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$500,000 Gruber Neuroscience Prize Awarded To Hall, Rosbash And Young
The 2009 Neuroscience Prize of The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation is being awarded to Jeffrey Hall, professor of neurogenetics at the University of Maine; Michael Rosbash, professor and director of the National Center for Behavioral Genomics at Brandeis University; and Michael Young, professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics at Rockefeller University. On October 18, at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, Illinois, these three distinguished scientists will receive this prestigious international award for their groundbreaking discoveries of the molecular mechanisms that control circadian (daily) rhythms in the nervous system. Their research was the first to establish a simple relationship between single genes and a complex behavior.

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Novel Epigenetic Markers Of Melanoma May Herald New Treatments For Patients
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, diagnosed in more than 50,000 new patients in the United States annually. While the rate of incidences continues to rise, survival rate has not improved and the race is on to find the genetic and cellular changes driving melanoma and to devise new means of detection and treatment. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have mapped chemical modifications of DNA in the melanoma genome, finding new markers that will help develop more effective treatment strategies to fight this disease.
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NHLBI Funds Global Centers On Chronic Diseases And Collaborates With UnitedHealth Group
NHLBI Funds Research and Training Centers Aimed at Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases in Developing Countries and Collaborates with UnitedHealth Group"s Chronic Disease Initiative
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Heart Electrical Conduction Abnormality Believed Not To Be Serious May Pose Cardiovascular Risks

New research indicates that a finding on a routine electrocardiogram that signals a disorder of the electrical conducting system in one part of the heart and previously believed to be benign is associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation, the implantation of a pacemaker or death, according to a study in the June 24 issue of JAMA. Prolongation of the electrocardiographic PR interval, also known as first-degree atrioventricular block (AVB) when the PR interval exceeds 200 milliseconds, represents delayed conduction of electrical impulses from the atria to the ventricles. It is frequently encountered in clinical practice. For patients who are not hospitalized, first-degree AVB typically occurs in the absence of cardiovascular disease. "The clinical significance of first-degree AVB in this setting is unclear. Several prior studies suggest that first-degree AVB has a benign prognosis, although these studies were based on young, healthy men in the military," the authors write. Susan Cheng, M.D., of the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Mass., and colleagues examined the prognosis associated with first-degree AVB. The study included 7,575 individuals (average age, 47 years; 54 percent women) from the community-based Framingham Heart Study who underwent electrocardiography between 1968-1974, with follow-up through 2007. During the follow-up period, 481 participants developed atrial fibrillation (AF), 124 required implantation of a pacemaker, and 1,739 died. The researchers found that individuals with first-degree AVB had an increased risk of future AF (approximately 2-fold), pacemaker implantation (approximately 3-fold) and moderately (1.4-fold) increased risk of all-cause death, compared with individuals without first-degree AVB. After adjustment for conventional risk factors, the PR interval was a significant predictor of all 3 outcomes. Each 20-millisecond increment in the PR interval was associated with an increased risk for AF, pacemaker implantation, and all-cause death. "The validity of these findings is supported by the large, community-based sample, the routine surveillance of all participants for cardiovascular outcomes, and the long period of follow-up," the authors write. "These results suggest that the natural history of first-degree AVB is not as benign as previously believed. Additional studies are needed to determine appropriate follow-up for individuals found to have prolongation of the PR interval on a routine electrocardiogram." (JAMA 2009;301[24]:2571-2577.) JAMA


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