Elizabeth McNally, a cardiologist and director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said that, years ago, she was excited by the findings from Anversa’s lab, but then had trouble replicating them herself. She described a “religious fervor” that took hold among those who believed that c-kit cells were regenerating the heart that has continued as researchers have sought to find factors that could be responsible for what she described as “tiny to nonexistent” effects. “It’s disappointing that it took so many years for this to come out,” McNally said. “It’s one question whether the trial should even continue, and I think at the highest level the individuals supporting the trial should really review that.”

Working with human lung tissue and mice, Northwestern University researchers found that metformin reduces pollution-triggered inflammation linked to heart attack and stroke. “These findings suggest metformin as a potential therapy to prevent some of the premature deaths attributable to air pollution exposure worldwide,” co-lead author Dr. Scott Budinger said in a university news release. “The simplest next step would be to validate our study with metformin in people in China or other places where exposure to high levels of air pollution are common to see if it reduces inflammation,” said Budinger, chief of pulmonary and critical care at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

In fiscal 2017, Northwestern set an all-time university record for annual research funding, bringing in more than $676.5 million, up 4 percent from the year before and 54 percent greater than a decade ago. Recent grants include the National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarding $11.5 million to the university’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center to develop new treatments for patients with glioblastoma, the most common and deadly type of brain tumor. The NEST (Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies) project – a collaboration with Rice University, the University of Malawi and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – received $15 million from the MacArthur Foundation to develop technologies that will help improve the survival of newborns in developing African nations.

The big advantage of this kind of study is that “in combining information across so many prior studies you’re really getting at one of the best estimates of the disparity of suicide risk due to sexual orientation,” said Brian Mustanski, director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health and Well Being at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “We already knew (LGBT) teens were at risk, but this study gives a more precise estimate of that risk.” Mustanski has followed a group of young people for over a decade. He has found that the accumulation of experiences with victimization and bullying can lead to depression and feelings of hopelessness. “And those increase the risk for suicide,” said Mustanski who was not affiliated with the new study.