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Endocrine Society Announces 2009 Laureate Award Winners
The Endocrine Society is pleased to announce the 2009 Laureate Awards established in 1944 to recognize the highest achievements in endocrinology including: science, leadership, teaching and service. This year"s Laureate Awards were presented at ENDO 09, the 91st Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, being held June 10-13, in Washington, DC.

The UGR Hill House The First Research Laboratory To Study Risk Conducts When Driving Motorcycles
The University of Granada will house the first European research centre on teenagers" mental mechanisms when driving motorcycles and carrying out risk conducts, which could be helpful, in a near future, to modify and avoid them. The Faculty of Psychology will house three state-of-the-art simulators there was already one at the UGR so far- that will be useful to do research into these mechanisms, thanks to an agreement signed with the company Honda Motor Co. (Europe); the University will become one of the most important centres around the world in this subject.
News of the day
British Veterinary Assoicaiton Asks DEFRA To Abandon Separation Of Animal Health From Animal Welfare
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has called on Defra to abandon its plans for a new animal health body that will give responsibility for animal health to an independent board and leave responsibility for animal welfare with ministers. The BVA has also expressed deep concerns over the confusion caused by the new structure that could lead to delays in dealing with outbreaks of disease across the UK.
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Research Points To A New Way To Protect Kidneys Threatened By Insufficient Blood Or Toxins

Better treatments for acute renal failure may be possible by blocking the mitochondrial fragmentation that occurs when kidneys don"t get enough blood or are exposed to toxins, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia report in the may issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Stress on kidney cells caused by vascular obstruction, trauma, chemotherapy, even antibiotics cause mitochondria - the cell"s powerhouse - to "go to pieces," says Dr. Zheng Dong, cell biologist in the MCG Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies and at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Fragmentation sets in motion a chain of events that prompts kidney cells to commit suicide and leads to acute renal failure. "When mitochondrial fragmentation is blocked, it can save the cells and the kidneys," he says. Dr. Dong and his colleagues used an inhibitor of the natural fission process mitochondria use to multiply. They will further examine the cell death pathway - and try blocking it - in human kidney biopsies and eventually in whole organs. One of his goals is to develop safer, more efficacious drugs that can be given to patients in acute renal failure. Acute renal failure, a disease with high mortality rates, is on the rise because of increasing cases of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health-related problems that prevent the kidneys from getting sufficient blood. In addition to acute renal failure, Dr. Dong believes fragmentation inhibitors can improve preservation of kidneys extracted from a donor for transplant. What these drugs may block is a rapid death march that only begins with the breakup. Next, two proteins, Bak and Bax, typically found at divergent places in the cell, work together to make pores in the mitochondrial outer membrane. Cytochrome c, a protein that normally helps mitchondrion breathe and produce fuel, escapes through the pores. Out of place, it becomes a deadly accomplice that activates suicide pathways. Interestingly, in a study published in 2007 in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA), Dr. Dong"s laboratory showed that mitochondrial fragmentation involves Bak but not Bax. Other study authors include Dr. Craig Books, former MCG graduate student currently doing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University"s Brigham and Women"s Hospital, Dr. Qingqing Wei, MCG research scientist, and Sung-Gyu Cho, MCG graduate student. Dr. Dong"s research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Veterans Affairs." Toni Baker Medical College of Georgia


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