As I start my tenure as editor in chief of Diabetes Care, I would like to emphasize that I am extremely honored to have been chosen for this position, and I take the responsibility of continuing the success of the journal very seriously. The success of Diabetes Care has clearly been due to the hard work, dedication, vision, and expertise of the outstanding editors and associate editors who have preceded me in this role. Past editors in chief have included Jay S. Skyler (1978–1982, the founding editor), F. John Service (1983–1987), David C. Robbins (1988–1991), Allen L. Drash (1992–1996), Charles M. Clark, Jr. (1997–2001), Mayer B. Davidson (2002–2006), and Vivian A. Fonseca (2007–2011). Actually, I a

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For centuries, gossip has been dismissed as salacious, idle chatter that can damage reputations and erode trust. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests rumor-mongering can have positive outcomes such as helping us police bad behavior, prevent exploitation and lower stress. “Gossip gets a bad rap, but we’re finding evidence that it plays a critical role in the maintenance of social order,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a coauthor of the study published in this month’s online issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The study also found that gossip can be therapeutic.

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Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Enobia Pharma have signed a definitive agreement under which Alexion will acquire 100% of the capital stock of Enobia. Enobia is a private biopharmaceutical company based in Montreal, Canada and Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is focused on the development of therapies to treat patients with ultra-rare and life-threatening genetic metabolic disorders.

Enobia’s lead product candidate ENB-0040 (asfotase alfa), is a human recombinant targeted alkaline phosphatase enzyme-replacement therapy for patients suffering with hypophosphatasia (HPP), an ultra-rare, life-threatening, genetic metabolic disease for which there are no approved treatment options.

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On December 22, up to 4,000 nurses who work for the Stutter Corporation are going on strike, protesting against sweeping cuts in healthcare coverage and patient care protections, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. Almost 2,000 nurses at Long Beach Memorial, a major hospital in Southern California, will join in the strike, protesting at the proposed reduction in health coverage for nurses, as well as putting off concerns regarding patient care. Read more…

American Association of Clinical Endocrinology and American Diabetes Association 2011

At a plenary session of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE) Annual Meeting in April 2011, Eric Topol, La Jolla, California, discussed the concept that genomics can be used to create “a revolution in medicine” for diabetes prevention and management. Although the decoding of the human genome was greeted with much fanfare in 2000, this information “has failed so far to produce medical miracles.” There has, however, been remarkable progress in the use of the human genome to understand the underpinning of many common diseases. We are

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They say time heals all wounds, and new research from the University of California, Berkeley, indicates that time spent in dream sleep can help us overcome painful ordeals. UC Berkeley researchers have found that during the dream phase of sleep, also known as REM sleep, our stress chemistry shuts down and the brain processes emotional experiences and takes the edge off difficult memories.

The findings offer a compelling explanation for why people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as war veterans, have a hard time recovering from distressing experiences and suffer reoccurring nightmares.

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Kenexa, a global provider of business solutions for human resources, has reported that Eli Lilly will be using Kenexas global recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services in some of the major markets where Lilly conducts business globally. The five year engagement represents Kenexas largest global RPO partnership, and also includes Kenexas onboarding, recruiting, assessment, and survey solutions and employment branding.

Lilly sought to consolidate many of its global recruitment processes in order to increase efficiencies in the end-to-end recruiting process. Lilly and Kenexa share a strong presence in several global growth markets which further established synergies between the companies.

Rudy Karsan, CEO of Kenexa, commented, Improving outcomes, enriching lives is the mantra of Kenexas relationship with Lilly.

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Having a transient ischemic attack (TIA), or “mini stroke,” can reduce your life expectancy by 20 percent, according to a new study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. “People experiencing a TIA won’t die from it, but they will have a high risk of early stroke and also an increased risk of future problems that may reduce life expectancy,” said Melina Gattellari, Ph.D., senior lecturer at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine in The University of New South Wales, Sydney and Ingham Institute in Liverpool, Australia. “Our findings suggest that patients and doctors should be careful to intensely manage lifestyle and medical risk factors for years after a transient ischemic attack.” The statistical analysis is the first to comprehensively quantify the impact of hospital-diagnosed TIA on life expectancy. Read more…