Health and Medicine

The University at Buffalo announced today that it has received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A University at Buffalo dermatologist has won a $50,000 Prize4Life ALS Biomarker Challenge Discovery Prize for developing a promising biomarker that can be used to assess disease progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

A study by researchers in the University at Buffalo's Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence has produced the first examination of deficits in pediatric patients with demyelinating disorders compared to healthy children, using a new battery of neuropsychological tests for pediatric multiple sclerosis.

Could HDL, the "good cholesterol," have the same protective effect in multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory disease of the brain's white matter, as it does in heart disease, through its anti-inflammatory effects on blood vessels? The answer may be yes, based on results of research conducted at the University at Buffalo.

Not all technology meets human needs, and some technologies provide only the illusion of having met your needs. But new research by psychologists at the University at Buffalo and Miami University, Ohio, indicates that illusionary relationships with the characters and personalities on favorite TV shows can provide people with feelings of belonging, even in the face of low self esteem or after being rejected by friends or family members.

A national study of data collected over 12 years finds that delinquent teens marry earlier than their peers, while substance-abusing teens -- especially girls who abuse marijuana -- marry later than peers, if at all. University at Buffalo sociologist Sampson Lee Blair's research is a rare look at the long-term effects of teen delinquency and drug abuse on adult role attainment.

World experts on hyperbaric medicine will convene in the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo April 15-18 for a scientific symposium recognizing University at Buffalo Professor Claes E.G. Lundgren, M.D., Ph.D., for his contributions to the field and to honor his recent appointment as SUNY Distinguished Professor.

Behavior treatment works as well as drugs for children with ADHD and bypasses the risk of medication's side effects, a meta-analysis of 174 studies on ADHD treatment conducted at the University at Buffalo, has shown.

Most research on developmental pathways leading to substance use and related disorders focuses on factors related to aggressive, acting-out behaviors in children as early risk factors for alcohol and drug use.

Several studies have suggested there is a connection between organisms that cause gum disease and the development of heart disease, but few studies have tested this theory. A study conducted at the University at Buffalo, where the gum disease/heart disease connection was uncovered, now has shown that two oral pathogens in the mouth were associated with an increased risk of having a heart attack, but that the total number of germs, regardless of type, was more important to heart health.