Biomed News

From PLME to Med School: Moving off the Hill

Katherine A. Duggan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:58:46 +0000

Associate Dean for Medical Education Dr. Philip Gruppuso and PLME and MD students talked to The Brown Daily Herald about the PLME program and what it’s like to study medicine at Brown.

Fundraising to expand brain science faculty

Katherine A. Duggan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:58:15 +0000

The University will fundraise $50 million over the next five years as part of a new initiative to expand the Brown Institute for Brain Science. A large portion of these funds will be used to pay for seven new positions in the institute, said Dr. John Donoghue, director of the institute and professor of neuroscience.

OBGYN earns national award

Katherine A. Duggan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:57:13 +0000

A prestigious research institute based at UCLA will honor Dr. John E. Buster, associate director of the Center for Reproduction and Infertility at Women & Infants Hospital and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, as one of its three “Legends” this May. Dr. Buster is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to reproductive endocrinology and infertility throughout his career.

Aging of Eyes Is Blamed for Range of Health Woes

Katherine A. Duggan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:33:26 +0000

For decades, scientists have looked for explanations as to why certain conditions occur with age. Now a fascinating body of research supports a largely unrecognized culprit: the aging of the eye. Dr. David Berson, a professor of medical science whose lab studies what the eye tells the brain, spoke to The New York Times about the topic.

Student volunteers promote health in a city of need

Katherine A. Duggan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:32:43 +0000

Each semester scores of undergraduate volunteers provide services such as free health screenings, health-related social work, and high-school sexual education across Providence. Student volunteers talk about the CareFree Clinic, Clinica Esperanza, HealthLeads, and SHAPE.

Teaching science to the religious

Katherine A. Duggan — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:32:19 +0000

Biology Professor Ken Miller understands that most students are religious. He is too. The way to teach science to religious students is to show how scientific ideas come to be, he says. Students can learn that religious people engage in scientific explorations of nature, and that theories are based on observation and logic, not some anti-religious agenda.

Researchers make living model of brain tumor

Katherine A. Duggan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:25:07 +0000

A team lead by Don Ho, a graduate student in the lab of chemistry professor Shouheng Sun, have created a living 3-D model of a brain tumor and its surrounding blood vessels. The living-tissue model could be used to test the effectiveness of nanoparticles in fighting other diseases.

Genes may travel from plant to plant to fuel evolution

Katherine A. Duggan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:24:46 +0000

Evolutionary biologists at Brown University, including Dr. Pascal-Antoine Christin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Dr. Erika Edwards, assistant professor of biology, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Sheffield, have documented for the first time that plants swap genes from plant to plant to fuel their evolutionary development.

When nerve meets muscle, biglycan seals the deal

Katherine A. Duggan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:13:32 +0000

A new study led by Justin Fallon, professor of neuroscience, and other Brown researchers found that the protein biglycan helped fix the loss of synaptic stability in cells, a discovery that may be relevant to efforts to treat motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gherig’s Disease) and spinal muscular atrophy.

Weight Loss Can be Contagious, Study Suggests

Katherine A. Duggan — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:08:30 +0000

Is weight loss “contagious”? According to a new study published online in the journal Obesity by lead author Dr. Tricia Leahey, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, teammates in a team-based weight loss competition significantly influenced each other’s weight loss, suggesting that shedding pounds can have a ripple effect.