Author Interviews, Diabetes, Ophthalmology, UCLA / 20.02.2015

Rohit Varma, MD, MPH Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology USC Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rohit Varma, MD, MPH Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology USC Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Varma: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4.4% of adults with diabetes aged 40 and older have advanced diabetic retinopathy that may result in severe vision loss. Clinical trials have shown that intravitreal injections of anti-VEGFs, such as ranibizumab, can reduce visual impairment and even in some cases improve visual acuity outcomes in patients with diabetic macular edema. We developed a model, based on data from the RIDE and RISE clinical trials, to estimate the impact of ranibizumab treatment on the number of cases of vision loss and blindness avoided in non-Hispanic white and Hispanic persons with diabetic macular edema in the United States.Results from the model suggest that, compared with no treatment, every-4-week ranibizumab 0.3 mg reduces legal blindness between 58%-88% and reduces vision impairment between 36%-53% over 2 years in this population. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Stroke, UCLA / 15.02.2015

Dr. May Nour MD PhD Neurology Fellow UCLA MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. May Nour MD PhD Neurology Fellow UCLA Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Nour: In October of 2014, results from the MR CLEAN trial were the first to demonstrate better functional outcomes in stroke patients as a result of endovascular therapy. Among patients whose stroke was caused by clot blocking a large vessel responsible for delivering blood to the vital tissue of the brain, the use of endovascular therapy, primarily utilizing second-generation clot retrieval devices, showed improved outcomes in most cases evaluated in combination with medical therapy, when compared to medical therapy alone. Currently, the standard of care involves delivery of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) within a short time window (up to 3-4.5 hrs) with the intention of dissolving, rather than physically removing the clot as in the case of endovascular retrieval. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, PTSD, UCLA / 15.01.2015

Armen K. Goenjian, M.D., L.D.F.A.P.A., F.A.C.G.S. Research Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Armen K. Goenjian, M.D., L.D.F.A.P.A., F.A.C.G.S. Research Professor of Psychiatry Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that develops after exposure to a traumatic event such as rape, war, natural disaster, and accident. Symptoms include recurrent intrusive traumatic memories, flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, jumpiness, and anxiety. Dopaminergic and serotonergic systems have been implicated in PTSD. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that degrades dopamine, an important brain neuro-hormone that regulates human behavior, thoughts and emotions.  Tryptophan hydroxylase is the rate limiting step in the synthesis of serotonin, another important neuro-hormone that regulates arousal, sleep, anxiety, and mood. This study evaluated the association of four COMT gene loci, and the joint effect of COMT and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH-2) genes on PTSD symptoms. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Nature, UCLA / 22.12.2014

David Gerberry PhD Center for Biomedical Modeling, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Gerberry PhD Assistant Professor Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In an attempt to control the spread of HIV, governments in sub-Saharan Africa are considering providing antiretroviral drugs to people who do not have the virus but are at risk for becoming infected. Such drugs are known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.  Given the cost of PrEP, an important question is how to maximize the impact of interventions given a fixed level of prevention resources. A common strategy is to target resources to the individuals that are at the highest risk for infection.  This group of people is often referred to as the "core group" and can be thought of as sex workers, clients of sex workers and other individuals that are at very high risk for infection.  While targeting this core group is ideal and would result in the most cost-effectiveness interventions, being able to identify these individuals is difficult in practice and they are often unwilling to participate in the intervention; take pre-exposure prophylaxis or change their behavior for example.  From a mathematical perspective it is also very difficult to quantify their increased level of risk.  For example, is a sex worker at 5 times, 25 times, 100 times or 1000 times the risk for HIV infection?  Without this quantification, it is impossible to estimate the cost-effectiveness of a targeted strategy. In our work, we build an intervention strategy based on geographical targeting.  This takes advantage of the fact that HIV incidence is much higher in certain geographical locations than others.  Therefore, individuals in these areas are at increased risk for HIV infection.  Most importantly, such an intervention is feasible because reliable data exists across much of sub-Saharan Africa for the severity of the HIV epidemic in different regions.  To illustrate our ideas we used mathematical modeling to consider resource allocation in South Africa and found that targeting the provinces with highest HIV incidence would prevent 40% more infections than a plan that ignored geographic variation while using the same amount of resources. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, JCEM, Menopause, UCLA / 20.12.2014

Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Medicine/GIM Los Angeles, CA 90024MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA Medicine/GIM Los Angeles, California 90024 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Crandall: In a large group of postmenopausal women aged 50-79, we found that women who reporting having hot flashes at baseline had increased risk of hip fracture during the subsequent 8 years of observation, nearly double the risk compared with women who did not have hot flashes at baseline. (more…)
Author Interviews, MRSA, PNAS, UCLA, Vaccine Studies / 14.12.2014

Dr. Michael Yeaman Ph.D. Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease Specialist Chief, Division of Molecular Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Michael Yeaman Ph.D. Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease Specialist Chief, Division of Molecular Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Yeaman: In the U.S. and around the globe, skin and soft tissue infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continue to endanger the health and lives of patients and otherwise healthy individuals. Treatment is difficult because MRSA is resistant to many antibiotics, and the infections can recur, placing family members and other close contacts at risk of infection. Infectious disease specialists at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) tested a new investigational vaccine, NDV-3, and found it holds new hope for preventing or reducing the severity of infections caused by the "superbug" MRSA. In the study, which was published Dec. 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, the researchers reported that NDV-3, employing the recombinant protein Als3, can mobilize the immune system to fight off MRSA skin infections in an experimental model. The researchers found the vaccine works by enhancing molecular and cellular immune defenses of the skin in response to MRSA and other S. aureus bacteria in disease models. This is the first published study to demonstrate the effectiveness of a cross-kingdom recombinant vaccine against MRSA skin infections. NDV-3 is unique as it is the first vaccine to demonstrate it can be effective in protecting against infections caused by both S. aureus and the fungus Candida albicans. NDV-3 represents a novel approach to vaccine design that pioneers an approach termed convergent immunity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Infections, Nature, UCLA / 19.11.2014

Weian Zhao PhD Assistant Professor at the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, Irvine. Founder of Velox BiosystemsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Weian Zhao PhD Assistant Professor at the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, Irvine. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Zhao: Bloodstream infections are a major cause of illness and death. In particular, infections associated with antimicrobial-resistant pathogens are a growing health problem in the U.S. and worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, more than 2 million people a year globally get antibiotic-resistant blood infections, with about 23,000 deaths. The extremely high mortality rate for blood infections is due, in part, to the inability to rapidly diagnose and treat patients in the early stages. The present gold standard to detect a blood infections, is a blood culture and it takes 2-5 days for the detection and the identification of the bacteria. Recent molecular diagnosis methods, including polymerase chain reaction, can reduce the assay time to hours but are often not sensitive enough to detect bacteria that occur at low concentrations in blood, as is common in patients with blood infections.  Therefore, less expensive and less technically demanding methods are urgently needed for the rapid and sensitive identification of blood infections. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Heart Disease, UCLA / 18.11.2014

Boback Ziaeian MD Cardiology Fellow, UCLA Division of Cardiology PhD Candidate, UCLA Fielding School of Public HealthMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Boback Ziaeian MD Cardiology Fellow, UCLA Division of Cardiology PhD Candidate, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ziaeian: Heart failure is projected to increase dramatically over the coming decade due to an aging population improved medical therapies that prolong heart failure survival. Spending for heart failure is projected to increase from $20.9 billion in 2012 to $53.1 billion in 2030.  Despite the magnitude of the impact of heart failure on the US population and economy, our understanding of the factors associated with the highest cost heart failure hospitalizations is limited. Our study provides a descriptive analysis of how certain patient and hospital factors are associated with increased medical costs nationally. The top 20% of heart failure hospitalizations average $28,500 per hospitalization compared to $3,000 for the lowest 20%. Overall, patients with more medical conditions (such as obesity, lung disease, and peripheral vascular disease) have much higher costs associated with hospital care. As expected, sicker patients receiving more invasive procedures such mechanical ventilation or blood transfusions incurred higher costs. Certain hospital characteristics were also associated with higher costs. Hospitals in urban centers were higher cost compared to more rural hospitals. Hospitals in the Northeast and West Coast of the US were higher in cost compared to the Midwest and South. The reasons for this disparity in medical costs requires further research to better understand. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, UCLA / 22.10.2014

Dr. Matthew Budoff, M.D. Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute Torrance CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Matthew Budoff, M.D. Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute Torrance California Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Budoff: We evaluated whether patients undergoing coronary CT angiography (non-invasive angiography) had better outcomes than those treated without the test.  We found survival was better with CT angiography.    Finding atherosclerosis allows cardiologists and primary care doctors to treat the patient better, including more statin therapy, more anti-platelet therapy, more lifestyle modifications.  Several small studies showed similar results, but this was by far the most significant and largest study of it’s kind. (more…)
Author Interviews, JCEM, Menopause, UCLA / 22.10.2014

Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Medicine/GIM Los Angeles, CA 90024MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California UCLA Medicine/GIM Los Angeles, CA 90024 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Crandall: Clinical guidelines recommend that women aged ≥ 65 years should be screened for osteoporosis.  However, for younger postmenopausal women aged between 50 and 64 years, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends osteoporosis screening for women who have a 10-year predicted risk of osteoporosis fracture that is ≥9.3%.  We tested the ability the USPSTF strategy, and two other strategies (called OST and SCORE), to distinguish between women who did and did not experience a fracture in the subsequent 10 years.  We found that the USPSTF strategy did not identify the majority of who experienced osteoporotic fracture in the subsequent 10 years.  Especially in women aged 50-54 years, the USPSTF strategy identified fewer than 5% of women who experienced fracture over 10-year follow-up. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emergency Care, NEJM, UCLA / 16.10.2014

Daniel A. Waxman, MD, PhD Department of Emergency Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CaliforniaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel A. Waxman, MD, PhD Department of Emergency Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles RAND Corporation Santa Monica, California Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Waxman: About 10 years ago, three states (Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina) passed laws which made it much harder for doctors to be sued for malpractice related to emergency room care.   The goal of our research was to determine whether the lower risk of being sued translated into less costly care by emergency physicians.  To figure this out, we looked at the billing records of nearly 4 million Medicare patients and compared care before and after the laws took effect, and between states that passed reform and neighboring states that didn’t change their laws.   We found that these substantial legal protections didn’t cause ER doctors to admit fewer patients to the hospital, to order fewer CT or MRI scans, or to spend less for the overall ER visit. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Orthopedics, UCLA / 09.09.2014

Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Medicine/GIM Los Angeles, CA 90024MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carolyn J. Crandall, MD, MS Professor of Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Crandall: 1.        We found high-strength evidence that several medications decrease fracture risk when used by persons with bone density in the osteoporotic range and/or with pre-existing hip or vertebral fracture.  While many of the medications (alendronate, risedronate, zoledronic acid, ibandronate, denosumab, teriparatide, and raloxifene) reduce vertebral fractures, a reduction in the risk of hip fracture is not demonstrated for all of the medications.  In particular, hip fracture reduction is only demonstrated for alendronate, risedronate, zoledronic acid, and denosumab.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of head-to-head trials, the comparative effectiveness of the medications is unclear. 2.       The adverse effects of the medications vary.  For example, raloxifene is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic events, whereas denosumab and the bisphosphonate medications have been associated with increased risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw and atypical subtrochanteric femoral fractures. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Stroke, UCLA / 24.04.2014

Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow MD Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center UCLA CHAMP - Cholesterol, Hypertension, and Atherosclerosis Management Program Professor, Department of Medicine Associate Chief, Cardiology David Geffen School of Medicine Los Angeles, CAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow MD Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center Professor, Department of Medicine Associate Chief, Cardiology David Geffen School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Fonarow: This study examined data from hospitals that have adopted the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s national quality initiative, Target: Stroke, which aims to increase the number of stroke patients treated with clot-busting drugs for ischemic stroke within 60 minutes or less after hospital arrival.  Initiated nationwide in 2010, Target: Stroke provided 10 key strategies as well as tools to facilitate timely tPA administration, as well as additional approaches to improve stroke care and outcome. Data from 71,169 tPA-treated stroke patients at 1,030 hospitals participating in Target: Stroke were analyzed to compared the time to treatment and incidence of complications before implementation, from 2003 to 2009, to the post-implementation years, from 2010 to 2013. This study found that the percentage of patients treated within the recommended timeframe increased from less than one-third before Target: Stroke to more than half afterwards. The Target: Stroke program goal of 50 percent or more of patients having door-to-needle times within 60 minutes was successfully achieved. In addition, the average time to treatment dropped by 15 minutes, from 74 to 59 minutes. Faster treatment was associated with lower rates of complications, including death. Before Target: Stroke, 9.9% of stroke patients died in the hospital, compared to 8.3% of patients treated after the initiative started, a difference which was statistically significant. In addition, patients treated by Target: Stroke strategies were less likely to develop the complication of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Orthopedics, Race/Ethnic Diversity, UCLA / 08.04.2014

Dr. Carolyn Crandall, M.D. Division of General Internal Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Carolyn Crandall, M.D. Division of General Internal Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Crandall: We found that higher social class was linked with a lower risk of fractures among non-Caucasian women.  Compared with non-Caucasian women who had no more than a high school education, those with at least some postgraduate education had nearly 90% lower rates of non-traumatic fracture.  These results were present even after we accounted for income. (more…)
Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Duke, Medical Research Centers, Stroke, UCLA / 18.02.2014

Gregg C Fonarow, UCLA Medical Ctr, Los Angeles, CA; Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center Professor, Department of Medicine Associate Chief, Cardiology David Geffen School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregg C Fonarow, UCLA Medical Ctr, Los Angeles, CA; Director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center Professor, Department of Medicine Associate Chief, Cardiology David Geffen School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Fonarow: The study examined data from hospitals that have adopted the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association’s national quality initiative, Target: Stroke. The primary aim of Target: Stroke is to increase the number of stroke patients treated with tPA for acute ischemic stroke within 60 minutes or less after hospital arrival. The study demonstrated that patients received stroke therapy significantly faster in hospitals that participated in Target: Stroke. Between 2010 and 2013, the time between hospital arrival and use of tPA (door-to-needle time) dropped by 15 minutes, from 74 to 59 minutes, in hospitals that participated in Target: Stroke. This study found that the percentage of patients treated within the recommended timeframe increased from less than one-third before Target: Stroke to more than half afterwards. The Target: Stroke program goal of 50 percent or more of patients having door-to-needle times within 60 minutes was successfully achieved. Faster treatment was associated with improved patient outcomes and fewer complications, including death. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Social Issues, UCLA / 03.09.2013

Sean D. Young, PhD, MS Assistant Professor In-Residence Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine Department of Family Medicine University of California, Los AngelesMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sean D. Young, PhD, MS Assistant Professor In-Residence Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine Department of Family Medicine University of California, Los Angeles Dr. Young: Here's the main take-home point: There is a lot of excitement about the possibility of using technologies, big data, and mHealth to improve health outcomes and change behavior. However, 1) little work has been done on this topic using sound research methods (for example, studies have asked people to report whether a technology changed behavior rather than objectively measuring whether it actually changed behavior. (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Smoking, UCLA / 06.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Virender Rehan, MD Professor of Pediatrics Chief, Division of Neonatology Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Director, Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Training Program Co-Director Perinatal Research Center Harbor UCLA Medical Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Torrance, CA, 90502 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Rehan: The main findings of the study include the likelihood of transmission of asthma to third generation offspring following maternal smoking during pregnancy even when child’s mother didn’t smoke. And these effects seem to be more profound in the upper airways of males compared to that in females. (more…)