A Sampling of Clips for Oct. 7, 2010

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African Medical Education Gets
a $130 Million Boost in NIH/PEPFAR Initiative
Nature, Oct. 7 -- A series of grants worth a total of $130 million awarded to universities and health institutes in a dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa announced today shows the NIH director is putting his money where his mouth is – at least with the help of the President’s Emergency Plain for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The African universities receiving awards were already engaged in projects receiving PEPFAR funding. Emilia Virginia Noormahomed, a parasitologist at the Universidade de Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, the oldest of the country’s three medical schools, has been involved in running an exchange training program with UC San Diego, for hospital residents at both institutions for the past four years. More

Similar story in
San Diego Union-Tribune

Taking on Malaria in the Amazon
The Lancet, U.K., Oct. 6 – Monica da Silva-Nunes is part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the USA, Peru, and Brazil that is planning a multi-pronged attack on malaria with a study that will probe mosquito ecology, the molecular biology of the parasite, epidemiological factors, and the demographics of workers who move around the region. Their goal is to develop a vaccine to block malaria transmission. The US$12·5 million project, funded by a multiproject grant awarded in July by the US National Institutes of Health is led by Joseph Vinetz, professor of medicine at UC San Diego, who has studied malaria in the Loreto region in northeastern Peru for the past 5 years. Researchers will work in Brazil, the Latin American country with the highest incidence of malaria, and Peru. More

When Sleep Apnea Masquerades as Dementia
The New York Times, Oct. 6 – Sleep apnea frequently goes undetected, especially in the elderly, although they are more likely to have it. Estimates of the percentage of older adults with sleep apnea are all over the map, in part because of varying definitions of the condition — but they’re always startlingly high. Sonia Ancoli-Israel, professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego has studied the disorder for 30 years and reports that almost half of older adults experience. More

New Findings About Southern California Earthquakes
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 6 -- Many of us have stood around guessing the size of an earthquake rather than taking cover. Such behavior is odd because seismologists like Debi Kilb will tell you that scientists only have a rudimentary understanding of seismicity. Kilb works at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she studies the basic nature of earthquakes, particularly aftershocks. She also studies how a quake can trigger another shaker at a far away location. Kilb told us what scientists have been learning during a recent series of interviews. More

UCSD Building Mock Ocean For Climate Research
KPBS, Oct. 6 -- Scientists at UC San Diego received a $1.5 million grant to study how chemicals in the air affect the Earth's climate. The first step is to build an ocean on campus. The money will be used to create the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE). More

Research Ship Makes Rare Port Call
FOX5 San Diego, Oct. 6 -- The oldest research ship in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's fleet is almost never in port, yet it has docked for brief stay and provided lessons to teachers from across the nation. The 279-foot long USNS Melville has been in service since 1969 but recently came back from a short student-run research trip off of California's central coast. More

Giant, Bizarre Fish Washes Ashore in Encinitas
CBS 8 San Diego, Oct. 5 -- It's no wild fish story. A surfer in North County found a giant exotic fish washed ashore and has pictures to prove it. (Features interview with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researcher Phil Hastings) More

San Diego’s Public Art Conversation Continues
KPBS, Oct. 6 -- Kelly Bennett over at Voice of San Diego has been updating readers on new developments and opinions responding to Mayor Sanders' announcement that he will temporarily suspend funding for city public art projects. (Mentions UC San Diego's Stuart Collection of public art) More

UCSD Sign Language Scholar Named MacArthur Fellow
La Jolla Light, Oct. 6 -- UC San Diego sign language scholar Carol Padden has been named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The prize is $500,000 in "no strings attached" support over the next five years. More

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