Archive for October, 2008

Stephanie Dorosko and her colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School have succeeded in inducing MPR-specific antibodies in female goats.  These antibodies are intended to prevent HIV-1 access and entry to the infant’s intestinal mucosa during breastfeeding. Their findings were published earlier this month in the journal Vaccine.

University of Iowa microbiologist Alexander Horswill discussed new ways of treating antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) at Monday’s immunology and microbiology lecture at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Researchers led by Jose Conejo-Garcia of Dartmouth Medical School recently discovered a new modulator of human T-cell expansion. The molecule, which they named PILAR, may have applications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and anti-cancer therapies. The finding was published last August in the journal Blood.

Dartmouth Medical School professor Deborah Hogan outlined the chemical interactions between bacteria and fungi in a seminar hosted by the chemistry department last Thursday. Hogan studies the interactions between two species of microbes, the soil bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the dimorphic, unicellular fungi Candida albicans, in biofilms.

Discussing the integration of engineering design, evidence-based medicine, and the cost effectiveness of medical technologies, students, faculty, and health professionals gathered at the Thayer School of Engineering for its Engineering in Medicine Symposium last Thursday and Friday.

McMaster University professor Jack Gauldie spoke on pulmonary fibrosis in a lecture at Dartmouth on Wednesday.
By Sharat Raju ‘10 (October 15, 2008)

Roy Vagelos, the former CEO and chairman of Merck, discussed three strategies that pharmaceutical companies use to discover new drugs in the 12th Annual Ross Lecture Series hosted by the Dartmouth chemistry department on Oct. 16.

Fibrotic development in the lungs may result from an inflammatory independent pathway involving the cytokines (signaling proteins necessary for immune response) TGF-β and IL-1β, explained Jack Gauldie, chair of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University, in a lecture on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) this past Wednesday.

With today’s medical advancements, human longevity may soon increase by centuries, anesthesiologist Christopher Wiley said last Tuesday in a pathology seminar at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Dartmouth College biology professors Celia Chen and Carol Folt have discovered synergistic interactions of herbicides and natural environmental stressors such as pH and food on wetland zooplankton and larval amphibian. Their findings were published last month in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.