Findings and The Hub, September 2010

Columns, September 2010, pages 17, 22-23.

Machine Reads Newborn Minds
Here’s an item that won’t surprise parents: it takes a 1-ton apparatus to figure out what’s going on in a young child’s mind.

Blast Waves and Brain Damage
Understanding hidden injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

The Orbit of Influence
Weird neighbors in distant galaxies.

UW & the Big Spill
Estimating the damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Labor & Delivery

ParentHandbook.com, July 2010.

What happens during labor and delivery? While every woman's experience is different, this guide provides an overview of the typical signs and stages of labor.

Read the full text here.

Dancing With an Escape Artist

Nature, July 15, 2010, Vol. 466, pages S6–S7

A portrait of the intricate relationship between HIV and the host immune system, in which each influences the other's next moves.

Read the full text here.

Preeclampsia: Symptoms and Treatment

ParentHandbook.com, July 2010.

Preeclampsia occurs in approximately five percent of all pregnancies. Find out about the symptoms of this dangerous condition and how doctors treat it.

Read the full text here.

Autism Marked by Copy Number Changes in Coding Regions

SFARI.org, June 11, 2010.

People with autism harbor more copy number variants (CNVs) — deletions or duplications of large chunks of DNA — compared with controls, but only in the protein-coding regions of the genome.

Read the full text here.

Birth of a New Field

Columns, June 2010, pages 20-21.

Despite her intense personal connection to the questions she's investigating, pharmacy professor Mary Hebert is quick to shift the focus elsewhere: "I just wanted other people to have healthy pregnancies."

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Scaffolding, Stem Cells Could Save Sight

Think (Case Western Reserve University), Spring-Summer 2010, page 20.

Researchers trying to restore vision damaged by disease have found promise in a tiny implant that sows the seeds of new cells.

Read the full text here.

Researchers Test Gene Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease

Think (Case Western Reserve University), Spring-Summer 2010, page 19.

A group of specialists around the country are teaming up on what Alan Lerner, MD, calls, "a radically different approach to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease."

Read the full text here.

Vaccines: What Every Parent Should Know

ParentHandbook.com, March 2010.

The whats, whens and whys of your child’s vaccination schedule, from birth to kindergarten.

Read the full text here.

Seeing Red

Columns, March 2010, pages 20-21.

Last fall, Jay and Maureen Neitz, who joined the UW School of Medicine faculty in 2008, reported in the journal Nature that they had cured color-blindness in two squirrel monkeys using gene therapy.

Read the full text here.

Findings, March 2010

Columns, March 2010, pages 22-23.

MRSA Digging in at Beaches
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are gaining foothold in the natural environment.

Micro Microscope
The world's smallest microscope helps diagnose cancer.

Breast Cancer Detection Test
Ultrasound may enable some women to avoid unnecessary biopsies.

Locating Lightning
Creating a real-time map of lightning around the globe.

Getting the Dirt on Climate Change
And helping a forest grow on Vashon Island.

Vaccines and Autism

ParentHandbook.com, February 2010.

New developments are changing how parents and doctors think about a decade-old controversy--an article written in the wake of The Lancet's retraction of the paper that started it all.

Read the full text here.

Findings, September 2009

Columns, September 2009, pages 22-23.

The Genes That Cause Autism
UW scientists contributed to two recent studies that are beginning to unlock the genetic underpinnings of autism and related disorders.

Leading the Response Against H1N1
UW researchers are working to stop the new "swine flu" virus.

Tablets of Mystery
Using computers to help decode an ancient Indus Valley script.

Findings, March 2009

Columns, the University of Washington alumni magazine, has a four-page section called "Findings" that reports on the diversity of scientific research going on at UW. Since the March 2009 issue I have been writing this section. It consists of a short profile of a UW researcher (for March, that's the article on Richard Ladner linked in the post below), and a roundup of four or so short news articles on various recent research results. Here are the news articles from March:

Too Many Missed Shots
Getting a handle on childhood immunization rates

Knowing the Enemy
Towards better, more individualized therapy for brain tumors

The Healing Arts
An unexpected new approach to improving medical students' diagnostic skills

Warblers Do It, Sparrows Do It...
How birds learn to sing

The Genetics of Breathing Free

Genome News Network, October 20, 2000.

News article reporting on research about single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the effectiveness of asthma medication.

Read the full text here.