Chinese medicine in western packaging (PDF)
The past decade has seen a global awakening to the truly curative powers of
many ancient medicines, from black bear bile to the Asian plant Epimedium.
Lisa Melton delves deeper
Chemistry World, May 2007, page 46-49
Fat prophets
With over half the adult population in the developed world either overweight
or obese, the search for lucrative fat-fighting drugs is gaining speed. Lisa
Melton reports
Chemistry & Industry, 23 April 2007, page 18-20
New formula for fit future
Baby food offering lifetime protection against obesity could be in the supermarket soon.
Chemistry & Industry, 23 April 2007, page 6. News.
Millionaires from antibody research (PDF)
Lisa Melton finds out how a Manchester husband and wife team tackled infectious diseases
The Times, focus report 19 March 2007, page4
A hothouse of medical research (PDF)
Lisa Melton reports on the fruits of the region’s successful campaign to woo biotech firms
The Times, focus report 19 March 2007, page 6
Liposuctioned fat cells to repair bodies
European Science Foundation news release, 19 February 2007
Cancer is a stem cell issue
European Science Foundation news release, 19 February 2007
Epigenetics to shape stem cell future
European Science Foundation news release, 19 February 2007
What’s your poison?
Could the damage wreaked by alcohol, tobacco, pollution, and a bad diet all be caused by the same little molecule, asks Lisa Melton
New Scientist, 12 February 2007
Lost in tone
Music and the brain
Wellcome Science, issue 5, February 2007
How to grow long in the tooth
The Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932 and 1947
Wellcome Science, issue 5, February 2007
Great hopes for very small things
With soaring R&D costs and a dearth of blockbuster drugs, nanotechnology could yet prove to be the saviour of the pharmaceutical industry. Lisa Melton finds out how.
Chemistry & Industry, 29 January 2007
The Antioxidant Myth
Free radicals bad, antioxidants good, right? For the supplements industry,
the truth might be a hard pill to swallow, by Lisa Melton.
Reader's Digest, Australia, December 2006, pages 60-66
Renewing the attack on an old foe
NITD Symposium on Tuberculosis (Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases)
Meeting report, Bagamoyo, Tanzania, October 2006
Nicotine rehab
Nicotine has amazing powers as an anti-inflammatory. Now researchers are hunting for a nicotine surrogate that bypasses its nasty side effects, as Lisa Melton finds out.
Chemistry World, pages 52-55, October 2006
The science behind the attacks
Helping people with vertigo tinnitus and deafness
The Meniere’s Society Magazine – Spin – pages 8-9, Autumn 2006 issue
The Big Picture - on Thinking (PDF)
The Wellcome Trust, issue 4, September 2006
‘Son un mito los suplementos antioxidantes?’
by Dr Lisa Melton, on dietary supplements.
La Nación (Argentine broadsheet) 27 August 2006, page 1
The antioxidant myth: a medical fairy tale
If popping pills to stave off the ravages of ageing sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is, says Lisa Melton.
New Scientist, 5 August 2006
Body Blazes
How nicotine stops inflammation could lead to new drugs.
Scientific American, June 2006
Stem cells – too fast too soon? (PDF)
The hottest topic in biomedical science may be poised to leap from lab to clinic.
Wellcome Science, issue 2, March 2006
Evolution in action (PDF)
How HIV is changing our genetic make-up
Wellcome Science, issue 2, May 2006
Clues to breast cancer hidden inside stem cells
Stem cells and how to boost them is hot on the research agenda. But stopping them could be critical too, as evidence implicating stem cells in cancer is mounting.
ESF news release, 24 April 2006
Testes to incubate stem cells
ESF news release, 24 April 2006
Stem cells: between fact and fantasy
ESF news release, 18 April 2006
Use it, don't lose it (PDF)
Why are well-educated, active people more able to fend off the symptoms of dementia and brain damage? Lisa Melton investigates.
New Scientist, 17 December 2005
http://www.newscientist.com/
Big is beautiful - or beastly?
As deaths from heart failure continue to rise, researchers are thinking
up novel solutions to tackle one of the West's biggest killers. A select
group of international investigators and cardiologists gathered last
April at the Novartis Foundation to discuss the most promising new
remedies.
NIBR Science, Winter 2006
http://www.nibr.novartis.com/News/Publications/
Gene surgery
Lisa Melton reveals how a new technique known as RNAi could let doctors effectively cut out the genes responsible for serious illnesses.
BBC Focus, November 2005
http://www.focusmag.co.uk/
Three-day event
T-cell behaviour in type 1 diabetes
Wellcome Science, issue 1 2005
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD019349.html
The big picture (PDF)
Over the past ten years, microscopy has been transformed from slice, stain and fix, to the capacity to view living cells and even whole organisms in real time. Lisa Melton looks at what’s on offer.
Nature, 29 September 2005.
Primary horizons: Starting out in science
Primary Science Education Report, September 2005
The Wellcome Trust
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/primaryhorizons
Heat, light and a case of vintage reserve
Sparks flew when a group of hand-picked scientists debated why it is that the highly intelligent can fend off mental decline. Lisa Melton caught the action.
The Times Higher, June 17 2005.
Drugs in peril
Antibiotics and resistance
Wellcome Focus 2005.
Snoring Suspects (PDF)
Free radicals may set off sleep apnea's cardio dangers
Scientific American, June 2005
A goat is not just for Christmas
Animal Health in the developing world
Wellcome News, issue 42, April 2005.
Fighting back
The immune response to Leishmania and vaccine development
Wellcome News, issue 42, April 2005.
Tackling tritryps
The biology and business of drug development
Wellcome News, issue 42, April 2005.
Obesity and genes; Hunter-gatherer genes?
Obesity and the media, Money matters
The Wellcome Trust, Big Picture on Obesity, Issue 1 January 2005
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/bigpicture/obesity/
Cannabis mix really does make you a dope
The Times Higher, 28 January 2005.
The Mill Hill Essays 2004
There's more to heredity than genes
Hearts entwined
Clinical and basic scientists in cardiovascular harmony
Wellcome News, issue 41, December 2004.
Breathing with hepatitis (PDF)
Does exposure to a liver-inflaming virus prevent asthma?
Scientific American, November 2004.
Don't go breaking my heart (PDF)
New Scientist, 25 September 2004
Outliving women? (PDF)
Lifestyle changes mean that men now live longer.
The Times, 21 July 2004.
Lazy
eyes need prompt action (PDF)
The Times, 6 July 2004.
Dream
drug or demon brew? (PDF)
New Scientist, 26 June 2004.
The
heart link to cot deaths (PDF)
The Times, 2 June 2004.
Proteomics
in multiplex (PDF)
Nature, 6 May 2004, vol 429, pages 101-107.
Cracking
the cancer code
Chemistry world, April 2004, pages 24-28.
Royal
Institution website
March
2004. Science Insideout: Biodiversity.
http://insideout.rigb.org/ri/index.jsp
A
glimpse into the latest research on Parkinson's Disease
The Parkinson's Disease Society (PDS) and its research special
interest group, SPRING, has collaborated with the British Library for
a series of specially
commissioned articles on areas of Parkinson's research.
The Parkinson's Disease Society, January 23, 2004.
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk
Aching
atrophy (PDF)
More than unpleasant, chronic pain shrinks the brain.
Scientific American, January 2004, pages 22-23.
Slimming
pills for insects
Decades after the discovery of the natural antifeedant compound
azadirachtin from the Indian neem tree, Steve Ley's research on the compound
is beginning
to bear fruit.
Chemistry in Britain, December 2003, pages 24-26.
Taking
a shot at neuropathic pain (PDF)
The Lancet Neurology, December 2003, vol 2, page 719.
Bring
back the acetyls -a novel anticancer movement (PDF)
The Lancet Oncology, December 2003, vol 4 page 710.
What
is the Novartis Foundation?
Physiology News, winter 2003, number 53, pages 45-46.
New
key to pain relief (PDF)
Epilepsy drugs are being used to treat the agony caused by damaged nerves.
The Times T2, 3 November 2003.
Bringing
heads together (PDF)
Peer support and positive thinking can help overcome the challenges
of living with arthritis
Pathways, the Novartis Journal, Oct /Dec 2003, pages 10-15.
Osteoarthritis
pain goes central (PDF)
The Lancet Neurology, September 2003, vol 2, page 524
Medicine
Today
Update on Parkinson's disease
Illegal drugs, a new growth factor and deep brain stimulation all hold
out fresh hope.
August 2003, page 10-11
Test
identifies tendency to violence
The Lancet Neurology, July 2003, vol 2, page 390
Dimmer
switch for the immune system
Immunology is being transformed by the discovery of a cell that can
be targeted to turn the immune system up and down. Lisa Melton finds new treatments
in the pipeline.
Medicine Today, June 2003, volume 3 issue 11, pages 6-7.
Amazing
patient stories
Novartis Annual Report 2002, pages 9-12
On
the trail of SNPs (PDF)
Extracting useful data from the human genome sequence is a major
challenge. Lisa Melton examines the early steps towards personal genotyping.
Nature, vol 422, 24 April 2003
http://www.nature.com/nature/
Oestrogen
on the brain (PDF)
Lisa Melton looks at work to extend the beneficial effects of the female
hormone oestrogen to men as well as women.
Chemistry in Britain, March 2003
http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/2003/melton_mar03.htm