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New technology developed at UC Berkeley is using wireless signals to provide real-time, non-invasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding. The device could potentially become a cost-effective tool for medical diagnostics and to triage injuries in areas where access to medical care, especially medical imaging, is limited.
Health & medicine archive
Flame retardants linked to neurodevelopmental delays in children
November 15, 2012: A new UC Berkeley study adds to the health concerns over flame retardants widely used in foam upholstered furniture. Researchers have found that children exposed to PBDEs in the womb and in early childhood had poorer attention, IQ and fine motor skills.
Life in the margins
November 6, 2012: The effects of social stigma can be physically harmful, even deadly. Those shunned by society — due to homelessness, drug use, non-conforming gender identity or other attributes — tend to have poorer health and higher death rates than those in the mainstream. At the School of Public Health, many faculty and students are working to address the health effects of marginalization, reports Berkeley Health Online.
Study finds elevated levels of formaldehyde, other contaminants, in day care centers
October 25, 2012: A study of 40 child-care facilities in California found that most had levels of formaldehyde and a few other contaminants that exceeded exposure guidelines. The study by UC Berkeley researchers is the first to provide a detailed analysis of environmental contaminants and exposures for children in day care centers.
Shortell to step down as public health dean
October 24, 2012: Stephen M. Shortell, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, has announced that he will step down as dean effective July 1, 2013. He will remain at the school as a professor of health policy and management.
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$1 million grant to uncover cause and find cure for lupus
October 17, 2012: UC Berkeley immunologist Greg Barton, assistant professor of molecular and cell biology, was awarded a $1 million grant from the Lupus Research Institute to investigate the role of a a family of proteins in triggering the autoimmune attack characteristic of lupus. The first-ever large private grant for lupus research is designed to address the paucity of treatments now under development.
Social welfare dean committed to domestic violence’s youngest victims
October 15, 2012: Nearly 40 years after graduating from UC Berkeley, Jeffrey Edleson is back as dean of the School of Social Welfare. With October marking National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Edleson talks about his two main research areas: prevention and intervention for children exposed to domestic violence, and new and expectant fathers at high risk for being violent.
USAID chief lauds Blum Center as model in search for global solutions
October 11, 2012:
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah visited campus and encouraged students to join the search for open source solutions to pressing global problems.
Berkeley prof puts the ‘care’ in healthcare
October 9, 2012: For Jodi Halpern, a doctor of medicine as well as philosophy, empathic listening is a scholarly pursuit, a professional necessity and — since the age of 10 or so — a route to a more meaningful life.
This Thursday: Depression-awareness webinars, Q&As
October 8, 2012: Depression affects 9.1 percent of Americans, according to the CDC. On Depression Awareness Day, Oct. 11, UC will offer a one-hour webinar, throughout the day, on signs, symptoms and treatment of depression, and University Health Services will supplement the webinar with in-person discussions with campus psychologists.
BPA linked to thyroid hormone changes in pregnant women, newborns
October 4, 2012: A new UC Berkeley study adds to growing concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A (BPA), a compound commonly found in the lining of tin cans, hard plastics and certain store receipts. Researchers have linked prenatal exposure to BPA to changes in thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women and newborn boys.
The lowdown on antioxidants
September 24, 2012: Twenty-five years ago the term “antioxidant” was new to the public. Today antioxidant-related claims on food products make for big business. The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter looks at what we know, and don’t know, about a substance that helps mop up cell-damaging free radicals.
Eye proteins have germ-killing power, could lead to new antimicrobial drugs, study finds
September 24, 2012: When it comes to germ-busting power, the eyes have it, according to a UC Berkeley discovery that could lead to new, inexpensive antimicrobial drugs. Researchers found that small fragments of keratin protein in the eye play a key role in warding off pathogens.
Public-health expert’s work to understand bullying ‘puts a fire in me’
September 12, 2012: Paul Sterzing was still settling in as a Berkeley faculty member when his just-published study – showing nearly half of U.S. adolescents with autism spectrum disorder have been bullied at school – propelled him into the media spotlight.
Synthetic biology pioneer Jay Keasling receives Heinz Award
September 12, 2012: Jay Keasling, a leading authority and pioneer on synthetic biology who has engineered microbial “factories” to manufacture an affordable version of a frontline antimalarial drug and biofuel substitutes for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, has won a 2012 Heinz Award, which carries a cash prize of $250,000. Three of the four other winners are UC Berkeley grads.
Wildfire smoke linked to lower birth weights
September 10, 2012: Research by UC Berkeley scientists has found that women who were pregnant during Southern California’s big 2003 wildfire season and were exposed to smoke bore babies with slightly lower birth weights.
Berkeley statisticians help find function of “junk” DNA in human genome
September 6, 2012: Berkeley statisticians played a key role in the large ENCODE consortium that determined the function of what was thought to be “junk” DNA in the human genome. Led by Peter Bickel, the statisticians provided several of the tools biologists needed to uncover the functional roles of DNA outside protein coding genes.
Statins may stem tumor growth, new study finds
September 3, 2012: Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and UC Berkeley have found that statins, widely prescribed to help lower cholesterol, can inhibit the growth of lymphatic vessels. The effect was detected by Michael Detmar, professor at ETH Zurich, and Lu Chen, UC Berkeley assistant professor of vision science and optometry. Chen, a leading expert in corneal lymphatic research, showed that a compound found in statins significantly suppressed lymphatic vessel growth in the cornea, an ideal and widely used tissue for lymphatic examination.
NSF awards $3.4 million to train students in “green chemistry”
August 29, 2012: The Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry has been awarded a $3.4 million training grant by the National Science Foundation. The grant will train five to six Ph.D. students annually for five years in the principles of green chemistry and the design of clean energy technologies.
HDL: Not so ‘good’ after all?
August 27, 2012: Most people now know that LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is the “bad” cholesterol that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, while HDL is the “good” type that removes cholesterol from artery walls. But while the benefits of lowering elevated LDL are proven, the evidence for raising HDL by itself remains uncertain, reports the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter.
NSF awards $2 million to develop flexible bioelectronics systems
August 23, 2012: The National Science Foundation has awarded $2 million over four years for a UC Berkeley project to develop flexible bioelectronics systems. The research would support the development of electronic materials that could not only be implanted into the body for medical applications such as wound healing, but that could also be safely resorbed into the body.
Stop by Tang Center’s open house Wednesday
August 20, 2012: Get the inside line on all that’s new in campus health and wellness during the Tang Center’s annual open house Wednesday. Center staff will be on hand 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to offer expert information, health testing and facility tours. Stop by 2222 Bancroft Way for tasty treats and prizes aplenty and de-stress with a free massage or some puppy TLC.
Girls with ADHD more prone to self-injury, suicide as they enter adulthood
August 14, 2012: Girls with ADHD, and their families, often look forward to a decline in visible symptoms, such as fidgety or disruptive behavior, as they mature. However, new UC Berkeley findings caution that, as they enter adulthood, girls with histories of ADHD often nternalize their struggles and feelings of failure – a development that can manifest in self-injury and even attempted suicide.
Dr. Warren Winkelstein Jr., epidemiologist who led seminal AIDS, air pollution studies, dies at 90
July 31, 2012: Dr. Warren Winkelstein Jr., pioneering epidemiologist and former dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, died Sunday, July 22. He was 90. His career spanned six decades and included seminal contributions to the understanding of the transmission of HIV/AIDS, how air pollution affects health, heart disease in women and other health issues.
Chemical makes blind mice see 
July 25, 2012: Neuroscientists have synthesized a chemical that, when injected into the eyes of genetically blind mice, makes their retinas light sensitive. A newer version of the chemical, now undergoing tests, has better attributes and holds promise for treating retinitis pigmentosa and other degenerative eye diseases.
NIH award funds project to develop organ-on-a-chip models for human disease
July 24, 2012: Bioengineers at UC Berkeley are getting a two-year, $1.7 million boost to develop on-chip models of living human heart and liver tissue, the NIH announced today. The grant is part of the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening program, an initiative to help predict the safety of drugs more quickly and cost-effectively, and thereby speed the development of effective therapeutics.
Wheat phobia: Will avoiding wheat really improve your health?
July 19, 2012: Wheat has long been a dietary pariah for low-carb dieters and those who consider themselves to be allergic (or at least sensitive) to the grain. Now, with the publication of the bestseller Wheat Belly, even more are hesitant. The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter summarizes the book’s key points — and serves up counterpoint of its own.
Profs provide roadmap for Supreme Court healthcare ruling
July 19, 2012: The tax-power analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act closely resembles a constitutional theory developed by law professor Robert Cooter and his former student, Neil Siegel ’01, now on the faculty at Duke.
Bakar Fellows advance commercially promising research
July 19, 2012: In its first year, the initiative will give research innovations by six early-career UC Berkeley faculty members — including technologies to move prosthetic limbs with the power of thought and to control Argentine ants using their own pheromones — a significant boost from the lab to the market.
Discovery opens door to attacking biofilms that cause chronic infections
July 12, 2012: Using super-resolution microscopy and continuous fluorescent imaging, UC Berkeley physicists have for the first time revealed the structure of bacterial biofilms, which are responsible for the tenacious nature of bacterial diseases such as cholera and chronic sinusitus. The picture provides new targets for the development of drugs that can tear down these structures.
As ‘Obamacare’ survives, campus experts diagnose prospects for healthcare reform
July 3, 2012: Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the healthcare-reform law, UC Berkeley experts rendered their judgments on the ruling during a panel discussion July 2. Healthcare economics, the challenges of implementing a complex and controversial law – and the powerful role of politics — were all put under the X-ray.
