Halloween on the Health Train

 

My friend and buddy for Halloween night.

If it doesn’t work out, there is always this,

Happy Goblins !!

A Haunting I will go

Lines in The Sand

 

Stanford University

The San Jose Mercury News Reports,

 

“Stanford University opens
new stem cell building,
bucking federal
restrictions”

Across the nation, embryonic stem cells live in legal
limbo, their fate uncertain with a lawsuit challenging
public funding for research.
But they are cherished celebrities at Stanford
University's School of Medicine, which on
Wednesday inaugurated a new home for them at the

Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, now the
largest stem cell facility in the nation.
"The stem cell revolution has been launched in
California,"

Bob Klein of the California Institute for
Regenerative Medicine declared at the afternoon
ceremony. After his son was diagnosed with
diabetes and his mother with Alzheimer's, Klein w
rote the language for Proposition 71, which
cleared the way for such research in California.

"In this fine facility, research is insulated from federal influence. Science is served by patients, not politics."

The cells, which will contribute to pioneering
research, remained upstairs in a high-security lab
during the afternoon pageantry. They live in flat

plastic dishes, within warm incubators where they
eat nutrient-rich broth -- and multiply by the
minute.
"They are very, very, very precious," said research
manager Vittorio Sebastiano, who is responsible for
the well-being of the 10 million to 100 million cells,
a diverse collection of both innocents and killers.
Many are derived from donated embryos; others
come from tissues of sick or dying patients.
He handles each dish carefully, and only briefly,
wearing plastic gloves to
avoid contamination. He monitors their health by
the color of the pH-sensitive broth, which shifts
from pink to purple or yellow with any change in the
cells' conditions.
Until recently, these cells were scattered in
individual labs, some off campus.
To keep them undisturbed and centrally located
during the chaos of construction and lab relocation,
Stanford collected the cells and put them together in
one small room, which was completed early, at the
new site. The dozens of dishes were loaded into
Styrofoam boxes -- kept warm by bottles of heated
water -- then quickly driven across campus and
moved to the new incubators.
Meanwhile, lab equipment -- ranging from pipettes
to centrifuges -- has been shipped to the new site.
The Lokey Building's 200,000 square feet of lab
space will serve 500 people and 33 different
research projects.
Bringing all the researchers under one roof will
make it easier for them to collaborate while sharing
expensive equipment and technical support.
Located so close to Stanford Hospital, doctors can
treat patients and then walk to their labs within

minutes. The new building also offers 60 temporary
"hotel" rooms for researchers from as far away as
Germany and Singapore, contributing valuable
cross-pollination of ideas.
"All the real experts in California in stem cell
biology are right here, together, in this building,"
said Sebastiano, a developmental biologist.
Meanwhile, scientists outside California endure a
legal roller coaster, as a lawsuit challenging federal
funding of this research wends its way through the
judicial system. At stake are an estimated 1,300
jobs, as well as more than $200 million in grants
from the National Institutes of Health that support
more than 200 projects.
The study of embryonic stem cells has been subject
to religious objections and was limited for years by
the Bush administration. The Obama administration
lifted the limits, but a lawsuit has left the field more
restricted than ever. In August, Chief Judge Royce C.
Lamberth, of Federal District Court for the District of
Columbia, issued an injunction blocking research.
The ruling is now being appealed.
The Stanford effort, in contrast, is supported by $44
million in state funding from the California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine, created by voter approval
of Proposition 71 in 2004. An additional $75
million was donated by Stanford alumnus Lorry I.
Lokey, founder of Business Wire. The remainder of
the $200 million budget was raised through private
donations and university resources.
Scientists there also teach. Already 100 students,
postdoctoral fellows, physicians and researchers --
from campuses including San Jose State, UC Santa
Cruz and UCLA -- have learned how to derive and
care for stem cells.
The new facility will expand this training program

-- and perhaps offer the first Ph.D. program in cell
biology in the country.
"It's brilliant," said Sebastiano. "It's not a matter of
research. It's a matter of how to pass the knowledge
of this research to a new generation of scientists."
Throughout the turmoil, the cells continue to grow.
Some of the embryo-derived cells have matured into
tiny heart cells, and beat in unison. Scientists hope
to build tissue to patch up damaged hearts, create
insulin-producing cells for diabetics or heal the
damaged spinal columns of quadriplegics.
Other cells do not come from embryos -- they are
mature cells donated by patients.

 

Ravi Dasgupta became the first person ever to receive a stem cell transplant.

Some cause cystic fibrosis; others, sickle cell
disease. One dish holds skin cells from patients
with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare and life-
threatening blistering disease of the skin.
In the future, as the Lokey building fills, they will be
joined by legions of others, causing diseases as
diverse as cancer to Parkinson's disease -- a virtual
Noah's Ark of cell samples.
Lokey, a jovial 83-year-old, said he was excited by
the potential of stem cells to improve health and
extend longevity.
"This life," he told the crowd, "is too rewarding, and
good, to leave early."

There are many dedicated to advancing hope for cures. We should not despair about the present political morass . We shall overcome.

del.icio.us Tags: stem cell,genetics,cystic fibrosis,health train express,Robert Klein,Lorri Lokey Building,Stanford University,Medical center,CIRM

Health Train Express The Book

 

is now available for the cost of an email to me requesting it. This edition covers January 2010 through October 26, 2010.  It is in a pdf format.

 

Get one quickly…THEY WILL GO FAST. The first 100 will also get a free picture of the author.

 

Wait too long, and this may happen.

 

del.icio.us Tags: health train,train wreck

A Short and Useful Life

 

It’s nice to honor someone before they pass away and that is the subject of this mornings’ blog.

I first met her in 2003 or 2004. I don’t really remember the exact year. It was in a time when I did not know someone like her even existed. 

For me it was an invigorating change in semi-retirement. She would fill many hours of each day.

She was a breath of fresh air in my life, however at times I did not know how to communicate with her, and she often misunderstood my intentions.

She was a ‘new age being’, one who many others also discovered. However when ever I knocked on her door, I would only have to whisper secret words and she would invite me in once again. She rarely tired of my visits, she primped for my visits, and at times would not let me visit as she dressed in some new attire for my pleasure.  During my days I would check on her ,often unbelieving when I found her wanting my attention, even though she was occupied with others.

Our relationship was passionate as I awoke each morning to sample her offerings.  I admit gradually she became my connection with the world.

Over the course of the last several years,  I admit I became fickle, seeking to satisfy my needs with others who had adopted her fresh and seductive ways Others took her best features and adopted her ‘fashion into new garments and like with an older woman,  her admirers and courtiers were attracted to their new muses.

I also sadly developed new relationships with the come-latlies and found it more difficult to be with her.  I was an admitted adulter who found time short at I wooed others throughout my day, however she remained my morning sunrise as I awoke each day.

Last week I heard the news that she only had several more weeks to live.  I rushed to her and she had left me a message that what I had heard was true.  She  would be gone by the end of the month. In her own amicable way (as she had done all her)  life she offered to help me make the transition to new friends.   I had loved how she gathered the rest of my friends.  She was a  social butterfly. I followed her lead and made many new friends, forming a close group who will go on in her absence. We all contributed to her passing with our fickle nature.

I don’t know what our group plans to do when she passes. She was unique, and insular, even while very sociable, choosing to stand alone, not attaching herself to another form of entertainment. Some of us have found other lovers. For me,although she showed her age, she is still my morning cup of tea. Will there be a ‘celebration for her beginning’ or will she pass quietly into the night?   The younger generation in a short time will not remember her or the important role she played in our lives.

Perhaps some of you will know of whom I speak.  You can still visit her here.  If you have been with her she always recognized you with the right words.

Be still, old friend knowing that you changed all our lives.

 

GML

Accountable Care Organizations

 

This is the new buzz word sweeping through the MBA, MHA, and HHS.

So, who is accountable to whom, and what?

You may watch a webinar or attend a conference in Los Angeles, California on October 25-27 2010 focused on Accountable Care Organizations.

There are the usual number of talking heads including CEOs of large medical groups, the head of the California Association of Physician Groups.  Notably absent is the California Medical Association, which represents physicians. It makes me wonder if CMA was even invited…

            

If you or your group wish to present at the next National Meeting You can apply here:

Know your ‘enemy’ make them your friends, be aware and make yourselves heard !!

 

WEBINAR INFORMATION, AND BROCHURE WITH AGENDA

del.icio.us Tags: ACO,accountable care organization,webinar,capg,health train express,IHA

Health Train Express Schedule & Health 2.0

 

 

Health Train will be stopping twice a day to publish an article in the morning and then in the evening. Don’t forget to check twice each day. The AM edition will cover scientific breakthroughs both in basic science and clinical science as well as HIT which will impact how medicine will be practiced in the 21st century. The PM edition will continue to cover HIT and policy reform as well as appropriate humorous subjects.

This morning the train stops briefly to review the messages at Health 2.0, just held the past week in San Francisco.

The street is big on all the flurry and buzz about medicine and HIT. Although I have never attended a Health 2.0 shout out,

 

I have managed to follow them on the web. Without judging the merits of each presentation, or idea there are substantial numbers of entrepreneurs betting their wallets and time on these developments. We as physicians will gain much from these presentations, if we advise our patients to consider these options. Most of them are “consumer-centric”  and their success will largely depend upon patient acceptance.  Recent market surveys indicate wider acceptance and use of the resources. Videos have been published from the recent gathering of minds.

I enjoyed this one in particular.  Regina Holiday attended the meeting and created a wonderful summary in paint of the conference and what it represented.  Have a look !

del.icio.us Tags: Health 2.0,Art in Medicine,Regina Holliday,Health Train

I Work So Hard !!

 

Sorry I had to interrupt my regular programming to bring you this hysterical video. 

We docs work so hard !!  That’s what you think.

 

Call Me Senator from RightChange on Vimeo.

Workin so hard !

 

THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL MESSAGE ! It is a politically correct message .