Sharon L. Kellogg, emergency response planner for the University of Maryland Medical Center, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for showing leadership and excellence in all aspects of emergency and disaster preparedness. Kellogg, an esteemed Cambridge Who’s Who lifetime member, refocused and rededicated her life to public service after the disastrous attacks on September 11, 2001. [click link for full article]

Cardium Therapeutics (AMEX:CXM) and its subsidiary, Tissue Repair Company (TRC) announced the start of recruitment for its Phase 2b clinical trial (MATRIX) to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Excellarate(TM) for the potential treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers. Excellarate is a DNA-based topical gel that is being developed to be administered once or twice to stimulate wound healing. [click link for full article]

The expansion of SCHIP is the “right thing to do” because all U.S. children “should have a fair shot at growing up to be an astronaut, a ballet dancer, a firefighter or president” and should not “be forced to give up these dreams because of health problems that could be managed or even prevented with proper care,” John Sweeney, president of [click link for full article]

More than 30,000 Medicaid providers, or about 5%, in seven states owe the federal government more than $1 billion in unpaid federal taxes for fiscal year 2006, according to an audit released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, USA Today reports (Wolf, USA Today, 11/14). [click link for full article]

The National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) is in strong opposition to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s decision to reject Title V Funding for abstinence education. Citing the desire to fund programs that are “evidence-based”, Governor Kaine has pulled matching-federal grants for programs shown by studies to delay the onset of sexual behavior in Virginia teens by nearly 50-percent. [click link for full article]

Early stage studies using human tissue samples are increasingly recognised as key to reducing drug failure rates. Now in a major breakthrough Abcellute’s non-cryogenic cell preservation technology has been successful trialled by Biopta Ltd, a CRO specializing in human tissue in vitro pharmacology. [click link for full article]

USA Today on Tuesday published two articles on issues related to diabetes as part of a four-day series titled “The Fight Against Diabetes.” Headlines and summaries appear below.”Islets Could Be a Key to Diabetes Cure”: Researchers at the [click link for full article]

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday informed FDA and CMS that he is investigating whether Medicaid is making payments for unapproved prescription drugs, CongressDaily reports. [click link for full article]

The incidence of diabetes mellitus in Mexico will have risen 40% by the year 2012, killing over 100,000 Mexicans during that year, according to Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, Health Secretary, Mexico. Mexico, with a population of just over 100 million, currently has 10 million people with diabetes (types 1 and 2). Approximately 67,000 people will have died from diabetes by the end of this year. [click link for full article]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers will not reach an agreement before Thanksgiving on revisions to legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said on Tuesday, CQ Today reports. [click link for full article]