We’ll talk to an OHSU researcher who thinks the secrets to battling some diseases and locating new biofuels can be found deep out at sea.

We’ll hear about promising research to combat the worldwide epidemic of AIDS.

and we’ll discuss who should consider surgery as an option for obesity.We’ll also hear from a patient who made that choice and how it changed her life.

Join us at 8 a.m. this Saturday on KXL 101.1 FM.

However, some of the side-benefits may actually surprise you.

For instance, did you know that research funding creates jobs and brings millions of dollars in state? In fact, according to a recent report by the American Association of Medical Colleges, the total economic impact of medical research in Oregon in 2009 was over 606 million. Here’s a link to the full report.

In Oregon, these research dollars create jobs at the university. They also create jobs in the city and in the region. That’s because OHSU buys products from local vendors. We hire local companies to provide services. In addition, income taxes from our employees flow back to the state.

While the goal of research should always be to cure and treat disease, boosting the economy isn’t a bad side-effect is it?

OHSU President Dr. Joe Robertson

What does last weeks’s Medicaid agreement mean to OHSU?

Several reporters we spoke with asked us that very question.

In one case, OHSU President Dr. Joe Robertson spoke at length on the issue.

Here he is on KXL Radio:

Click here to view the embedded video.

They are some of the most important people in the hospital for patients and families in great need. But they aren’t doctors or nurses…we’ll meet them.

Fertility issues can take a huge mental toll on couples who want to begin a family. We’ll tell you what OHSU can do to assist.

Then, we’ll give you an insider perspective on an important but rarely discussed aspect of medical education. We’ll lean about body donation from OHSU’s program director. We’ll also hear from a student who tells us about lessons learned in gross anatomy.

Finally, we’ll talk about a women’s health issue many women are afraid to discuss…

Join us at 8 am this Saturday on KXL 101.1 FM.

Today, OHSU was proud to join Governor Kitzhaber, legislators, health systems and others to discuss the achievement and answer questions from the press.

A few comments from OHSU President Dr. Joe Robertson in this Portland Business Journal article:

“This is a seminal plan: Oregon was the birthplace of health reform in the mid-1980s,” said Dr. Joe Robertson, OHSU’s president. “Now, we’ll shape the next iteration of health care.”

Robertson explained CCOs as well as anyone I’ve ever heard. As providers work together on treatment plans, “It changes the relationship between them from a vendor relationship to a partnership,” he said.

A few more photos from the event here.

In recognition of its 125th birthday, the American Physiological Society identified the most highly cited articles published in its Journal of Neurophysiology since 1900.

The society separated its list into the top 10 articles for 1900-1924, 1925-1949, and each of the last six decades. An article that Horak co-authored in 1986 — her first published paper as a post-doctoral fellow — made the journal’s top ten list for 1980-1989.

The article’s topic was in an area that Horak has built a world-renowned career on — how the brain controls human balance. The article, written with co-author Lew Nashner, showed how people balance themselves when they walk by using one of two strategies (ankle strategy or hip strategy) or a combination of the two. Horak’s study also showed that the strategies were not reflexes but learned with practice.

“Our finding of stereotypical balancing strategies has been extremely useful for clinicians as well as game changing for understanding how the brain controls balance,” Horak said.

Horak co-authored the article when she was with the Neurological Sciences Institute of  Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center. She joined OHSU in 1999.

Horak’s lab is considered the world leader in studying how the brain controls balance, and she is known internationally with more than 200 publications and numerous awards.

Her lab has developed methods for clinicians to test balance in Parkinson’s disease as well as physical therapy techniques and exercise programs to treat or prevent balance and walking problems. She has studied Parkinson’s disease for more than 25 years, much of it in collaboration with the OHSU Parkinson Center of Oregon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A map highlighting blocks 23 and 27

In the future, most OHSU outpatients may enter a new “front door” to OHSU.

On Thursday, a deal for OHSU to purchase two additional blocks of property in Portland’s South Waterfront District was finalized.

A ground-level view of the property

From an OHSU press release:

OHSU has no immediate plans for development on the parcels at this time, but it expects to construct new outpatient facilities on the land to both replace aging patient care areas on OHSU’s Marquam Hill Campus and in response to expanded need.

and

“The Center for Health and Healing, which is connected to the OHSU Marquam Hill Campus via the Portland Aerial Tram, has allowed us to move several outpatient clinics closer to downtown Portland,” saidMark Williams, associate vice president for campus development at OHSU. “Doing so has improved access for patients and reduced traffic congestion on Marquam Hill. We look forward to a future with additional OHSU patient facilities in South Waterfront.”

The full details are here.

The news (courtesy The Oregonian):

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has struck a deal with the federal government that is worth $1.9 billion over the next five years.

and

A statement released Thursday morning from D.C. spells out the terms: An initial $620 million investment from the federal government to come in 2013, with $1.9 billion expected over five years. With the money and a new coordinated care system, Oregon expects to save $11 billion in the next decade.

Today OHSU President Joe Robertson explained what this means to OHSU and health care providers across the state.

“In Oregon, particularly in health care, I believe we will remember this day for a long time to come. It is a monumental step in Oregon’s health care reform and helps ensure that all providers can do their part in caring for at-risk Oregonians.

“This is a transformational achievement in the state of Oregon to help create a much more efficient and effective heath care system in the state. However, there is a lot of hard work ahead of us to achieve $11 billion in savings. Today’s news is encouraging, but we must always focus on long-term solutions.”

Joe’s full statement can be found here.

Two primate egg cells merge

This morning, we’re announcing another significant finding at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center:

An excerpt from our press release:

Research conducted at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University helps answer some long-standing questions about how certain disease-causing gene mutations are inherited.

The research specifically focused on gene mutations in cell mitochondria that can cause several diseases, including forms of cancer, diabetes, infertility and neurodegenerative diseases. With this new information, we now better understand how and when these mutations are passed to children to improve diagnosis and prevention.

Dr. Mitalipov explains the finding in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You may recall this controversy back in 2009:

The debate centered on new mammography guidelines for women in their 40′s. The guidelines caused a significant debate on the level of importance of mammograms for women in this age group.

Next chapter of the story: Today, there’s new info:

OHSU’s press release nicely explains the new data.

and from news coverage, OHSU’s role in the work:

In one analysis, researchers led by Dr. Heidi Nelson of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland reviewed 66 studies that determined women’s chances of getting breast cancer based on their family history, weight, drinking and smoking habits and whether they had ever given birth or breastfed.

They found having a mom or sister with breast cancer or having very dense breasts, in particular, were each linked to a doubling of a woman’s likelihood of getting cancer.

Women whose more distant relatives had breast cancer, or those who had kids after age 30 or not at all, also had a slightly increased risk of cancer.

Being aware of those risks factors may help doctors and patients create a more personalized screening strategy, Nelson and her colleagues concluded.

More coverage here and here.