03.27.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 am by heaven
HOUSTON -- (March 27, 2009) -- The Center for Research on Women with Disabilities at Baylor College of Medicine is recruiting women with disabilities for a new Internet-based health promotion program called Garden of Wellness.
The program offers information on how women with disabilities can improve physical activity and nutrition, manage stress, use health care services effectively and deal with aging and disability.
“Internet-based interventions will help us reach so many more women who struggle to get out of their house due to limitations in transportation, child care, attendant care and all the health problems that accompany their disability,” said Dr. Margaret Nosek, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at BCM.
To qualify for the study, volunteers must be women at least 45 years of age, have access to a computer and Internet for about two to four hours per week and have a physical health condition that has limited daily activities for at least one year.
For more information about the study, call 713-523-0909 or 800-442-7693, or e-mail CROWD.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 am by heaven
HOUSTON -- (March 27, 2009) -- Using internet-based technology, experts at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are changing the way women with disabilities interact with the world -- by having them experience it through a new one.
Research has shown that there are numerous barriers to health promotion intervention programs for women with disabilities including transportation limitations, health problems, and problems finding personal assistance services and child care. Researchers can now break through these barriers by making intervention programs available in the virtual world. Through a grant from the United States Department of Education, BCM’s Center for Research on Women with Disabilities will develop an intervention program in Second Life® that focuses on self-esteem, a critical element in health and wellness.
Interact through avatars
Second Life® is a 3-D multi-user virtual environment on the internet that allows its "residents" to interact with one another through avatars. The avatar, the user’s representation of herself, can be as similar or as different from her real self as she wishes, meaning she does not have to be disabled in Second Life®.
"Second Life® allows women with disabilities to experience virtual life as an able bodied person," said Dr. Margaret Nosek, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at BCM. "They can be who they want to be in the virtual world rather than living by the standards set by others," said Nosek.
Although most internet-based self-study programs may be effective in eliminating some of the barriers to participation that many women with disabilities face, they do not allow for social interaction, which is important for building self-esteem.
Practice skills
"Second Life® allows them to interact with other women while learning and practicing new self-esteem building skills in the virtual world," she said.
These new skills are then applied to real life situations, with women developing goals and action plans that they implement in the real world.
The program, which will be available in Second Life® in late 2009, will also link to the Garden of Wellness, a 2-D site developed by the BCM researchers that gives women with disabilities other health and wellness tips.
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03.25.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 am by heaven
HOUSTON -- (March 25, 2009) -- Doctors and researchers from four Texas Medical Center institutions have joined together in the fight against retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer of the eye.
The result of their collaboration is the Retinoblastoma Center of Houston, which includes experts from Texas Children's Cancer Center, the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine.
Together these specialists will pioneer advancements in treating and curing retinoblastoma through ground-breaking research and the development of innovative therapies.
"By having top clinicians and researchers join forces, the Retinoblastoma Center of Houston will be able to deliver the highest quality patient care and conduct important research related to the diagnosis and treatment of retinoblastoma," said Dr. Murali Chintagumpala, clinical co-director of the center, pediatric oncologist at Texas Children's Cancer Center and professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Rare cancer
Retinoblastoma affects about 350 infants and children in the United States each year and is the most common malignant tumor of the eye in children. Retinoblastoma is often curable, but may result in the loss of the eye.
"Since this cancer is so rare, it's important for us to come together as a team to share our expertise and bring the best care to all retinoblastoma patients," said Dr. Dan Gombos, clinical co-director of the center and associate professor of ophthalmology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "Our focus is not on each institution, but rather on what we can do collectively as a center for our young patients with retinoblastoma."
The center will be the first of its kind in the southwest region of the United States and is the only one in the nation using gene therapy in clinical trials to treat and potentially find a cure for retinoblastoma. Patients will also have access to a special form of radiation called proton therapy, which helps to spare the healthy tissue around tumor areas and minimize the risk of secondary cancers. In addition, genetic testing will be part of the center, an important element because retinoblastoma is often hereditary.
Debilitating disease
Retinoblastoma is caused by a mutation in the retinoblastoma gene. The disease takes two forms – bilateral retinoblastoma, which affects both eyes and is often seen in infants and younger children; and unilateral retinoblastoma, which affects only one eye and generally occurs in older children.
"Retinoblastoma is a debilitating disease that attacks the most vulnerable infants and children," said Dr. Patricia Chevez-Barrios, research co-director of the center and ocular pathologist at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute. "Our best treatments are not good enough because we often have to remove the child's eye or give chemotherapy or radiation that can have harmful side effects in children. This center will accelerate research efforts that we hope will lead to a better cure."
Other research co-directors of the Retinoblastoma Center of Houston are Dr. Richard Hurwitz, Texas Children's Cancer Center and associate professor in BCM's departments of pediatrics, ophthalmology, molecular and cellular biology and the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy; and Dr. Peter Zage, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Children's Cancer Hospital at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Patients of the Retinoblastoma Center of Houston will be seen at Texas Children's Cancer Center and at the Children's Cancer Hospital at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center while the Methodist Hospital Research Institute will house the center's tumor bank and conduct tissue diagnostic analysis.
The multidisciplinary center will allow doctors and scientists to meet regularly to discuss their patients and treatment and to coordinate research in a way that takes advantage of the unique expertise of all the doctors and researchers involved.
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03.20.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 am by heaven
HOUSTON -- (March 20, 2009) -- A protein identified by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine helps maintain a critical balance between two types of neurons, preventing motor dysfunction in mammals.
In a report in the current edition of the journal Neuron, Dr. Soo-Kyung Lee, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics, molecular and cellular biology and neuroscience at BCM, and her colleagues describe the protein LMO4 as critical in allowing progenitor cells to choose their fates – between the V2a neurons that are excitatory and the V2b neurons that are inhibitory. Excitatory neurons encourage the activity of neurons on which they act. Inhibitory neurons act in an opposite manner.
Cell choice
In previous work, Lee and members of her laboratory identified the double-barreled or dimerized complex containing the protein Lhx3 that pushes the progenitor cells to become V2a excitatory neurons. In this paper, she notes the LMO4 not only forms a complex that binds to DNA and promotes the choice of cell fate to the V2b inhibitory neurons, it also blocks the path to becoming a V2a excitatory neuron.
Because LMO4 cannot bind directly to DNA, it plays matchmaker instead, building a complex of DNA-binding components that allow the cells the choice to become inhibitory neurons.
"These individual DNA-binding components are present in the neurons," she said. "But they do not have the ability to find their DNA partners. LMO4 'glues' these proteins together and makes them functional."
Motor dysfunction
She and her colleagues have demonstrated these both in the laboratory and in mice bred to lack LMO4. Without the protein, the balance becomes tipped in favor of excitatory neurons, which would result in motor dysfunction.
Others who took part in this research include Kaumudi Joshi, Seunghee Lee, Bora Lee and Jae W. Lee, all of BCM.
Lee credits graduate student Kaumdi Joshi with much of the laboratory work in accomplishing this understanding.
Funding for this research came from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Pew Scholars in Biomedical Science Program, the March of Dimes Foundation and the BCM Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.
The paper is available at http://www.cell.com/neuron/home.
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03.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 am by heaven
HOUSTON -- (March 13, 2009) --
Men over the age of 60 who have smoked for at least 20 years are being asked to participate in a bladder cancer screening study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Currently, there is no established screening method for bladder cancer.
"We want to find a way to detect the cancer early enough to cure it," said Dr. Seth P. Lerner, professor in the Scott Department of Urology and the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM and the lead investigator of the BCM site. "There are good data to suggest that the longer a man smokes, the greater his risk for bladder cancer. This is the high-risk group we want to encourage to enroll in this important study."
Cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke pass into the urine where they can affect the bladder lining and, over time, cause cellular changes that lead to cancer. Blood in the urine is one of the first signs that a tumor may be growing in the bladder.
BCM will be one of four institutions involved in the trial, which will recruit 375 participants at BCM and 1,500 patients in the United States and Canada. Other trial sites include The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY and Laval University in Quebec, Canada.
Men who take part will be given at-home test kits that can detect blood in the urine. They will be asked to test their urine for blood for 10 consecutive days.
If the tests are positive for blood, the researchers in this study will look for cancer cells in the urine, using three urine biomarker tests approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
They may recommend a cystoscopy (examination of the bladder with an instrument called a cystoscope) and/or imaging study of the kidneys as well as follow-up with a urologist to complete the diagnostic evaluation for blood in the urine.
Participants may also be asked to take part in a study designed to identify genetic risk factors for bladder cancer.
Those who take part in the study will be asked about their medical history, other medications and health conditions.
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men.
The study is being sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
For more information on enrollment, call 713-798-2179.
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