Health and Medicine

Five to 15 percent of children and adolescents in the United States suffer from a dangerous and disabling emotional disorder that poses a serious impediment to their social, educational and emotional development. It is social anxiety disorder (SAD), a condition that, according to a researcher at the University at Buffalo, is seldom researched, recognized or treated although it is one of the most prevalent and disabling mental disorders of childhood and adolescence.

The University at Buffalo and the New York State Department of Health are teaming up to conduct a study to investigate the incidence of autoimmune and respiratory diseases in the Bellevue neighborhood of the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga.

An accident involving an elderly driver who killed 10 people shopping at a farmers' market in Santa Monica last week has focused a spotlight on whether the elderly should be retested on their driving skills after a certain age. But getting older does not necessarily mean driving worse, according to Anthony Szczygiel, professor of law at the University at Buffalo and a national expert in elder law.

Tort reform that would cap the non-economic damages that can be recovered in a health-care liability suit would have a significant adverse impact on women and the elderly, according to research conducted by a professor in the University at Buffalo Law School.

With almost 500 University at Buffalo physicians practicing in more than 17 primary and specialty-care areas, choosing a university-associated doctor may seem like a daunting task. But now it's been made much easier, thanks to the "Find-a-UB-Physician" Web site developed last fall by the Office of Medical Computing in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Researchers with the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) have been awarded a four-year, $1,569,584 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study the development of drinking problems by young adults.

University at Buffalo epidemiologists have received a $2.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to conduct a four-year investigation of breast cancer, examining genetic susceptibility, tumor characteristics and dietary intake of fruits, vegetables and alcohol as they relate to breast-cancer risk.

Daniel Fischer, Ph.D., who coordinates the bioinformatics track at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, has been named director of educational programs for the University at Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics.

Endocrinologists from the University at Buffalo have shown for the first time that insulin suppresses production of vascular endothelial growth factor, a compound known to play a role in the development of blindness in persons with diabetes, a condition called diabetic retinopathy.

Thirty-two new graduates of School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo were honored with scholarships and awards during the school's recent commencement ceremony.