Articles by Katherine Uraneck

Artwork: Elena Lokshina, www.artblues.com John Mendelsohn had reached the pinnacle of his scientific career when he was called before US congressional investigators this autumn to answer questions about his role in ImClone Systems, the Manhattan technology company whose CEO, Sam Waksal, later pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges. The president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mendelsohn had led the once-ailing research institution through what The Houston Chronic

Image: Anne MacNamara Cherlynn Mathias agonized over whether to report her allegations of scientific misconduct to the government and sought help from her parish priest. She still recalls the image of the church's art deco rectory, where she told the priest what she had learned about the ethics of research during her year at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Tulsa and about her fear of retribution should she report the wrongdoing. At the end of the day, the priest asked, "What's the worst th

Susan Slovin develops vaccines at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City using tumor- associated antigens for prostrate cancer. She has completed multiple Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, which test safety and dosing. She has designed a Phase III trial for efficacy--the last stage required for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Nevertheless, she can't proceed. Scientists are required to use the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), which makes the

A new federal rule designed to protect patients' privacy rights could handicap researchers and prompt legal challenges, according to health policy experts. The privacy rule in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)--for which the Department of Health and Human Services released guidelines in July--requires that researchers who use the nation's tissue banks obtain authorizations when they use patient-specific information, such as medical histories. According to HI

A 42-year-old woman came to the office of Louisville neuropsychologist Martine RoBards in 1999. Once the "star" of her workplace, a railroad mechanic shop, the woman now suffered insomnia, depression, anxiety, and memory loss. She had trouble organizing her thoughts and reciting her own history. The woman reported eight years of chronic exposure to mixed organic solvents used to clean engine parts. RoBards, who describes herself as a medical Nancy Drew, with help from a neurologist, made a diagn