Not only does Vera Bradley make popular handbags, but it also fights against breast cancer. The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer announced today (Nov. 12) that it is committing $10 million to breast cancer research at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.

Originally known as the IU vs. Purdue Blood Donor Challenge, Indiana University continues saving lives this year in the renamed 13th annual IU Blood Donor Challenge. The nationwide challenge will run through Nov. 13.

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today (Oct. 28) will announce a campaign to create an endowed faculty chair in cancer research in commemoration of the late Myles Brand, the university's 16th president.

A diverse panel of Indiana University professors will speak on the issue of health care reform Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. This free, open-to-the-public event is co-sponsored by the Indiana Memorial Union Board and the Teachable Moments Committee of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding.

Will neglecting to brush your teeth damage more than just your smile? Can failing to attack dental plaque increase your risk of heart damage? The answer to both questions may be "yes" if you are male and black, an Indiana University School of Dentistry study published in the current issue of the Journal of Dental Research reports.

Myles Brand, who served as Indiana University's 16th president from 1994 to 2002 and president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association since January 2003, died today (Sept. 16) at the age of 67.

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie has awarded world-renowned operatic soprano and former IU voice professor Camilla Williams and Clement J. McDonald, distinguished professor emeritus and a pioneer in electronic medical record systems, with the President's Medal for Excellence. The awards are among the highest honors an IU president can bestow.

In IU Health and Wellness for August, IU experts discuss serious weight concerns involving fall high school sports and new research into how attitudes about smoking are transferred from parents to children and can predict smoking onset.

Do Americans believe controversial assertions about health care reform including death panels, threats to Medicare, abortions, illegal immigrants and other claims which the White House administrators have labeled as untrue "myths?" Findings from a new national survey of Americans by researchers from Indiana University Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR) and the Indiana University Center for Bioethics says that Americans do believe the "myths" about health care reform, confirming that the White House may indeed be losing this battle.

A team approach to preventive health care delivery for older adults developed by researchers from Indiana University and the Regenstrief Institute improved health and quality of life, decreased emergency department visits and lowered hospital admission rates. By the second year the new model saved money for the sickest (those with three to four chronic diseases), and in the third year, a year after the home-based intervention ended, it saved even more.

Researchers from Indiana University's Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR) have found that support for government-sponsored health insurance for individuals under age 65 remains virtually the same regardless of how the plan is described or how involved the government would be.

Paul Sullivan, Indiana University's deputy vice president for administration, will temporarily oversee the executive portfolio of J. Terry Clapacs, who retires today (June 30) as vice president and chief administrative officer.

A $4.15 million, four-year National Institutes of Health grant will enable researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine to conduct the first health study of teenage boys using cellular telephones. The researchers, led by Dr. Dennis Fortenberry, professor of pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, will use text messaging to follow 72 males, ages 14-17 years, for three years. The adolescent males will be provided with cell phones and unlimited, free text messaging as long as they remain enrolled in the study.

The Indiana University Board of Trustees today (June 12) approved a plan that would enable the Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County to swap land with the university so that it could eventually build a new Wishard Memorial Hospital facility directly west of the IUPUI campus. The vote came during the trustees' regularly scheduled business meeting at the IU Northwest campus in Gary.

In 1979 Chancellor's Professor David Pisoni brought the first two postdoctoral researchers to Indiana University Bloomingrton when he was awarded a five-year training grant by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders. Today, the same grant supports six postdoctoral researchers, six doctoral students and six medical students in Bloomington and Indianapolis.

Fact or fiction? Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years. Cold weather makes you sick. You should never wake a sleepwalker. A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's. Riley Hospital for Children physicians Dr. Aaron Carroll and Dr. Rachel Vreeman, both at the Indiana University School of Medicine, tackle these and other commonly held medical beliefs in a new book, Don't Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health.

Online ballots for the election of an alumni representative to the 2009 Indiana University Board of Trustees are currently available to Indiana University alumni. Complete information about the election, including the online ballot and profiles of the 2009 candidates, may be found on the Trustee Election Web site.

Indiana University graduates and their families can still expect a traditional and stately commencement complete with pomp and circumstance, even though congratulatory handshakes from the president, chancellors and deans will be missing as part of ceremonies that will be held throughout the coming week, May 9-15, at all eight IU campuses.

Since last Sunday (April 26) when the federal government declared a public health emergency in response to the outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in the United States, key members of my administration have been working to ensure that Indiana University is taking every precaution to protect students and employees on all eight campuses from unnecessary risks. Today, I am writing to report on what we have done so far and what other actions you might anticipate should the situation worsen in Indiana or any of our students or employees test positive for infection with Influenza A (H1N1).

A total of 16,901 students are eligible to receive Indiana University degrees during May commencement ceremonies at eight campuses. Commencement week begins on May 9 (Saturday) at IU in Bloomington and concludes on May 15 at IU East in Richmond (Friday).

Eight Indiana University graduate schools and programs are ranked among the nation's top 25 by U.S. News and World Report magazine in its latest annual report, "America's Best Graduate Schools."

A nationwide study of adults with asthma reveals no benefit for treatment for silent acid reflux, which long has been thought to be the culprit for some severe asthma symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and breathlessness. The findings, which could save $10 million annually in unwarranted prescriptions, are reported in the April 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New guidelines proposed in the March 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children may have a major impact on how pediatricians and family physicians treat non-active tuberculosis (TB) in children who are immigrants, internationally adopted or refugees. The researchers say the strategy should improve the health of this growing number of children and save healthcare dollars.

Faced with a barrage of pressing issues, the Obama administration has placed health-care reform high on its agenda. The timing bodes well for change, according to Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., director of the Indiana University Center for Health Policy and Professionalism, associate professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children.

Patients and their families want physicians who are gifted in diagnosis and treatment and who are caring individuals with the interpersonal skills needed to communicate complex information in stressful circumstances. A new study in the January 2009 issue of Academic Medicine shows training physicians to be humanistic is feasible and produces measurably better communicators.