— The World Health Organization is continuing to come under fire for its handling of the swine flu pandemic last year and its links to drug companies. Facing a panel of the Council of Europe’s health committee, WHO flu expert Keiji Fukuda said: “Let me state clearly for the record — the influenza pandemic policies and responses recommended and taken by WHO were not improperly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.” (BBC)

— Researchers have developed an extraordinary gene therapy treatment for the Extraordinary Measures disease. A University of Florida team targeted the gene therapy to the diaphragm of mice with Pompe disease and found significant improvements in breathing. A clinical trial involving six infants is planned for this summer. (LA Times)

— The Burnham Institute for Medical Research is getting a makeover. Flush with a $50 million dollar gift from South Dakota billionaire T. Denny Sanford, the La Jolla, California–based center is changing its name to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. (San Diego Union Tribune)

— Leading cancer epidemiologist Lawrence Garfinkel, who first linked cigarette smoking to lung cancer, died last week at the age of 88. In the 1950s, Garfinkel led a study that tracked nearly 200,000 men for more than three and a half years to provide the first concrete evidence that smokers had increased risks of cancer. (NY Times)

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