When University of Maryland psychologist Andrea Chronis-Tuscano testified before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hearing last March, it changed her mind about possible risks of artificial food coloring for children, and drove her to look more closely at the products in her own pantry that she feeds her kids.

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Scientists have developed a new tuberculosis vaccine that targets proteins from both early and later stages of the disease. The new vaccine, called H56, prevents TB in infected mice more effectively than the current vaccine. These findings offer hope for a better defense against the disease, which kills nearly 2 million people every year. TB is a bacterial infection of the lungs caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is a leading cause of death among young adults worldwide. A vaccine called Bacille Calmette Guerin, or BCG, is currently used against TB. However, BCG is not completely effective, and can’t prevent reactivation of latent TB in people who carry the bacterium but don’t have disease symptoms.

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Just last month, the President signed a bill that provides a temporary extension of unemployment benefits for those who are still out of work and have, or were about to, become ineligible for further unemployment benefits. But if you’re struggling, like the other 15.1 million Americans starting out 2011 in the unemployment line, you should know that more government help is out there. Benefits.gov and CareerOneStop.org offer a variety of programs and free, easy-to-use tools to help guide you to reemployment.

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Work Incentives Update: Are you Receiving Benefits and Interested in Working? Do you receive Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance? Are you thinking about going back to work? If so, register for this online training event which will be held next Wednesday, January 26, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (EST). This webinar will present information about the Ticket to Work program and other work incentives that allow you to keep your Social Security cash benefits and Medicare or Medicaid while you test out your ability to work. Work Incentive Seminar Events are also being held around the country.

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The U.S. Department of Justice has announced an agreement under the ADA with HRB Tax Group Inc., H&R Block Tax Services LLC and HRB Advance LLC (H&R Block) to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing when providing income tax preparation services and courses. The settlement agreement requires, among other things, that H&R Block provide auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreter services.

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Perspectives on Supporting Adolescents and Young Adults with Learning Disabilities: In the course of a 20-year longitudinal study of individuals with learning disabilities (LD), Goldberg et al. (2003) measured the relative success achieved by subjects in the following areas: employment, education, independence, family relations, social relationships….They found that individuals who were successful across these domains were able to identify specific factors that led to their success – including “self-awareness/self-acceptance of their learning disability…”

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Patients with heart disease who also suffer from an anxiety disorder have a significantly higher risk of having a heart attack, heart failure, stroke and death, compared to other heart disease patients, according to Dutch scientists. You can read about this study in the peer-reviewed medical journal Archives of General Psychiatry…

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