Latest Professor Stories

BE is a condition that predisposes people to develop one of the world's commonest cancers Genetic variations that are linked with the onset of Barrett's oesophagus (BE), a pre-cancerous condition of the lower end of the gullet, have been identified for the first time. The discovery of variations in regions on two chromosomes makes it possible to develop screening tests for people at high risk of developing the disease. Although it's been thought for some time that there may be genetic...

High blood pressure is responsible for many cardiovascular diseases that are the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. High salt intake has long been considered a risk factor, but not every type of high blood pressure is associated with high salt intake. This has puzzled scientists for a long time. However, new findings by Professor Jens Titze (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA and the University of Erlangen) now point to previously unknown mechanisms....

Singapore, Sept 6, 2012 - (ACN Newswire) - Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), together with clinical collaborators from London(1), discovered for the first time that children and young patients with chronic Hepatitis B Virus infection (HBV carriers) do have a protective immune response, contrary to current belief, and hence can be more suitable treatment candidates than previously considered.This discovery by the team of scientists led by Professor...

Their finding challenges the widely-accepted theory that Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most lethal form of malaria, is the only malaria parasite capable of driving genome evolution in humans. The study was published today in the journal PLOS Medicine. Professor Ivo Mueller from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB) led the study, with colleagues from the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Centre of Global...

The SKA Organisation Board of Directors is very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Philip Diamond as Director General of the SKA Organisation. Professor Diamond will provide overall leadership for the SKA Organisation, the international coordinating body for the SKA telescope. The SKA will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built; it will enable astronomers to glimpse the formation and evolution of the very first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang,...

MILAN, Italy, Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Retina Implant AG, the leading developer of subretinal implants for patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), today announced that results from the Company's second human clinical trial will be presented at the 12(th) EURETINA Congress, in Milan, 6-9 September. On Friday, 7 September at 16:45 CEST Professor Eberhart Zrenner, director and chairman of the Institute for Ophthalmic Research at the Centre for Ophthalmology of the...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, August 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Debiopharm Group(TM) (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs and companion diagnostics, today presents the 'Debiopharm Group(TM) Life Sciences Award 2012' in collaboration with EPFL (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne) to Professor Daniel D. Pinschewer for his outstanding research in the field of...

Patients who resume smoking after a stroke increase their risk of death by three-fold, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2012 by Professor Furio Colivicchi from San Filippo Neri Hospital. The researchers also found that the earlier patients resume smoking, the greater their risk of death with one year. "It is well established that smoking increases the risk of having a stroke," said Professor Colivicchi. "Quitting smoking after an acute ischemic stroke may be more effective...

Up to 400 cardiac events and 200 deaths in Swedish PCI patients could be avoided by following a heart healthy lifestyle, according to research from the SPICI study presented at ESC Congress 2012. The results were presented at ESC press conference by Professor Joep Perk from Linnaeus University and at the scientific session by Dr Roland CARLSSON. The benefits of adherence to a heart healthy lifestyle in combination with drug treatment after an acute myocardial infarction treated with...

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) leads to meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life in patients with severe aortic stenosis that are maintained for at least 1 year, according to a study presented at ESC Congress 2012. The results from the German transcatheter aortic valve interventions registry were presented by Professor Till Neumann, MD, from Essen, Germany. Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease with increasing incidence especially with...