A Sampling of Clips
for September 18^th, 2008

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

S.D. Banker Supports Stem Cell Research
CBS News, Sept. 17 -- Sioux Falls banker and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford is giving $30 million to a stem cell research initiative based in San Diego. Sanford says the funds will go to the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine - four institutes that will collaborate on the research, including UCSD. More

Helping New Technologies Grow Into Businesses, the San Diego Way
The New York Times, Sept. 18 -- So far, San Diego remains a fertile breeding ground for entrepreneurs, despite the problems in the broader economy. That is due in large part to a nonprofit organization, Connect, that was created 23 years ago to bring together people knowledgeable about business and investment capital with researchers at the universities and research institutes in San Diego. Connect was formed in 1985 as an extension of UCSD to turn faculty ideas into commercial products. More

Similar story in
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Study Commends New Scan to Cut Colon Cancer Risk
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 18 -- A noninvasive scan can find the most dangerous, precancerous polyps with about the same accuracy as the dreaded colonoscopy – and without the risk of bowel perforation, according to an influential study at UCSD and 14 other research centers. “We now have another tool to catch these polyps early, and one that's less risky and easier on the patient,” said Dr. Giovanna Casola, a professor of radiology at UCSD and an author of the report. More

Physician's Research Brought More Attention to Alzheimer's
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 18 -- Dr. Robert Katzman, who in the mid-1970s recast Alzheimer's disease as a major illness rather than a natural part of aging, died Tuesday after battling heart disease for several years. He was 82. Dr. Katzman, who lived in La Jolla with his wife, Nancy, was the founding director of the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at UCSD. He held the Florence Riford Chair for Research in Alzheimer's Disease at UCSD from 1984 until his retirement in 1995. More

UCSD Students Seeing Green
NBC San Diego, Sept. 17 -- Freshman at UCSD are moving onto campus this week, and stepping into greener dorms. As part of the university's drive to become one of the most sustainable campuses, new carpet and furniture made of recycled materials are being used. And there are eco-friendly fluorescent light bulbs and solar thermal heating in the dorms. More

Virtual Reality Takes Big Step
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 18 -- UCSD researcher Jurgen Schulze showed off a new view of a protein molecule yesterday, filling a virtual-reality lab with 12-foot-high green, yellow and blue strands that looked much like an explosion of giant pasta spirals. UCSD's new StarCAVE, unveiled yesterday, brings new levels of realism to virtual reality. Schulze, who helped develop the lab, hopes the new tool will help unlock mysteries such as how proteins fold, or assemble. More

Brief One-on-One Counseling Helps
Reduce High Risk Behavior Among Sex Workers
KPBS, Sept. 17 -- Researchers at UCSD say brief one-on-one counseling sessions can reduce the rate of risky behavior among female sex workers in Mexico. Researchers say the method was successful in lowering the rate of sexually transmitted diseases by 40 percent. More

Human Origins Focus of Center
La Jolla Light, Sept. 17 -- For the past 10 years, local researchers have been working behind the scenes exploring the origins of humanity. On Friday, the multidisciplinary group from UCSD and The Salk Institute for Biological Studies moves its work into the public arena with the first symposium to mark the opening of the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny. More

High-tech Exploration Reveals Mysteries of Art History
La Jolla Light, Sept. 17 -- In a white lab coat, Maurizio Seracini, who directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archeology at UCSD, looks every part the doctor as he assesses the health of a 540-year-old masterpiece. More

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