Federal regulators have asked GlaxoSmithKline to stop enrolling new patients for a clinical trial of its controversial diabetes drug Avandia, while they review whether the drug should be pulled off the market.

Patients already enrolled in the so-called TIDE trial can continue to participate, but GSK announced today it will stop adding new patients.

In North Carolina, the only site participating in the TIDE trial is Duke University Medical Center, with Dr. Mark Feinglos as the principal investigator. Feinglos' office referred calls to a Duke spokesman, who wasn't immediately available.

LabCorp, a Burlington-based medical testing company, is joining forces with Duke University to develop new treatments for various diseases.

The Biomarker Factory joint venture will seek to commercialize new tools that can help improve treatments for heart disease, cancer and other ailments.

By using so-called biomarkers, researchers hope to identify how a patient will respond to a specific therapy, to predict disease progression and more.

"“The Biomarker Factory will contribute greatly to the realization of the promise of individualized medicine and will assist physicians in understanding how to use newly developed biomarkers to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs,” said LabCorp CEO David King, in a prepared statement.

Back in 1987, the science series NOVA began following seven medical students, chronicling their educational journeys.

Among them was Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, now a doctor at Duke.

The first part of the show will be on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Over at our TV blog, we have an interview with Dr. Bennett-Guerrero.

Our TV blog talked to the doctor. Check it out here. 

Almost everyone knows the cringing experience of rolling an ankle — it's the most common injury in the United States, hitting 25,000 people a day.

For most, a sprain will heal on its own without the need for a surgerical repair. But for about 10 percent to 20 percent of people, the ankle will not heal properly, causing a situation where it's unstable and prone to continued spraining.

How that surgery is performed is key to a full a recovery, doctors at Duke University Medical Center report.

Delicate ligaments need to be restored to their pre-sprain condition, explains Dr. James A. Nunley, division chief of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Duke University Medical Center.

For years, he says, surgeons took a shortcut and used nearby tendons to repair sprains. That turned out to create long-term problems, and many surgeons are now focusing on repairing ligaments properly.

That will help many patients avoid developing arthritis — a common result when joint injuries are not resolved correctly.

Nunley and a team at Duke have launched a study they hope will clarify how ligament repair improves the long-term prognosis for patients. They presented early findings last week showing how an unhealed ankle rotates in a chronically unstable fashion.

Next year, they hope to report on how surgery has fixed the problem.

"We hope they will avoid arthritis," Nunley, "if we can restore the normal anatomy and normal movement."

Alzheimer's patients in the Triangle are being solicited to participate in the study of a drug aimed at slowing the disease's progress.

The drug, called Bapineuzumab, is made by Elan Pharmaceuticals (http://www.elan.com/), which is sponsoring the trial.

The company is seeking people between the ages of 50 and 89 who have mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Patients must also have a caretaker who is willing to participate.

Eligible participants will be asked to enroll for 83 weeks, receive six infusions of the drugs every 13 weeks, and undergo blood tests and other analysis. The study in the Triangle will be conducted at Duke University Medical Center.

For more information, go to http://www.icarastudy.com