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Research Suggests Strategy for Stockpiled Avian Flu Vaccine
A new study suggests that current stockpiles of avian influenza (H5N1) vaccine can be part of an effective strategy to protect against a new pandemic, even though the vaccine was developed for an earlier strain of the virus. The researchers from three universities, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Group Health Research Institute in Washington state,…
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Companies Collaborate on Emergency Hypothermia Therapy
Physio-Control Inc., a subsidiary of Medtronic Inc. in Redmond, Washington, and BeneChill Inc. in San Diego, California say they will collaborate on a new system for cooling the head and lowering body temperature following cardiac arrest or trauma. The system, called RhinoChill, will be marketed first in Europe, and then the U.S. RhinoChill, say the…
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Life Science Commercialization Grants Awarded
The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) in Seattle, Washington awarded some $600,000 in grants for the commercial development of technologies to improve the diagnosis and management of health conditions. LSDF is a Washington state agency that makes grant investments in life sciences research to benefit Washington state citizens. Christopher Bernards at Benaroya Research Institute at…
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Gates Grants Fund Malaria Modeling Device, Culture System
The University of South Florida in Tampa received $5.45 million in grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for research on devices related to malaria. The first grant is to create advanced devices that mimic the human liver to better study the life cycle of the malaria parasite. The second grant aims to develop…
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Univ. Developing Prototype Air Passenger Liquid Scanner
A University of California at Davis professor is building a magnetic resonance device that can scan unopened bottles carried on airplanes by passengers. Matthew Augustine, a member of the UC Davis chemistry faculty, originally developed the technology to check the quality of wine. Augustine began experimenting with the technology some years ago to check sealed…
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Nursing Home Liquid, Cream, Inhaler Drug Error Rates Higher
A study in British nursing homes finds wide variations in medicinal delivery error rates depending on the formulation and type of delivery system. The results are published in the online edition of the journal BMJ Quality and Safety (paid subscription required). The research team from University of Leeds, University of London, and the London School…
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Company Plans Robotic Lunar Mission
Astrobotic Technology Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has signed a contract with spacecraft company SpaceX to launch Astrobotic’s robotic payload to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The company says the mission could launch as soon as December 2013. The project is expected to search for water and deliver payloads, with the robot narrating…
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Math Techniques Developed to Aid HIV Drug Discovery
Researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland have developed mathematical methods for discovering new drugs for HIV and eventually for a range of diseases. Their results were published in a recent issue of Biophysical Journal. The new methods forecast the effectiveness of potential medicines by…
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FDA Clearance Granted for Blood Tissue Monitor
Ornim Inc. in Santa Clarita, California said it received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its the CerOx 3210F monitor. The FDA action, known as a 510(k) clearance, is a pre-market notification required for medical devices to be sold in the U.S. Ornim says the FDA action clears the CerOx…
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Nanolasers Grown on Silicon, Boost New Chip Prospects
Engineers at University of California – Berkeley have grown nanoscale lasers directly on a silicon surface, an achievement that opens new possibilities in microprocessors, biosensors, and optical-electronic chips. Their findings are published in a paper the appeared 6 February in an advanced online issue of the journal Nature Photonics (paid subscription required). Greater demands on…