I guess you could say that the Stanford Biodesign Program “wrote the book” on how to teach medical technology innovation to multidisciplinary teams. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently acknowledged the effectiveness of this training program by signing a “memorandum of understanding with Stanford, which I discuss in todays Inside Stanford Medicine.

The agreement lays the groundwork for the FDA and Stanford to collaborate on a number of initiatives, including educational outreach, cross-training of scientific personnel, and the development of new biostatistical methods for more accurately evaluating the safety of emerging medical technologies.

The biodesign program, which is in its 11th year, trains teams of doctors, engineers and business students — in an intensive one-year program — to identify a medical need, develop an invention to fill it, create a business plan, navigate the regulatory process, then present their inventions to venture capitalists. Since its inc

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A new exhibition at the county Record Office tells the story of the census.

The displays include the history of the census, the original of which dates back to Biblical times.

Items on show include the entry by county celebrities including the Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, who filled out his census form in Leicester in 1871 at the age of 18.

The free exhibition is being held to coincide with the latest release of census records from 1911 which are due to be released this month.

Jenny Moran, manager of public services at the Record Office in Long Street, Wigston, said the information would be of use to anyone researching their family history, or who wanted to know more about their area.

She added: “All census information is closed for 100 years so every 10 years we get some new records.

“A lot of people use the records to find out about their family trees and the history of their communities and there’s a lot of interest in census information now.

“People can now go online and pay to view the records from 1911.”

The exhibition will be based in the foyer of the county record office.

Visitors can also see census information held at the offices which date from 1841 to 1901.

Expert librarians will be on hand to help people find the information they are looking for.

Visitors can also use the record office computers to pay to look at the 1911 data, which is available online at websites including:

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Taking control of your debt is the first step you need to take to regain control over your life. If your debts are mounting with no end in sight, consider filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Each option offers a different way for you to restart your life and depending on your needs, filing for bankruptcy may be the first step forward. Consider a change in your lifestyle and learn more about filing in Ohio.

Filing for bankruptcy in Ohio may lead to a change in lifestyle for both you and your family. There are two types of bankruptcy to keep in mind when filing in OH: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. T Read more…

Former Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch, 33, said he’s finished with football. He tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee while playing quarterback for the United Football League’s Omaha Nighthawks in September.

Crouch played collegiately at Nebraska and won the Heisman in 2001, beating Rex Grossman of Florida by only 62 votes.

He was a third round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams, who planned to switch him to wide receiver. At the time, Crouch, at 6-foot-0, was considered too short to play quarterback. He played 2003-04 with the Green Bay Packers and 2005 with the Kansas City Chiefs, who switched him to safety. He was on the practice squads for each team listed.

After the NFL, he also played in NFL Europe (Hamburg Sea Devils, 2005) and the CFL (Toronto Argonauts, 2006-07).

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I’ve written before about having gestational diabetes with my current pregnancy. Having been diagnosed early on, I’ve been fortunate enough to manage my GD through a controlled diet and moderate (well, um, some) exercise. But while I know I should work out more than I do, a clinical study recently published in Obstetrics & Gynecology helps me feel a little less guilty about being a lazy pregnant woman this second go-around.

After randomly assigning 855 women in their 18th to 22nd week of pregnancy to two groups, Norwegian researchers found that pregnant women who exercised regularly were no less likely to develop gestational diabetes than those who did not. (By the third trimester, seven percent of the exercise group had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, versus six percent of the comparison group.) From an article on The Atlantic today:

Those in the exercise program took an hour-long class once a week for 12 weeks doing low-impact aerobics, plus strengthening and stretching exercises. They were

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Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson received an honorary degree yesterday.

He was a key speaker at De Montfort University’s conference on terrorism and radicalism, organised by the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.

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Mr Jackson said other cities could look to Leicester for tips on multicultural and racial harmony.

He said: “This is a multicultural city and it shows that when people work alongside each other, together as a team, things can work.

“Here is Leicester there are many races and many faces from many places.”

Mr Jackson marched with Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s and, in 1979, visited South Africa, where he spoke out against apartheid.

He also won praise for negotiating the release of American soldiers and civilians held around the world and, in the 1980s, became a leading national spokesman for African Americans and twice stood for the Democrats nomination for president.

When asked what Leicester could do to further fight terrorism, he said: “We must be radical but radical in a loving and caring and peaceful way, fighting together to change our world.

“We must think about the way we interpret the word ‘radical’ and remember that Jesus was a radical – but in this peaceful sense I talk about.

“We must all fight to coexist in peace.”

Mr Jackson spoke at the conference about the lessons to be learned from the US experience of tackling radicalisation and said that we must address the disparity in wealth between the rich and poor in order to achieve peace.

Other speakers at the conference included Ian Paisley Jr MP, who discussed his experiences in Northern Ireland, as well as Home Office security minister James Brokenshire and Dr Dipu Moni, the foreign minister of Bangladesh.

At the conference, Mr Vaz announced he would today ask parliament to honour Mr Jackson by nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

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Texas A&M placekicker Randy Bullock’s record-setting senior season was rewarded with the 2011 Lou Groza Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top collegiate placekicker.

Bullock, from Klein High School near Houston, received the prestigious award from Groza’s youngest son, Judd Groza, at the Home Depot College Football Award Show, which originated from the Atlantic Dance Hall at Disney’s BoardWalk at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“”I’’m humbled by this tremendous honor because I know how many great placekickers there are around the nation,” Bullock said. “I dedicated my senior season to my father and being a finalist for the Groza Award was one of my biggest goals. I can’t express how much it means to me to be able to win this award for my family, Coach (Mike) Sherman and all my Texas A&M teammates and coaches.””