all Massachusetts General Hospital stories

From stem cells to functioning strip of heart muscle

404132862 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:00:00 -0400

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and collaborators at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has taken a giant step toward the possibility of using human stem cells to repair damaged hearts.

Three Harvard teams to receive $9 million each in federal funding for stem cell research

404132862 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:11:45 -0400

Three teams of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers are slated to receive $27 million over seven years in National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) grants for the development of stem-cell based tools and treatments to understand and treat cardiovascular and blood disorders. The NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium will consist of nine research hubs, each involving multidiscplinary teams from two academic medical centers.

Jack Szostak 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine

404132862 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:01:59 -0400

Jack Szostak, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for pioneering work in the discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that protects chromosomes from degrading.

The work not only revealed a key cellular function, it also illuminated processes involved in disease and aging.

NIH funds risky, potentially transformative research by Harvard faculty members

404132862 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:17:05 -0400

Eighteen faculty members at Harvard and Harvard-affiliated institutions are among 115 scientists nationally whose promising and innovative work was recognized today with the announcement of three grant programs by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Study finds promise in combined transplant/vaccine therapy for high-risk leukemia

404132862 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:00:28 -0400

Two of the most powerful approaches to cancer treatment — a stem cell transplant and an immune system-stimulating vaccine — appear to reinforce each other in patients with an aggressive, hard-to-control form of leukemia, Harvard scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) have found.

Low-carb diets linked to atherosclerosis and impaired blood vessel growth

404132862 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0400

Even as low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets have proven successful at helping individuals rapidly lose weight, little is known about the diets’ long-term effects on vascular health.

NIH renews Harvard Center for AIDS Research grant for another five years

404132862 — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:22:18 -0400

The National Institutes of Health has renewed for five years - and $18.1 million - the funding for the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (Harvard CFAR).

Harvard is one of only 20 NIH CFAR sites in the U.S. and first received the designation in 2004.

Postdiagnosis aspirin use reduces risk of dying from colorectal cancer

404132862 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:32:46 -0400

Regular use of aspirin after colorectal cancer diagnosis may reduce the risk of cancer death, report Harvard researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In today's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study’s authors also find that the aspirin-associated survival advantage was seen primarily in patients with tumors expressing the COX

New steps forward in cell reprogramming

404132862 — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:00:20 -0400

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have substantially improved the odds of successfully reprogramming differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) by blocking the activity of the gene that instructs the cells to stop dividing.

Earlier AIDS drug treatment would save 76,000 lives over 5 years

705287540 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:01:53 -0400

EMBARGO DATE CORRECTION -- JULY not August -- Study suggests earlier HIV antiviral treatment saves lives and is cost effective, even in areas of limited resources

Early initiation of lifesaving antiretroviral therapies should be the standard of care for all HIV-infected patients, even those in countries with limited medical and financial resources, according to a study led by Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the read more

MGH researchers develop potentially safer general anesthetic

705287540 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:04:15 -0400

News release -- Mass.<p><a href="http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/mgh-researchers-develop-potentially-safer-general-anesthetic">read more</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>Scientists find master heart cell - Harvard discovery gives new tools for drug development</h1> <p>404132862 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:06:21 -0400</p>  </article> <article> <h1>Human cardiac master stem cells identified</h1> <p>404132862 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:59:00 -0400</p> <p><a title="" href="http://hsci.harvard.edu">Harvard Stem Cell Institute</a> researchers at <a title="" href="http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/directory/programs/massachusetts-general-hospital">Massachusetts General Hospital</a> have identified the earliest master human heart stem cell from <a title="" href="http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics3.asp">human embryonic stem cells</a> - ISL1+ progenitors - that give rise to a family of cells that form the essential portions of the human heart.</p><p><a href="http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/human-cardiac-master-stem-cells-identified">read more</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>First-Degree Atrioventricular Block Shows Heightened Risk</h1> <p>50443248 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:52:30 -0400</p>  </article> <article> <h1>Common heart abnormality linked to risks</h1> <p>50443248 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:58:20 -0400</p>  </article> </main></body></html>