likely focus on early studies of advanced cancer imaging, pilot studies of image acquisition technology, and studies of new versions of existing imaging technology.
Mankoff may be reached at dam@u.washington.edu
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SURGERY FELLOWS RECEIVE FUNDING FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS
Two research fellows in the UW Department of Surgery have received funding awards for their projects. Farhood Farjah, postdoctoral outcomes research fellow, received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute. Farjah's project is a population-based analysis of mediastinal staging for non-small lung cancer. Staging of cancer is the description of how far a cancer has spread in the body. Farjah's research will examine different methods of staging for lung cancer patients, and the difference in outcomes for those methods. His award includes a $56,000 stipend.
Nozomi Fukai, senior fellow, has been awarded a $48,000 fellowship from the American Heart Association to study the role of a protein called syndecan-1 in the response of the arterial wall to injury. The protein may play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and restenosis, a narrowing of the arteries.
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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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