A study put together by researchers in Detroit is being called the "most important ever conducted on premature birth." It is getting the designation because researchers claim they have figured out how to drastically reduce the rate of premature births in our nation. They say doctors should measure the cervixes of pregnant women and then treat women with shorter cervixes with vaginal progesterone. The study was put together by researchers at Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Roberto Romero, head of the study and chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, which is based in Detroit at the DMC and Wayne State University's School of Medicine, said in the Detroit Free Press story that "evidence is compelling" that the cervical measurements and gel significantly improve a woman's chance of having a full-term, healthy baby. A woman with a short cervix has a greater chance of delivering before 37 weeks of pregnancy. A normal pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board called for a nationwide ban on texting and calling behind the wheel. Many individual states and municipalities have their own prohibitions on cell-phone use while driving, but the new ban seeks to outlaw all non-emergency calls and texts by every driver in America. Coincidentally, on the same day, a new analysis of past data on distracted driving found that the crash risk may have been overstated. Researchers at Wayne State University's School of Medicine looked at two influential studies on distracted driving and car crashes, and concluded that the papers' methodology was problematic. The studies found that cell phone use by drivers raised the risk of a car crash by four times. The two studies recruited people who had been in a crash, and then used their cell phone billing records to compare their phone use during the time of the crash with their use during the same time period the week before. The previous-week comparison period was called the "control window." The problem, according to Dr. Richard Young, the lead author of the new analysis, published in Epidemiology, is that while the researchers asked people whether they had driven during the control window, they didn't ask how much they drove.

Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. A collaborative research study among investigators at Wayne State University, Minnesota's Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland shows that steroids attached to the dendrimers targeted the damage-causing cells associated with neuroinflammation, leaving the rest of the eye unaffected and preserving vision. The study was funded by grants from the Ligon Research Center of Vision at Wayne State University, the Ralph C. Wilson Medical Research Foundation, Office of the Vice President for Research at Wayne State University, and Research to Prevent Blindness.

Doctors at Van Andel Research Institute are among dozens more across the country who will take part in a 3-year, $6 million project aimed at devising new treatments for a particularly deadly form of skin cancer. The Stand Up to Cancer and Melanoma Research Alliance Dream Team, composed of nearly 50 doctors, scientists and researchers, is tasked with examining the usefulness of personalized and other therapies to treat metastatic melanoma. Dr. Patricia M. LoRusso, a professor of oncology at Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University's School of Medicine, will serve as project co-leader leading the team of medical professionals from various institutions, including Vanderbilt University, the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University. Michigan State's Grand Rapids-based College of Human Medicine also is involved with the project.

In one of those magical, improbable playoff runs that helps renew faith in the joy of sports, Wayne State University's football team has pushed itself to the Division II national title game, after having never made the playoffs before this season. The Warriors (12-3) will play Pittsburg State (Kan.) in Florence, Ala. this Saturday for the national title. Warriors coach Paul Winters said this unlikely post-season run has been intense, bringing more attention to his football program than it's ever seen. A photo is featured of Wayne State's Josh Renel and Aaron Cornett celebrating after advancing to the Division II finals.

Craig Fahle talked to Crain's Detroit Business reporter Bill Shea about the success of the Wayne State Warriors this football season.

Are children better off learning in schools computer-free? The Waldorf School approach to child learning has been receiving national attention for its non-focus on technology and computer literacy, especially with advocates of the model being found in many high-tech families in California's Silicon Valley. Craig Fahle talks about the possible benefits and draw-backs of a computer-free primary education. Mary Waker, director of Wayne State University's Education Technology Center at the College of Education, joined the discussion.

Wayne State is included in a list of universities that have produced the most current major-sports franchise owners. WSU has graduated three owners including Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. The top 11 institutions in the rankings include: Harvard, Georgetown, Columbia, Michigan, UCLA, Arizona, Dartmouth, NYU, Penn, Wayne State and Yale.

A Wayne State University professor says there is a way to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma without the risk of more cancerous tumors growing in a patient. Current treatments attack cancerous cells but are met with specific resistance from a protein in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells that make cancer-treating drugs less effective. Pathology professor Asfar Azmi has presented findings of a new treatment that weakens that protein. "Really these are very effective drugs," Azmi, who works under WSU professor Ramzi Mohammad, said in a news release. "They are killing resistant lymphoma cells at very low concentrations, or nanomolar range. Such tumors were developed in Mohammad's lab from patients who did not respond to standard chemotherapy." Azmi says that the same drugs can be used as a broad treatment for many types of cancers and can be added to future chemotherapy treatments.

WSU's commencement is noted as an event of the day Saturday during newscasts.

An Associated Press story features entrepreneur Ida Byrd-Hill who developed a board game called "Fluke" which introduces the landscape of inventions, patents and corporate success to young people faced with an uncertain economy and limited job opportunities. The time Byrd-Hill has invested in Fluke "demonstrates that an entrepreneurial culture is alive and well in the city," said Leslie Smith, president and chief executive of TechTown. With an initial backing of $10,000, Byrd-Hill was able to have a prototype made and sample boards created. With another $40,000 she believes she can put the game into production. "It's very, very clever," said Oakland County resident Maggie Allesee, who backed the project with $10,000. "I thought the product was worth getting out to the schools and the kids. In playing the game, you're actually doing business with other people." Allesee sits on a number of boards, including the Music Hall in Detroit, the Wayne State University Foundation and the President's Council of Oakland University.

Players were met by a WDIV-TV crew as they arrived on campus following their victory at Winston-Salem (first clip). WMYD Channel 20 reporter Dave Leval was also on hand to speak with the Warriors. (scheduled to air at 10 p.m. tonight)

Numerous studies have shown that staying on the job later in life has numerous advantages, such as decreased dementia, longer lifespan and greater happiness, according to Cathy Lysack, deputy director of Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology, whose almost-80-year-old father is a full-time surgeon. "There's a small portion of older adults who are amazingly great at what they do. They have the abilities to perform at a very high level in late life, and it's meaningful for them to work. They're still rewarded," she said.

Wayne State University College of Education Dean Carolyn Shields was a guest on "The Craig Fahle Show" examining the benefits and risks about making continued teacher-certification solely internet-based. The two also talked about other possible state teaching-related changes being discussed in Lansing.

'Bama bound. That's the buzz phrase for Wayne State these days. The Warriors' defense held steady when it mattered most in a 21-14 victory over Winston-Salem State in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II football playoffs Saturday. The win puts Wayne State (12-3) in the national championship game in Florence, Ala., against Pittsburg State (12-1) on Saturday at 11 a.m. "When I recruited a lot of these guys, I told them that we would compete for a national championship," said coach Paul Winters. "Now they can see that everything has come together. We're going to play for a national championship." A photo is included.

Detroit Wayne State coach Paul Winters celebrated a spot in the Division II football finals by watching television for half an hour Saturday night and falling asleep. "I will tell you it is a blur," Winters said Sunday before an afternoon team meeting. "I remember there was Thanksgiving somewhere along the line but I don't remember. I understand Christmas is coming soon and I'm trying to figure out when I am going to go gift shopping. But this is the best blur I have been in." The Warriors are living proof of why a playoff format works in college football. Players take books on the road. Monday has become an off day from football and a hard study day for players. But the Warriors are also a pain to the major powers in Division II football. They began the playoffs as a No. 6 seed and marched through four road games in wind, snow and cold. They've rolled through a defending champion, a No. 1 seed and an unbeaten team. A photo is included.

Warriors head coach Paul Winters was a guest on WXYZ-TV's "Sports Update."

Dr. Sindhu Ramchandren, assistant professor of neurology in Wayne State University's School of Medicine, is seeking a better way to determine the effectiveness of treatments for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, or inherited sensory-motor neuropathy, a disease that afflicts one in 2,500 people. With a four-year, $661,000 Mentored Career Development Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, she is working to develop an outcome measurement that accurately reflects CMT progression in children.

Congratulations were offered to 64-year-old Richard Fair who will be receiving his master's degree in social work this weekend during Wayne State University's commencement. Fair, who has been battling prostate cancer, is a former Detroit fire fighter and Vietnam veteran.

The new CEO of Wayne State University's Tech Town, Leslie Smith, appeared on The Craig Fahle Show to talk about what\'s new at Midtown\'s technological center. Their discussion also branches out into what this all means for Detroit. TechTown supports 250 companies, has trained more than 2,200 entrepreneurs and has helped its client companies raise $14 million in funding.