NewsBlog: Congressional pork fatter than ever Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 26th March 2008 10:24 PM GMT] In FY2008, more Congressional pork-barrel project money flowed into US academic institutions that ever before, according to an analysis published in this week's issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle's data showed that lawmakers directed more than two billion non-competitive dollars from more than 2,300 projects to 920 universities and colleges, an increase of 25 percent in the number of institutions receiving... Click to continue View comment (1) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: HIV vaccines: Back to basics? Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 25th March 2008 10:25 PM GMT] With the recent failure of HIV vaccine clinical trials, the HIV/AIDS research community has resolved to concentrate more on the basic science behind the disease, shifting the main focus from vaccine product development towards immunology and virology research, they said at a meeting in Maryland held today (March 25). "We need to turn the knob towards discovery," said ... Click to continue View comments (5) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Fungi-farming ants: a new phylogeny Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 24th March 2008 10:05 PM GMT] Species of ants that practice a complex form of fungi agriculture developed their knack for farming about 50 million years ago and have employed several different, successful strategies to culture their crops in the intervening millennia, according to a study published in PNAS today. Smithsonian Institution entomologist Ted Schultz told The Scientist that humans - who... Click to continue View comments (5) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Synaptic activity protects neurons Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 23rd March 2008 11:20 PM GMT] Chatter between neurons can help protect them from the ravages of free radical damage, according to a report published today (Mar 23) in Nature. Free radical, or oxidative, damage besets neurons as they age normally or degenerate due to chronic disorders, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, or in acute events, such as strokes. University of Edinburgh... Click to continue Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Fired prof's racism claim rejected Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 21st March 2008 07:30 PM GMT] A federal agency has told an African-American MIT stem cell researcher, who last year went on a 12-day hunger strike in to protest his tenure denial, that his claim of racial discrimination was too little, too late. According to MIT's school paper, The Tech, The US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) rejected James Sherley's claim that the university refused him tenure... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Changes to federal biotech grants? Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 20th March 2008 10:54 PM GMT] The House Committee on Small Business is calling on legislators to overhaul the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which awarded more than $2 billion last year to biotech and other start-ups with promising and salable ideas or technologies. The committee is crafting legislation to reauthorize the SBIR program, which is managed by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and... Click to continue Comment on this blog NewsBlog: NJ med. school reaccredited Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 19th March 2008 09:38 PM GMT] The embattled University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) got a rare bit of good news today, when it was taken off probation and its accreditation was restored, according to The New York Times. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education determined that the school had made sufficient progress in cleaning up its act after being on probation since June, 2006. UMDNJ... Click to continue Comment on this blog NewsBlog: First Lady visits Haiti Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 18th March 2008 07:58 PM GMT] Laura Bush was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, last week, and she visited the GHESKIO HIV/AIDS clinic, which I visited this past January for an article on implementation research in our March issue. Bush was there drumming up support for The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), according to ... Click to continue Comment on this blog NewsBlog: EPA cutbacks hurt science: Congress Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 14th March 2008 08:42 PM GMT] The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) closure of several of its research libraries is flawed, unjustified and is depriving academics, government employees, and the public of crucial environmental data, according to a Congressional report released yesterday (Mar. 13). Of the EPA's 26 libraries, six libraries have changed their hours of operation, and four others have been shut since 2006. These include its Office of Environmental... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Teen's cancer study wins Intel prize Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 13th March 2008 04:22 PM GMT] A 17-year-old high school student from North Carolina has won the 2008 Intel Science Talent Search for developing a genetic method that predicts the likelihood of relapse in early-stage colon cancer patients. Intel awarded Shivani Sud a $100,000 college scholarship for her work in labs at Temple University and the National Cancer Institute. Sud has been pursuing her interest in... Click to continue View comments (2) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: We can eradicate malaria: report Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 12th March 2008 02:24 PM GMT] Wiping out malaria in much of sub-Saharan Africa is an attainable goal that can be reached with targeted and consistent intervention, according to research published today (Mar. 12) in PLoS ONE. (UPDATE: A link to the study has been added.) Scientists mathematically modeling the spread of... Click to continue View comments (3) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Elsevier expands biopharma base Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 11th March 2008 05:41 PM GMT] Science and health publishing giant Elsevier has acquired Windhover Information Inc., a leading biotech and pharma business intelligence provider. Windhover publishes several journals, such as In Vivo, Start-up and The Regulation Policy Market Access Report, which cover health care marketplace trends, business strategy, industry deal making, and medical start-ups. Acquiring Windhover adds more than 100 journalists to Elsevier's staff... Click to continue Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Doctor double dip Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 7th March 2008 03:35 PM GMT] Editorial administrator Margaret Guthrie reports Who hasn't invoked the five second rule? After all, food that falls to the kitchen floor is still safe to eat, if you pick it up fast enough. Isn't it? Paul Dawson, of Clemson University's food science program, roots out the science behind such questions and in doing so has found a way to engage undergraduate students, teach them the rigors of scientific investigation, and even encourage... Click to continue View comments (8) | Comment on this blog NewsBlog: Farewell to pharma freebies? Posted by Bob Grant [Entry posted at 4th March 2008 06:06 PM GMT] Massachusetts may become the first state with a complete ban on pharmaceutical company freebies to doctors. The president of the Massachusetts Senate, Therese Murray (D), yesterday (March 3) filed a bill that seeks to reduce conflicts of interest and healthcare costs by stemming the flow of gifts from pharmaceutical companies to doctors in the state, according to ... Click to continue Comment on this blog

Bob's blog Bob Grant Location: Philadelphia, USA Who am I? Staff Writer Previous months >>   January 2009 >>   December 2008 >>   November 2008 >>   October 2008 >>   September 2008 >>   August 2008 >>   July 2008 >>   June 2008 >>   May 2008 >>   April 2008 >>   March 2008 >>   February 2008 >>   January 2008 >>   December 2007 >>   November 2007 >>   October 2007 >>   September 2007 >>   August 2007 >>   July 2007