New disease genes found by Yale
scientists
Two School of Medicine research
teams have identified gene mutations that play a role in age-related macular
degeneration (AMD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Josephine J. Hoh,
associate professor of epidemiology, and colleagues linked a mutation on
Chromosome 10 to the "wet" form of AMD, in which an abnormal proliferation of
leaky blood vessels in the retina causes blindness. Meanwhile, a group led by
Professor of Medicine Judy H. Cho showed that an uncommon variant of a
pro-inflammatory gene protects against Crohn's disease, suggesting a promising
target for IBD therapies. Both studies appeared in the journal Science.
Weight-lifting risk unveiled
Since reporting in 2003 on a link
between weight lifting and tearing of the aorta in five individuals, John A.
Elefteriades, professor of surgery, and colleagues have identified 31 others
who experienced an internal aortic tearing following heavy lifting. Most were
younger than age 50, in good health, and had no prior history of cardiac
disease. In the journal Cardiology, the team notes that nearly all of these individuals, a
third of whom died, had unknowingly been living with an abnormally enlarged
aorta, a condition that occurs in hundreds of thousands of American men. The
researchers urge those planning to pump serious iron to be screened for aortic
enlargement.
Connecticut awards $7 million to
Yale stem cell investigators
Yale fared well in the first group
of grants awarded in November by the state of Connecticut from a $100 million
fund established last year to promote stem cell research. Yale scientists
received $7 million of the $19.78 million allocated by the State of Connecticut
Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee for 21 research projects. Michael P.
Snyder, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, received
the largest grant, $3.8 million to investigate how human embryonic stem cells
(hESCs) differentiate into nerve cells. Haifan Lin, professor of cell biology
and director of the Yale Stem Cell Program (YSCP), received $2.5 million to
support a new core facility that will accommodate federal funding restrictions
on hESC research. Diane S. Krause, associate professor of laboratory medicine
and pathology and YSCP co-director, received $856,653 to study a leukemia gene
using hESCs.
A new leader for Department of
Internal Medicine
With 351 full-time faculty, the
Department of Internal Medicine is the medical school's largest department.
Founded in 1813, the department has been an exemplar of Yale's tradition of
intertwining research with quality clinical care. The faculty scientists have
secured $83 million in research funding, and its physicians treat patients at
Yale-New Haven Hospital and the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut
Healthcare System. On October 2, the medical school named Jack A. Elias, the
Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Medicine and chief of the section of
pulmonary and critical care medicine, as the department's new chair. Elias, a
leading authority on the molecular basis of asthma and other lung disorders,
has trained more than 50 scientists now working in academia and industry, and
he holds seven patents or pending patents based on his research.
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