Research Extras

Mahlon DeLong, MD, is one of six recipients of the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, which recognizes excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life.

See a new infographic breaking down 2013 research funding.

Emory and Georgia Tech researchers will use funding from the Saving Lives at Birth partnership for microneedle patches to deliver flu and tetanus vaccines to pregnant women in develoing countries.

Read about Helen Mayberg's election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Learn about David Stephens' appointment as chair of the Department of Medicine.

Learn how the Emory-Georgia Tech Healthcare Innovation Program (HIP) won a Learning Health System Challenge Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Read about Emory's designation as one of 25 NIH regional coordinating centers working to revolutionize stroke care.

Find out more about an NIH award aimed at diversifying the number of undergraduate and graduate students who enter the biological and biomedical sciences research workforce.

Visit the Lab Land blog to read about this month's Current Concept: "autophagy."

Crohn's Disease Study Uses Patients' Bone Marrow for Personalized Treatment
Researchers conducting an innovative clinical trial using the science of "personalized" cellular therapy are treating older teens and adults suffering from Crohn's disease. Bone marrow cells harvested from patients are used to manufacture personalized cells that target Crohn's inflammatory processes, which can damage the entire digestive tract in patients unresponsive to medication. Read more...

Vaccine "Gene Chip" Could Speed Testing and Development of New Vaccines
Testing the effectiveness of new vaccines through clinical trials takes years, even decades, yet keeping up with dangerous new infections is essential to human health. To speed up vaccine testing, scientists are creating a vaccine gene chip that could read the immune activity of all the genes in white blood cells within days of vaccination, giving key information for development of new vaccines. Read more..

Inheriting Sensitivity to a Smell
Animals can pass on specific information about a traumatic experience to their offspring, not through social communication, but through inheritance. When a mouse becomes fearful of a certain odor, his or her pups will also be more sensitive to that odor, even though they have never encountered it. Knowing how parental experiences influence descendants could help with understanding and designing therapies for psychiatric disorders with a trans-generational basis. Read more...

Laser Surgery Shows Better Results for Medication-Resistant Epilepsy
Patients with epilepsy that is unresponsive to drugs have better results if they receive a laser-based procedure pioineered at Emory than if they receive standard open surgery. The study found the laser procedure resulted in better memory function, while still providing comparable rates of seizure control. Researchers believe the laser technique preserves more brain regions and connections. Read more...

New Strategy for Alzheimer's Shuts Down Production of Beta-Amyloid
Stopping the production of beta-amyloid, the key component of the brain's production of plaques, has been an ongoing goal of Alzheimer's disease research. Now scientists have found a way to inhibit beta-amyloid output by diverting an enzyme called BACE that controls how much beta-amyloid brain cells generate. Read more...