A Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center research team has received a renewal grant totaling nearly $1.3 million from the National Cancer Institute to improve the activity of a novel class of agents, known as histone deacetylase inhibitors, in the treatment of leukemia and other blood malignancies. Read more.
Walking through the busy corridors of Main Hospital of the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Ben Horrocks could easily pass for a physician in his white lab coat. Read more.
The Virginia Commonwealth University Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Research Center has received a $20,000 gift from the Gerry Bertier #42 Foundation. Read more.
Richard Wenzel, M.D., chair of internal medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, is the principal investigator of a new project grant to support women health care workers from Africa, Asia and the Asian sub-continent. Read more.
Dr. Francis Merrill Foster Sr., an assistant professor of general-practice dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University and a retired Richmond dentist, died Sunday from cancer. He was 86. Read More.
Improving pregnancy outcomes; reducing infant mortality and increasing prenatal awareness among African-American women. Read more.
Research in biology, chemistry and medicine intersects with the arts, business and world studies in the premiere issue of Across the Spectrum, www.spectrum.vcu.edu, a new online magazine showcasing the scope of Virginia Commonwealth University's nearly $230 million research program across both of its campuses. Read more.
A lightweight, granular, dressing compound developed and studied by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers that quickly stems high-pressure bleeding in moderate to severe wounds has received FDA approval and will soon be used in combat. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University is part of a research team that received a National Institutes of Health grant to explore common practices of scientists when conducting research, their views of ideal standards and how they may vary among different research disciplines. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University has received a $90,000 federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to promote participation in research studies for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and genetic conditions. Read more.
VCU professor of medicine is lead author for “Annals of Internal Medicine” report. Read More.
Asking About Smoking Status when Checking Vitals Increases Advice to Quit, but not Help with How, VCU Study Finds. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center announced today that it has been chosen as a clinical research site in a national pivotal clinical study called EMPOWER, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of an investigational device providing VBLOC™ Therapy, for the treatment of obesity, according to James Maher, M.D., chair, Division of General Surgery and lead investigator at the VCU Surgical Weight Loss Center. Read More.
A group of Virginia Commonwealth University cardiothoracic surgeons conducted a training session of a procedure to help stop irregular heart rhythm that was transmitted live from an operating room at VCU’s Pauley Heart Center to a large audience of electrophysiologists gathered at the 13th Annual International Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium in Massachusetts on Jan. 17. Read more.
The Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors recently appointed six distinguished VCU School of Medicine faculty members to newly created chairs and professorships.Read more.
When it comes to alcohol use, teens tend to be influenced by their parents' drinking behavior, both directly and indirectly, via influences on how their parents monitor and discipline them, according to new findings from an international team of researchers.Read more.
Gov. Timothy Kaine has named Sarah Spiegel, Ph.D., an internationally renowned researcher and professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, as one of the state’s Outstanding Scientists of 2008 for her discovery of a potent lipid mediator, which she demonstrated to have important roles in cancer, inflammation and allergy. Read more.
George W. Vetrovec, M.D., chair of cardiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, known nationally for his study and treatment of coronary artery disease, has written an editorial review of a new technique for treating blocked coronary arteries. Read more.
This year the School's Pediatric Dentistry Clinic opened its doors to provide free dental care for regular patients, scheduled appointments, and walk-in treatment on Give Kids a Smile Day. Faculty, staff, students, and residents treated five patients with general anesthesia in the clinic operating rooms, three patients in the hospital operating room, and provided dozens of restorative and preventive procedures on children throughout the morning and afternoon. Read more.
A Virginia Commonwealth University psychology professor has received a National Cancer Institute grant totaling more than $2.8 million to study and identify toxins in waterpipe tobacco smoke – another potentially lethal form of tobacco use — and determine the extent to which waterpipe smokers are exposed to these toxins. Read more.
Patients who have an in-hospital cardiac arrest at night or on the weekend have a substantially lower rate of survival to discharge than hospitalized patients who experience a cardiac arrest during the day or on weekdays, according to a nationwide study of hospitals led by a Virginia Commonwealth University physician. Read more.
The combined Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health System Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign had another record-breaking year. Read more.
Georgene Roth (N’71) dedicated many of her years to working with dementia patients in nursing homes. Read more.
The healthcare proposals of the Republican and Democratic candidates for their respective party’s presidential nomination were researched by the ten members* of the School’s Effective Leadership and Advocacy class this past fall. During the semester break they continued to work as a group with faculty support from Drs Matzke, Musselman, Rymers and Holdford to craft a comprehensive perspective based on the candidates’ statements and published commentaries. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University's Institute for Women's Health and the VCU Health System's nursing program have been recognized for excellence by the 2008 General Assembly. Read more.
VCU Health Sciences faculty are recognized. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene associated with schizophrenia that could provide further insight about the functional changes that occur on the molecular level in individuals who suffer from it. Read more.
Using molecular and biochemical tools, Sarah Spiegel, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is breaking new ground in cancer research with her work on the lipid mediator, sphingosine-1-phosphate, and its role in the regulation of cell growth, apoptosis and angiogenesis in human cancers. Read more.
VCU establishes the Center for Clinical and Translational Research. Read more.
Anyone who has struggled to drop a few pounds has most likely heard that the best way to lose weight is through a combination of a healthy diet and regular physical activity. But for some people — the morbidly obese — weight loss isn’t a matter of a couple of pounds, it can be hundreds, and sometimes weight loss surgery is the best option. Read more.
Online tool helps track patients' history and can prompt them to get care. Read more from the Richmond Times Dispatch.
The Office of Naval Research awarded $3.5 million in four grants to the Virginia Commonwealth University Reanimation Engineering Shock Center, VCURES, for research using the blood substitute Oxycyte in studies of decompression sickness, embolisms, traumatic brain injury and blast injuries. Read more.
The Office of Naval Research announced it has awarded Virginia Commonwealth University's Reanimation Engineering Shock Center pre-clinical research monies. Read more from United Press International.
Crippling health care bills, long emergency room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily. Read more from USA Today.
An X-ray guided injection of synthetic bone cement into fractured pelvic bones may provide rapid and safe pain relief to osteoporosis patients with low back pain, according to a new multicenter pilot study. Read more.
Project is the First Clinical Trial Spawned by the Virginia Israel Bioscience Commercialization Center
The Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center will open a Phase I pancreatic cancer study later this year in conjunction with leading researchers from Israel, marking the first time cancer researchers at VCU have partnered with their counterparts in Israel. Read more.
Article also appeared in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
The Virginia chapter of the American College of Physicians has bestowed the Laureate Award to Richard Wenzel, M.D., chair of internal medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Read more.
For the second consecutive year, the National Association for Female Executives, NAFE, has named the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System one of five top nonprofits in the country. Read more.
By April, a blood-clotting product created by Virginia Commonwealth University scientists could win the Army's approval for battlefield use. Read more from The Wall Street Journal.
The Women in Science, Dentistry and Medicine (WISDM) Professional Achievement Award has been presented to two Virginia Commonwealth University faculty members for their special contributions, dedication, leadership, mentorship and accomplishments in the schools of Medicine and Dentistry. Read more.
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine this year experienced an unprecedented Match Day — the day when thousands of medical students learn which residency programs they will attend. Over the past four years, VCU has seen the percentage of its students who match increase steadily. This year, the university exceeded the national average with 96 percent of its students matching with a residency of their choice. Read more.
Preventive medical procedures can sometimes result in misleading test results and needless anxiety for the patient, and the costs they generate are a problem with soaring health care expenditures. These procedures, which make up a substantial amount of all medical services offered in the United States, are continually under scrutiny by public health experts to determine their necessity and validity. Read more.
Seminar series to focus on impact of climate change on health. The seminar series on "Climate Change: Our Health in the Balance," will take place April 7-10 at noon in the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building, rooms 104 and 105, 1217 E. Marshall St. Read more.
A Richmond-area doctor is in the running to become the national president of the American Academy of Pediatrics — a high-profile position that typically represents the voice of the medical profession on the national-media circuit. Read more from Style Weekly magazine.
Also rank among Best Doctors in America. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center’s Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit will be honored with the Beacon Award from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Read more.
As we move from childhood to young adulthood, the genes that influence our common fears of rats, the dark, or flying change considerably over time rather than staying static, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. Read more.
Assistant Dean Ellen Byrne was elected to a four-year term on the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations earlier this week at the 2008 Annual Session of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Byrne’s term will begin at the conclusion of the 2008 Annual Session of the American Dental Association (ADA) in October. Read more.
A successful launch to an unprecedented health fair at VCU has organizers thinking of next year. Read more from WWBT.
VCU Health System No. 1 for first time among private firms.
When it comes to top employers, health care is taking the place of financial firms that once dominated the local scene.
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System ranked No. 1 for the first time on the Top 50 list of private area employers this year, increasing the number of full-time equivalent workers by 1.32 percent to 7,082 employees. Read more from the Richmond Times Dispatch.
- Susan G. Kornstein, M.D., executive director of the Institute for Women's Health, is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Women's Health, which has been named the official journal of the American Medical Women's Association. The AMWA is devoted to the advancement of women in medicine and the improvement of women's health. The Journal of Women's Health is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that are prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women than in men. From School of Medicine news. Read more from the AMWA.
New building in Northern Virginia opens to house high-tech simulation lab, uniquely designed research facility and VCU School of Medicine. Read more.
The Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health recently hosted the 4th Annual Women’s Health Research Day, which celebrated and promoted excellence in interdisciplinary women’s health research and featured experts who discussed the physical, mental and general welfare of women. Read more.
For the third year in a row, the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System has been named the Greater Richmond Area Employer of Choice. The VCU Health System also received the national Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. The award presentations were made Wednesday at the annual All Star Awards presented by the Richmond Human Resources Management Association and the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered how an antibiotic works to modulate the activity of a neurotransmitter that regulates brain functions, which eventually could lead to therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, stroke, dementia and malignant gliomas. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University student Suele Kabir, a native of Bangladesh, has seen firsthand the lack of resources that doctors face in developing countries. In particular, the need for an affordable operating table struck her as a common thread that ran through the hospitals of her home country. Read more.
The presidents of the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University today announced a signature collaboration to address one of the most difficult issues facing U.S. communities today – health policy. Read more.
Brian T. McMahon, Ph.D., a professor in Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, and his colleagues have received the Kevin Karr Innovative Rehabilitation System of the Year Award for 2007. Read more.
The Evans-Haynes Burn Center at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center is now offering a new support program for burn victims. Read more.
Student leaders from the Doctor of Dental Surgery and dental hygiene classes presented Dean Ronald J. Hunt, D.D.S., and Kim Isringhausen, director of dental hygiene, class gifts of $125,000 and $16,867 respectively at the School of Dentistry hooding ceremony on May 17. Read more.
A team of Virginia Commonwealth University researchers has received a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant totaling nearly $7.3 million for a Cooperative Research Center to study various aspects of asthma and allergic disease. Read more.
Leaves lasting impression at institution
Richard R. Lower, M.D., who helped develop the techniques for transplanting a human heart and performed the ninth transplant in the United States, died May 17 at his home in Twin Bridges, Mont. He was 78. Read more.
An international team of researchers has identified a gene that may play a role in pre-eclampsia, a condition that can occur during pregnancy that can affect both mother and unborn infant, according to findings published in the May 11 advance online issue of Nature. Read more.
Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified that a combination of novel anti-cancer compounds is able to kill chronic myelogenous leukemia cells previously resistant to conventional forms of therapy. Read more.
The Charles G. Thiel Award, endowed by 3M Drug Delivery Systems at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, is being presented to Lars Borgström, associate director, Clin Pharm, AstraZeneca R&D, Lund in Sweden. Read more.
The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System has been recognized as a CIO 100 honoree by CIO magazine for using information technology to create business value. Read more.
The MCV Foundation hosted a reception recently to honor the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health in recognition of House Joint Resolution No. 78. Read more.
Joseph Laver, M.D., chair of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, has accepted the position of clinical director and vice president of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Read more.
