In Review

Research Notes

Rochester Team: Air Force Program Reduces Suicide

Active duty personnel in the United States Air Force are less likely to commit suicide, domestic abuse, murder, and other violence, according to a new study by researchers at the University who evaluated a prevention program put in place by the Air Force. Kerry Knox, assistant professor of community and preventive medicine, says the program could be a model for other workplaces. The University team found that severe family violence declined the most, 54 percent, after the prevention program began. Homicides dropped 51 percent, suicides decreased 33 percent, and accidental deaths slid 18 percent. The research was reported in the British Medical Journal.

Breast Cancer Patients Not Getting Full Doses, Study Finds

Fewer than half of women with early stage breast cancer are receiving the full, recommended dose of potentially lifesaving chemotherapy, researchers from the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center reported in a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The team found that 56 percent of the 20,799 women treated for early stage breast cancer in 1,243 community-based oncology practices nationwide received less than 85 percent of their prescribed chemotherapy dose intensity due to treatment delays or dose reductions.

Epilepsy Drug May Get New Life Against Alzheimer’s

A 20-year-old medication that has been successfully used to treat epilepsy, migraines, and bipolar disorder may provide new hope for the more than 4 million Americans suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. The Medical Center is launching a national study involving 30 institutions to determine if the drug valproate preserves functioning and delays the expected decline associated with Alzheimer’s.

Rochester Focuses on Rare Neurological Diseases

Three uncommon neurological disorders will get new, focused attention from University scientists as result of a Rochester’s selection to lead one of seven national centers to study especially rare diseases. The Rochester center is led by Robert Griggs, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology, who 10 years ago coined the word “channelopathies” to describe diseases caused by abnormal cell channels that regulate levels of crucial chemicals. Griggs’s center will focus on three channelopathies—periodic paralysis, episodic ataxia, and nondystrophic myotonias —that are so rare that most doctors never see a single case in a lifetime of practice.

Custom Contact Lenses Get Test

A scientist at the Rochester Eye Institute is developing customized contact lenses in a four-year effort to improve the vision of people whose eyesight remains poor even with the best conventional techniques. Geunyoung Yoon, assistant professor of ophthalmology, will use adaptive optics—the same technology that helps astronomers remove the twinkle from starlight—in an effort to discover why patients who have had a corneal transplant or who have abnormal, cone-shaped corneas don’t see as well as most people. Yoon will make sensitive measurements of each participant’s eye, then will use a laser to sculpt a soft contact lens tailored precisely to counter the patient’s unique optical aberrations.