Key to advancing any new scientific discovery is the ability for researchers to independently repeat the experiments that led to it. In science today, particularly biology, the lack of reproducibility between experiments is a major problem that slows scientific progress, wastes resources and time, and erodes the public’s trust in scientific research. At the University of Washington, researchers have access…
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been asking ethical questions about vaccinating children against the disease: Is it necessary to vaccinate children, who seem to experience the disease differently than adults? Should children in school be required to get the vaccine? Seattle Children’s spoke to Dr. Doug Diekema, an emergency medicine physician at Seattle Children’s and director of education in the Treuman…
In the push to eliminate cervical cancer, researchers delivered hopeful news Nov. 17 at the 34th International Papillomavirus Conference in Toronto. A randomized controlled trial of 2,275 women in Kenya showed that a single dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was highly effective. The current standard for women is a three-dose regimen. (See study abstract.) “The single-dose vaccine was…
Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (iRBCs) bind and sequester in deep vascular beds, causing malaria-related disease and death. In pregnant women, VAR2CSA binds to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) and mediates placental sequestration, making it the major placental malaria (PM) vaccine target. Here, we characterize an invariant protein associated with PM called Plasmodium falciparum chondroitin sulfate A ligand (PfCSA-L). Recombinant PfCSA-L binds both…
Karin Bornfeldt, Edwin L. Bierman Professor of Medicine, was awarded the George Lyman Duff Memorial Lectureship at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions. The lectureship was established in 1956 by the Society for the Study of Arteriosclerosis in memory of Dr. Duff, a founding member and past president of the society. Past award recipients from the UW include Edwin Bierman…
More than 300 people registered for Reimagine: Your Immune System, ISB’s annual virtual fundraiser, for an evening that included guest appearances by giants in immunology. The main event of the evening was a robust conversation between ISB President Dr. Jim Heath, Nobel laureate Dr. David Baltimore, and immunology expert Mark Davis, who Heath said “is well known for basically discovering most…
For the past 15 years, Seattle Children’s Research Division has been at the forefront of breakthrough innovations. From new drugs to treat cystic fibrosis, to first-in-the-nation use of laser ablation for epilepsy and brain tumors to remove unwanted cells, the research division is advancing our mission to provide hope, care and cures to help every child live the healthiest and most fulfilling…
The lifetime goal of Dr. Sihoun Hahn, director of the Wilson Disease Center of Excellence and investigator in Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s Center for Integrative Brain Research, is one step closer to being achieved. After more than 30 years studying Wilson disease, Hahn’s newborn screening test for this rare genetic condition will be trialed in a pilot study by the Washington State…
Stroke is the leading cause of death and long-term disability worldwide. Previous genome-wide association studies identified 51 loci associated with stroke (mostly ischemic) and its subtypes among predominantly European populations. Using whole-genome sequencing in ancestrally diverse populations from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program, we aimed to identify novel variants, especially low-frequency or ancestry-specific variants, associated with all stroke,…
Monoclonal antibodies have been getting a lot of attention as a treatment for COVID-19. Monoclonal antibody infusion centers for COVID-19 patients are opening at Virginia Mason and across the country. But what exactly are monoclonal antibodies? How do they work and who needs them? We asked Uma Malhotra, MD, an infectious disease physician at Virginia Mason and BRI researcher. “It…
