Research News Archive

08.01.08
The UCSF National Center of Excellence invites proposals for innovative Women’s Health Research Fund. In 2007, the Mount Zion Health Fund awarded the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health one million dollars to establish a Women’s Health Research Fund in honor of its 10th anniversary. The object of this fund is to support innovative pilot projects, designed and directed by young investigators, which will lead to improvements in prevention strategies, screening and diagnostic testing, treatments, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Specifics about the application process are available at http://rap.ucsf.edu/. There are two application deadlines per year: March and September. Please contact Judy Young at the CoE for additional information: youngj@obgyn.ucsf.edu or 415-885-3736.

05.30.08
We are very pleased to announce the recipients of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health 10 Year Anniversary Research Awards:

Deborah Cohan, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Medical Director, Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center (BAPAC)
Comparison of Quantiferon to Conventional Tuberculin Skin Testing for the Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection Among Pregnant Women

Vanessa Jacoby, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Bilateral Oophorectomy versus Ovarian Conservation at the time of Hysterectomy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Galen Joseph, PhD
Research Scientist, Institute for Health Policy Studies/Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCSF
Breast Cancer Genetic Testing: Interpreting and Managing Uncertainty of Uninformative BRCA Results

Miriam Kuppermann, PhD, MPH
Professor, the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF
Mode of Delivery Preferences Among Diverse Populations of Women

The UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health 10 Year Anniversary Research Awards Recipients are funded by the Mount Zion Health Fund.

04.30.08
The Safeway Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Safeway Inc., has given the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center $2 million to fund a combination of research initiatives and the debut of a unique, national website designed to match breast cancer patients with clinical trials nationwide.
The clinical trials website represents a major advance in the ability of individuals to conveniently find appropriate breast cancer trials. The research initiatives will directly benefit individuals who have, or are at risk of developing, breast cancer through their support of prevention, early detection, decision support tools and survivorship. UCSF also will be providing Safeway employees with a suite of educational products and services related to breast cancer.
According to Nancy Milliken, MD, vice dean for the UCSF School of Medicine and director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, "Partnerships like this one with Safeway are essential to our efforts to improve women's health in our communities and worldwide. UCSF's culture of collaboration helps us combine the best of academic medicine with the private sector, so that together we have a greater impact."
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11.28.07
Ten public health researchers have asked Congress to reduce or eliminate funding for abstinence education because it has "multiple scientific and ethical problems."
"The thing that unites us is we think you have got to pay attention to the science" in sex education, said Dr. John Santelli, one of the 10 signatories of a letter sent last week to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.
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11.13.07
A specific biological response to cellular stress may predict the likelihood of future tumor formation of the most common, non-invasive form of pre-malignant breast cancer-- ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS.
This information could potentially be used in a clinical setting to determine which women should receive more or less aggressive therapy when initially diagnosed with DCIS, according to a study led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.
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11.01.07
A group of Vietnamese doctors, professors and medical school administrators listened attentively as two American obstetrician-gynecologists explained how evidence-based medicine is being used in the United States as a teaching tool. UCSF Assistant Clinical Professor Jody Steinauer, MD, and Associate Professor George Sawaya, MD, asked them to discuss a medical journal article showing the relative safety of intrauterine devices (IUDs) compared with other contraceptives when used by nulliparous women — women who have not already given birth.
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10.28.07
Californians of all political persuasions were alarmed by the recent news of lead paint on millions of children's toys sold by Mattel, Inc. Even very low exposure to lead can damage the developing brain and nervous system of children. At the same time, people were comforted by the thought that the system worked: the tainted products were identified, the company acted and items were recalled from store shelves. Wrong... Most consumers would be surprised to learn that U.S. manufacturers are not required to test thousands of chemical substances used in most products and industrial processes for their potential to harm human health and ecosystems.
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10.26.07
A group of 28 women global health scholars recently completed a yearlong pilot program designed to address worldwide gender inequities in science and academia. The scholars, all identified as potential scientific leaders in their respective countries, met with UCSF women faculty and staff twice over the course of a year as part of the Women’s Global Health Scholars (WGHS) program. Launched in 2006, WGHS is a pilot program designed to equip women health scientists from developing countries with the knowledge and skills needed to enter into and sustain leadership positions. The scholars represent a wide range of disciplines and are at varying stages of their careers.
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10.24.07
Established one year ago through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to accelerate the pace at which scientific discovery is translated into patient care, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is already transforming the research community at UCSF.
“The message of CTSI is that we need to work in new ways if our patients are to benefit from our science,” says Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy.
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10.24.07
The World's Technology Correspondent Clark Boyd reports on the MacArthur Foundation's multi-million dollar initiative to drastically cut the mortality rate of women worldwide who die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
Suellen Miller, CNM, PhD, was interviewed to talk about maternal mortality in developing countries and her studies that show how the low-tech non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) can save mothers’ lives.
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10.10.07
Researchers at UCSF examine the public savings from the prevention of unintended pregnancy. These findings are of particular relevance to policy makers, program managers, and other stakeholders concerned with making appropriate, cost-effective investments in health and human services, particularly at a time of limited federal and state resources.
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08.09.07
San Francisco writer Doreen DeSalvo tested positively for the mutation of the MLH1 gene, the gene that causes Lynch syndrome, "a hereditary cancer that carries a very high risk of colon cancer and an above-normal risk of endometrial, ovarian and other cancers," reports UCSF Today. DeSalvo is grateful she found out. "For 10 years, the UCSF Cancer Risk Program, part of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been the largest and most comprehensive genetic testing center for cancer susceptibility in Northern California."
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08.09.07
CBS 5 reports: "Scientists have raised concerns about a chemical [BispenolA] found in plastics. A government panel dismissed those concerns, but the debate is far from over." UCSF Pediatric Urologist Dr. Laurence Baskin is researching the link between synthetic estrogens found in the environment and the rise in a male birth defect called hypospadias, a condition in which the opening of the urethra develops abnormally.
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07.23.07
Federal funding for abstinence education is on the rise: a proposed $191 million dollars for 2008, up $28 million from 2007. But recent studies are raising questions, finding no difference in sexual activity between kids with abstinence education and those without. Proponents of abstinence say the studies are not reflective of the nearly 700 abstinence programs out there. And muddying the waters further is the fact that before the big push for abstinence and since 1991, teenage pregnancy and birth rates have been falling. Join Claire Brindis, Professor at Department of Pediatrics and Department of Obstetrics at University of California, San Francisco, and others as they discuss this issue.
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07.12.07
A clinical trial involving 5,045 women in South Africa and Zimbabwe found no statistical difference in the rate of new HIV infections in the two study arms: those who received a diaphragm plus lubricant along with male condoms for their partners and those who only received male condoms. “In the context of a comprehensive HIV prevention package provided to all participants, the trial found no additional protective benefit against HIV infection from adding the diaphragm plus lubricant in the intervention arm,” said the trial’s lead investigator, Nancy Padian, PhD, director of UCSF’s Women’s Global Health Imperative.
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07.12.07
In October 2006, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded UCSF more than $100 million to establish a Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in the next five years. The CTSI will catalyze and integrate clinical and translational efforts across campus, as well as at affiliated institutions and in participating communities. In doing so, the CTSI thrusts clinical and translational work into an unfamiliar position at UCSF: sharing the center spotlight with the bench research upon which the campus has built so much of its reputation.
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05.10.07
Unknowns about the effectiveness and safety of the new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine demand thoughtful deliberation by clinicians on its role in cervical cancer prevention, according to two UCSF women's health specialists, Dr. George F. Sawaya, and Dr. Karen Smith-McCune. The lack of long-term follow-up to assess vaccine efficacy and safety, as well as the lack of testing in the age group targeted for the vaccine (11 to 12 year-old girls), are among the main reasons for such caution, they say.
“The rush toward mandatory vaccination is puzzling, but it is important to realize that the major studies are on-going," Sawaya says. "As with any preventive measure, we need to be quite certain that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the harms before we embark on widespread vaccination programs." Both doctors urged women to continue to receive regular cervical cancer screening, regardless of whether they have received the vaccine.
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11.16.06
The innovative work of researchers and clinicians to uncover causes and develop treatments — or even to conduct training programs — would not be possible without the funding options available through philanthropic outreach.
“Philanthropy is based on belief in the mission or cause,” said Nancy Milliken, MD, vice dean of the School of Medicine and director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, who led the presentation in late October.
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11.13.06
Since coming to UCSF in October, 2005, Dr. Linda Giudice, chair of the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Department at UCSF. has established the innovative Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE), housed in the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. PRHE focuses on the relationships of contaminants ( in low "background" or concentrated exposures) and reproductive health. This includes pregnant women, fetuses, the prenatal origins of adult diseases, and reproductive tract disorders.
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10.27.06
Laura Esserman, breast cancer surgeon and clinical leader of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Breast Oncology Program at the UCSF Mount Zion campus, says there are many factors that influence the risk of breast cancer. With exceptionally high rates in the Bay Area — Marin County’s is among the highest in the country — UCSF scientists have joined the fight with full force, and are continually making advancements in risk assessment, diagnosis and clinical care.
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10.07.05
An experimental vaccine to prevent cervical cancer protected virtually all the women who took it during a large international trial, boosting chances that future generations of girls throughout the world might live their lives free of risk of the disease.
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05.01.03
UCSF has a thriving community of women researchers in both clinical and research fields. Yet encouraging as those numbers are, UCSF cell biologist Elizabeth Blackburn -- known for her discovery of the enzyme telomerase and the subsequent proving of how telomeres, the protective tips of chromosomes, erode as cells divide -- is not satisfied.
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