University of Queensland researchers will be at the forefront of fighting cancer thanks to a new $3.2 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF).The ACRF funding will allow scientists from UQ’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine (DI), and their partners from the Queensland University of Technology, to buy the latest high-tech tools to help them discover genes linked to cancer.

German patient is first in Europe to receive the first-of-its-kind Zenith Dissection Endovascular System in the STABLE trial. Christoph A. Nienaber M.D., Ph.D., site investigator at the University of Rostock in Germany, has just completed the first European case in a global clinical trial designed to evaluate the Cook Zenith® Dissection Endovascular System for the treatment of Type B thoracic aortic dissections.

Hands On Disaster Response (HODR), a volunteer-driven 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, recently announced the extension of Project Rayenda, their volunteer project in Rayenda, Bangladesh to help those devastated by Cyclone Sidr. This disaster, the most significant in Bangladesh in over 15 years, hit the coastline November 15, 2007, killing over 3,500 and extensively damaging over 1 million homes, businesses, and schools.

To develop new strategies to control tuberculosis (TB), a contagious disease that infects one-third of the world’s population and kills almost two million people every year, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research has received an $11.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA), in conjunction with leading pulmonary hypertension specialists, announced the launch of an educational campaign to raise awareness of the association between pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and stimulant use, particularly methamphetamine use.

Indoor and outdoor allergies affect about 50 million people in the United States.(1)(2) Yet, according to “Attitudes About Allergies,” a national telephone survey, allergies are often disregarded as a nuisance: in today’s society allergies get little respect. As a result, allergy sufferers continue to cope needlessly with not only the physical impact of allergies, but the emotional effects as well.

When a couple is dealing with cancer, a partner’s psychological distress might drag down the well-being of either person, according to a new study of 168 married couples. “Whether it is my own or my partner’s, psychological distress may impact my quality of life,” said lead researcher Youngmee Kim, director of Family Studies at the American Cancer Society’s Behavioral Research Center in Atlanta.

IDM Pharma, Inc. (the Company) (Nasdaq: IDMI) announced that it has initiated enrollment in a clinical protocol finalized with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which provides mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE) to eligible, high-risk osteosarcoma patients through a compassionate access study. “This formalized study is in response to the increasing number of requests for compassionate access to L-MTP-PE,” said Timothy P.

Vermillion, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRMLD), a molecular diagnostics company, announced preliminary results from a clinical trial evaluating its Ovarian Tumor Triage Test. The study met its primary endpoints, demonstrating that the test successfully stratifies women with pelvic masses into high- and low-risk categories to determine whether the patient should be referred to a specialist prior to surgery.

VIA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VIAP), a biotechnology company focused on the development of compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, announced that it has completed patient enrollment in its carotid endarterectomy (CEA) study, the first of three Phase 2 trials investigating VIA-2291, the company’s lead product candidate.