GRIM OUTLOOK: Postdocs need to realize that the odds of getting tenure-track academic jobs are poor, says CSPT's Catherine Gaddy. The once-predictable world of scientific postdoctoral research appears to be entering a period of transformation. Increasingly left in an employment limbo by shrinking tenure-track faculty positions at universities, science postdocs around the United States are beginning to organize and clamor for change. But for many, a nonacademic career seems unavoidable. "The c

A virus unidentified until 1989 now threatens to outstrip HIV as a killer by threefold unless interventions emerge. Around the world, an epidemic is quietly building that has the potential to dwarf AIDS in the number of people affected. The culprit, hepatitis C virus (HCV), is not as consistently lethal as HIV but nevertheless can kill. Development of a broadly useful vaccine seems unlikely, and the only therapeutic agents currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are recomb

Policies permitting untenured women faculty to "stop the tenure clock," especially when they bear children, appear to be gaining ground at United States universities. Such clock- stopping allows women to step off the tenure track for an extended time, theoretically without penalty. However, the practical effects on career advancement of this relatively recent practice remain to be examined. "There has been debate, to be frank, about whether these policies can earmark you," acknowledges Catherin

TIME TO RETHINK: The old discussions about reporting HIV infection must be reviewed in light of a changing epidemic, says CDC's John Ward. As the AIDS epidemic enters a new phase of changing demographics and combination drug therapy, support is mounting for a national system of HIV case reporting. Even some civil rights activists who previously opposed HIV reporting now are admitting the need for it to help contain the elusive disease. However, the long-debated question of whether HIV-positive

Efforts are under way to develop a vaccine against one of the world's deadliest illnesses, cervical cancer. Along with a number of university research laboratories, at least a half-dozen biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are beginning clinical trials or are in preclinical development of such drugs. Efficacy in humans remains to be firmly established, but if the vaccines progress to later-phase trials, challenging jobs for immunologists, microbiologists, and biochemists will multiply. "

Edited by: Steve Bunk W.J. Catalona, D.S. Smith, R.L. Wolfert, T.J. Wang, H.G. Rittenhouse, T.L. Ratliff, R.B. Nadler, "Evaluation of percentage of free serum prostate-specific antigen to improve specificity of prostate cancer screening," JAMA-Journal of the American Medical Association, 274:1214-20, 1995. (Cited in 89 papers through August 1997) LESS WORK: Measuring free PSA in serum in screening for prostate cancer will necessitate fewer biopsies than will measuring total PSA, says urologis

Edited by: Steve Bunk WEIGHT CONTROL: Leptin might regulate body weight by signaling the size of the fatty tissue mass, research led by Jeffrey Friedman shows. M. Maffei, J. Haalas, E. Ravussin, R.E. Pratley, G.H. Lee, Y. Zhang, H. Fei, S. Kim, R. Lallone, S. Ranganathan, P.A. Kern, J.M. Friedman, "Leptin levels in human and rodent: Measurement of plasma leptin and ob RNA in obese and weight-reduced subjects," Nature Medicine, 1:1155-61, 1995. (Cited in 196 papers through August 1997) Comments

Scientists are racing to find the grail of diabetes research, a therapy that will eliminate the need for insulin injection. New products, innovative clinical trials, and a boost in federal funding all are contributing to a multifaceted effort to control one of America's most complex and dangerous ailments. With research getting promising results in several different fields, skilled people are in demand. TRANSPLANT SUCCESS: Transplantation of the whole pancreas should be performed more often, s

HELP BEGETS HELP: Florida's David Challoner says the memory of an old mentor now inspires his own mentoring efforts. The traditional mentor gets a lot from giving. David Challoner, vice president of health affairs at the University of Florida in Gainesville, remembers a personal mentor like that. Challoner, who studied medicine at Harvard Medical School, then trained in endocrinology under Robert Williams at the University of Washington in Seattle, says Williams would follow the graduates of h

A boom is under way in developing drugs for treating schizophrenia. Several new pharmaceuticals are now available or in trials, and research is continuing on even better compounds that will target particular symptoms while avoiding side effects. This approach is one of many recent advances in research on pharmacological treatments for mental illness. As sales of psychoactive drugs soar, opportunities abound for scientists who want to be involved in the creation of yet more of these compounds, w