Description:

Hospital-acquired infections may account for nearly 100,000 deaths annually in the United States.  Many such complications may be reduced by increased awareness of risk factors and standardization of management practices— across all health care provider professions (e.g., nursing, physicians, and ancillary staff).  National patient safety initiatives are increasingly utilized by regulatory agencies, the insurance indsutry, and the public, to encourage hospitals to improve quality through performance in the respective associated safety metrics. 

Many promising efforts to discover cures for disease involve collaborations span departmental, organizational, and disciplinary boundaries. These collaborations typically bring together researchers and assets from across academic research institutions, private institutes, industry partners, and medical centers. In the current economic climate, this increased focus on “partnering” is recognized as a winning business strategy for many companies and universities.

  Neurofibromatosis (NF), which includes NF1 and NF2, is the most common genetic mutation and affects about 1 in 3,500 people.  Its phenotpyic expression is protean and can involve the brain, spine, peripheral nerves, skin, bones, eyes, GI system, and a variety of other tissues and organs to varying degrees from mild to life-threatening.  Clinical symptoms can include pain, weakness, numbness, hearing and visual loss, changes in GI function, abnormalities in bone growth, to mention the most common.