Despite the slew of failures in the past, the most recent $105 million HIV vaccine study among 16,000 Thai volunteers is the first to show any (albeit modest) success. With this first sign of promise in HIV vaccine research, linkurl:Norman Letvin,;http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dms/immunology/fac/Letvin.html professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the Thailand trial, weighs in on the topic in an opinion piece published linkurl:

A cancer researcher tampered with data and fudged images in a presentation and grant application, the linkurl:Office of Research Integrity (ORI);http://ori.dhhs.gov/misconduct/cases/Ningaraj_Nagendra.shtml reported. Magnifying glass Image: WikimediaAccording to ORI's notice released this Fall, linkurl:Nagendra Ningaraj,;http://www.memorialhealth.com/aci/research/ningaraj.aspx formerly an associate professor of neurological surgery and cancer biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine,

"Survival of the fittest does not mean survival of the strongest, but survival of those that best fit their environment," croons linkurl:Brett Keyser,;http://nightjarapothecary.net/2009/06/23/darwinii/ on the streets of Philadelphia, dulcet tones ringing from his guitar on a recent sunny Autumn afternoon. Though passersby shoot Keyser puzzled looks, his act makes perfect sense with this coming Tuesday marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's seminal work, On the Origi

Boosting levels of a neurotransmitter in the brain may reverse some of the cognitive abnormalities that characterize Down syndrome, according to a study, published online today (November 18) in Science Translational Medicine, conducted in a mouse model of the disease. Child with Down syndrome Image: Wikipedia"The work is really fascinating," said linkurl:Roger Reeves,;http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/geneticmedicine/People/Faculty/reeves.html a physiologist at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute who

Judging by the stream of studies in the last few months, it seems the field of gene therapy is beginning to replace its troubled history with the beginnings of a promising future. Mark Kay Image: Stanford University In September, linkurl:researchers reported;http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090916/full/news.2009.921.html that viral delivery of a pigment gene allowed colorblind squirrel monkeys to see red and green for the first time, providing hopes that the technique could be used to treat colo

Researchers for the first time have tracked the specific genetic mutations -- occurring over just a few generations -- that allow bacteria to respond to environmental changes, they report online in Nature today (November 4). Image of Pseudomonas fluorescens Image: Courtesy of Hubertus Beaumont"We showed how evolution happens in real time," said linkurl:Hubertus Beaumont,;http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/94433/Hubertus_J_E_Beaumont a biologist from Leiden University in the Netherlands

ul li { font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; } By The Scientist Staff The Scientist Readers' Survey Methodology Best Places to Work in Academia 2009 Related Articles Small Powerhouse Elevating Youth Community Effort A Promise for Young Talent Ranking Tables Top 40 US Academic Institutions Top 15 US Academic Institutions Top 10 International Academic Institutions Respondent Demographics Surv

By Victoria Stern Best Places to Work: Academia Scientists at the top-ranked institutions in this year’s survey celebrated their organization’s strong focus on collaboration, team building and unique funding opportunities. Dodd Hall at Princeton University Eleven years ago, Marino Zerial left his job as a group leader at the prestigious European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany and accepted a position as a cell biology

By Victoria Stern Small Powerhouse Princeton University: #1 (US) Princeton University, which jumped to second place in 2008 after not making the list in 2007, took the top spot this year. The Graduate School at Princeton University, established in 1900, has a stellar reputation, boasting 18 National Medal of Science Winners and three recipients of the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Awards in 2007 and 2008. Although i

By Victoria Stern Elevating Youth University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center: #4 (US) The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center rocketed from 30th place in 2007 to fourth this year on our list of the best US places to work in academia, perhaps in part for its focus on new investigators. Although opportunities for government funding have been slim in the last year, the university has made a variety of small state-run research grants a

By Victoria Stern Community Effort Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics: #1 (International) The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, founded in 1998, may be a young organization, but it’s not run like one. The faculty here boasts of the Institute’s easy-to-navigate infrastructure, dedication to team building, strong collaboration among departments, and engaging social opportunities—q

By Victoria Stern A Promise for Young Talent University of Groningen: #4 (International) This year, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands made its first appearance on the list of Best Places to Work in Academia, taking fourth place among international institutions. The distinction was a long time in coming. Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen is the second oldest university in the Netherlands. Without the star power of universit