Joshua Barney

Almost 70% of babies who died
from sleep-related suffocation between 2011 and 2014 did so because of soft
bedding, a new study reveals. The finding underscores physicians’ urgent
message to new parents that babies should sleep only in cribs or bassinets free
of blankets, toys and other potential hazards.

Unintentional suffocation is
the No…. read more >

A new discovery
about dangerous C. difficile diarrhea
has identified a new way that the bacteria – and possibly others like it –
cause severe disease. C. diff is the
most common hospital-acquired infection and estimated to result in 453,000 cases per year, with 29,300
associated deaths.

The new finding from the School… read more >

Scientists have made a
surprising discovery about how strange bacteria that live in soil and sediment can
conduct electricity. The bacteria do so, the researchers determined, through a seamless
biological structure never before seen in nature – a structure scientists can
co-opt to miniaturize electronics, create powerful-yet-tiny batteries, build pacemakers
without wires and develop a host of… read more >

On March 3, 2016, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly came home from a yearlong stay on the International Space Station, and a young physician-scientist, Francine Garrett-Bakelman, was waiting anxiously. She had important work to do and only one shot to do it.

Garrett-Bakelman, now a cancer doctor and researcher… read more >

Scientists have mapped out how the body transports testosterone, and their surprising findings may explain low testosterone levels seen in men with diabetes or patients on certain medications.

The discovery lets scientists understand exactly how testosterone, the male sex hormone, binds to a protein called serum albumin and can be carried through the body.

The finding… read more >

Researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered a new potential contributor to age-related hearing loss, a finding that could eventually help doctors identify people at risk.

The auditory receptors of the inner ear, called hair cells, pick up sounds using a vibration-sensing antenna called the hair bundle. While much research into hearing loss… read more >

The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) has been awarded a five-year grant of nearly $23 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance innovative ideas from the point of discovery to implementation in clinical practice and population health.

ITHRIV includes the University of Virginia, Inova Health System, Virginia Tech… read more >

A School of Medicine brain discovery has been nominated as one of 2018’s best ideas in biomedical science, and it is battling it out in a bracket-style competition – similar to the NCAA basketball tournament – that will be decided by a public vote.

The first round of STAT’s STAT Madness runs through Thursday… read more >

Scientists at the School of Medicine have discovered a defect in immune cells known as “killer T cells” that explains their inability to destroy cancer tumors. The researchers believe that repairing this defect could make the cells much better cancer killers. Further, they predict their discovery could be used within three to five… read more >