Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker recently argued in a Boston Globe editorial that bioethicists need to "get out of the way" of research. His "live grenade thrown into the field of bioethics" and the reaction to it are outlined in an article in Pacific Standard.
Consortium member the National Center for Food Protection and Defense has changed its name to the Food Protection and Defense Institute. The new name reflects the center's expansion beyond its core research mission into education and training, information technology, and service delivery. The goal is to integrate these areas to provide innovative solutions that meet the needs of the food sector. The core work of the Center will remain protecting the global food supply.
An article in Nature outlines some of the dilemmas facing the NIH-funded Precision Medicine Initiative when it comes to deciding how much genetic data about disease risk will be shared with an expected one million participants in the project.
The University of Minnesota has received a $12 million dollar award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to bring together scientists, industry leaders, and policy partners committed to building better cities of the future. The project is led by Anu Ramaswami, director of Consortium member Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy, professor at the Humphrey School and in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering.
The University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute, a Consortium member center, has received a private grant in the amount of $2.4 million from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation that will help accelerate research into growing healthy, new skin for burn victims or patients with severe skin diseases.
In an interview posted today on the University's home page, pancreatic cancer survivor Scott Nelson describes the ongoing importance of patient participation in clinical trials. When he was diagnosed in 2004, Nelson was part of an experimental eight-week chemotherapy and radiation regimen that shrank his tumor to the point where it was successfully removed surgically.
An article in Science Magazine describes a remarkable Ebola vaccine trial conducted by a team for the World Health Organization (WHO). The researchers' approach was partly dictated by an unexpected decrease in the number of Ebola cases, nullifying traditional vaccine research involving thousands of participants.
The University of Minnesota Bee Squad is taking advantage of the warm weather to advance their mission of fostering healthy bee populations through community outreach. An article in the Star Tribune describes how members of the Squad are partnering with Urban Ventures to involve low-income Latinas – the self-described Reinas de Miel
A new enterprise has been launched to build on the University of Minnesota's leadership position in medical technology research and development. The Minnesota Medical Manufacturing Partnership (MMMP) is made up of the University of Minnesota and other nonprofits, economic development agencies and state government organizations.
Recent media reports about the dangers of eating too much kale have "all the hallmarks of a bogus health scare," according to an article in Vox.