Science Market Update

County commissioners in Durham, North Carolina, recently voted to change the name of Durham Regional Hospital in order to boost its reputation. The renamed Duke Regional Hospital, which is operated by the Duke University Health System but owned by the county, says renaming the hospital will help attract patients given Duke’s world-renowned reputation.

The University of Alabama is an unexpected standout in the science research marketplace.  This campus ranks among the top in the nation, flanking closely with the top NIH funded universities, and yet there is surprisingly little sales rep traffic on campus.

Research scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a “spray-on skin” treatment that speeds up recovery in wounds that don’t heal well on their own. The findings, published in the Lancet, showed that ulcers treated with the spray healed better than ulcers treated in other ways. According to WRAL.com, between one and two million Americans have a vein disease where leg wounds have difficulty healing. People with such wounds are at risk for infections and even amputation.

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At this time of year especially, our hearts seem to go out all the more to those in need, which is why we like this blog. We've updated the information below with a recent video which should bring a smile to your face. Please consider donating your excess inventory in 2012! --updated(12/23/2011)

Duke University Medicine is in the midst of a building boom that will transform the medical campus and bring together world-class care, research, and education like never before.  The $235M Cancer Center is scheduled to open on February 27, 2012. The Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) is one of only 40 centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute as a “comprehensive cancer center,” combining cutting-edge research with compassionate care.  The other buildings currently under construction are the Duke Medicine Pavilion (mid-2013) and the Learning Center (late 2012) which collectively represent an $880M investment in the Duke Medicine campus.

The Emory School of Medicine has launched a new Biomedical Informatics Department.  The new department will create more faculty positions and will help encourage opportunities for improved training, education and research in this emerging field.

The University of Alabama in Birmingham runs one of an elite group of Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States, as designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).  The NCI's Translational Research Program is in charge of administering SPORE awards, which are focused on specific organ sites.  Now UAB is also a SPORE grantee for its brain tumor program, thanks to a recent $2.3M award over three years to its Cancer Center in conjunction with the UAB Division of Neurosurgery. UAB is one of only four institutions to receive a brain-tumor SPORE grant.

Much in the way a service or police dog may be the advance guard for its human partner in situations where there are unknown safety factors, stem cell therapies performed on companion animals may pave the way for human treatments.  To accomplish that translational goal, North Carolina State University has entered into a collaborative research and clinical endeavor with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to accelerate the development of new therapies with promising benefits for people as well as the animals on which they are initially used.

The Center for Human Genome Variation (CHGV) at Duke University School of Medicine has just received a $25M grant to lead a 5-year, international study to identify the genetic basis of human epilepsy. The grant was awarded as part of a genetics of epilepsy "Center without Walls" initiative funded by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) to a team of leaders in epilepsy and human genetics from around the world.  Heading that team is Dr. David Goldstein, who is a professor of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, professor of Biology, and director of the CHGV at Duke.