With New Center, UCSD Unites Scientists, Doctors To Fight Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
The project's goal is to improve understanding of the disease, which affects 75 million to 100 million Americans. In other news, CSU Channel Islands receives a $3 million grant for stem cell research.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Nonalcoholic Liver Diseases Focus Of New UCSD Center
UC San Diego has brought together a wide-ranging team of doctors and scientists to fight a mammoth health risk largely unknown to the public: liver disease not caused by consumption of alcohol. Around 75-100 million Americans are estimated to have Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, or NAFLD, characterized by excessive fat deposits in the liver. It's related to diet and obesity, but also has genetic components, making for a complex pattern of causation. Moreover, the disease course is hard to predict. UC San Diego's NAFLD Research Center unites experts in liver disease treatment with those in other fields, including bioengineering, software development, imaging, systems biology and the microbiome. The goal is to improve diagnosis, understanding of how the disease originates and progresses, and to find preventives and cures, said the center's director, Dr. Rohit Loomba, a professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at UC San Diego. (Fikes, 2/12)
Ventura County Star:
CSU Channel Islands Gets $3 Million Grant For Stem Cell Research
CSU Channel Islands has gotten a $3 million grant that will allow graduate students to do stem cell research at top institutions. The grant, which comes from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will provide 10 paid internships over five years. The program, which provides a total of $40 million in grants, is open to California universities that do not have a major stem cell research program. (2/15)