Scipolicy.net

Aspiring doctors put in countless hours and rack up thousands of dollars in student debt, but not all are aiming for prestigious fields like cancer research and cardiology. In the past few years, the most sought-after fields in medicine have been much more superficial: plastic surgery and dermatology. Figures from the Association of American Medical Colleges show that last year, about half of medical students who put dermatology as their first choice for residency were rejected. In contrast, the acceptance rate for internal medicine was 98%, while that for family medicine was 99%. And it’s not a matter of competence: many of those who failed to get dermatology residencies were top students ...

written by madamejune

Scientists at a Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Iran have turned to Facebook to help them track the spread of viruses and infections. Researchers Nir Ben-Tal  and Gal Almogy at the university’s Faculty of Life Sciences developed an app dubbed PiggyDemic, in which users can pass a simulated virus onto their friends or vice versa. Their plan is to see how social interaction affects where a virus spreads and how many people it infects. The method challenges the current system of tracking virus spread through mathematical algorithms. The latter’s flaw is that it assumes that every virus is equally spread from one population to another, which is hardly ever the case—social ...

written by madamejune

Increasing scrutiny of pharmaceutical companies' Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and dietary supplements has created a greater demand for high-quality pharmaceutical training and consulting services. NSF-DBA, an NSF International company with more than 25 years of pharmaceutical experience, adds five leading pharmaceutical specialists to provide consulting and in-house training services to help companies comply with international regulations and improve quality management systems: Ed Arling A fo... ...

written by The Scientist

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies has been announced as the new name for the former Merck BioManufacturing Network (known as MSD BioManufacturing Network outside the US and Canada) following completion of its acquisition today by FUJIFILM Corporation of Japan. As previously announced, the acquisition comprises the facilities located in Billingham, UK (MSD Biologics (UK), formerly Avecia Biologics) and Research Triangle Park, NC, US (Diosynth RTP). Yuzo Toda, general manager of Pharmaceutical Products Division, FUJIFILM Corporation, said: "We are delighted to complete the addition of thi... ...

written by The Scientist

A new paper released by Quanticate provides an overview of some of the ways in which Phase I packages can be tailored to the needs of the specific compound and conducted more efficiently using combination, flexible protocols. It outlines the considerations that need to be made at the planning stage, and how to make best use of emerging PK and safety data to enable informed decisions regarding study progression. To receive a copy of our new paper, please click on the 'Flexible Phase I Study Designs' link at the base of our profile. ... ...

written by The Scientist

Quanticate has released a free-to-download white paper entitled 'Bayesian Study Design: The Pragmatic Solution for Phase II Clinical Development'. Statistically powered studies in phase II clinical development can be large and expensive, and may not be appropriate at a stage in development where much remains unknown about the likely magnitude of benefit of the compound under study. Pilot studies with small sample sizes may be easier and cheaper to run but are unlikely to yield statistically sound results. An alternative approach, designing such studies in a Bayesian framework, enables cl... ...

written by The Scientist

Bachem is continuously expanding and updating its extensive range of products for your research purposes. We are pleased to present our latest product additions, which include several Pro-VGF-derived peptides, osteoblast activating peptides, and two deuterium-labelled API analogs. A number of products including building blocks for click chemistry and new coupling reagents has also been added to our offer of amino acid derivatives. Today's release of 29 new products includes: Pro-VGF-derived peptides AQEE-30 and LQEQ-19 have been described to induce penile erection when injected into the pa... ...

written by The Scientist

Fujifilm Corporation and Merck, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement by which Fujifilm will acquire the Merck BioManufacturing Network, a leading provider of contract manufacturing and development services for the biopharmaceutical industry and wholly owned by Merck. "Fujifilm continues to build upon its ongoing commitment to delivering pharmaceutical business," said Shigetaka Komori, president and chief executive officer of Fujifilm Corporation. "This acquisition provides an important addition to our pharmaceutical busin... ...

written by The Scientist

Quanticate, a global biometrics clinical research organization (CRO), today announced the rebranding of its staff recruitment solutions division from 'OPS Search & Selection' to 'Quanticate People'. With this branding initiative, Quanticate launched its new Quanticate People website, www.QuanticatePeople.com. Quanticate People builds on OPS's ten-plus years of experience in providing specialized personnel to the international healthcare sector. Quanticate People is realigning its profile in light of a series of exciting developments including the relocation of its UK headquarters to n... ...

written by The Scientist

Quanticate is offering free training in various SAS® procedures and techniques. If you are a SAS user wishing to extend your knowledge of SAS software and build efficiency into your coding, we are running free training sessions to help you improve your skills. You should have at least three months experience of using the SAS system on a regular basis to benefit from attending the sessions. Training sessions will usually last for 90 minutes and will include a company overview of Quanticate. Please register your interest and we will forward details of the next available course. For more... ...

written by The Scientist