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Antiabortion-Rights Advocate To Oversee HHS Office Of Faith-Based And Community Partnerships
President Obama has named Alexia Kelley -- Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good co-founder and former executive director -- to the position of director of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships at HHS, Salon"s "War Room" reports. According to Salon"s the "War Room," CACG primarily has worked to find ways to reduce the demand for abortion procedures rather than advocate for laws to restrict access. However, CACG"s Web site reads, "Catholics in Alliance believes in the sanctity of all human life -- from conception until natural death" (Madden, "War Room," Salon, 6/4).Catholics for Choice President Jon O"Brien writes in The Hill"s "Congress Blog" that the appointment is "a defeat for reason and logic" and "calls into question whether President Obama"s administration is serious about reducing the need for abortion." According to O"Brien, Kelley "is on record with her support for restrictions on access to abortion," although CACG has sought to "avoid the question of legalization at every turn." O"Brien continues that the group also used "flawed economic data to support anti-poverty measures as a means to reduce the number of abortions," and "opposed evidence-based prevention methods such as contraception and comprehensive sexuality education" (O"Brien, "Congress Blog," The Hill, 6/4).Officials at the White House and HHS did not return calls for comment. CACG spokesperson Jennifer Goff said, "Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is working toward reaching common ground in order to make real progress on the moral and political challenges our country faces instead of resorting to spurious attacks launched by those who are more concerned with inflaming the culture wars than effecting positive change" ("War Room," Salon, 6/4).
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California HIV Services Center Forced To Close
Declining private and public financial support has forced Vital Life Services, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that provided support, case management, mental health counseling and other services to roughly 400 low-income and homeless clients with HIV, to shut down, the Oakland Tribune reports. According to the Tribune, the 25-year-old center -- which also provided "unique" services such as daily meals and emergency housing assistance -- "has become a victim of the recession" (Burt, Oakland Tribune, 5/30).
News of the day
Prostate-Specific Antigen: To Test Or Not To Test, From Harvard Men's Health Watch
One of the most controversial issues in men"s health is whether men should routinely have a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to screen for prostate cancer. Some experts argue that PSA testing saves lives by helping detect this common form of cancer early. Others say it triggers unnecessary treatment that disrupts many more lives than it saves. The results of two studies released this spring focused the debate, but scientists are still a long way from concluding the discussion, reports the July 2009 issue of Harvard Men"s Health Watch.
Public Health

5 Spanish Centers Join A Study For A New Leukemia And Lymphoma Treatment Technique

The Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture have today that five prestigious cord blood transplantation centers in Spain, three in Barcelona and two in Valencia, have joined the ExCell study. Participating clinical sites include, in alphabetical order: * Hospital Clç­nic of Barcelona, Barcelona: Principal Investigator, Dr. Enric Carreras, MD * Hospital Clç­nico Universitario de Valencia, Valencia: Principal Investigator, Dr. Cristina Arbona, MD * Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona: Principal Investigator, Dr. Jorge Sierra, MD * Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Barcelona: Principal Investigator, Dr. Christelle Ferra, MD * Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia: Principal Investigator, Dr. Guillermo Sanz, MD The trial is assessing the safety and efficacy of StemEx as a treatment for hematological malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma, in a single arm, global, pivotal marketing authorization trial. StemEx is a graft of expanded stem/progenitor cells, derived from a single unit of umbilical cord blood and transplanted in combination with non expanded cells from the same unit. StemEx® is being developed by a Joint Venture of Gamida Cell and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA). ExCell is a study that gives clinicians the opportunity to explore a new path in the pursuit of a therapeutic treatment for patients with blood cancers. Cord blood can successfully be used to treat leukemia and lymphoma in young children. It stands to reason therefore that the same basic could also be used to effectively treat adolescents and adults. The ExCell trial provides an opportunity to determine if StemEx can indeed make this a possibility. Cord blood has less matching requirements than bone marrow or peripheral blood transplants, providing the potential to increase the number of suitable transplant matches and to shorten the time it can take to find a match. However, there are a limited number of stem/progenitor cells in cord blood, enabling a quantity sufficient generally only for pediatric treatment. StemEx® employs a technology that expands this small number of cord blood stem/progenitor cells, increasing their therapeutic capacity for transplantation in adolescents and adults. It is estimated that more than 11,000 patients in the European Union are in need of an allogeneic (from a outside of the patient"s body) hematopoietic (blood) stem cell transplantation. This is an unofficial figure calculated based on the method proposed by the US government"s General Accounting Office (GAO) report and The EBMT Activity Survey 2006 on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Focus on the Use of Cord Blood Products. "We are enthusiastic about working with these five outstanding hospitals in Spain, the esteemed principal investigators and their experienced staves. Together, we hope to demonstrate the advantage of the StemEx transplant for patients," said Dr. David Snyder, vice president of clinical development at Gamida Cell. Alex Argemi IDIBAPS - Institut d"Investigacions Biomç¨diques August Pi i Sunyer


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