UCL News

Media stories relating to UCL for 9 April 2006

The miracle worker - 9 April

An in-depth profile of Professor Geoffrey Raisman, Director, UCL Spinal Repair Unit, says that many believe that his work on stem cells holds the key to repairing spinal damage, and that 2006 could be remembered as the year British biotechnology took the first step towards an authentic cure for spinal cord injury in humans, with a promise of greater things to come.
Sunday Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2099-2111140,00.html

Weak brain links 'explain autism' - 9 April
The difficulties people with autism have in relating to others could be due to poor communication between brain areas, scientists suggest in a study published in Neuroimage. "It seems that, for people with ASD, paying attention to a face is much harder to do and doesn't have the same effect," says Dr Geoff Bird, at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, who led the research.
BBC Online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4888528.stm

Schizophrenia chemical flaw clue - 9 April
A scanning technique called single photon emission tomography (SPET) has identified a failure in the chemical messaging system in the brains of people with schizophrenia. The discovery was made by the Institute of Psychiatry, working with Professor Peter Ell, UCL Institute of Nuclear Medicine, whose team developed the SPET technique.
BBC News Online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4886808.stm

When drug trials go horribly wrong - 9 April
Commenting on the trial of TGN1412 that has sent shock waves through the research world and caused regulators to rethink procedures for testing certain new drugs, Dr Michael Ehrenstein, UCL Department of Medicine, who studies the molecules that TGN1412 affects, says there was strong reason to be very cautious. "Many people would say [clinical trials on this compound] was a very high risk strategy. I'd have to agree with that."
International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/07/news/drug.php