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Wednesday, March 29, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
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Happy Wednesday, everyone! Megan here, back from a few days away. Here's what you need to know about health and medicine today.
As funding cuts loom, cancer researchers talk progress
Leading cancer researchers are going to bat this morning at a House oversight hearing on federally funded cancer research — and how those studies connect to work being supported by philanthropists and the pharma industry. The hearing comes hot on the heels of the news that the White House wants to cut the NIH's budge<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=14d7b1ec2f&e=4aad33fd68>t by $1.2 billion this year, much of which would come from research grants. Cancer biologist Tyler Jacks, who runs the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, will testify . He was a key adviser to the Obama administration's cancer moonshot initiative.
Experts weigh EPA's controversial pollution research
The EPA has come under fire for testing the health harms of air pollution by exposing volunteers to inhaled chemicals, but a new report<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3daf4c3cdb&e=4aad33fd68> lends support to the agency’s research. Controlled inhalation studies typically expose volunteers to air pollutants for a few hours to study the body’s initial responses. The new analysis out from the National Academies concludes such research can and should continue — but with conditions. Experts say any research that exposes humans to suspected dangerous pollutants should be designed to provide new findings to inform policymaking that can’t be discovered any other way. The report also cautions that researchers must be extremely careful in ensuring that participants aren’t exposed to the point of irreversible or long-term damage.
Who needs to be screened for celiac disease?
A crew of experts tasked with determining whether it makes sense to screen healthy, symptom-free patients for celiac disease has determined<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5189732f01&e=4aad33fd68> there isn’t enough evidence to make a call either way. With gluten sensitivity on the rise, doctors have bandied about the idea of routinely checking patients for an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. The US Preventive Services Task Force looked at the evidence and concluded the jury’s still out on whether such screenings would improve health outcomes. That finding doesn’t apply to patients who are experiencing symptoms of celiac disease — such as gastrointestinal issues and unexplained weight loss — who might benefit from screening.
Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=539d924db8&e=4aad33fd68>: Mumps outbreaks spark broader concerns
At one point in what seemed like a never-ending mumps outbreak, one community clinic in Springdale, Ark., was seeing 40 people a day with the disease. “The doors would fly open at 9 o’clock in the morning and the lobby would be standing-room only,” said Sandy Hainline Williams, an immunization nurse at the clinic. The epidemic has slowed since its peak last year, but experts remain concerned about the impact of the Arkansas mumps outbreak and others like it. Last year marked the country's second-highest annual case count of mumps in more than a quarter century. The reason for the resurgence, even among those who've been vaccinated, isn't clear. But public health officials worry the outbreaks will chip away at the public's trust in vaccinations. STAT's Helen Branswell has the story here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=c3ce563002&e=4aad33fd68>.
Lab Chat: Reproductive system rolled onto a chip
[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/25cafeb5-7046-474d-9147-d93dd25166eb.jpg]
The technology contains tiny models of the liver, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix, and uterus. (woodruff lab)
Researchers have created a tiny, lab-made model of the female reproductive tract that can release hormones over a month’s time in much the same way the female body does. The platform contains pieces of ovarian, uterine, and cervical tissue, along with fallopian tubes and liver tissue, which work together to regulate hormone secretion. Here’s what Teresa Woodruff of Northwestern told me about the work<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=114b3d5b54&e=4aad33fd68>, published in Nature Communications.
What does this platform help researchers study?
We’ve never had a way of modeling the changes over 28 days that occur in hormone levels but also models the internal changes in tissues. This really emulates the female reproductive system. There are ovaries connected to the fallopian tubes, and we even have a liver in the system. This platform isn’t as flat as other “organs-on-a-chip.” That allows the follicle in the ovary to grow and expand more than what would fit in a standard chip. It’s really organ-level function with microfluidic channels that mimic the circulatory system. But we don’t yet have a vasculature, so there’s no blood circulating.
How could the model be used going forward?
It gives us a real opportunity to study drugs that impact women’s reproductive health, like treatments for fibroids and polycystic ovary syndrome. It could also offer a way to develop or test new contraceptives. And it gives us a chance to study reproductive tissue as it relates to other tissues, like the liver and the intestines, so we can better see how the reproductive tract affects a woman’s larger systemic health.
A nod to pioneering vaccine research
Toronto’s Gairdner Foundation has announced the winners of its 2017 awards for biomedical research — often a harbinger of work that’ll one day win a Nobel Prize. Among the winners: Dr. Rino Rappuoli, a vaccine researcher at GlaxoSmithKline. Rappuoli steered the use of genomics to develop new vaccines. He’s also been involved in molecular research that’s been used in meningitis, pneumonia, flu, and pertussis vaccines. The prize was also awarded to other researchers, including Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi of Baylor for her work on the genetic markers of a devastating neurological disease known as Rett syndrome.
What to read around the web today
§ Trump tells lawmakers he expects a deal "very quickly" on health care. Reuters<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=8355961386&e=4aad33fd68>
§ A new study suggests childhood lead exposure can blunt IQ for decades. NPR<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=00d5709c5c&e=4aad33fd68>
§ FDA nominee plans recusals from decisions on many drug firms. Wall Street Journal<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=132f65c762&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ After 40-year odyssey, first drug for aggressive MS<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=fa6665ce6f&e=4aad33fd68> wins FDA approval.
§ Executive order lays out blueprint for Trump opioid commission<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=017a6f5eb6&e=4aad33fd68>.
§ As blockbuster drugs fizzle, biotech looks warily to the next big thing<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=4c433d32e9&e=4aad33fd68>.
Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,
[Megan]
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