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Uncertain funding, regulatory changes slow embryonic stem cell research innovation
Monday, December 6, 2010
In March 2009, just seven weeks after taking the oath of office, President Obama signed an executive order ending an eight-year ban on federal funding for virtually all human embryonic stem cell research. "Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," said Obama in his press announcement. "They result from painstaking and costly research—from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit—and from a government willing to support that work."
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Panel study tracks wellbeing over the lifecourse and across generations
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Monday, December 6, 2010
Co-director and principal investigator of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), Professor Bob Schoeni is responsible for leading one of the most widely used social science data sets in the world—a longitudinal NSF-funded study that has collected 42 years of data on a vast, nationally representative sample of U.S. families.
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Genetic gold rush hinders competition, innovation
Monday, December 6, 2010
Even before we had mapped the human genome, American entrepreneurs had begun to stake claims to it. Over the last two decades, the U.S. Patent Office has issued more than 5,000 patents on parts of the human genome, leaving an alarming 20 percent of our genes under the ownership of corporations, individuals, and universities. While some argue that this practice gives patent holders an incentive to pour money into research and develop genetic risk tests and disease interventions, many others, including Ford School assistant professor Shobita Parthasarathy, argue that patent ownership stifles innovation, decreases consumer options, and makes health care prohibitively expensive.
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Blame it on the rain: early rainfall impacts health, wealth, and education
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Monday, December 6, 2010
Their country straddling the equator, Indonesians know two basic seasons: dry and wet. However, the length of the rainy season can vary widely across this archipelago comprised of thousands of islands. Village farmers are used to this, and have adapted their agricultural practices over generations to accommodate the local climate and topography. But, when rainfall is unusual compared to normal levels in that village—for example when a drought strikes—crop yields can suffer dramatically. Interestingly, rainfall affects more than a single season's crops, explains economist and Ford School lecturer Sharon Maccini. For Indonesian women born in the 1950s through the 1970s, she's found that early life rainfall impacts health, wealth, and education far into the future.
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Health economics and public policy
Monday, December 6, 2010
Another faculty member on loan from the University of Michigan this year is research professor Helen Levy, who was appointed this August to serve a one-year term as a senior economist for the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)—an agency that provides the U.S. President with economic advice related to the formulation of domestic and international economic policy. Over the next year, Levy will serve with other CEA appointees at the White House to analyze economic research and empirical evidence, with the goal of formulating and recommendingnational economic policies designed to promote employment and economic growth.
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Demand-side solutions to health disparities
Monday, December 6, 2010
Professor Jim House is on a research leave this year as a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City. From his office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, he's writing a new book, tentatively titled Beyond Sicko and Health Care Reform, which explores the connections between education, income, employment policies, and public health. An extension of a conference and edited volume supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Ford School's National Poverty Center several years ago, House's book will take an integrative look at how policies designed to address social and economic concerns can have a big impact on the health of the people they touch.
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Legislators, lobbyists, and health care reform
Monday, December 6, 2010
"Almost every month a new book comes out that impugns the integrity of lobbyists and legislators," says professor of public policy and political science Rick Hall, "that they're in bed together, that there's a corrupt conspiracy, that members are beholden to special interests, that they sell their votes for campaign contributions..." The reality—in health care legislation and other policy areas—isn't quite as racy.
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Polling parents on children's health
Monday, December 6, 2010
Want to know what the nation thinks about childhood obesity, bullying, or genetic risk testing? Ask Dr. Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the Ford School and the Medical School. As director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, he and his team have reported on dozens of timely and often policy-relevant topics to gauge parents' experience with and opinions about current trends and issues in children's health and health policy.
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Health policy diffusion both horizontal and vertical
Monday, December 6, 2010
Across the nation, cities have been pioneers in restricting restaurant and workplace smoking, and making it harder for children to acquire cigarettes. As a political scientist, Professor Chuck Shipan’s work seeks to understand how these policies spread—both horizontally to other cities, and vertically to states—and to draw broader implications for those interested in policy diffusion.
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Local leaders open to regional partnerships-maybe
Friday, December 3, 2010
Government leaders in struggling communities across the state tend to be open to combining services with other towns, a new University of Michigan study finds.
However, government officials who favor expanding regional planning are less supportive of working through existing regional institutions—they want to create new entities to pursue cooperation, said Elisabeth Gerber, a professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
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Shobita Parthasarathy interviewed by German Public Radio about legality of human gene patents
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Shobita Parthasarathy was interviewed by German Public Radio about recent debates on the legality of patenting human genes. Since a narrowly decided Supreme Court ruling in the 1980s, the U.S. Patent Office has allowed patents for a variety of life forms, including human gene sequences. This practice, however, has recently come into question. In March, a New York judge invalidated Myriad Genetics' patents on the BRCA genes, thought to cause breast and ovarian cancer, and the case is under appeal. And in October, in a very surprising move, the Obama administration declared that it also considered genes unpatentable, because they are "products of nature." Parthasarathy, an expert in genetics and biotechnology policy, supports the recent court decision and the Obama administration's decision. Those on the other side of the debate worry that the loss of patents will decrease investment in innovation and, ultimately, will hurt research and hea
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Matthew Davis quoted in Health Day article about gun safety
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Matthew Davis was quoted in a Health Day news article called "Gun-Safety Talk a Safe Bet for All Families." The article, published in Business Week, presents the results of a new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, which found that only 48 percent of parents without firearms have discussed gun safety with their children.
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Paul N. Courant quoted in Inside Higher Ed, "New Models for University Presses"
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
An article by Paul N. Courant was quoted in an Inside Higher Ed story about a recent, special issue of The Journal of Electronic Publishing focused on reforms of the university press business model.
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Susan Dynarski quoted in Wall Street Journal blog, "The Conflicting Charter-School Numbers"
Friday, November 19, 2010
Susan M. Dynarski was quoted in a Wall Street Journal blog about the research comparisons of student performance at charter schools versus traditional schools. Though many charter schools use a lottery system to select students, the systems aren't standardized. "The states require the lotteries, [so there is] no reason they cannot be more standardized," Susan Dynarski told the Wall Street Journal. "It's such a waste! We have little randomized trials going on all over the country, and we could learn so much from them. [It] makes a researcher’s heart break."
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Matthew Davis quoted in ABC News story, “FDA May Ban Caffeine from Alcoholic Drinks”
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Dr. Matthew Davis was quoted in an ABC News story about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s expected ban of caffeine infused alcoholic beverages. A few states—including Michigan—have already banned these beverages, citing health and safety concerns.
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Brian Jacob's work cited in Inside Higher Ed article, “Cheating and the Generational Divide”
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Brian A. Jacob's work was cited in an Inside Higher Ed article about shifting generational views of academic dishonesty. In the wake of a hotly debated cheating scandal at the University of Central Florida, many researchers are weighing-in on the shifting norms around academic cheating and plagiarism.
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CLOSUP report about local economic development featured in various media outlets
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tom Ivacko was interviewed on Michigan Radio about a Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) survey about a relatively new economic development strategy: "economic gardening." The term describes activities that local communities engage in to cultivate and develop existing businesses, rather than simply recruit new ones.
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Research by Brian A. Jacob cited in Science Daily article, “How Much Last Year's Teacher Affects This Year’s Test Scores”
Monday, November 15, 2010
A Science Daily article discusses research by Brian A. Jacob about the long-term added value of high quality teachers. Jacob’s study, conducted with researchers from Brigham Young University and published in The Journal of Human Resources, found that gains—in student test scores—from so-called high value teachers fades quickly. The study analyzed 1.3 million reading and math test scores from North Carolina students and found that 87 percent of reading gains and 73 percent of math gains, from high quality teachers, fades after one year.
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Research by Robert Axelrod cited in New York Times article, "This Is Your Brain on Metaphors"
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Robert Axelrod's research on conflict resolution—especially between Israel and Palestine—was cited in a New York Times article about the human brain's sometimes conflicting literal and metaphorical interpretation of concepts or events. "Mutual symbolic concessions," as described by Axelrod, have great power, especially in peace negotiations. Axelrod explained that non-monetary symbols, such as an apology, could ultimately make all the difference in a conflict resolution scenario.
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Ann Lin quoted in Washington Post article, "Time to start counting the crowds"
Monday, November 8, 2010
Ann Lin was quoted in a Washington Post article about estimating the crowd size of rallies. The success of rallies, like last weekend's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," is often based on the inexact science of crowd counts. User crowd count polls, widely known to be more entertaining and less scientific, are often called "silly." Ann Lin told the Washington Post, "It's akin to sending out a message on the Internet saying, 'I have a jar of jellybeans on my desk. You don't know the size of the jar or the size of the jellybeans. Guess how many are in the jar.'"
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