Indian-origin boffin offers potential new spinal muscular atrophy treatment

September 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Vikas Nanda, a scientist of Indian origin, has won the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's New Innovator Award this year. Dr. Nanda is assistant professor of biochemistry and a member of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at Ohio State University, led by an Indian-origin scientist, have developed a mathematical model of chronic wound healing that could do away with guesswork and clearly suggest treatment strategies towards tackling a major public-health problem. The researchers are the first to publish a mathematical model of an ischemic wound - a chronic wound that heals slowly or is in danger of never healing because it is fed by an inadequate blood supply.

September 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that the gecko tail literally has a mind of its own, as it exhibits not only rhythmic but also complex movements, including flips, jumps and lunges, after it is shed. Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary (U of C) and Tim Higham of Clemson University in South Carolina carried out the study.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist of Indian origin from Purdue University, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, has determined in a new research that tropical storms endure over wet land, and fizzle when conditions are dry. More than 30 years of monsoon data from India showed that ground moisture where the storms make landfall is a major indicator of what the storm will do from there.

August 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The idea of medical use of marijuana for pain relief has been thrown into doubt after researchers from University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found that active ingredients in marijuana can instead spread and prolong pain. The team has found that a group of compounds in marijuana called the cannabinoids prolong pain rather than damping it down.

July 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Circulating cells in the blood have the ability to form bone at sites distant from the original skeleton, according to a new research. It is believed that bone-forming cells, derived from the body's connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton.

July 17th, 2009 LONDON - An Indian researcher along with a colleague has developed a camera that takes photos with an invisible flash of infrared and ultraviolet light points to a smarter way to take photos in the dark. Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus at New York University made the camera to do away with intrusive regular flashes.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Indian origin Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is among the pack of falling GOP stars, along with other future presidential hopefuls involved in one controversy or the other, something that is causing considerable worries to the Republicans, claims a CBS analysis. Governor Bobby Jindal, who was considered a rising GOP star - young, smart and a minority, has been silenced in recent months.

June 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers from University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy have identified a potential therapeutic target for common problem of muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy results in an extensive loss of muscle mass and function, which greatly worsens quality of life.

May 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Kansas-based, Indian-origin girl Kavya Shivashankar, 13, has become America's spelling champion by winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The budding neurosurgeon from Olathe took home more than 40,000 dollars in cash and prizes and the huge champion's trophy.

May 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Arjun Kandaswamy, a 14-year-old boy of Indian origin in Oregon, has won second place in the annual National Geographic Bee geography contest, and bagged a 15,000-dollar college scholarship. He is an eighth grader at Meadow Park Middle School in Beaverton.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A traditional extract of Kava, a medicinal plant from the South Pacific, may be safe and effective in reducing anxiety as well as depression, a study has found. In the study, researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia found that a water-soluble extract of Kava was effective in treating anxiety and improving mood.

March 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - British researchers claim that hormone kisspeptin shows promise as a potential new treatment for infertility. The study, led by Dr Waljit Dhillo from Imperial College London, has shown that giving kisspeptin to women with infertility can activate the release of sex hormones, which control the menstrual cycle.

January 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama, in his message to mark India's Republic Day, has said that Indians 'should know they have no better friend and partner than the people of the US'. 'It is our shared values that form the bedrock of a robust relationship across (our) peoples and governments,' the president said in a statement.

January 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - What keeps the spine healthy and erect? The key lies in how a deep muscle along the spinal column, called the multifidus muscle, is designed. These findings show how this poorly understood muscle plays a potentially important 'scaffolding' role, according to researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine (UCSDSM).