Scientist-led conferences at Harvard, Stanford and MIT

  • Neural codes of diseases studied to discover potential “electroceutical” treatments

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/10/us-glaxosmithkline-electroceuticals-idUSBRE9390VM20130410 The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT and GlaxoSmithKline are collaborating on research which aims to discover medicines that use electrical impulses to regulate the body’s organs and functions. Nearly all organs and functions in the body are regulated through circuits of neurons that communicate through electrical impulses. There already exist devices that…

  • Research links autism to environmental factors

    https://imfar.confex.com/imfar/2013/webprogram/Paper14885.html New studies lend strength to the notion that environmental influences before birth play a role in the risk for the autism. At the recent International Society for Autism Research annual conference, Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health presented results from a large national study, known as the Nurses’ Health Study II.…

  • Machine learning algorithms analyze mobile phone data for Parkinson’s research

    http://mobihealthnews.com/22076/michael-j-fox-foundation-takes-first-step-toward-crowdsourced-research/ The Michael J. Fox Foundation is exploring how data sourced from mobile phones and analyzed with machine learning algorithms can improve Parkinson’s research.  The research was crowdsourced via a public competition. The initial study included 16 individuals — nine patients, seven control.  For 8 weeks, 4-5 hours per day, each carried a smartphone with seven…

  • DNA “nanotrain” for targeted cancer drug delivery

    http://news.ufl.edu/2013/04/29/nanotrain/ The nanotrain cost-effectively delivers high doses of drugs to precisely targeted cancers and other medical maladies without leaving behind toxic nano-clutter. “The beauty of the nanotrain is that by using different disease biomarkers you can hitch different types of DNA probes as the train’s ‘locomotive’ to recognize and target different types of cancers,” said…

  • Ingestible sensors alert doctors and caregivers when a pill is taken

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/04/16/the-newest-high-tech-pill-will-text-when-swallowed/ Proteus Digital Health is creating a new category of products, services and data systems that have the potential to significantly improve the effectiveness of existing pharmaceutical treatments.  Called Digital Medicines, these new pharmaceuticals will contain a tiny sensor that can communicate, via a digital health feedback system, vital information about an individual’s medication-taking behavior…

  • Brain scans link math learning abilities to brain structure

    http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2013/04/29/peering-into-the-brain-to-predict-kids-response-to-math-tutoring/ Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine used brain scans to look for a link between math-learning abilities and brain structure or function, and compared neural and cognitive predictors of childrens’ responses to tutoring. The analysis of the children’s structural brain scans showed that larger gray matter volume in three brain structures predicted greater…

  • Babies’ consciousness, development studied

    http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/04/when-does-your-baby-become-consc.html Finding the point at which babies’ reactions change from being purely reflexive to reflecting more intention is leading researches to focus on the first glimmers of conscious thought in infants as young as 5 months old. Ideally, the infant studies would enable scientists to trace a trajectory of how consciousness generates. “You can start…

  • Kurzweil envisions emotionally intelligent Google search

    http://www.wired.com/business/2013/04/kurzweil-google-ai/ Kurzweil predicts that computers will be able to have a deep understanding of human emotion by 2029.  He wants to see search evolve to understand even more complex language that will involve “emotional intelligence, being funny, getting the joke, being sexy, being loving, understanding human emotion.”

  • Google Glass for frail seniors

    http://www.zdnet.com/old-age-is-the-killer-app-for-google-glass-7000014602/ Google Glass applications can benefit the aging population in many ways: – Sensors can track a person’s gait, and identify mobility problems that signal a potential fall and broken bones. Early warning signs can trigger preventative treatments and healthcare providers could try stop a fall before it happens. – Reminders for taking medication can be…

  • A “bionic pancreas” for diabetes management

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riva-greenberg/diabetes-clinical-trial_b_3110140.html The bionic pancreas consists of three pieces of hardware. There’s an iPhone with an app that contains the system’s control software and algorithm and a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). The CGM’s sensor/transmitter, worn under the skin, streams glucose (blood sugar) data to two connected infusion pumps. One delivers insulin to lower blood sugar and…

  • 70% of doctors have self-tracking patients; better outcomes reported

    http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/physicians-report-self-tracking-popular-positive/2013-04-16 7 in 10 doctors report at least one patient sharing some form of health measurement data with them, according to Manhattan Research’s annual “Taking the Pulse” survey of 2,950 physicians.  Nearly three-quarters agreed that self-tracking leads to better outcomes. Self-tracking patient impacts include: 40% lead them to ask their doctors new questions 46% changed their overall…

  • Multi-use, wireless, wearable sensors

    http://www.kth.se/en/aktuellt/nyheter/hudnara-elektronisk-doktor-ar-framtiden-1.382668 The Bio-patch, developed by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, measures bioelectrical signals through the skin, gathering data on different parts of the body depending on where it is placed. “On the chest it provides electrocardiography (ECG), on the skull it measures brainwaves (EEG), and on the forearm it can measure muscle response to…

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