• Three studies recently released by Pitt School of Medicine researchers show the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.
The first was led by Joseph Maroon, professor and vice chair in the Department of Neurological Surgery in Pitt’s School of Medicine, and looked at the use of fish oil supplements with omega-3 essential fatty acids. It showed that those supplements can be a safe and effective alternative to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the majority of patients with neck and lower-back inflammation and pain from disc and arthritic causes.
The second and third studies, led by School of Medicine Professor of Pathology Kyu Lim, found that those same oils significantly inhibit the growth of liver cancer cells.
Over the past two weeks, the three studies have received coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Toronto Sun, and via an internationally syndicated United Press International story.
• Pursuant to a partnership with the Italian government, the Region of Sicily, and Italy’s National Research Council, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Pitt’s School of Medicine will jointly manage a $398 million Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC), to be funded completely by the Italian government and built between the towns of Carini and Cinisi in Sicily.
Expected to open by 2010, the BRBC will build upon UPMC’s transplant center and clinical facility in Palermo, Italy, opened in 2004. Stories on the partnership appeared April 4 in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s News Blog and in an Associated Press story that was picked up by the Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and pennlive.com. On April 5, stories appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (P-G), Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (T-R), and Pittsburgh Business Times (PBT), and on KDKA-TV.
According to the P-G article, the center will focus on vaccine development, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug discovery, computational and structural biology, and molecular imaging, putting Italy in the position of being involved with biomedical advances in those research fields. The T-R article noted, “While Pitt already operates a center for vaccine research in Oakland, officials said having two vaccine programs will help develop vaccines against twice as many diseases,” quoting Pitt Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences and School of Medicine Dean Arthur S. Levine as saying, “There are simply many more scientific questions to be addressed than any one center can possibly address by itself.” In the PBT article, UPMC President Jeffrey Romoff said that “the benefits of this partnership will reach far beyond Italy. The scientific breakthroughs made here will improve health care around the world, while strengthening our leading research and clinical programs in Pittsburgh.”
