In the News

NIH Rejected a Study of Alcohol Advertising While Pursuing Industry Funding for Other Research – STAT News

Read article – Cites comments by Susanne Tanski, associate professor of pediatrics, in an article about how George Koob, director of the National Institutes of Health’s Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, decided to pull back on research examining whether alcohol marketing is associated with underage drinking. Koob’s agency was quietly wooing the alcoholic beverage industry to contribute tens of millions of dollars for a study on whether drinking “moderate” amounts of alcohol was good for the heart.

Should N.H. Consider Safe Injection Sites? (Audio) – NHPR

Read article – As a guest on “The Exchange,” Tim Lahey, associate professor of medicine, medical education, and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, discusses a form of harm reduction that involves creating safe places for addicts to inject drugs without fear of infected needles and with access to overdose medication. (Lahey’s comments begin at approximately 1:20.)

Is the Interstitium Really a New Organ? – The Scientist

Read article – Cites comments by Radu Stan, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology, and of pathology and laboratory medicine, about the recent news that a team of researchers used a new in vivo microscopy technique to present evidence that the human interstitium—the space between cells—is more like a matrix of collagen bundles interspersed with fluid than the densely-packed stacks of connective tissue it appears to be in fixed slides. Stan, who wasn’t involved in the study, notes that the concept of a fluid-filled matrix is not “earth-shattering,” and that sectioning and imaging unfixed tissue as the authors did, which could tear and create artifacts, presents limitations.

UCSD Study Finds Tobacco Advertising Leads to Cigarette, E-Cig Use in Young Adults – Fox 5

Read article – Quotes James Sargent, the Scott M. and Lisa G. Stuart Professor of Pediatric Oncology and professor of pediatrics, biomedical data science, and community and family medicine, about a new study that found that young adults receptive to  e-cigarette, cigar and cigarette advertising would try the respected tobacco product within one year. “Recognizing and liking tobacco advertising predicts which lowest risk adolescents will become future consumers of these products, after accounting for a number of traditional risk factors like peer and family smoking,” says Sargent.

Sports ‘Sponsorships’ Often Promote Junk Food to Children – Reuters

Read article – Quotes Jennifer Emond, assistant professor of biomedical data science and of pediatrics, about a new study that found that three in four food advertisements and half of drink promotions during major U.S. sports programs peddle high-calorie, sugary products. “Children who view advertisements for highly palatable foods such as chips or candy as part of TV shows or within video games will eat more snack foods, even if they already had a meal,” says Emond, who was not involved in the study. (Picked up by Business Insider, Netscape, and SRN News.)