Vitamin D Shown to Cut Cancer Risk
Taking 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D 3 daily appears to lower an individual's risk of developing certain cancers - including colon, breast, and ovarian cancer - by up to 50 percent, according to cancer prevention specialists at the Moores Cancer Center at the UCSD Medical Center. The researchers call for prompt public health action to increase intake of vitamin D 3 as an inexpensive tool for prevention of diseases that claim millions of lives each year. More
Team Discovers Diabetes Trigger in Fatty
Diet
Researchers
have found that a single gene encoding
the enzyme GnT-4a glycosyltransferase
(GnT-4a) is key to enabling the pancreatic
beta cells to sense blood glucose levels
and appropriately produce insulin. They
have further demonstrated in mice that
this enzyme is suppressed by a high-fat
diet. Without enough GnT-4a enzyme,
pancreatic beta cell failure occurs,
resulting in type 2 diabetes.
More
Laser Technique Sheds Light on Strokes
A
new technique that precisely creates
and images blood clots in the brain
in real time could make it possible
to understand the small strokes implicated
in many forms of dementia, including
Alzheimer's disease.
More
Cancer Researchers Describe Gene
that Halts Spread of Aggressive Childhood Cancer
A team of cancer researchers has shown that a gene commonly lost during neuroblastoma tumor formation, one of the most aggressive cancers in babies and children, is in fact a "metastasis suppressor" gene. The researchers, from the Moores Cancer Center at the UCSD Medical Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, also describe how the gene, caspase 8, works. More
Global Warming Can Trigger Extreme
Ocean,
Climate Changes, Scripps-led Study Reveals New
research produced by scientists at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography helps illustrate
how global warming caused by greenhouse
gases can quickly disrupt ocean processes
and lead to drastic climatological,
biological and other important changes
around the world. Although the events
described in the research unfolded millions
of years ago and spanned thousands of
years, the researchers say the findings
provide clues to help better understand
the long-term impacts of today's human-influenced
climate warming. More
President of India Launches
Historic Indo-U.S. University Network The
government of India and universities
from the United States and India have
inaugurated an ambitious E-learning
collaboration to enhance science and
engineering education at Indian universities
and to boost the supply of world-class
engineers available for corporate and
academic research in both countries. More
New
Director Takes Over
Center for Networked
Systems One
of the youngest research centers on
the UCSD campus has a new leader. Amin
Vahdat, a professor of engineering,
becomes only the second director of
the Center for Networked Systems since
it was established in July 2004.
More
New
Confabulation Neuroscience Laboratory
Opens One
of the nation's leading neuroscientists
has established a laboratory at UCSD
to explore and expand upon a radical
new theory to explain how humans think.
The theory's author, Robert Hecht-Nielsen,
leads the new Confabulation Neuroscience
Laboratory, located at the California
Institute for Telecommunications and
Information Technology (Calit2).
More
Renowned
Neurobiologist Theodore Bullock Dies Professor
Emeritus Theodore Bullock, a renowned
neurobiologist who was affiliated with
UCSD for nearly four decades, died on
December 19 in La Jolla. He was 90.
He remained active until the day of
his death, when he experienced breathing
problems and had died by the time he
was taken to Thornton Hospital. More
Internationally Recognized Cell Biologist at UCSD Dies John
W. Newport, an internationally recognized
cell biologist and a professor of biology
died of pancreatic cancer on December
26 in Del Mar. He was 54.
More
Professor
of Medicine Emeritus Elizabeth
ZieglerDies
Dr.
Elizabeth Ziegler, professor of Medicine
Emeritus at the UCSD School of Medicine,
died at The Springs Rehabilitation Facility
of Pacific Regents on January 2, following
complications of diabetes. She was 63.
More
Is Getting in Shape One of Your New Year's Resolutions?
Get healthy and in shape in 2006 with the UCSD Recreation's Staff and Faculty Wellness program. The program is free to staff and faculty with a Rec card. The new session starts Jan. 17.
Women: Learn how to Defend Yourself
The UCSD Police Department and Student Safety Awareness & Sexual Assault Resource Center is offering a women-only Rape Aggression Defense course Jan. 10 - 12 from 5 - 9 p.m. Cost is $10. Call 534-5793 to enroll.
220,000: Square footage of space occupied by Division of Biological
Sciences
=
16: Number of buildings in which biological sciences facilities are housed
=
80: Number of research biological sciences laboratories at UCSD
Power, Justice, and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement (Urban and Industrial Environments
by David Naguib Pellow
For almost 30 years, the environmental justice movement (EJM) has challenged the environmental and health inequities that are often linked with social inequities, calling attention to the disproportionate burden of pollution borne by low-income and minority communities. The successes of the movement have been celebrated, and the EJM's impact on the direction of environmental policy, research, and activism is widely acknowledged. But the literature on environmental justice lacks a real assessment of the movement's effectiveness. More
A
new technique that precisely creates
and images blood clots in the brain
in real time could make it possible
to understand the small strokes implicated
in many forms of dementia, including
Alzheimer's disease.
New
research produced by scientists at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography helps illustrate
how global warming caused by greenhouse
gases can quickly disrupt ocean processes
and lead to drastic climatological,
biological and other important changes
around the world. Although the events
described in the research unfolded millions
of years ago and spanned thousands of
years, the researchers say the findings
provide clues to help better understand
the long-term impacts of today's human-influenced
climate warming. 
The
government of India and universities
from the United States and India have
inaugurated an ambitious E-learning
collaboration to enhance science and
engineering education at Indian universities
and to boost the supply of world-class
engineers available for corporate and
academic research in both countries. 
One
of the youngest research centers on
the UCSD campus has a new leader. Amin
Vahdat, a professor of engineering,
becomes only the second director of
the Center for Networked Systems since
it was established in July 2004.
One
of the nation's leading neuroscientists
has established a laboratory at UCSD
to explore and expand upon a radical
new theory to explain how humans think.
The theory's author, Robert Hecht-Nielsen,
leads the new Confabulation Neuroscience
Laboratory, located at the California
Institute for Telecommunications and
Information Technology (Calit2).
Professor
Emeritus Theodore Bullock, a renowned
neurobiologist who was affiliated with
UCSD for nearly four decades, died on
December 19 in La Jolla. He was 90.
He remained active until the day of
his death, when he experienced breathing
problems and had died by the time he
was taken to Thornton Hospital. 
John
W. Newport, an internationally recognized
cell biologist and a professor of biology
died of pancreatic cancer on December
26 in Del Mar. He was 54.
