UMN: Bio-Med Library - Public Health

Researchers say social and cultural factors play a significant role in patients' prostate cancer treatment decisions. A new study published in the May 1, 2005 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds non-medical variables, such as marital status, high school education, and race/ethnicity may play a larger role in patients' treatment decisions than previously believed.

Full Aricle: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-03/jws-cas032305.php

Posted by Chad Fennell at 04:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A series of studies and reports recently released in two health care journals provide overwhelming evidence for something on which many physicians and doctor organizations already agree: Minority patients appear to be getting worse care and having worse outcomes than white patients with the same health problems

Full Article: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/04/04/prl20404.htm

Posted by Chad Fennell at 04:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Washington, D.C., March 18, 2005 -We are greatly disappointed that the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday failed to follow the Senate's lead in shielding the Medicaid program from debilitating cuts. The roughly $20 billion in reductions over five years approved by the House are more than double the administration's proposed cuts over the same time period, greatly jeopardizing the security of the source of primary and preventive health care for 50 million of our nation's citizens.

Full Statement: http://www.apha.org/news/press/2005/med_cuts.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 04:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

THURSDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have launched an international study to evaluate the ability of a new estrogen-suppressing drug, exemestane, to prevent breast cancer in women at increased risk for the disease.

The ExCel study will track more than 4,500 postmenopausal women in Canada, the United States and Spain for five years. Researchers say it will include women at increased risk for breast cancer due to risk factors such as age, family history, age at first menstrual period, and age at first live birth.

Full Article: http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docid=524871

Posted by Chad Fennell at 03:57 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Libraries are co-hosting a free forum on open access publishing, Ownership and Access in Scholarly Publishing.

The forum is scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at:

• UMB School of Nursing Auditorium (Live)
  
• JHU School of Medicine Mountcastle Auditorium (Live Broadcast)
  
• JHU Homewood Campus: Bloomberg Auditorium (Live Broadcast)
  
• JHU Homewood Campus: SDS Room in Mattin Center (Live Broadcast)
  
• From your own desktop (Webcast)
  

Posted by Chad Fennell at 08:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

DUNEDIN, Fla.--After a doctor sees a patient, he or she often prescribes medications. But what if a doctor also wants to direct a patient to up-to-date, reliable, consumer-friendly information about a health concern? Under a pilot program to be launched in Florida on Feb. 14, physicians from six counties are being encouraged to refer their patients to MedlinePlus, a consumer health site of the National Institutes of Health.

The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF) and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation have teamed up with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), an arm of the National Institutes of Health, to encourage Florida physicians to point patients to first-rate online health information in NLM's MedlinePlus database (www.medlineplus.gov), and Fisher Center Foundation's Web site (www.alzinfo.org). The pilot program, called the "Information Rx" project, will be launched in six Florida counties with a demonstration hosted by Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R-FL).

Full Article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/press_releases/rx_florida05.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 10:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The University of Minnesota today received $5 million from Microsoft Corp. at a ceremonial check presentation in the McNamara Alumni Center. The payment comes from the April 2004 settlement agreement of an antitrust class action lawsuit the State of Minnesota had brought against Microsoft Corp. The University was not a plaintiff in the case.

Full Article: http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/U_receives_5_million_announces_new_bioinformatics_initiative.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 04:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Illness and medical bills caused half (50.4 percent) of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published today as a Web Exclusive by the journal Health Affairs. The study estimates that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually -- counting debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children.

Full Article: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=42456

Posted by Chad Fennell at 12:58 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

The largest, most comprehensive study ever done comparing the effectiveness of hand hygiene products shows that nothing works better in getting rid of disease-causing viruses than simply washing one's hands with good old-fashioned soap and water.

Among the viruses soapy hand washing flushes down the drain is the one that causes the common cold. Other removable viruses cause hepatitis A, acute gastroenteritis and a host of other illnesses.

A separate key finding was that waterless handwipes only removed roughly 50 percent of bacteria from volunteer subjects' hands.

Full Article: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=8368

Posted by Chad Fennell at 01:44 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The bio-behavioral determinants of adolescent smoking progression

Janet Audrain-McGovern, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania

Host: Katie Schmitz

For a complete schedule visit: http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/aboutus/date.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 01:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) recently introduced the Public Health Preparedness Workforce Development Act of 2005, created to ensure that the United States has a well-trained public health workforce that can effectively respond to terrorist events, emerging infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies.

Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce News Updatehttp://www.phpartners.org/news.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 01:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Global Health database now available as part of CAB Direct service

The popular public health literature database "Global Health" from CABI Publishing is now available to U of M users. The University Libraries have begun a subscription to CAB Direct (aka CAB Abstracts).

From the CABI Publishing Description of Global Health:

Global Health is the definitive international public health database for academics, researchers, NGOs, policy makers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and students."

This bibliographic database is well placed to fill many of the gaps in your existing human health research resources. It can provide you with:

• Over 900,000 records, 95% of which contain informative abstracts
  
• 50,000 records selected, abstracted and classified by subject specialists every year
  
• Information from more than 3500 serials, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, patents, theses, electronic only publications and other difficult-to-obtain sources from more than 125 countries
  
• Global coverage of both the developing and developed world with over 50 languages translated into English
  
• Information of which 40% is unique to Global Health

Questions about using CAB Direct can be referred to the Bio-Medical reference services.

Posted by Chad Fennell at 05:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Please join us on Friday, March 11, 2005 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time,
10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT for the latest Project HEALTHY Program:

Health Information for Cyber Seniors

Join presenters Sallie Klipp and Peg Burnette as they explain how to find the best health information on the Internet.
This program is part of Project HEALTHY, which provides consumer health
information programs of interest to senior citizens. To attend this free, online presentation, go to http://www.projecthealthy.org.

About Project HEALTHY

The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center (MITBC), part of the Alliance Library System, in partnership with the UIC Library of the Health Sciences-Peoria (LHS-Peoria), will be conducting twelve monthly sessions on timely consumer health topics of interest to Illinois seniors. MITBC provides library content and services to the print-impaired population--largely seniors--in central and northwest Illinois. Project HEALTHY will utilize the expertise of UI College of Medicine personnel and other Peoria-area health professionals to plan, produce, distribute, and archive topical presentations and discussions.

Full Description: http://www.projecthealthy.org/about.htm

Posted by Chad Fennell at 03:29 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The fourth annual symposium, now two days long, supports the field of bioinformatics and its UM Graduate Program. It includes tutorials, world-renowned speakers, a poster session, exhibits, demonstrations, and a lunch hosted by the Bioinformatics Graduate Faculty. All events are free, but, since space is limited, Pre-Registration is required.

Link: http://www.binf.umn.edu/bisymp05/

Posted by Chad Fennell at 10:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (4)

AHC deans and faculty are invited to attend four upcoming interview
sessions for the position of Director of Health Science Libraries. Each
candidate will give a presentation on the topic, "A Vision of Health
Science Libraries in the Research University," followed by a
question/answer session. The presentations will be every Monday morning
in March. Each candidate's resume is on the Libraries website.

March 7: Jeanette McCray, Deputy Director, University of Arizona Health Sciences Library
http://staff.lib.umn.edu/ateam/JMcCray.pdf
Presentation and questions: 9:30-10:30 a.m., 555 Diehl Hall

March 14: Gary Byrd, Director, Health Sciences Library, University at Buffalo (SUNY)
http://staff.lib.umn.edu/ateam/GByrd.pdf
Presentation and questions: 9:30-10:30 a.m., 555 Diehl Hall

March 21: Jane Blumenthal, Associate Dean and Director, Dahlgren Memorial Library, Georgetown University Medical Center
http://staff.lib.umn.edu/ateam/JBlumenthal.pdf
Presentation and questions: 9:30-10:30 a.m., 555 Diehl Hall

March 28: Linda Watson, Assistant Dean for Knowledge Management and
Medical Center Librarian, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library,
University of Virginia
http://staff.lib.umn.edu/ateam/LWatson.pdf
Presentation and questions: 9:30-10:30 a.m., 555 Diehl Hall

Posted by Chad Fennell at 10:40 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

CANCER CENTER SPRING POSTER SESSION AND SYMPOSIUM

The Sixth Annual Spring Poster Session and Symposium sponsored by the Cancer Center Core Facilities will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., May 19, 2005. The schedule for the event includes oral presentations from 11 a.m. to noon followed by poster session and lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. Students, staff, post-docs and PIs are invited to participate by presenting a poster.

Online registration will open on Monday, March 21, 2005. Due to the increasing number (and size!) of posters and the limited amount of display space, we have decided to display the first 35 abstracts/posters that are submitted in the Cancer Center atrium areas. Other posters will be displayed as space permits in other areas of the Cancer Center. All abstracts will be printed in the program booklet.

For more information, call Sue Fautsch at 5-6955 or send an email to fauts001@umn.edu.

Link: http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/ccmembers/members.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 11:21 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Please call Kamala Upadhyaya at 626-5326 for assistance with your application.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TRANSDISCIPLINARY TOBACCO USE RESEARCH CENTER (TTURC) PILOT GRANT PROGRAM
Applications Due: April 15, 2005

The purpose of the TTURC Pilot Grants Program is to provide seed money to support innovative studies aimed at reducing the harm from tobacco dependence, or strategies to reduce tobacco use among populations that have been refractory to smoking cessation efforts. Proposals may involve any level of inquiry (e.g. molecular, genetic, preclinical, clinical, epidemiologic or public policy). Up to $25,000 for 1 year is available to support pilot projects. This funding may be used for direct costs only.

Potential applicants must first contact the Pilot Projects Program Director (contact information below) to determine whether the proposed project is within the scope of the Center; applications that have not been discussed will not be accepted. Before submitting an application, please contact Roxy McCann at 612-625-2662 or by email at donni0007@umn.edu for submission guidelines. A pdf file with a copy of this announcement is available.

Paul Pentel, M.D.
Pilot Projects Program director
University of Minnesota TTURC
pentel@umn.edu

Link: http://www.cancer.umn.edu/page/ccmembers/members.html

Posted by Chad Fennell at 11:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)