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SUMMER OF DISCOVERY

Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School (UES) offers creative and challenging summer classes in art, literature, science and math on the UCLA campus. Through hands-on learning experiences, children can explore ocean habitats, learn about dinosaurs, create rain forest art, delve into world music, perform original stories and more. Classes are taught in a natural setting, with several play yards and a redwood forest. Teachers are fully certified and experienced. The UES program provides a nurturing environment that fosters empathy, acceptance and respect for each child’s uniqueness. Apply online at www.ues.gseis.ucla.edu or call Olga Peerali at (310) 267-4586 for more information. Open enrollment begins March 8.

WHY MEDICATIONS DON’T WORK

Ever wonder why the allergy medicine your friend swears by does nothing for you? The answer is in your DNA. The world’s top pharmacogeneticists, who study how an individual’s genes can enhance or block the effect of medications, will meet 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 8 at a free public conference at Covel Commons to discuss genetic responses to drugs. “Fewer than half the people prescribed 90% of the world’s most expensive medications actually derive any benefit from these drugs,” said Julio Licinio, principal investigator for the UCLA Interdepartmental Clinical Pharmacology Program and an NPI professor. For details, call (310) 825-7875. To register online, go to www.pharmgkb.org/meetings/2004/registration.jsp.

DIET AND PROSTATE CANCER

A low-fat diet may help men with aggressive prostate cancer better fight their disease and live longer, according to researchers at the Jonsson Cancer Center who showed that a diet low in polyunsaturated fats slowed cancer growth and increased survival times in lab models. Laboratory mice with advanced human prostate cancer that were deprived of the hormone testosterone were fed a diet low in polyunsaturated fats. They remained in remission about twice as long as mice fed a diet with a much higher fat content. Additionally, levels of PSA, which measures the amount of prostate cancer present, were markedly lower in the mice fed a low-fat diet. The study appeared in the Feb. 15 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Research. Prostate cancer will strike more than 220,000 American men this year alone. Researcher William Aronson, the study’s lead author, called the results very significant, but cautioned that large studies need to be conducted in humans.