UW News

Health and medicine


September 12, 2012

UW celebrates opening of new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building

Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building

The UW’s new Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building opens this fall with a series of kick-off events focused on this emerging area of research. The associated Institute will focus on research applications in medicine and clean energy.


September 6, 2012

Hospitals that make longer attempts at resuscitation have higher survival rates

Findings challenge the assumption that, if a pulse is not restored soon, continuing resuscitation efforts is futile.


September 5, 2012

Encyclopedia of DNA elements compiled; UW a key force in Project ENCODE

An international team of researchers has made headway toward a comprehensive listing of all the working parts of the human genome. More than 30 scientific papers appear today, include major work by UW researchers. The London Museum of Science celebrates with ceiling banners and aerial dancers.


Millions of DNA switches that power human genome’s operating system are discovered

Scientists created comprehensive maps of elusive gene-controlling DNA and a dictionary of the human genome’s programming language


Researchers unlock disease information hidden in genome’s control circuitry

Most genetic changes linked to more than 400 common diseases affect regions of DNA that dictate when genes are switched on or off. Many of these changes affect circuits active during early human development.


August 31, 2012

‘Mobile Moms’ to boost health of women in Timor-Leste

To improve the odds for mothers and their newborns in the new nation of Timor-Leste, a non-profit affiliated with the UW School of Public Health has launched a first-ever mobile phone project.


August 27, 2012

Alaska cruise passenger airlifted to Harborview for blood clot treatment

Sarah Davis at Harborview with husband after airlift from Alaska cruise

Sarah Davis took an unexpected side trip during an Alaskan cruise last week. While the Beaufort, S.C., resident was admiring the rugged scenery with her family, she developed debilitating pain in her leg. In the middle of the night,the ship’s physician diagnosed a dangerous blood clot. At 2:30 a.m. Aug. 21 in Seattle, UW Medicine…


August 22, 2012

Low-dose sedative alleviates autistic-like behavior in mice with Dravet syndrome mutation

artists concept of brain cell-to-cell signaling

UW researchers have found that a low dose of the sedative clonazepam alleviated autistic-like behavior in mice with a mutation that causes Dravet syndrome in humans.


August 20, 2012

Molecular and protein markers predict liver transplant failure in hepatitis C patients

Surgeons performing a liver transplant at UW Medical Center

Researchers have discovered molecular and protein signatures that predict rapid onset of liver damage in hepatitis C patients following a liver transplant. The markers appeared soon after transplant and well before clinical evidence of liver damage. Such early detection of susceptibility to hepatitis C virus-induced liver injury could lead to more personalized monitoring and treatment…


August 7, 2012

Study to identify best blood transfusion practices for trauma patients

UW medical researchers are launching a study to help determine which of the two most common blood product combinations provide the best outcomes for trauma patients who require massive blood transfusions. Dr. Eileen Bulger, UW professor of surgery and chief of trauma at Harborview Medical Center, is the principal investigator for the clinical study. The…


August 5, 2012

Muscle cell grafts keep broken hearts from breaking rhythm

Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. They discovered that transplanted heart muscle cells, grown from stem cells, electrically couple and beat in sync with the heart’s own mucle. The grafts also reduced the incidence of arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms) in a guinea pig model of myocardial infarction (commonly known…


August 3, 2012

Americans gaining more weight than they say

Despite the increasing awareness of the problem of obesity in the United States, most Americans don’t know whether they are gaining or losing weight, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, also known at IHME, at the University of Washington. Obesity increased in the U.S. between 2008 and 2009, but…


August 1, 2012

UW researchers urge integrating deworming into HIV care in Africa

HIV care centers are an important and highly accessed point of care for HIV-infected children and their families in sub-Saharan Africa, but opportunities to address other health issues are being missed. Proven interventions, including routine deworming among children, could be effectively integrated into HIV care according to a new paper by University of Washington researchers…


July 27, 2012

Seattle researchers to engineer kidney tissue chip for predicting drug safety

Seattle researchers will be part of the new federal initiative to engineer 3-dimensional chips containing living cells and tissues that imitate the structure and function of human organs.  These tissue chips will be used for drug safety testing. Tissue chips merge techniques from the computer industry with those from bioengineering by combining miniature models of…


July 26, 2012

Chemical makes blind mice see

A chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice has been discovered.  Its discoverers are working on  an  improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again. Read the paper in Neuron News release on earlier study A team of UW Medicine researchers, in collaboration with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley,…


July 20, 2012

UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center take top two spots in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals state, metro rankings

U.S. News latest hospital rankings UW Medicine’s two academic medical centers are ranked the best in the region and the state of Washington in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 edition of America’s Best Hospitals. UW Medical Center holds the No. 1 rank and Harborview Medical Center is No. 2 out of 35 hospitals in the…


July 17, 2012

UW Medicine hospitals ranked best in region, state


July 13, 2012

UW Medicine opens comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at Northwest Hospital

The public is invited to an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday July 21 at the facility, which has one of the regions strongest concentrations of MSspecialists.


June 11, 2012

Offspring of older fathers may live longer

Study suggests life-extending benefits of longer telomeres if recent male ancestors reproduced at older ages.


June 4, 2012

New statistical model lets patient’s past forecast future ailments

Analyzing medical records from thousands of patients, statisticians have devised a statistical model for predicting what other medical problems a patient might encounter.


May 28, 2012

Engineered microvessels provide a 3-D test bed for human diseases

Bioengineers have developed the first structure to grow small human blood vessels, creating a 3-D test bed that offers a better way to study disease, test drugs and perhaps someday grow human tissues for transplant.


May 17, 2012

Slew of rare DNA changes following population explosion holds clues to common diseases

Scientists try to find which single-letter switches in the genetic code influence health risks.


May 9, 2012

Portable diagnostics designed to be shaken, not stirred

A textured surface mimics a lotus leaf to move drops of liquid in particular directions. The low-cost system could be used in portable medical or environmental tests.


April 26, 2012

Cells in blood vessel found to cling more tightly in regions of rapid flow

The cells that line the pipes leading to the heart pull more tightly together in areas of fast-flowing blood. The cells’ mechanical response to their environment could aid understanding of heart disease.


April 4, 2012

Autism mutations, scattered across genes, merge into network of interactions

New findings on the molecular biology of autism spectrum disorders are reported today in Nature.


UW leads NIH-funded consortium to train global health researchers

The UW is one of five consortia of colleges and universities to receive National Institutes of Health funding to foster the next generation of global health scientists.


March 19, 2012

Pediatricians' pain-medication judgments affected by unconscious racial bias, says UW study

Pediatricians who showed an unconscious preference for European Americans tended to prescribe better pain-management for white patients than they did for African-American patients, new UW research shows.


March 8, 2012

Study shows benefit of gun cabinets in homes in Alaskan villages

Installing a gun cabinet dramatically reduces unlocked guns and ammunition in the home, according to a study in rural Alaska villages.


January 30, 2012

Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue

The walls of the aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart, exhibits a response to electric fields known to exist in inorganic and synthetic materials. The discovery could have implications for treating human heart disease.


January 12, 2012

Surgical robots to provide open-source platform for medical robotics research

Seven identical robots created and built at the UW will be flown to campuses across the country, where they will provide the first common research platform to develop the future of surgical robotics. The robots will be display Friday at an open house.


December 7, 2011

Device promises nutrition diagnosis in minutes

A new plasma pencil promises to give nutrition status in minutes that used to take 24 hours, and could improve health in developing world.


October 31, 2011

Children of deployed military at greater risk of engaging in violent behavior

Adolescent boys with at least one parent in the military are at elevated risk of engaging in school-based physical fighting, carrying a weapon and joining a gang, according to researchers at the University of Washingtons School of Public Health.


October 25, 2011

Movember is coming

Movember—the “mo” stands for moustache—is an international month-long event aimed at increasing awareness of the cancers that men face.


October 18, 2011

The UW’s next generation of infertility treatment

Scientific advances are assisting prospective parents unable to to have children on their own. Also emerging are methods to try to protect a young person’s ability to make a baby in the future.


Urology aims to get ‘Lean, improve patient care

Urology Department Chairman Hunter Wessells, Dr. Bill Ellis, Clinic Manager Nancy Eberhardt and Dr. Tom Walsh are leading a quality improvement project to improve patient and staff satisfaction.


August 15, 2011

UW Medicine study finds caffeine guards against certain ultraviolet-induced skin cancers at molecular level

Caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level, according to a study appearing online August 15, 2011, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


August 5, 2011

Around the world, with medical genetics

Mercy Laurino, a graduate student in the Institute for Public Health Genetics, has had an illustrious career at a young age. She was part of a team -— including collaborators from Seattle Children’s — that helped launch the Pediatric Neurogenetics Clinic at the UW Center on Human Development and Disability in November 2005.


August 4, 2011

Consumers who follow federal nutrition guidelines may have higher food costs, UW researchers say

If you try to eat healthier these days, and follow federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, its likely that youre eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. It also means that your grocery bill is increasing, according to University of Washington researchers from the Center for Public Health Nutrition.


July 14, 2011

UW will lead $18.5 million effort to create mind-machine interface

The National Science Foundation today announced an $18.5 million grant to establish an Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering based at the UW. The interdisciplinary center will combine neuroscience and robotics to develop new rehabilitation technologies.


July 12, 2011

Wireless power could cut cord for patients with implanted heart pumps

A new system to send electricity over short distances has been shown to reliably power a mechanical heart pump. The system could free patients from being tethered to a battery or external power source, lowering their chance of infection and improving their quality of life.



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