Chronic kidney disease risk factors, gene therapy for blood disorders, chronic disease management in the workplace, and more

The Scripps Research Institute
Scripps Research Institute scientists find potential new use for cancer drug in gene therapy for blood disorders
Scientists working to make gene therapy a reality have solved a major hurdle: how to bypass a blood stem cell's natural defenses and efficiently insert disease-fighting genes into the cell's genome. These findings based on NHLBI-funded work, published recently online ahead of print by the journal Blood, could lead to more effective and affordable long-term treatments for blood cell disorders in which mutations in the DNA cause abnormal cell functions, such as in leukemia and sickle cell anemia.

Science Codex
Risk factors for chronic kidney disease are present decades before diagnosis

Risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) are present and identifiable 30 years before diagnosis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest avenues for future research to determine whether certain early interventions can prevent future kidney disease. Caroline S. Fox, MD MPH, Gearoid McMahon, MB, BCh (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study and the Center for Population Studies), and their colleagues investigated whether CKD risk factors might be present decades before the diagnosis of CKD.

Online AthensUGA awarded $3.5 million to improve chronic disease management in the workplace

Researchers in the University of Georgia College of Public Health received a five-year, $3.15 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health aimed at improving opportunities for individuals to better manage their chronic illness in the workplace.