Northwestern Explores ALS Science at Les Turner Symposium
Faculty, staff, students and trainees gathered for the ninth annual Les Turner Symposium on ALS and NeuroRepair, a one-day event highlighting the present and future of treating ALS.
Combination Treatment Beats Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer
A new review has found that a combination of endocrine inhibitors and hormone therapy is more effective in prolonging progression-free survival for advanced breast cancer patients, as compared to chemotherapy.
Student Investigates Skin Conditions and Beyond
Costner McKenzie, a fourth-year medical student, is interested in dermatology beyond just the skin.
New Molecule Blocks ‘Undruggable’ Cancer Protein
Northwestern Medicine scientists have created a small molecule that reduces expression of MYC, a cancer-causing protein involved in a wide variety of cancers.
Championing Interconnectivity: The New Chair of Cell and Developmental Biology
Luisa Iruela-Arispe, PhD, new chair of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, aims to bring together scientists investigating the myriad of human cell types and using those findings to treat illness throughout the body.
New Dining Options Open on Campus
Beefsteak, a fast-casual vegetable forward concept from chef and philanthropist José Andrés, will be round out dining options offered for the Chicago campus.
Media Coverage
Black, Hispanic mothers report more pain after delivery but get less pain medication
“Our study shows black and Hispanic women experience disparities in pain management in the postpartum setting,” said study leader Dr. Nevert Badreldin from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “These disparities cannot be explained by less perceived pain,” Badreldin said in a statement. Just 4.2% of white women reported pain scores of 5 or higher, compared with 7.7% of Hispanic women and 11.8% of black women, researchers report in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Racial Bias Seen in Heart Transplants
AHA expert Kiarri Kershaw called the study a strong and important one. It is “really important for people, clinicians and others to really understand how implicit bias can kind of creep into decision-making, and how it can have an important impact on outcomes,” she said. “The first step is to be aware and acknowledge that you yourself might be biased, and these biases might be influencing you and try and seek ways to address it,” she said.
Cholesterol levels dropping in US, but many still need care
“It’s very important for those with a diagnosis of diabetes to not get that first heart attack,” said Dr. Neil J. Stone, a cardiologist at Northwestern University. He led development of the 2013 guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, and he co-authored an update last year.
Northwestern discovery sheds light on ALS origins
The discovery was so novel, scientists coined a new term to describe it: mitoautophagy, Northwestern Medicine said in a statement. These self-destructive mitochondria could become the target of drug therapies to fight diseases like ALS. “I think we have found the culprit that primes neurons to become vulnerable to future degeneration: suicidal mitochondria,” senior study author Pembe Hande Ozdinler, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in the statement. “The mitochondria basically eat themselves up very early in the disease. This occurs selectively in the neurons that will soon degenerate in patient’s brains.”