Oct

UNC Hospitals using hypothermia therapy to prevent brain damage after cardiac arrest

CHAPEL HILL - Starting Oct. 1, the Emergency Department at UNC Hospitals began using induced hypothermia or cooling therapy to help prevent brain damage in people who have been revived after their heart stopped.

Man who received double-lung transplant at UNC Hospitals to compete in 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship

CHAPEL HILL - Scott Johnson has come a long, long way since September 2001, when he lay in a bed at UNC Hospitals waiting for the double-lung transplant that he needed to save his life.

Oliver Smithies wins Nobel Prize

CHAPEL HILL - Dr. Oliver Smithies, Excellence professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, is a co-recipient of this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Anti-clotting drug found to be safe in sickle cell patients

CHAPEL HILL - Only one drug is currently approved to treat sickle cell disease, but a small study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine suggests that an intravenous blood thinner, widely used in patients with acute heart problems and during coronary artery stent placement, might become a new therapy for people with this painful disorder.

Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases aims to improve lives

CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched an Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases to extend and enhance ongoing research efforts to improve the lives of people around the world.

Research Briefs

The National Institute of Child Health and Development has awarded $1.97 million to the The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine over the next five years to increase and improve the application of social sciences to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in the Peoples Republic of China.

Boucher receives 'Champion for a Cure' award

CHAPEL HILL - Dr. Richard C. Boucher received the first-ever "Champion for a Cure" award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of North Carolina Monday (Oct. 15).

Breast cancer patients want genomic test that predicts risk of recurrence

CHAPEL HILL - New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institutes of Health finds most breast cancer patients would be receptive to a new genomic test that can determine the chance of breast cancer recurrence and help plan treatment.

University Cancer Research Fund panel sets priorities, adds national experts

CHAPEL HILL - The governance committee of the University Cancer Research Fund has established first-year spending priorities for the state's initial $25 million investment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gene defects could be new cause of male infertility

CHAPEL HILL - Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a gene crucial to the final step of the formation of a functional sperm cell.

UNC Hospitals now offers catheter-based treatment for atrial fibrillation

CHAPEL HILL - UNC Hospitals now offers heart patients a new minimally invasive treatment option for atrial fibrillation, which is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting up to 2.5 million people in the U.S.

N.C. Jaycee Burn Center to hold 16th annual burn survivors reunion Oct. 27

CHAPEL HILL - The N.C. Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals will host its 16th annual adult burn survivor reunion from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.

11 percent of U.S. men have 'concurrent' sexual partners, UNC study finds

CHAPEL HILL - During a one-year period about 11 percent of U.S. men had "concurrent" sexual partnerships or partnerships that overlap in time, and this may be an important contributing factor in the spread of HIV infection, a UNC study has found.

Why is health care reform so difficult to achieve? UNC professor explains

Jonathan Oberlander, PhD, associate professor of health policy and administration and social medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explores what lessons can be learned from past failures in health care reform in the lead perspective article in the Oct. 25, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

UNC Health Care introduces innovative electronic system for access by referring physicians to patients' medical records

CHAPEL HILL - UNC Health Care has launched an innovative electronic communications system that enables referring physicians to access their patients' medical records as they are receiving care at UNC.