Hundreds of clinicians and researchers gathered for a variety of discussions around the latest in schizophrenia research at the 2013 International Congress on Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR).

Over the course of four days in April in Orlando, Fl., experts from across the world shared the latest information on brain imaging, genetics and clinical trials designed to advance the treatment of schizophrenia.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have completed testing on a Type 1 diabetes treatment involving transplanting “islet cells”, or insulin producing cells known to reverse and even diminish the disease.

So far, 48 people have undergone the groundbreaking experimental treatment which seeks to eliminate one of America’s most serious health problems…

Teenagers and adults aged 15 to 65 should receive universal HIV screening to prevent the spread of infection and to get those who are infected into treatment faster, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF).

The task force also found all pregnant women should be screened for HIV, including women who are in labor but whose HIV status is unknown.

According to University of Minnesota infectious disease expert Timothy Schacker, M.D., the recommendations could be a positive step in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Today, University of Minnesota physicians will perform the world’s first cord blood transplant designed specifically to cure a pediatric patient of HIV/AIDS and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

The procedure will take place at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and will be completed by a clinical team composed of transplant physicians Michael Verneris, M.D. and John Wagner, M.D., of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and HIV/AIDS infectious disease specialist Timothy Schacker, M.D.

The breakthrough nature of the case stems from the use of cord blood (the blood extracted from the placenta after a baby is born) that contains a variant of the cell surface protein CCR5 – known as CCR5Δ32.  Present in less than one percent of the population, CCR5Δ32 prevents most strains of the HIV virus from entering a patient’s T cells, ultimately protecting against the destruction of the host’s immune system.

“What we’re attempting is a first and potentially landmark case for the HIV/AIDS community,” said Wagner, an internationally recognized stem cell transplant expert and pioneer in cord blood transplantation at the University of Minnesota. “This now offers patients with HIV and leukemia or lymphoma new hope.  But even more importantly, this should compel cord blood banks worldwide to identify how many cord blood units with CCR5Δ32 exist within the inventory. We also hope this case prompts others to find novel ways to block or alter CCR5 to mimic this protective variant.”

On Friday in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, in the heart of the state’s Iron Range, University of Minnesota researchers confirmed an association between time spent working in the taconite industry and an increased risk of contracting mesothelioma, an association evident across Minnesota’s Iron Range. Researchers also found that air quality in communities surrounding taconite mines is cleaner in terms of particulates than air found in Minneapolis.

They’ve also found that current occupational exposure to dust from taconite operations is generally within safe exposure limits.

The updated results come as the Taconite Workers Health Study, a multi-pronged research initiative funded by the state of Minnesota, winds down later this year. The Minnesota Legislature commissioned the $4.9 million project in 2008, after data from the Minnesota Cancer Registry revealed an apparent excess of cases of mesothelioma in Iron Range workers. The mesothelioma deaths only occurred in men working in the taconite industry.

The University of Minnesota School of Public Health partnered with the Medical School and the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota Duluth on the project.

“This is a landmark study for Minnesota and the Iron Range,” said John Finnegan, Ph.D., dean of the School of Public Health. “Our goal was to begin to answer questions around how mining and taconite processing have impacted the health of Minnesotans. These studies have started to uncover those answers.”

S. Charles Schulz, M.D., head of the Department of Psychiatry, will receive the esteemed Stanley Dean Award for Research in Schizophrenia in 2014. For more than 50 years, The American College of Psychiatrists (ACP) has issued this award to “a group or individual that has made a major contribution to the treatment of schizophrenic disorders.”

The award will be presented at the next annual meeting of the ACP in February 2014. As part of the award ceremony, Schulz has also been asked to present a brief lecture on his work.