N Equals One

In a recent clinical trial, some patients with type 2 diabetes showed a clinically significant reduction in blood glucose after taking an anti-asthma drug for 12 weeks. Here we talk to Alan Saltiel, PhD, who led the study, about what this drug is, why it seems to help some diabetics but not others, and how his team is working to personalize diabetes treatments.

Here we talk to Richard Gallo, MD, PhD, a dermatologist and researcher whose team recently tested a “microbiome transplant” cream on a small group of eczema patients. People with eczema tend to have more Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on their skin than those who don’t, which can exacerbate the itchiness and inflammation. Unlike traditional antibiotics, which wipe out both harmful and beneficial bacteria indiscriminately, Gallo’s approach uses good bacteria to specifically fight off the bad.

In a small, clinical trial, a single dose of the drug suramin produced measurable, but transient, improvements in five boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, lead researcher Robert K. Naviaux, MD, PhD, talks with Miles McInerney, a teenager with ASD who was involved in the study but did not receive suramin, and his mother, Kim Kennedy. They discuss the trial, why Miles wanted to participate, and his concerns about changing what makes him who he is. (Suramin is a 100-year-old drug developed to treat African sleeping sickness. It is not approved for any therapeutic use in the U.S. This trial was only intended to test the drug’s safety. Larger, longer clinical trials are needed to assess suramin or similar drugs as an ASD treatment. For more, visit: http://health.ucsd.edu/suramin)

It’s a privilege to share the story of Tom Patterson, PhD, and his wife, Steffanie Strathdee, PhD, both faculty members at UC San Diego School of Medicine. In November 2015, they were vacationing in Egypt when Patterson contracted a life-threatening, multidrug-resistant bacterial infection. He was transported to UC San Diego Health, where he was treated intravenously with an experimental cocktail of phages — viruses that specifically destroy bacteria. He began improving almost immediately, emerging from a months-long coma. While this is only one patient (“N Equals One”!), Patterson’s experience opens a fresh avenue of research aimed at finding alternatives to traditional antibiotics, amidst the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.

For years, computer scientist Larry Smarr, PhD, meticulously monitored and documented almost every aspect of his physiological being, down to the microbial diversity of his colon and its output — all part of an effort to better understand his chronic intestinal condition. He called it “quantified self.” When Smarr eventually needed part of his colon removed, he pushed the concept further: “quantified surgery.” With colleague Jurgen Schulze, PhD, he created a 3D model of his affected abdomen that his surgeon, Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD, could explore long before her first incision. Smarr’s successful procedure was a true “N Equals One” experiment, but also perhaps a glimpse at the future of surgery.

In our last episode, we talked about the pros and cons of opioids for pain management. Here we talk to Mark Wallace, MD, about an alternative method for managing chronic pain — a type of neuromodulation called spinal cord stimulation. We also hear from a patient who has a spinal cord stimulator implanted in his back to help him manage hand pain following a construction accident 20 years ago.

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about the U.S.’s opioid addiction epidemic in the news. But chronic pain is an epidemic, too, and sometimes opioids are the best treatment. We talk to experts working on the front lines of both sides — palliative care pharmacist Rabia Atayee, PharmD, on the difficulties of managing chronic pain, and psychiatrist Carla Marienfeld, MD, on treating opioid addiction.

What are e-cigarettes? How are they different than traditional cigarettes? Are they any better for you? In this episode, Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, a pulmonologist and researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, answers these questions and dispels a few myths. We also talk about vaping mice, recipe blogs, and tips for making the habit a little less dangerous.

Tiffany Taylor recently defended her graduate thesis and was awarded a PhD in biomedical sciences. (Congrats, Tiffany!!) In the laboratory of Frank Furnari, PhD, at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Ludwig Cancer Research, Tiffany studied glioblastoma cells and how they grow. Here she talks about how, instead of leading to a shiny new drug, her findings might help doctors make better use of the glioblastoma treatments they already have. Tiffany also shares her future career plans, and her hopes for increasing diversity in the next generation of scientists.

Seems like every day there’s a new food study that contradicts the one before it: eggs are bad, eggs are good; gluten is poison, no red dye is poison – just eat kale! Where’s the science and what does “eating healthy” really mean? We talk to Christine Zoumas, MS, RD, senior dietitian and director of the Healthy Eating Program at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, about what she teaches cancer patients and cancer survivors at her nutrition and cooking classes.