Health and Medicine

Companies interested in receiving matching grants from the $1 million Western New York Wellness Works Initiative should watch their mailboxes this week. The University at Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions is calling for proposals from any company or business interested in developing a new wellness program for employees.

Surgeons at the University at Buffalo have carried out the first minimally invasive spinal surgery in the U.S., using a new technique to stabilize the lumbar spine called axial lumbar interbody fusion, or AxiaLIF.

Undergraduates from Western New York will have an opportunity this summer to participate in the inaugural session of a new biomedical-research training program at the University at Buffalo funded by a $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A novel non-estrogen-based therapy for hot flashes will be tested for effectiveness in a clinical trial conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo that is set to begin in February.

A device that saves lives of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and its University at Buffalo inventor will be the stars of The International Symposium of Endovascular Treatment of Aortic Diseases being held in Brazil Feb. 1-2.

Results of a University at Buffalo study published in the January issue of the Journal of Trauma show that police officers who do not wear a seat belt are 2.6 times more likely to die if their patrol car crashes than officers who use a seat belt.

Two University at Buffalo faculty members who have spent years researching a concept called contextual vocabulary acquisition, in which readers use clues to figure out meanings of unfamiliar words, plan to turn their findings into a curriculum designed to improve reading skills for students nationwide.

Specialists in treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are are conducting a clinical trial of an innovative treatment program that centers on reducing symptoms by changing the way patients think about and respond to potential IBS episodes.

The University at Buffalo's Arts and Sciences Libraries have constructed an online exhibit celebrating Albert Einstein's life and achievements with links to manuscripts and papers, scientific articles, related news and events, biographic data, photographs and audio-visual materials, games and thought experiments, as well as to a site designed to help kids think like physicists.

The Internet, mobile technologies and new-media technologies may be the most influential drivers of cultural change in American society today, according to University at Buffalo faculty members offering courses this semester exploring the social and cultural consequences of information and communication technologies.