Faculty Bibliography

The finding pointed to Dr. [David J. Acer]'s practice. But such tests cannot tell who infected whom, nor how Dr. Acer might have transmitted the virus. Such evidence comes from interviews and other features of an epidemiological investigation. Explanations have ranged widely, from Dr. Acer nicking a finger and allowing a little of his blood to flow into a dental wound in a patient's mouth, to murder. But none could be proved. The patients denied having sex with Dr. Acer, and rape was ruled out because none had had general anesthesia. Investigators did not find the partner who presumably infected Dr. Acer, who was bisexual. Only one other cluster of cases in a doctor's office has been found. Last December, Australian health officials reported that H.I.V. had been transmitted to four patients who were treated on the same day in 1989 in the office of a surgeon who tested H.I.V. negative. The cluster was attributed to a breakdown in standard infection-control that allowed H.I.V. to spread from a fifth, infected patient. 'The weakness of the Dr. Acer case is that we don't know how transmission occurred,' Dr. [Harold W. Jaffe] said. 'In some people's minds that is equivalent to saying that transmission did not occur, but we don't agree.'

Scientists have theorized that if the high amounts could be detected and lowered by dietary and other modifications, damage from atherosclerosis might be prevented and deaths reduced. But precisely how the amino acid might lead to atherosclerosis has been a scientific mystery. One is to promote growth of smooth muscle cells in the arteries. Growth of such cells is a prominent feature of atherosclerosis. The other is to inhibit the growth of the cells on the inside lining of arteries, or endothelium, which help protect against development of atherosclerosis

Ever since HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980s, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the U.S. Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. The June panel, reviewing fresher data, learned that 13 participants in AIDS vaccine trials, including two in the Biocine and Genentech studies, had become infected with HIV. The infections came from risky behavior, not from the vaccine. Some infections are expected in vaccine trials. Because none of the newly infected participants had completed a full course of immunization (up to four shots over several months), their cases probably are not likely to be helpful in assessing the efficacy of the vaccines. Scientists boast they have learned more quickly about the AIDS virus than other infectious agents. Most of that knowledge has come from research on the fundamental structure of viruses and cells. And many have been eager to apply their newest techniques, believing they hold the key to a successful AIDS vaccine

The new study reports on the discovery of a gene in M. tuberculosis called inhA, for isonicotinic acid hydrazide. The gene directs the production of an enzyme that the researchers suspect helps chain lipids to each other. They believe isoniazid works by targeting the enzyme and interfering with the lipids to kill the bacterium. In their research on tuberculosis at [Albert Einstein], [William R. Jacobs Jr.] and his team have been relying on the same tools that are used to study genetics and the most fundamental aspects of cell biology. With his team's help in 1992, another group of scientists reported that the loss of a gene that codes for an enzyme known as catalase could make some strains of M. tuberculosis drug-resistant. Two facts led Jacobs's team to conclude that catalase was not the target enzyme. The first was that of all the isoniazid-resistant strains of tuberculosis that have been identified in New York City, only about 25 percent had lost the catalase enzyme. The second was that removal of the catalase gene does not kill M. tuberculosis

Ever since HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980s, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the U.S. Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. Empiricists say they must rely at least in part on intelligent guesswork. Scientists favoring a more cautious approach say the deadliness of AIDS means that as much as possible should be learned through laboratory and animal experiments before subjecting volunteers to the crucial test - finding out whether the vaccine prevents infection. The June panel, reviewing fresher data, learned that 13 participants in AIDS vaccine trials, including two in the Biocine and Genentech studies, had become infected with HIV. The infections came from risky behavior, not from the vaccine. Some infections are expected in vaccine trials. Because none of the newly infected participants had completed a full course of immunization (up to four shots over several months), their cases probably are not likely to be helpful in assessing the efficacy of the vaccines

Ever since H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980's, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the United States Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. Scientists are generally more cautious in testing a prevention method than they are concerning new therapies for a disease. But Dr. [Sten H. Vermund] argued that the risk-to-benefit ratio should tilt toward taking more risks in dealing with prevention for a major public health problem. In his opinion, the June panelists should have recommended forging ahead in testing the efficacy of the two experimental AIDS vaccines. 'In the face of a raging epidemic in which existing preventions have limited efficacy, why aren't we compelled to take more risks in prevention research?' he asked. 'AIDS has been wonderful for molecular biologists,' Dr. [Murray Gardner] said. 'But have molecular biologists done anything for AIDS yet?'

The AIDS Research Advisory Committee on Jun 17, 1994 rejected a proposal to conduct large-scale studies of the effectiveness of the two most-tested experimental AIDS vaccines. Instead, the panel recommended continuing smaller studies to test the safety of the vaccines and to evaluate the immune reaction to them

A congressional hearing was told on Jun 15, 1994 that the University of Pittsburgh's own auditors found serious problems at 10% of the hospitals it checked that carried out federally financed breast cancer studies, but the university professors conducting the studies failed to correct them in a timely and constructive manner

A dispute between the Journal of the American Medical Association and the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, over the validity of findings in a published report about Kaposi's sarcoma is examined. Kaposi's sarcoma is a skin cancer that affects many AIDS patients. The dispute involves an experimental compound, sulfated polysaccharide-peptoglycan, that is believed by some to hold promise for treating the cancer

Two months after suspending entry of new patients into the University of Pittsburgh's flawed breast and rectal cancer studies, federal health officials on Jun 8, 1994 approved resumption of the trials on a limited basis. The breast cancer studies are intended to evaluate the effectiveness of tamoxifen and other chemotherapy for certain groups of patients who have developed breast cancer