ScienceCache
Vol. 197
March 30, 2005
ROCHESTER ON THE FRONT LINES TO PREVENT BIRD FLU PANDEMIC
The Rochester area is again playing a key role in the world’s ongoing
fight against infectious diseases. Doctors and nurses at the Vaccine
Treatment and Evaluation Unit are seeking to enroll 150 people for a
study of a vaccine against the most virulent form of bird flu, which
has claimed the lives of three out of four people who have been infected
with it in Southeast Asia. The study of 450 healthy people at three sites
across the nation is being led by John Treanor, professor of medicine
and director of the VTEU. The study is evaluating a vaccine made by Sanofi-Aventis
and is designed to allow doctors to find the most effective dose to prevent
infection. The U.S. government has already purchased 2 million doses
of the vaccine and is awaiting the results of the study before deciding
how best to formulate the doses. The first study subjects will be vaccinated
next week, and several more will receive the vaccine in early May.
Full story
STUDY EXAMINES HOW CHILDREN HANDLE EFFECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
A five-year study undertaken by two psychologists will examine the effects
of domestic violence on children’s development and family functioning.
Called Project Future (Families Understanding Toddlers’ Unique
Relationship Experiences), the investigators and a staff of research
assistants will follow 250 two-year-olds and their mothers over a two-year
period. Because of the devastating effects of domestic violence on children,
families, and society, researchers need to gather more information about
how and why children exposed to domestic violence are at an increased
risk for experiencing mental illness. The researchers will examine children’s
development within the framework of emotional security theory, which
holds that domestic violence and accompanying functioning of the family
increase child vulnerability to mental illness by undermining the child’s
sense of security and safety in the family. A $2.8 million grant from
the National Institute of Mental Health was awarded recently to principal
investigator Patrick Davies of the Department of Clinical and Social
Sciences in Psychology and co-principal investigator Dante Cicchetti,
director of the Mt. Hope Family Center.
Full story
WEB CHAT THIS MORNING FOCUES ON MENOPAUSE TREATMENTS
A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health to study
menopause found that many women can get through hot flashes, night sweats
and vaginal dryness without hormones or drugs, and that there has been
a tendency to “medicalize” the condition and overuse menopause
treatments that may be unsafe. Susan H. McDaniel, a clinical psychologist
and associate chair of the Department of Family Medicine, was a member
of the 12-person, state-of-the-science panel that spent two days last
week deliberating and discussing the most up-to-date science before issuing
guidelines on the best and safest therapies. McDaniel and Diane Hartmann,
an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology who has with clinical
expertise in the areas of menopause and geriatric gynecology, are discussing
the panel’s recommendations this morning via a live Web chat. The
session, “Managing Menopause: The Latest Expert Opinions,” is
taking place from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Anyone interested should log on
to www.urmc.rochester.edu/menopause.
Full story
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