National Jewish Faculty Present Research at International Meeting of the American Thoracic SocietyNational Jewish faculty joins thousands of researchers from around the world to present the latest research in lung and related diseases at the 2007 International Meeting of the American Thoracic Society, May 18-23, in San Francisco. Listed below are a few highlighted talks National Jewish researchers will deliver. [click link for full article]

Newspapers recently reported on Medicaid developments in Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Oregon. Summaries of the coverage appear below.Missouri: The state House on Thursday on a voice vote approved an amendment that would extend Medicaid until 2010, as lawmakers work out the details of overhauling the program, the Kansas City Star reports. [click link for full article]

Protected by its own nutrients and blood supply, a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device was successfully transplanted into a 47-year-old man with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension on Sunday, April 8. The surgery was performed at UPMC by Kenneth R. McCurry, M.D. [click link for full article]

The following highlights recent news of state actions on legislation related to emergency contraception access.Connecticut: Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) on Wednesday signed into law a bill (SB 1343) that requires all hospitals in the state, including Catholic hospitals, to provide EC to rape survivors, the [click link for full article]

Treatment with a commonly used drug slows the decline in lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to results from the TORCH (TOwards a Revolution in COPD Health) study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Tuesday, May 22. [click link for full article]

In the June 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Eileen White and colleagues at Rutgers University/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Cancer Institute of New Jersey, report, for the first time, that the cellular self-digesting process of autophagy can protect genome integrity - lending new insight into the seemingly contradictory roles of autophagy as both a cell survival and tumor suppressor pathway. [click link for full article]

Medical device companies have begun to lobby House members to exclude a provision from a bill to reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act that would require them to conduct pediatric tests on their products to receive FDA approval, CongressDaily reports. The Senate version of the bill (S 1082) [click link for full article]

The use of peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, points to a cure for hepatitis C, the leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and the need for liver transplant, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher said yesterday.Mitchell Shiffman, M.D. [click link for full article]

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation a five-year, $9.7 million grant to research and develop experimental HIV vaccines aimed at children, Glaser Foundation President and CEO Pamela Barnes announced Friday on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, the [click link for full article]

An ongoing effort to identify the microorganisms that make us sick has discovered a new virus potentially linked to unexplained respiratory infections.Clinicians can typically use a patient’s symptoms to determine that a virus is the likely culprit in a respiratory infection. However, even with advanced testing they still can’t pin the blame on a particular virus in roughly one-third of all such infections. [click link for full article]