Perelman School of Medicine

PHILADELPHIA -- How would you like your car to be fixed by someone who had no knowledge of what it was like to drive?

The launch of the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (IGAP) – a collaboration formed to discover and map the genes that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease – was announced Feb. 1 by a multi-national group of researchers.

John Lambris, PhD, the Dr.

PHILADELPHIA - So-called barrier sites -- the skin, gut, lung – limit the inner body’s exposure to allergens, pollutants, viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Understanding how the immune system works in these external surfaces has implications for understanding such inflammatory diseases as asthma, psoriasis, IBD, and food allergies, all of which occur at the body’s barriers.

PHILADELPHIA – A simple test performed at the sideline of sporting events can accurately detect concussions in athletes, according to study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Current sideline tests can leave a wide amount a brain function untested following concussion.

“Our findings suggest that among healthy women who were not depressed or anxious, a 10 to 20 milligram dose of escitalopram – which is well below the dosage level for psychiatric use – provides a nonhormonal, off-label option that is effective and well-tolerated in the management of menopausal hot flashes,” said Elle

Nearly five million Americans live with heart failure, with as many as 700,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In addition to lifestyle factors, scientists have shown that heart failure has a strong heritable component, but identifying the responsible genes has been a major challenge.

(PHILADELPHIA) – Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the single largest cause of death in adults in the United States. Until recently, the genetic basis of CAD has been largely unknown, with just a few proven genes (typically genes for cholesterol disorders) accounting for very little of the disease in the population.

(PHILADELPHIA) – The discovery that high levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good cholesterol”) is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease has fostered intensive research to modify HDL levels for therapeutic gain.

PHILADELPHIA – Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are characterized by protein clumps in brain and spinal-cord cells that include an RNA-binding protein called TDP-43. This protein is the major building block of the lesions formed by these clumps.