454 Life Sciences (Branford) announced its GS Junior System, which it says is an an affordable bench top sequencing platform addressing the growing demand for next-generation sequencing data in everyday biological and clinical research. The system is slated for release in 2010.

Separately, using targeted resequencing techniques from Roche Applied Science, including NimbleGen Sequence Capture arrays and 454 Life Science’s GS FLX System, researchers from MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory were able to successfully detect all types of molecular mutations identified by conventional methods and, in addition, identify novel mutations in leukemia samples.

454 plans to invest $5 million into a 55,400-square-foot industrial building in Branford, according to commercial real estate brokers.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (New Haven) reported proof of concept data from the preliminary results of its phase 1b clinical trial of ACH-1625.

Earlier, commenting on 3Q results, Michael Kishbauch, president and CEO, said: "In September, we announced completion of the phase 1a segment of our on-going clinical trial with ACH-1625, our protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We were pleased to announce that ACH-1625 was shown to be safe and well tolerated in both single-ascending and multiple-ascending dose segments. We are currently completing the phase 1b segment of this trial in patients infected with HCV and plan to announce efficacy results in the first quarter 2010. We look forward to obtaining proof-of-concept data in this important therapeutic area."

Affomix Corporation (Branford) announced that Kalgene Pharmaceuticals has signed a commercial agreement under which Affomix will utilize its Y2HExpress™ technology to select antibodies with potential diagnostic and therapeutic utility in breast cancer.

Earlier the company announced it had signed a commercial agreement with Millipore Corporation to evaluate Affomix’s Y2HExpress™ technology. Under the terms of the agreement Affomix will generate antibodies against a number of challenging targets selected by Millipore.

Affomix has a job opening for a research associate (more).

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Cheshire) appointed William R. Keller to its board of directors. He is the General Manager of Keller Pharma Consultancy, a pharmaceutical consulting firm he founded in China. He is also a senior consultant to the Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board, and serves as the Deputy General Manager of Zhangjiang Biotech & Pharmaceutical Base Development Co., Ltd.

In a series of announcements last December, Alexion presented data showing that:

* the presence of Type 2 PNH (paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria) is correlated with thrombocytopenia, potentially indicating that patients with Type 2 cells experience ongoing platelet consumption and increased thrombosis risk.

* Soliris® (eculizumab) reversed thrombocytopenia in patients with both PNH and pre-existing thrombocytopenia.

* Soliris® reduced hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) and transfusion requirements, and improved measures of fatigue, when added to ongoing immunosuppressive therapy in patients with both PNH and bone marrow insufficiency, including aplastic anemia.

The company also announced positive data from the 26-week extension of the AEGIS study, an open-label registration study examining Soliris® for the treatment of Japanese patients with PNH.

Amarin Corporation (Dublin/Mystic), in connection with its recent $70 million private equity infusion, has relocated operational headquarters from Ireland to the Mystic section of New London. Joseph S. Zakrzewski has joined the company as executive chairman. He was CEO at Xcellerex and has more than 20 years of industry experience, including serving as former chief operating officer at Reliant Pharmaceuticals.

Amarin is in Phase 3 clinical testing on humans of a prototype compound with properties akin to the healthy omega-3 fatty acids found in fish that the company plans to offer one day in the multi-billion-dollar market for preventing and treating heart disease.

The company was named one of last year's top 250 best-performing international stocks listed on U.S. exchanges.

Applied Spine Technologies (Rocky Hill) a medical device company focused on motion preservation of the lumbar spine, has been awarded a new patent titled "Mounting mechanisms for pedicle screws and related assemblies." "The two key elements of an optimal dynamic stabilization device are a connector that can change length, and a mechanism that permits dynamic angulation between the connector and the pedicle screws, as the patient bends," said Bruce Robie, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development for Applied Spine. "With this patent, we now have protection of hardware that enables intraoperative assembly of an articulating sphere onto a pedicle screw, enabling dynamic angulation."

Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany/Ridgefield) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved SPIRIVA® HandiHaler® (tiotropium bromide inhalation powder) for the reduction of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).  SPIRIVA HandiHaler was already FDA-approved as a once-daily maintenance treatment for breathing problems associated with COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both.   

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (New York/Wallingford) announced final results of the offer by Bristol-Myers Squibb to exchange up to 170,000,000 shares of common stock of Mead Johnson for outstanding shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb common stock. Each share of Bristol-Myers Squibb common stock accepted for exchange by Bristol-Myers Squibb was exchanged for 0.6313 shares of Mead Johnson common stock. Because the offer was oversubscribed, Bristol-Myers Squibb accepted tendered shares on a pro rata basis in proportion to the number of shares tendered.

Cantor Colburn LLP (Hartford) said the International Trademark Association (INTA) has selected Cantor Colburn trademark attorney George A. Pelletier, Jr. to serve as a member of the Program Committee, U.S. Roundtable Project Team, through 2011.

Cara Therapeutics (Shelton) was highlighted in a story in the Danbury News-Times about the positive effect on the Connecticut economy of investing by Connecticut Innovations (more).

Connecticut Innovations (Rocky Hill) the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it has made a follow-on investment of $500,000 in Helix Therapeutics LLC (Helix) of New Haven, Conn., through its Eli Whitney Fund. This investment is part of a $600,000 round also involving LaunchCapital and individual investors. This latest investment in Helix represents CI’s sixth investment in early-stage Connecticut technology companies since the fiscal year began in July.

Genomas Inc. (Hartford) was featured in a recent Hartford Business Journal story as a pioneer in personalized medicine (more).

GlaxoSmithKline plc (Research Triangle Park, NC) and Gilead Sciences announced a licensing agreement to commercialize Viread® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection in adults in five countries in Asia. The companies’ combined commercialization activities will expand access to tenofovir for the treatment of HBV, once approved, to patients in Asia where the prevalence in most countries is greater than 8 percent.

Hartford Hospital (Hartford) is introducing a new, high-tech patient gown that may make surgeries safer, the hospital says. The single-use Bair Paws Flex gown can be temperature-controlled, to provide comfort and clinical benefits to patients. Hartford Hospital is the first hospital in the Hartford region to offer this technology.

Helix Therapeutics (New Haven) has received an additional $500,000 in venture capital from Connecticut Innovations. Helix is researching gene therapies that could treat or cure sickle cell anemia, B-Thalassemia, Hurler syndrome, Gaucher's Disease or HIV. Dr. Joseph J. Catino, president and CEO of Helix Therapeutics LLC, said, "This support by Connecticut Innovations, and all of our investors, will allow Helix Therapeutics to advance our mission to cure select genetic diseases using our exciting technology and innovative therapeutic approach."

A new prognostic tool, based on five proteins expressed in melanoma tissue, has been developed by researchers at Yale Cancer Center to determine the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients. The tool is based on the AQUA™ system, a technology developed at Yale School of Medicine by Rimm and Robert L. Camp, M.D. AQUA automatically measures and localizes specific variations in protein expression within tissue, with a high level of precision. The multi-tissue proteomic analysis system combines fluorescence-based imaging with automated microscopy and high-throughput tissue microarray technologies. HistoRx (New Haven) has an exclusive license for the AQUA™system. 

Ipsogen (Marseille, France/New Haven) has expanded its offer in leukemia Diagnostics with the CE marking of its JAK2 MutaQuant™ and JAK2 MutaSearch™ Kits. MutaQuant™ assays allow precise quantification of JAK2V617F allele burden in Peripheral Blood samples while MutaSearch™ Kit is designed for JAK2V617F detection at diagnosis with a positivity cut-off at 1%.

Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ) reports that data from a 6-month open label randomized controlled trial show INVEGA® (paliperidone ER) is associated with significantly less metabolic effects compared to oral olanzapine in people with schizophrenia, while demonstrating comparable efficacy.

Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (New Haven) announced that it has raised $10 million in Series B related financing. The financing was led by Celtic Therapeutics. Kolltan is developing a new generation of monoclonal antibody oncology therapeutics based on discoveries made in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Schlessinger of the Yale School of Medicine.

MannKind Corporation (Valencia, CA/Danbury) announced that its commercial manufacturing facility in Danbury, custom-built for the production of its proprietary insulin therapy, has been awarded two Facility of the Year 2010 category awards for process innovation and equipment innovation. The MannKind manufacturing process begins with the creation of the Technosphere® particle. The particle is then combined with insulin in a specialty mixer, and the resultant slurry is freeze dried to isolate the powder. Once dried, the powder is transported to the fillers, and then filled into capsules and packaged for distribution. At every point in this process, MannKind designed new technology or applied innovative adaptations to existing technology to meet their needs.

Separately, the company announced that the FDA has accepted AFREZZA™ (insulin human [rDNA origin] Inhalation Powder) as the trade name for the product that was formerly known as AFRESA®. The agency had requested that the name of the product be changed in order to avoid confusion with another medication. AFREZZA is an ultra rapid acting insulin product that has completed Phase 3 trials.

Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY/Groton) announced that the FDA has approved Geodon® (ziprasidone HCI) capsules for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder as an adjunct to lithium or valproate in adults. The approval is based on clinical data demonstrating that Geodon is an effective and generally well-tolerated adjunctive treatment for long-term symptom control in patients with bipolar disorder.

Business Week named Pfizer to a list of "most inventive" companies, based on the value of patents the pharamceutical company received between 2005 and 2009.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) (Washington, DC), in a review of pending health care legislation, stated: "If we are going to cure cancer in our lifetime – as President Obama has challenged us to do – we believe any health reform package must support medical progress and innovation in America. Innovative new medicines have dramatically increased life expectancy rates in America and have allowed patients to live longer, healthier and more productive lives and they have also helped bend the cost curve. Fostering continued medical progress should be a key element of health care reform. What’s critical now is that we remain focused on the important goal of helping pass a comprehensive health care reform bill that can get to the President’s desk this year. We will continue to be a constructive partner to help meet this goal."

Quinnipiac University (Hamden) announced plans to open a medical school by 2014 at is Bassett Road campus in North Haven. The school, which would emphasize primary care and global health, would be the third in Connecticut, situated between Yale University and the University of Connecticut.

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (New Haven) has entered into a collaborative research agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital, under which the hospital's Dr. David Hooper will evaluate Rib-X's novel fluoroquinolone, delafloxacin, in an established animal model to determine resistance development and to validate the activity and mechanism of action of delafloxacin against microorganisms such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

Separately, Rib-X announced that it has entered into a further license agreement with Yale University in the area of ribosome and antibiotic structure and function. Under the agreement, Rib-X will further explore the high-resolution crystal structure of new ribosome technology elucidated by Dr. Thomas Steitz and colleagues at Yale. Dr. Steitz was recently awarded the Nobel prize in chemistry. See the related story in this issue.

Rib-X announced the appointment of Peter Greenleaf to the Company’s Board of Directors, succeeding Tony Zook. Greenleaf is the senior vice president of commercial operations, corporate development & strategy at MedImmune Inc., and is also accountable for MedImmune Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund within the AstraZeneca/MedImmune group of companies.

SBIR - Connecticut (Rocky Hill) will host the 2010 National SBIR at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford (more).

Following is recent news from The University of Connecticut (Storrs) and the University of Connecticut Health Center (Farmington).

A team of UConn researchers in chemistry, pharmaceutics, and engineering is developing a long term implantable biosensor that could dramatically change the way of life for millions of people diagnosed with diabetes. Inside the laboratories of Board of Trustees distinguished professor of pharmaceutics Diane Burgess, chemistry professor Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos, and engineering professor Faquir Jain, teams of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are helping develop a miniaturized wireless device that will monitor blood glucose levels for three months or more after being inserted under a patient’s skin. more

UConn Health Center researchers have finished gathering samples for a state study examining the potential health and environmental risks of artificial turf. The researchers are part of a group of health and environmental experts trying to determine whether the ground-up rubber from recycled tires and other materials used in synthetic athletic fields poses any threat. more

To ease stress and offer guidance and support to cancer patients, the UConn Health Center has a patient navigator program. Patient navigators serve as personal guides. With training from the American Cancer Society, they are looked upon as problem solvers, patient advocates, and the connection to helpful resources for patients and their families. The program is one of more than 145 American Cancer Society Patient Navigator Programs nationwide. Nine are in New England, with two in Connecticut, including UConn’s. more

A luncheon was recently held at the UConn Alumni Center to highlight the RuthAnn and Rebecca Lobo Leadership Scholarship for minority students pursuing careers in allied health and nursing. The scholarship was started by the former UConn women's basketball start and her mother in recognition of the care and treatment she received at UConn facilities after being diagnosed with breast cancer. more

Following is recent news from Yale University and the Yale School of Medicine (New Haven).

Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body’s immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. The molecules — called “antibody-recruiting molecule targeting HIV” (ARM-H) and “antibody-recruiting molecule targeting prostate cancer” (ARM-P) — work by binding simultaneously to an antibody already present in the bloodstream and to proteins on HIV, HIV-infected cells and cancer cells. David Spiegel, M.D., assistant professor of chemistry at Yale University, is corresponding author of two papers on the subject.

Yale University researchers, analyzing hundreds of billions of bits of genetic information, have collated and standardized 2,000 signposts that mark the boundaries of large blocks of human genomic variants. Graduate students Hugo Lam and Jasmine Mu and their colleagues in the research team led by Mark Gerstein, professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, computer science, computational biology and bioinformatics, analyzed data from recent personal genomic studies.

Ghrelin, a hormone produced in the stomach, may be used to boost resistance to, or slow, the development of Parkinson’s disease, Yale School of Medicine researchers report. Yale researcher Tamas Horvath and colleagues conducted the research.

Yale University researchers have found very large RNA structures within previously unstudied bacteria that appear crucial to basic biological functions such as helping viruses infect cells or allowing genes to “jump” to different parts of the chromosome. Senior author of the paper is Ronald Breaker, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale.

A team led by Yale University scientists has developed a new approach to studying how immune cells chase down bacteria in our bodies. Led by Eric Dufresne, the John J. Lee Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Holger Kress, a postdoctoral associate in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science – the team has developed a way to create artificial chemical trails that can be shaped in three dimensions over time. By controlling the chemical trails, the team was able to control the movements of neutrophils – immune cells in the blood – and study how they are able to respond to these signals.

In a study that sheds light on the inner workings of the immune system, a Yale-led team of researchers has revealed hidden details of how CD4+ T helper cells mobilize the body’s immune system to fight infection. According to lead author Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D, associate professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine, "Our data indicate that the help is actually indirect – the CD4+ T cells alter the local tissue environment, inducing the expression of proteins necessary for killer cells to enter from the bloodstream to the site of infection."

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that exaggerated responses of the immune system explain why the elderly succumb to viral infections more readily than younger people. To understand how aging modifies inflammatory response to viral infection, a research team led by Daniel R. Goldstein, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and cardiology at Yale School of Medicine, infected young (2-4 months), middle-aged (8-10 months), and aged (18-20 months) mice with the herpes virus. This led to a rapid increase in inflammatory mediators, or cytokines, called interleuken 17. When the team examined the blood for inflammatory substances and examined the liver, they saw evidence of damage in only the aged cohort.

Determining what triggers the death of the retinal cells called photoreceptors, could hold the key to stopping blinding disorders caused by a wide range of eye diseases, Yale School of Medicine researchers report. Caroline Zeiss, associate professor of comparative medicine and ophthalmology at Yale School of Medicine, and her colleagues sought to identify a mechanism in photoreceptors that could be targeted to prolong their survival. Using preserved animal and human retinal tissue, they studied different diseases with a range of genetic mutations that caused photoreceptor death, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa.

A team led by Yale University researchers has used nanosensors to measure cancer biomarkers in whole blood for the first time. The team — led by Mark Reed, Yale’s Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science, and Tarek Fahmy, an associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering — used nanowire sensors to detect and measure concentrations of two specific biomarkers: one for prostate cancer and the other for breast cancer.

Researchers from Yale Cancer Center and other institutions are the first to demonstrate how distinct groups of cells from the same tumor are capable of forming tumors. The research team, led by Marcus Bosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and associate professor of dermatology and pathology at Yale School of Medicine, generated new mouse models of melanoma to study differences between cells in the same tumor. Using stem cell markers, they were able to divide tumor cells into three distinct groups. One group of cells always formed tumors after injection of a single cell, a second sometimes formed tumors, and the third group of cells rarely formed tumors. These results are the first to show high rates of tumor formation following the injection of single purified cells. Until now, laboratories have attempted to purify cells capable of reforming tumors in mouse models but typically needed 100-100,000 purified cells, which slowed the analysis process.

In research that could open new avenues of investigation in the prevention and treatment of fractures, in bone regeneration and tissue engineering, scientists from Yale School of Medicine have found that a combination of bone marrow aspiration followed by treatment with anabolic parathyroid hormone  greatly boosted bone regeneration in localized areas in rats. According to lead author Agnès Vignery, D.D.S, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Yale, "This approach is simple and fast, and can lead to the formation of an amount of bone sufficient to prevent fractures in specific skeletal sites."

Yale University researchers reversed growth of lung cancer tumors in mice, illustrating that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer treatment. "This is the first time anybody has shown a positive effect of micro-RNAs in shrinking lung cancer," said Frank Slack, co-senior author of the paper and professor of molecular, cellular & developmental biology.

An anti-convulsant drug commonly used to treat epilepsy reduces cysts in mice that are associated with polycystic kidney disease, a difficult to treat ailment that afflicts 600,000 people in the United States, Yale University researchers report. "This is exciting because the drug (valproic acid) is also in clinical trials as a potential cancer drug and has a known safety profile," said Zhaoxia Sun, associate professor of genetics and senior author of the report.

A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers report. Lead author Erol Fikrig, M.D. of Yale School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute said, "The interaction between the Lyme disease agent and ticks is very complex, and the bacteria uses a tick salivary protein to facilitate infection of the mammalian host.  By interfering with this important interaction, we can influence infection by the Lyme disease agent."

The range of Lyme disease is spreading in North America and it appears that birds play a significant role by transporting the Lyme disease bacterium over long distances, a new study by the Yale School of Public Health has found. "Birds are often overlooked in Lyme disease studies,” said Robert Brinkerhoff, a post-doctoral student in Maria A. Diuk-Wasser’s lab at the School of Public Health and first author of the paper, “but they may be playing a key role in its rapid expansion."

A team led by Yale University scientists has developed a way to rapidly manipulate and sort different cells in the blood using magnetizable liquids. Led by Hur Koser, associate professor at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, the team has developed a biocompatible ferrofluid—one with the right pH level and salinity so that human cells can survive in it for several hours—and has created a device with integrated electrodes that generate a magnetic field pattern, allowing them to manipulate and separate red blood cells, sickle cells and bacteria contained in this unique solution.

Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that people suffering from thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) may be at significantly greater risk of having an intracranial aneurysm (ICA) at the same time. The team, led by John Elefteriades, M.D., chief of cardiac surgery, studied 212 patients.

Low levels of testosterone, the major male hormone, may contribute to a number of problems in older men. As men age, testosterone levels decline, which may lead to many conditions that are often attributed to age alone,"" said Thomas M. Gill, M.D., professor of medicine at Yale and a specialist in the health of older adults. The Testosterone Trial (T-Trial) is a large-scale clinical study that is being conducted at Yale and 11 other sites across the nation, designed to provide definitive evidence on whether testosterone can reverse these conditions.

A new prognostic tool that can determine the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients has been developed by researchers at Yale Cancer Center. The technology, based on five proteins expressed in melanoma tissue, can classify patients into a low-risk group, with 10% chance of recurrence at eight years, or a high-risk group that has a 40% probability of recurrence within that time. "This test has the potential to really help melanoma patients and their clinicians decide how to manage their disease," said David L. Rimm, M.D., Ph.D., lead author and professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine.

Over the past seven years a series of studies have shown that free telephone quitlines help people stop smoking. Now a study by researchers at Yale Cancer Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalosuggests that giving more positive messages about the benefits of quitting might prove even more beneficial. Yale research was led by Benjamin Toll, assistant professor of psychiatry, and Provost Peter Salovey, the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology.

Healthcare professionals using new time-saving strategies to coordinate care for patients having a heart attack saw dramatic improvement in “door-to-balloon” (D2B) times—the time from when a patient enters the hospital to the time blood flow is restored to the heart by opening a blockage with angioplasty. The key is to have a leader and a team devoted to a single goal and to be persistent, even in the face of setbacks," said first author Elizabeth Bradley, professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health.

Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study. “We’ve found that learning is a two-way street; motor function affects sensory processing and vice-versa,” said David J. Ostry, a senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories and professor of psychology at McGill University. Haskins Laboratories is a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. It was founded in 1935 by the late Dr. Caryl P. Haskins. This independent research institute has been in New Haven since 1970, when it formalized affiliations with Yale University and the University of Connecticut. The Laboratories’ primary research focus is on the science of the spoken and written word.

When patients actively participate in choosing their medical treatments, they are less likely to opt for risky procedures, a Yale University study has found. "This study shows that when patients take responsibility for choosing treatments that involve potential risk, they are more cautious than those who do not," according to lead author Liana Fraenkel, M.D., M.P.H. of Yale School of Medicine and the V.A. Connecticut Healthcare System.

Socially isolated female rats develop more tumors—and tumors of a more deadly type—than rats living in a social group, according to researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago. "There is a growing interest in relationships between the environment, emotion and disease. This study offers insight into how the social world gets under the skin," said Gretchen Hermes, first author of the paper and a resident in the Neurosciences Research Training Program in the Yale Department of Psychiatry.

Placing infants on their backs for sleep can help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). But a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues shows that while the practice helped reduce the incidence of SIDS, it has reached a plateau since guidelines were released by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Lead author is Eve Colson, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine.

Continuing to regularly smoke or drink alcohol after a diagnosis of head and neck cancer increases a patient’s chance of dying, a Yale-led team of researchers has found. According to senior author Susan Mayne, associate director of the Yale Cancer Center and professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine and School of Public Health, "We expected that continued smoking would be associated with poorer overall survival.  We did not know what to expect for continued drinking, because moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in the general population.  Our results showed that continued drinking was harmful, even more so than continued smoking - an unexpected finding."

The serious behavior problems that can occur in children with autism and related conditions can be reduced with a treatment plan that includes medication combined with a structured training program for parents, according to Yale University researchers and their colleagues. Lawrence Scahill, professor at Yale School of Nursing and the Yale Child Study Center, is a principal investigator.

Two new studies from Yale School of Medicine show that jail inmates, one of the highest risk groups for AIDS, are far more likely to be tested for HIV if given the opportunity in the first 24 hours of incarceration. The research was spearheaded by a Yale medical student, Ravi Kavasery, under the mentorship of Frederick Altice, M.D., professor of medicine and director of clinical and community research for the Yale AIDS Program and principal investigator of grants from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse and the Health Services Resources Agency, which funded this research.

When schools serve healthier, more nutritious food, students do not compensate by eating more unhealthy food at home, a new Yale University study has found. "These data refute the concern that removing unhealthy beverages and foods from schools will result in overeating these foods at home," said Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D., deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale.

Researchers from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale found that calorie labels result in the consumption of significantly fewer calories. "Adding a label about daily caloric needs to menu labeling positively impacts people’s food choices, driving them to eat fewer calories," says lead author Christina Roberto, a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale.

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and University of California Davis, have presented new data that explain how otherwise bright and intelligent people struggle to read. "For the first time, we’ve found empirical evidence that shows the relationship between IQ and reading over time differs for typical compared to dyslexic readers," said Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., the Audrey G. Ratner Professor in Learning Development at Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, and co-director of the newly formed Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

Joining five other major research universities, Yale announced its commitment to "implementing technology transfer strategies that promote the availability of health-related technologies in developing countries for essential medical care." The commitment to a  "Statement of Principles and Strategies for the Equitable Dissemination of Medical Technologies" is an effort to hasten the development and dissemination of technologies and medications that will help ease the global health crisis.

New research from Yale School of Public Health shows that blacks are admitted to the hospital at a significantly younger age than their white peers for a host of preventable medical conditions, an indication that they have received inadequate care for the underlying conditions in the years leading up to their hospitalization. The research team was led by Jeannette R. Ickovics, Ph.D. Lead author is Katie Brooks Biello, a doctoral student at Yale School of Public Health.

Yale School of Medicine immunobiologist Ruslan Medzhitov, Ph.D., David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, has been awarded the 2010 Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science. The award to Medzhitov is for his “elucidation of the mechanisms of innate immunity,” according to the Rosenstiel Center. Medzhitov’s studies helped shed light on the critical role of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in sensing microbial infections, mechanisms of TLR signaling and activation of the inflammatory and immune response.

For more member news, see the Dec 2009 issue of CURE News