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"Paper of the year" laurels
for vaccine studies
They
may not get the red carpet and the Harry Winston
diamonds, but the scientists who toil at the benches
of medical research are getting a well-deserved
pat on the back, courtesy of The Lancet.
For the past three years, the venerable British
journal has selected a Paper of the Year from
the hundreds of thousands of original research
articles published annually.
This
time around, the top honour went to a couple of
papers documenting the trials of two rotavirus
vaccines, published in the New England Journal
of Medicine on January 5, 2006. "The editors
were impressed by the efficacies of these two
vaccines, which one day are likely to stand alongside
smallpox, measles, and poliomyelitis vaccines
in their global public health benefit," wrote
the journal's executive editor James Butcher.
"[The trials] make immunisation against this infection
a practical reality again. We congratulate the
investigators of those trials for doing what we
consider to be the best medical research of the
year."
The
Lancet's international advisory board and in-house
editors nominated a total of 23 papers, which
included "medical firsts" such as the report of
the world's first face transplant; a description
of tissue-engineered bladders; a comparison of
RNA expression in the brains of humans and chimpanzees;
a report on the state of global health by the
Disease Control Priorities Project; and the results
of several clinical trials.
A
trial assessing the efficacy of GlaxoSmithKline's
HPV vaccine was selected as the runner up.
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There was a time when physicians
were known as the most backward profession when it came
to using computers. Docs of yore would thumb their noses
at electronic solutions in favour of good old pen and
paper. But MDs are shedding their luddite image, as
they increasingly turn to the internet to get —
and give — information. More and more of them (young
and old alike) are also choosing to broadcast their
knowledge and opinions on their very own online journals,
or blogs.
A few years ago Medgadget.com,
an independent journal of the latest medical technologies
written, edited and published by a group of MDs and
biomed engineers, decided to crown the best of the crop
with its now-annual Medical Weblog Awards. The popular
contest is, they say, designed to "honour the very best
in the medical blogosphere and to highlight the diverse
world of medical blogs."
The winners, who will each receive
a copy of the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy,
were selected by the Medgadget's dedicated readers,
as well as a panel of judges which included members
of the Medgadget editorial staff and other renowned
bloggers.
BEST
MEDICAL BLOG
The NHS Blog Doctor
URL: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com
Author: Dr John Crippen
According to his self-penned profile, Dr John Crippen
is a very angry man. With over two decades of dedicated
service to Britain's National Health Service (NHS) behind
him, the family physician "watches and weeps as the
Health Service, slowly but inexorably, is destroyed."
On top of his daily posts, Dr Crippen
also writes a weekly diary, in which he documents the
joys and sorrows of practising family medicine —
with a healthy dose of humour to help it all go down.
 Some
of his more memorable submissions include biting rants
on the role of "nurse specialists" and a hilarious account
of his experiences with a stool chart entitled "Defining
the Euro-turd".
Dr Crippen also took home laurels
for BEST LITERARY MEDICAL BLOG and BEST HEALTH POLICY
/ ETHICS BLOG. Take a well-earned break and check out
what this mad as hell doc has to say.
BEST
NEW MEDICAL BLOG
Flea
URL: http://drfleablog.blogspot.com
Author: Anonymous
 Flea
is an anonymous pediatrician and recovering crossword
puzzle addict from somewhere in the Northeastern US.
His causes célèbres include childhood
obesity and vaccination. He still makes house calls.
The majority of readers votes in
this category actually went to runner-up Bertalan Meskó's
ScienceRoll — a great read — but the judges'
favour tipped Dr Flea into the top spot.
Runner-up: Science
Roll by Hungarian med student Bertalan Meskù
http://scienceroll.wordpress.com
 BEST
CLINICAL SCIENCES WEBLOG
Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments
URL: http://www.treatmentonline.com/
treatments.php
Author: Treatment Online
Easily the most sobering of this year's winners, this
site focuses on the latest mental health news. Entries
cover a broad range of topics from bipolar disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia to
parenting tips and coping strategies.
Runner-up: Clinical Cases
and Images, founded by Dr Ves Dimov of the Cleveland
Clinic
http://casesblog.blogspot.com
 BEST
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES / INFORMATICS WEBLOG
The Healthcare IT Guy
URL: http://www.healthcareguy.com
Author: Shadid N Shah
Mr Shah is the CEO of Netspective Commu-nica-tions,
which offers information technology professional services
and software development tools. For the word on all
things technical, he's your man.
Runner-up: docinthemachine
by Dr Steven F Palter
http://docinthemachine.com
 BEST
PATIENT BLOG
The Furry Monkey
URL: http://www.thefurrymonkey.co.uk
Author: Karen Theobald
Ms Theobald documents her battle with Non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma through her CancerVive diary and a slew of
information about the disease. She's also got some jokes,
a hall of fame and other stuff that keeps her sane.
Runner-up: Diabetes Mine,
by Amy Tenderich
http://www.diabetesmine.com
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