2010 News Release Archive

 
12/20/2010
Intensive chemotherapy can dramatically boost survival of older teenage leukemia patients

Research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators will likely impact how acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treated in young adults and shows older adolescent age does not dictate worse outcomes against the most common childhood cancer

 
 
12/08/2010
Different origins discovered for medulloblastoma tumor subtypes

International effort led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists is expected to fuel development of targeted therapies and aid the search for unique combinations of cells and mutations that lead to other cancers

 
 
12/06/2010
Two studies provide insight into stroke risk and prevention in young sickle cell anemia patients

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators discuss results of research into managing iron overload associated with stroke prevention in young sickle cell patients and the search for genetic predictors of stroke risk

 
 
12/06/2010
Early safety results promising for Phase I/II trial of gene therapy treatment of hemophilia B

Vector-gene combination developed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and UCL is central to latest clinical trial of gene therapy as a possible tool to provide long-term relief from disabling bleeds

 
 
11/29/2010
Intensive Care Unit at St. Jude recognized for second year with national award

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been recognized for the second consecutive year with the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).

 
 
11/29/2010
Researchers identify a molecular switch that controls neuronal migration in the developing brain

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists report new details about mechanisms regulating a crucial step in brain development, offering insight into the origins of epilepsy, mental retardation and possibly brain tumor metastasis.

 
 
11/16/2010
Smoking cessation program open to cancer survivors who need help quitting the habit

In time for this year’s Great American Smokeout, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital expands its smoking cessation efforts by offering free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy to survivors of childhood or adult-onset cancer

 
 
10/27/2010
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital named recipient of Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been named the recipient of the 2010 Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award, presented by the Independence Bowl Foundation.

 
 
09/29/2010
Victor M. Santana, M.D., honored for his contribution to clinical research training

At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital a veteran investigator who oversees services and support essential to translating laboratory discoveries into better outcomes for patients is being honored for helping to train the next generation of research associates.

 
 
09/27/2010
Cancer genomics is focus of upcoming biomedical research symposium

Investigators at the forefront of international efforts to decode the human genome and translate the findings into tools to better understand, find, treat and prevent cancer are scheduled to be at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the Sixth Annual Biomedical Research Symposium Friday, October 1.

 
 
09/22/2010
Study links normal function of protein, not its build up inside cells, to death of neurons

A new study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists signals hope for treatment of a neurodegenerative disease and a new model for understanding the mechanism at work in other more common neurodegenerative disorders.

 
 
09/20/2010
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists show Six3 gene essential for retinal development

Results help build a foundation for the next generation of therapies using cell-replacement strategies to restore vision lost to the retinal degeneration associated with glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

 
 
09/20/2010
New pathway regulates immune balance and offers promising drug development target

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists uncover a novel pathway for regulating T lymphocytes that play very different roles in inflammation. The mechanism offers a promising target for new drugs against autoimmune disorders.

 
 
09/13/2010
Childhood cancer survivors show sustained benefit from common ADHD medication

Trial led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators finds medication restores sustained attention of many young survivors; work begins on new strategies to help survivors cope with this common challenge.

 
 
09/13/2010
New insights provide promise for development of tools to protect damaged tissues

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists discovered a new mechanism cells use to maximize production of a key protein following DNA damage and demonstrated the potential of small molecules to regulate the process and protect healthy tissue.

 
 
09/07/2010
St. Jude researcher receives grant to focus on cancer pharmacogenomics in children

With its new expansion of the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital a prestigious grant to focus on anticancer agent research in children. The five-year, $8.6 million grant is titled “PAAR4Kids—Pharmacogenomics of Anticancer Agents Research in Children.”

 
 
09/01/2010
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital doctors and scientists team up to fight childhood cancer

While September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month nationwide, at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the fight against this disease is a year-round mission.

 
 
07/20/2010
St. Jude scientists develop new genomics-based approach to understand the origin of cancer subgroups

Scientists have long recognized that cancers may look the same under the microscope, but carry different mutations, respond differently to treatment and result in vastly different outcomes for patients.

 
 
06/29/2010
St. Jude named among best places to work in academia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is ranked as one of the top institutions in the annual “Best Places to Work in Academia” list by The Scientist magazine. This is the fifth consecutive year St. Jude made the publication’s top 10 list of institutions in the United States. The hospital ranks second in the country behind Princeton University.

 
 
06/15/2010
Noted St. Jude virologist presents lecture on pandemic influenza to the Royal Society

Acclaimed virologist Robert Webster, Ph.D., of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, presented the 2010 Leeuwenhoek prize lecture today, a prestigious recognition awarded by the Royal Society in London.

 
 
06/07/2010
Non-melanoma skin cancer may help identify survivors at increased risk for future cancers

Childhood cancer survivors diagnosed later with non-melanoma skin cancer may be at increased risk for having a malignant tumor within 15 years, according to research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators.

 
 
06/05/2010
Experimental targeted therapy shows early promise against medulloblastomas – a type of childhood brain cancer

Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC) presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology the findings of a pediatric brain tumor study using an experimental drug that targets the underlying genetic makeup of the tumor.

 
 
06/02/2010
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital named No. 1 children's cancer hospital in U.S.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has been named the nation's top children's cancer hospital in the 2010-11 Best Children's Hospital rankings published in U.S. News & World Report. St. Jude received the best overall score summarizing quality of care.

 
 
05/19/2010
Scientists release data on potential new treatment targets for malaria

An international team led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators today released data detailing the effectiveness of nearly 310,000 chemicals against a malaria parasite that remains one of the world’s leading killers of young children.

 
 
05/17/2010
Push to understand basis of childhood brain tumors leads to a new treatment target

The most comprehensive analysis yet of the genetic imbalances at the heart of childhood brain tumors known as high-grade gliomas (HGGs) identified a cancer gene that is unusually active in some tumors and is now the focus of a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital clinical trial.

 
 
05/12/2010
Judy Hicks of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital named social worker of the year

Social worker Judy Hicks of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has been named the 2010 Social Worker of the Year by the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers (APOSW).

 
 
05/10/2010
Smarter use of existing treatment helps dramatically boost survival of young AML patients

More individualized therapy and better supportive care helped push the survival for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to 71 percent three years after diagnosis, according to new research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators and reported in the medical journal The Lancet Oncology.

 
 
04/23/2010
Study links 1976 “swine flu” shot to stronger immune response to 21st century pandemic flu

New evidence shows immunization against “swine flu” in 1976 might provide individuals with some protection against the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, according to new research from St. Jude investigators.

 
 
04/15/2010
Research findings underscore needed action to safeguard lungs of young cancer survivors

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified childhood cancer survivors who are at increased risk for deteriorating lung health, in part due to the lifesaving bone marrow transplants they underwent years earlier.

 
 
03/30/2010
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital honors the hospital’s physicians on National Doctors’ Day

As physicians nationwide are acknowledged for their talent, sacrifice and courage on National Doctors’ Day, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital honors its more than 230 staff and consulting physicians who strive to fulfill the hospital’s mission each day.

 
 
03/29/2010
Advances reported in quest for drugs targeting childhood cancer

Investigators believe they have identified the founding member of a chemical family they hope will lead to a new class of cancer drugs, the first designed specifically against a childhood tumor, according to research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists.

 
 
03/24/2010
Six distinguished pediatric subspecialists appointed to new St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital chairs

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has partnered with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) to appoint six distinguished physicians to St. Jude chairs in subspecialty areas that have been identified as key to continuing the advancement of treatment and research at St. Jude.

 
 
03/22/2010
Ching-Hon Pui, MD, receives national recognition with Clinical Excellence Award

Ching-Hon Pui, MD, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is being honored with the Clinical Excellence Award at the fifth annual National Physician of the Year Awards, organized by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.

 
 
03/18/2010
New research details the machinery of immune protection against inflammatory disease like colitis

Scientists report a protein made by a gene already associated with a handful of human inflammatory immune diseases plays a pivotal role in protecting the intestinal tract from colitis.

 
 
03/10/2010
Research findings expected to ease treatment of low neutrophil counts in cancer patients

A multicenter trial led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators may change neutropenia treatment for all childhood cancer patients.

 
 
01/25/2010
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Washington University team to unravel genetic basis of childhood cancers

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, today announced an unprecedented effort to identify the genetic changes that give rise to some of the world’s deadliest childhood cancers. The team has joined forces to decode the genomes of more than 600 childhood cancer patients who have contributed tumor samples for this historic effort.

 
 
01/19/2010
Cholesterol-lowering drug shows promise against serious infections in sickle cell disease

New research suggests a family of widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs might help protect individuals from serious illness following bacterial infection, including the pneumococcal infections that pose a deadly threat to those with sickle cell disease.