Abstinence can mean different things to adolescents than to adults. That's one reason why abstinence-only programs do not have strong effects in preventing teenage sexual activity, according to new University of Washington research.

A research team led by University of Washington scientists has found that several people in South and Southeast Asian countries working and living around monkeys have been infected with simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate virus that, to date, has not been shown to cause human disease. The findings provide more evidence that Asia, where interaction between people and monkeys is common and widespread, could be an important setting for future primate-to-human viral transmission.

Twenty-eight University of Washington physicians working at UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics have achieved recognition in diabetes care from the National Commission on Quality Assurance (NCQA).

After a national search, Eileen Whalen has been appointed executive director for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, effective Oct. 6. Whalen, who has 25 years of experience in health care, has served as vice president of University Medical Center in Tucson since 2004.

Seminal fluid contains protein factors that, when transferred from a male to a female at mating, affect reproductive success.

Carlene Anders and Gene Dowers celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in early August. Instead of a fancy vacation, the couple opted to take a 500 mile rowing trip that serves as a fundraising drive for the March of Dimes and the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

A study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found they emitted dozens of different chemicals, some of which are toxic or hazardous. None of the chemicals was listed on the product labels.

Adolescent girls who had a serious school failure by the 12th grade - being expelled, suspended or dropping out - were significantly more likely to have suffered a serious bout of depression at the age of 21 than girls who did not have these problems.

The damage to brain tissue seen in Huntington's disease may be caused by an overactive immune response in the bloodstream and the brain, according to new findings from two teams of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle and University College London. The findings were published online July 14 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

With their waiting rooms crowded and exam rooms full, many physicians say they are too busy to be good communicators. Those who study physician time-management think otherwise.

Neurons in brains of one songbird species equipped with a built-in suicide program that kicks in at the end of the breeding season have been kept alive for seven days in live birds.

UW Medical Center (UWMC) took part in an international broadcast and global launch of the World Health Organization's "Safe Surgery Saves Lives" campaign Wednesday, June 25. UWMC is the only U.S. site of eight sites around the globe participating in the pilot phase of the project, which involves the use of a checklist for care before, during and after surgery.

Fluorescent nanoparticles, called quantum dots, are dramatically better than existing methods for delivering a gene-silencing tool into cells. The quantum-dot chaperones help impede the cell's production of a given protein.

New evidence shows that the brains of adults with autism are "wired" differently from people without the disorder, and this abnormal pattern of connectivity may be responsible for the social impairments that are characteristic of autism.

Harborview Medical Center celebrates the opening of its new inpatient expansion building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 17, 2008.

Teens attending college six months after completing high school are significantly less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than those who do not go to college.

The UW Medicine Alumni Association will honor four alumni June 7 at an evening reception at Bell Harbor International Conference Center. The event is part of the annual UW Medicine All-School Celebration planned for June 6 and 7.

Recent research has shown that the majority of autism cases occur in families with just one child who has disorder, and that's why the University of Washington's Autism Center is seeking 200 Washington and Oregon families to participate in a new North American study.

Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV.

A nationwide consortium led by the University of Washington in Seattle has completed the first sequence-based map of structural variations in the human genome, giving scientists an overall picture of the large-scale differences in DNA between individuals. The project gives researchers a guide for further research into these structural differences, which are believed to play an important role in human health and disease. The results appear in the May 1 issue of the journal Nature.