UCSF News
Signs of Multiple Sclerosis Show Up in Blood Years Before Symptoms Appear
By Levi Gadye on
UCSF scientists have found a set of autoantibodies that emerge in some MS patients years before symptoms.
Gene Therapy Is Halting Cancer. Can It Work Against Brain Tumors?
By Suzanne Leigh on
New CAR-T gene therapy techniques could extend survival for patients with glioblastoma.
What Makes You Cough When Something Goes Down the Wrong Pipe?
By Sarah C.P. Williams on
When a mouthful of water goes down the wrong pipe – heading toward a healthy person’s lungs instead of their gut – they start coughing uncontrollably. That’s because their upper airway senses the water and quickly signals the brain. The same coughing reflex is set off in people with acid reflux, when acid from the stomach reaches the throat.
How the Inflamed Brain Becomes Disconnected After A Stroke
By Levi Gadye on
Mild brain inflammation destroys arm-like projections of neurons rather than the neurons themselves, but can still cause significant brain damage.
Survivors of Severe COVID Face Persistent Health Problems
By Victoria Colliver on
A study reveals the life-altering impact of COVID-19 on individuals who developed severe illness, the majority of whom had to be placed on mechanical ventilators. Two-thirds still had physical, psychiatric, and cognitive problems for up to a year later.
UCSF Grad Slam: This is Your Brain on Your Mother Tongue
By Laura López González on
Ten UCSF graduate students presented their research in accessible, 3-minute talks at the 2024 Grad Slam event. This year’s first-place talk was by Ilina Bhaya-Grossman on how our brains make meaning out of groups of vowels, consonants and pauses in our native tongues to recognize words.
San Francisco Giants’ Hand Surgeon Saves Fingers and Hands
By Ed Carpenter on
UCSF hand surgeon Scott Hansen, MD, offers insight on the importance of plastic surgery in treating hand injuries, especially for those of athletes.
UCSF Scientists Build a Molecular ‘GPS’ to Guide Cell Therapies
By Levi Gadye on
UCSF scientists have been awarded more than $30 million to develop “tissue GPS,” a new system using engineered T cells to guide therapies directly to their targets in the brain to treat neurological diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.
App May Pave Way to Treatments for No. 1 Dementia in Under-60s
By Suzanne Leigh on
A smartphone app could enable greater participation in clinical trials for people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a devastating neurological disorder that often manifests in mid-life.
‘In the Bubble Crib, I Would Press Against the Plastic and Get Hugs’
By Talya Sanders on
At age 2, UCSF construction project manager Michael Valero was treated at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for a congenital heart defect. He is now giving back to the hospital that saved his life by leading its upgrade and expansion efforts to expand state-of-the-art care.