The University of California, San Francisco, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington have been given $106 million to research brain disorders.
Billionaires Give $106M To 3 Universities
Gift To Fund Brain Research Alliance
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire philanthropists Joan and Sandy Weill announced Tuesday they are donating $106 million to launch a research initiative at three West Coast universities aimed at finding treatments for brain disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.
The donation to the University of California, San Francisco, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington will go toward a "neurohub" that will bring together data-driven and engineering work done at the three institutions, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
"How does one study 110 billion cells, each of which is connected to 50,000 others? And modified by environment, modified by genetics, influenced by our microbiome?" said Stephen Hauser, a neurologist who will co-direct the new Weill Neurohub. "If we can align our efforts, big things could happen, far more than one would expect separately."
The treatment of neurological disorders lags far behind other disease groups. Some diseases like Alzheimer's have no therapies at all, despite decades of study.
The field needs engineers to design new techniques for scanning the brain in high definition; computer scientists to collect and analyze the massive amount of data that can be collected from the central nervous system; and experts in genetics to develop techniques for repairing faulty genes, said Ehud Isacoff, a UC Berkeley neuroscientist who will co-direct the Weill Neurohub with Hauser.
"What we need to do is visualize things in ways we never could before, analyze levels of detail and do math comparisons that were never possible before," Isacoff said.
The gift from Weill Family Foundation comes after a $185 million-donation from the Weills to UCSF three years ago. The 2016 donation helped establish the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at the university's Mission Bay campus.
"At UCSF they do a lot of clinical trials, and at Berkeley they don't have the people to do that, but they have the computer science expertise and the engineering expertise and the big data imaging," Sandy Weill said.
Then the Weills visited the University of Washington, and they decided that campus's expertise in neuroscience and brain disorders — in particular Alzheimer's disease — would work well with the other two.
"It really was a perfect fit," he said.
___
Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
Hispanic Outlook is an education magazine in the US available both in print and digital form. Visit https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/education-magazine for information about our latest issue, including our new supplement Physician Outlook.
Hispanic Outlook’s Job Board allows applicants to search for jobs by category, by city and by state. Both Featured and Latest Job Positions are available at https://hispanicoutlookjobs.com/
And for employers, Hispanic Outlook’s Job Board offers a wide variety of posting options. Further information is available at https://hispanicoutlookjobs.com/employer-products/
Other articles from Hispanic Outlook:
CUNY’s First Latino Chancellor - Felix Matos Rodriguez
When Felix Matos Rodriguez was named the eighth chancellor of New York’s prestigious City University of New York (CUNY) system and its first Latino leader in May of 2019, it was a towering achievement for him and the city’s entire Latino population. CUNY is a vast network consisting of 25 campuses including 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, one undergraduate honors college and seven post-graduate institutions. It enrolls more than 275,000 students, which requires an operating budget of $3.6 billion. Among its alumni, it has produced 13 Nobel Prize winners and 24 MacArthur Fellows. It’s as vital to New York City as its complex subway system. Every CUNY college provides a pathway for bright working class students to become doctors, attorneys, teachers, entrepreneurs, nurses and librarians—to name a few careers. And CUNY’s student body is as diverse and multicultural as New York City itself, consisting of 30% White students, 26% Latino, 23% African American and 19% Asian. Of its student body, 35% were born outside the U.S., and...
Read full article here
Preventing Sports Injury And Death
National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) has released though its scientific publication, The Journal of Athletic Training “Preventing Catastrophic Injury and Death in Collegiate Athletes: Interassociation Recommendations Endorsed by 13 Medical and Sports Medicine Organizations.” The paper includes recommendations in six areas that address the prevention of catastrophic traumatic (caused directly by participation in a sports activity) and non-traumatic (result of exertion while participating in a sports activity) injury and death. The recommendations stem from the Second Safety in College Football Summit in 2016 and have been reviewed and endorsed by relevant stakeholders and endorsing organizations. The paper also provides an actionable checklist for use by those with a responsibility to the health and wellbeing of collegiate student athletes. “Almost all cases of non-traumatic catastrophic injury and death are preventable and or treatable,” said NCAA Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Hainline. “We’ve seen a clear improvement in policies, research, education and…
Read full article here
Chasing Scholarships Endangers Students
Editor’s Note: A new survey reveals that intense pursuit of sports scholarships leaves high school students injury-prone later in life.
Sixty million kids participate in organized athletics each year with ever increasing amounts of children specializing in one sport before the age of 14 with hopes of a college scholarship or professional career on the line. However, researchers presenting their work at the AOSSM/AANA Specialty Day earlier this year revealed that this early intense participation might come at the cost of increased injuries during their athletic careers. The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is the premier global organization representing the interests of orthopaedic surgeons and other professionals who provide comprehensive health services for the care of athletes and active people of all ages and levels. AOSSM is also a founding partner of the STOP Sports Injuries campaign to prevent…
Read full article here
The Health And Safety Of Student Athletes
A survey of college and university athletic trainers shows that 51.73% of their collegiate-level sports programs follow the NCAA-legislated independent medical model of care. In addition, 76.26% of respondents feel they have medical autonomy—the unchallengeable authority to determine medical management of athletes. The survey was conducted by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s (NATA) Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine (ICSM). Results were presented at a press briefing during NATA’s 70th Clinical Symposia in Las Vegas. The NCAA legislation for student athletes is a model that ensures independent medical care by giving primary athletic health care providers—defined as team Physicians and athletic trainers (ATs)—the autonomous authority to make decisions related to the health and safety of athletes without the influences of the athletic department, including coaches and other personnel. Autonomous authority is the cornerstone for independent medical care for student athletes. The survey also shows that more than one-third (36.32%) reported…
Read full article here
