Health and Medicine

Scientists at the University at Buffalo, the Buffalo VA Medical Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute have received a $2 million program project grant from the National Institutes of Health to perform research aimed at developing vaccines to prevent ear infections in children and respiratory tract infections in adults with chronic lung disease.

A biological scientist and ecologist at the University at Buffalo has received a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to determine how man-made environmental changes affect the transmission of malaria in Africa.

After spending the past six years probing the physics of how a football travels during flight using computer simulations and the videotape of a single forward pass from a 1976 professional football game, a University at Buffalo researcher hopes this week to put into place the final piece of the puzzle for a never-before-quantified phenomenon in football: why a forward pass curves slightly to the left or right, based on the handedness of the passer.

The alarming shortage of engineers throughout the U.S. has spurred numerous proposals on teacher training, curriculum and special programs, all geared toward boosting the sagging interest of American schoolchildren in science and mathematics. But one of the most important factors in shaping children's interest in science and math -- the attitudes of their parents -- is rarely mentioned, according to an engineer at the University at Buffalo.

Insulin, the hormone used to treat diabetes, also may have potential as a treatment for heart disease, a study conducted by endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Electronic prescriptions -- not fingerprinting of patients at pharmacies as proposed by some policymakers -- could help cut a substantial amount of illicit use of medications like OxyContin, according to Karl D. Fiebelkorn, assistant dean for student affairs and professional relations in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The federal agency responsible for setting medical reimbursement policy for Medicaid and Medicare programs has designated an assessment survey developed at the University at Buffalo as the national standard for determining payment for inpatient medical rehabilitation.

The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo this fall is offering a new master's degree program in public health (MPH), as well as a law and public health program in conjunction with the UB Law School.

OxyContin, one of the newest drugs prescribed for pain, has become a destructive drug of abuse among recreational drug users obtaining it illegally. In addition, warns a pain specialist at the University at Buffalo, the potential for abuse is high also among patients receiving the drug legitimately if they are not monitored closely by their physicians.

Mexican Americans in the U.S. who speak primarily Spanish and are less "Americanized" are significantly less active during leisure time than Mexican Americans whose main language is English, a study headed by researchers from the University at Buffalo has found.