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University Hospitals Case Medical Center Receives Full Accreditation from Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs; Demonstrates extensive safeguards built into every level of research with patients
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 (1732 reads)

CLEVELAND – A national non-profit association seeking to raise the standards of protection for medical research participants has given full accreditation to University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) accredits organizations that can demonstrate they provide participant safeguards that surpass state and federal requirements.

Through the intensive accreditation process, organizations demonstrate that extensive safeguards are built into every level of their research operation. AAHRPP standards exceed federal regulations in two ways: the protections for research participants that the federal government requires only for federally sponsored or regulated research are extended to all research, plus AAHRPP requires additional protections, such as conflict-of-interest rules and community education. Accreditation is valid for three years. UH becomes one of 66 organizations nationally with full AAHRPP accreditation.

Bariatric surgery appears to be safe for carefully selected older, Medicare patients; University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Dr. Peter Hallowell leads study
Monday, June 18, 2007 (1724 reads)

CLEVELAND – For the 11-15 million Americans considered morbidly obese, today’s news surrounding bariatric surgery may bring some optimism. The study, published in the June issue of the Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, led by Peter T. Hallowell, M.D., and colleagues at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, showed complications after bariatric surgery appear similar between patients younger and older than age 60 and also between Medicare recipients and non-recipients.

“Obesity has become the leading cause of preventable death in the United States,” according to background information in the article. “Rates of obesity have continued to climb in the last decade across all age groups. Surgery for morbid obesity is currently the most effective treatment.” The success of bariatric surgery has expanded the treatment of morbid (severe) obesity and its conditions for patient populations that had not previously been served. Medicare has recently begun covering bariatric surgery although significant death rates have been reported in Medicare patients undergoing surgery.

Case Medical Center Leading $17.6 Million Lithium Study; School of Medicine Professor to head multi-site clinical trial for adolescent bipolar disorder
Friday, June 15, 2007 (1734 reads)

CLEVELAND – A $17.6 million clinical trials contract was recently awarded by the National Institutes of Health to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Robert L. Findling, MD, Professor of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

With site selection now complete, The Collaborative Lithium Trials, also known as “CoLT,” will begin with a series of studies that will examine the safety and efficacy of lithium in the treatment of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder. The results of the nation-wide study will provide the most comprehensive analysis of lithium treatment in children and adolescents to date. Administered by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), an arm of the NIH, the nationwide study is the first of its kind and the results will provide the most comprehensive analysis of lithium treatment in children and adolescents to date.

Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Receives “Outstanding” Rating
Monday, June 11, 2007 (1574 reads)

CLEVELAND – The National Cancer Institute (NCI), a major component of the National Institutes of Health, has reaffirmed the formal designation of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center as an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Only 40 cancer centers around the country currently hold this designation, placing the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center among the top tier of centers nationally.

Fast becoming a competitive powerhouse of basic science and clinical research world-wide, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center under the direction of Stanton L. Gerson, M.D., brings together more than 320 basic- and clinical-science cancer physician and faculty experts from Case Western Reserve University, the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Professor Receives $700K Award
Monday, June 11, 2007 (1927 reads)

CLEVELAND – Arlene Dent, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, physician of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and researcher at the Center for Global Health & Diseases, has been selected to receive The Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS) from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The award, $700K over 5 years, will allow Dr. Dent to conduct research in biomedicine, infectious diseases and metabolic disorders.

The prestige of the award extends beyond the grant amount; the Burroughs Wellcome Fund received 153 applications nationwide. After careful review, twenty-nine candidates were invited for personal interviews and twenty candidates were chosen as award recipients with the number of final recipients varying from year to year. Candidates must hold a clinical degree and during the award period, 75% of the awardees time must be devoted to research-related activities.

University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to Conduct Innovative Smallpox Vaccine Research Study
Tuesday, June 05, 2007 (1812 reads)

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are part of a nationwide research study to determine the safety and effectiveness of a new smallpox vaccine geared toward adults ages 18 to 34 who have never been vaccinated against the disease. The study is the first of its type in Northeast Ohio.

The current FDA-approved vaccine, Dryvax^®, is not recommended for use on everyone because of the potential for serious side effects in certain individuals. “For example, the current vaccine cannot be used in immune-compromised individuals, such as patients with HIV or individuals with certain skin conditions such as eczema,” says Robert A. Salata, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and UHCMC.