The Mechanisms of Pain Pain sensations take many forms, from the sting of a bee to the throb of an injury, from the ache of arthritis to the corrosive effects of a tumor. Scientists have studied pain for decades, yet very little is understood about the root causes of pain – the molecular mechanisms that […]
With long-term consequences, community college students struggle to pass college-level math classes: EdSource Extra, Feb. 7, 2012
In a new journalistic experiment, I wrote a story for the educational nonprofit EdSource to accompany a report on how students at community colleges are having trouble passing their math classes. With long-term consequences, community college students struggle to pass college-level math classes Large numbers of community college students are struggling to pass the college-level […]
Pig Farmer’s True Prizewinner is His Fantasy Baseball Team: New York Times, October 2011
I broke this story at the end of the 2011 baseball season, when the best fantasy baseball player in the world – with winnings of more than $300,000 over the past three years – was revealed to be Idaho pig farmer Lindy Hinkelman. Modest Farmer, Managing Mogul The National Fantasy Baseball Championship, a contest paying […]
Treatment is Key to Prevention of HIV/AIDS, Doctors Say: UCSF, June 2011
This story was my contribution to a UCSF package on the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Treatment is Key to Prevention of HIV/AIDS, Doctors Say Doctors fighting HIV/AIDS have a new strategy working for them: Use the treatment of the disease as a way to prevent it – […]
The Search for the Big Picture: UCSF, May 2011
The science of biology is undergoing a historic transformation, from one based on observation to one based on creation, and UCSF is in the forefront of driving that change. The move to a New Biology promises to accelerate an era of astounding discovery and achievement, in which science will not only cure many diseases and […]
Bay Area’s Little Leagues Overflow With Would-Be Giants: New York Times, April 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — The good vibrations from the San Francisco Giants’ World Series victory last fall continue to reverberate in the Bay Area, where children inspired by the improbable success of the Giants’ assemblage of castoffs have overwhelmed local Little Leagues. Youths who had never played the game suddenly saw themselves as Cody Ross or Tim […]
Unplugged, Interfaith Style: Interfaith Family, February 2011
As a member of an interfaith family, I haven’t really observed Shabbat. Even when I was growing up in a Jewish household, my parents never observed Shabbat, except for the brief run-up to my bar mitzvah when we’d attend Friday night services. But in recent years, as I reconnected with my Jewish roots through Reboot, a nonprofit that […]
Trial designed to treat children with connatal Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD): UCSF, February 2011
Sometimes, the rarest diseases provide the most critical insights. Pediatrician David Rowitch, MD, PhD, is leading a stem cell trial designed to treat children with connatal Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), an uncommon but fatal brain disorder. It is UCSF’s first stem cell clinical trial in humans, and Rowitch has high hopes that his work will not […]
Cardiovascular: Reaching for a Cure: UCSF, February 2011
The heart cannot adequately regenerate damaged tissue after a heart attack. But could stem cells help it along that path? Doctors and researchers at UCSF with a wide range of expertise are exploring this possibility together, working to see whether stem cell therapies might pump some regenerative power into the heart. Working within a so-called […]
From Worms to Blood Stem Cells: UCSF, February 2011
The simple worm piqued the budding young scientist’s interest in developmental biology. “I loved it,” he says. Robert Blelloch, MD, PhD, followed that passion through fellowships and into work with blood stem cells. “It was so exciting to see how many different ways blood stem cells were being used to treat patients,” he says.