Press Releases
Press Releases
| Date | Press Releases | Topic |
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| Oct 17, 2007 |
Report Finds Major Gaps Exist in U.S. Pediatric Pandemic Preparations The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) issued a new report today, Pandemic Influenza: Warning, Children At-Risk, which finds that children and teens between the ages of 0-19 account for nearly 46 percent of all H5N1 “bird” flu cases and deaths. The report also identifies gaps in U.S. preparedness for treating and caring for children during a possible pandemic flu outbreak. Four key areas of concern raised in the report include: child-appropriate doses of vaccine and medications; management and treatment of children who become ill; including children in strategies to slow the spread of influenza in communities; and caring for and supervising the health of children if schools and childcare facilities are closed for extended periods of time. |
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| Sep 24, 2007 |
Two Pew Scholars Receive New Innovator Award From NIH Drs. Ekaterina Heldwein and Michael Rape, 2007 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences, each will receive $1.5 million over a five-year period to further their innovative biomedical research as part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) New Innovator Award Program. |
Biomedical Research |
| Sep 24, 2007 |
Peer-Reviewed, Online Database Showcases Pandemic Plans Public health planners have a new tool to help them prepare for one of the most daunting public health emergencies: an influenza pandemic. PandemicPractices.org, launched today by the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and the Pew Center on the States (PCS), a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, brings together more than 130 peer-reviewed promising practices from four countries, 22 states and 33 counties. Compiled as a resource to save communities and states time and resources, the database enables public health professionals to learn from each other and to build on their own pandemic plans. |
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| Aug 30, 2007 |
In a decision that places cost concerns above public health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has rejected a petition filed by a coalition of health and consumer groups calling for the agency to strengthen standards for genetic testing laboratories. Citing cost concerns, the agency told petitioners in a recent letter that it would not pursue the safety standards. |
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| Jun 26, 2007 |
Pew Announces New Investment to Prevent Irresponsible Subprime Mortgage Practices The Pew Charitable Trusts announced a new effort today to protect American families from dangerous “exploding” subprime mortgages linked to the current record number of home foreclosures. |
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| Jun 19, 2007 |
Ten Scientists Named 2007 Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences The Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) announced today that ten promising biomedical scientists have been named 2007 Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences. |
Biomedical Research |
| May 10, 2007 |
Researchers are using biotechnology to enhance nutritional and other properties of food for consumer benefit, but such products will face a complicated array of review requirements before they can come on the market, according to Application of Biotechnology for Functional Foods, a final new report released today by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. |
Food Safety |
| Apr 25, 2007 |
While Americans are generally very supportive of the use of genetic information to improve their own health and the health of their families, 92 percent are wary that this same information could be used in ways that harm them, according to a public opinion survey by the Genetics and Public Policy Center conducted in late February and early March of this year. |
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| Mar 27, 2007 |
Biotech specialty crops—fruits and vegetables, tree nuts and nursery crops—face unique regulatory challenges, but there are opportunities to improve the regulatory system to help support this important sector of the U.S. agricultural economy, according to participants at a recent workshop, co-sponsored by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). |
Food Safety |
| Mar 7, 2007 |
Many public discussions about cloned and genetically engineered (GE) food animals have focused on questions of the regulatory authorities that may govern such animals, but few have considered the impacts of ethical or moral concerns. While ethical issues can be equally as or even more important than safety and regulatory issues to many people, there is currently no established venue where these issues can be fully addressed, according to some of the experts who gathered at a workshop last October sponsored by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and Michigan State University. |
Food Safety |
| Feb 12, 2007 |
New Campaign Champions Changes in Medical Prescribing to End Conflicts of Interest The Prescription Project called on academic medical centers, professional medical societies and public and private payers to end conflicts of interest resulting from the $12 billion spent annually on pharmaceutical marketing. |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Feb 8, 2007 |
In September 2006, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology held a workshop in Washington, D.C., examining issues related to the potential importation into the U.S. of new varieties of genetically engineered (GE) crops and the various implications this could have on the U.S. regulatory system and food industry. |
Food Safety |
| Jan 25, 2007 |
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology to Conclude Its Work The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology will conclude its work at the end of March 2007. Established by The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2001, the project has achieved its goals of illuminating policy issues arising from advances in ag biotech and serving as a credible “honest broker” that could bring together stakeholders of differing views to discuss the opportunities and challenges that ag biotech presents. |
Food Safety |
| Dec 12, 2006 |
Report Finds U.S. Bioterror, Bird Flu, and Health Disaster Preparedness Inadequate Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) today released the fourth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, which found that five years after the September 11th and anthrax tragedies, emergency health preparedness is still inadequate in America. The Ready or Not? report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. All 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia were evaluated. Half of states scored six or less on the scale of 10 indicators. Oklahoma scored the highest with 10 out of 10; California, Iowa, Maryland, and New Jersey scored the lowest with four out of 10. States with stronger surge capacity capabilities and immunization programs scored higher in this year’s report, since four of the measures focus on these areas.
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| Oct 16, 2006 |
New Initiative Will Help State and Local Health Agencies Prepare for Pandemic Flu State and local health departments will soon get additional help preparing for a potential pandemic influenza through a partnership announced today between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.The project, a complement to the Trusts’ Pandemic Preparedness Initiative launched earlier this year, will identify the most problematic issues state and local agencies may confront in a pandemic, and then, by summer of 2007, collect and widely disseminate innovations and options for addressing them. |
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| Oct 5, 2006 |
"The Pew Charitable Trusts extends our warmest congratulations to Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., on his achievement in winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Dr. Mello was selected in 1995 as a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, receiving support over four years for his research on RNA interference - an investigation that ultimately led to his award-winning discovery..." |
Biomedical Research |
| Sep 27, 2006 |
Lax Oversight of Genetic Tests Better oversight of genetic testing laboratories by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is “critical to ensuring the quality of genetic testing in the United States,” and failure to provide it “poses a risk to the public’s health,” according to a Petition for Rulemaking submitted today to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan by the Genetics and Public Policy Center, Public Citizen, and Genetic Alliance. |
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| Aug 8, 2006 |
Improvement Needed in Genetic Testing Oversight In recent months many health-related organizations have joined in calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to end years of delay in assuring the safety and accuracy of genetic testing. In separate letters to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, members of Genetic Alliance and a coalition of women’s health groups urged the agency to issue a proposed rule to create a genetic testing specialty under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988. |
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| Aug 4, 2006 |
New Bill Could Jumpstart The Setting of Sound Genetic Public Policy Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced legislation to improve development and appropriate use of genetic tests in the United States, the Genetics and Public Policy Center has learned. "The Obama bill accelerates advances in the beneficial applications of genetic technologies to human health, while ensuring appropriate safeguards for the quality of genetic testing," says Center Director Kathy Hudson. |
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| Jul 27, 2006 |
Oversight Gaps for Genetic Testing Pose Risks to Public Health At the invitation of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Genetics and Public Policy Center Director Kathy Hudson testified on Thursday, July 27 as part of the hearing "At Home DNA Tests: Marketing Scam or Medical Breakthrough?" Hudson made the case that poor oversight of genetic testing has led to a situation in which "there is no way for a consumer to distinguish between the dubious and the decent" genetic tests and the laboratories that perform them. |
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| Jun 20, 2006 |
Seven Latin American Scientists Awarded Opportunity to Pursue Cutting-Edge Biomedical Research Seven highly talented early-career Latin American scientists were named today as 2006 Pew Latin American Fellows in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). |
Biomedical Research |
| Jun 20, 2006 |
Fifteen of the nation’s most promising early- to mid-career biomedical researchers were named today as 2006 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). |
Biomedical Research |
| Dec 16, 2005 |
In light of a decision expected soon by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the U.S. challenge to the European Union (EU) policy on genetically modified (GM) foods, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology has updated its brief on the trade dispute between the U.S. and the EU over agricultural biotechnology. |
Food Safety |
| Dec 12, 2005 |
The Pew Charitable Trusts Supports U.S. Pandemic Planning Project In response to the threat that avian flu could transition into a human pandemic, The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today a $1.5 million investment to ensure that key decision makers at the federal, state and local levels are responsibly developing and executing plans to protect Americans from this or other widespread public health threats. |
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| Dec 6, 2005 |
In March and May 2005, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology hosted workshops to explore issues related to the regulation and commercialization of the products of animal biotechnology. Participants included animal biotechnology researchers from academia and industry; other representatives from the biotechnology, food, and agriculture industries; consumer, environmental, and animal welfare advocates; ethicists; and federal agency officials. |
Food Safety |
