Stephen Freeman, a fourth-year MD/MPH student at Feinberg, has been selected to participate in the Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program, a highly competitive professional development and scholarship opportunity given to exceptional future leaders in family medicine.
Northwestern Medicine investigators have created a novel blood test that identifies adults who may be at increased risk of developing severe respiratory illnesses, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Feinberg students, faculty, trainees and staff gathered in a packed Hughes Auditorium for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s annual Fall Lyceum on October 8.
Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered that a novel combination treatment promotes cancer cell death and tumor regression in mouse models of pancreatic cancer, providing a rationale for testing in future clinical trials, according to recent findings.
Investigators have discovered that targeting specific mechanisms linked to lipid metabolism in immune cells within tumors may improve response to current and future cancer immunotherapies, according to a recent study published in the journal Immunity.
Northwestern has established the Denning Ataxia Center, a multidisciplinary hub dedicated to improving the understanding of ataxia through integrating leading-edge research with patient-centered clinical care, with the goal of unraveling the complexities of the condition and developing improved treatments.
Second-trimester ultrasound receipt mediates a considerable portion of the association between public insurance and prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD), according to a study published online Sept. 23 in Prenatal Diagnosis. Joyce L. Woo, MD, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic health records of pregnant women whose infants received CHD surgery between 2019 and 2020 to examine the mechanism underlying insurance-related disparities in prenatal diagnosis of CHD. A total of 496 pregnant women met the inclusion criteria: 43.3 percent were publicly insured and 61.5 percent had prenatal diagnosis. Public insurance was associated with a 12.6 percent lower probability of prenatal diagnosis in bivariate regressions. Public insurance was associated with a 13.2 percent lower probability of second-trimester ultrasound receipt in multivariable models, but was no longer associated with prenatal diagnosis after adjustment for second-trimester ultrasound receipt. Second-trimester ultrasound receipt mediated 39 percent of the association between public insurance and prenatal diagnosis in a mediation analysis. “Understanding the reasons behind insurance-related disparities in getting prenatal diagnosis — such as getting the second-trimester ultrasound — allows for the development of policies and programs that could lessen these disparities,” Woo said in a statement.
Hair loss may seem like a losing battle, but with the right products, it’s totally possible to regain and regrow thinning hair. Hair loss is common in men, and many men would naturally rather keep their youthful strands and slow down or even reverse thinning and balding. If you’re tired of dealing with the embarrassment, why not take matters into your own hands and try a few new products? Amy Forman Taub, MD, FAAD, a dermatologist and an assistant professor at Northwestern University Medical School, tells Yahoo Life, “You can effectively stop genetic hair loss to a large degree.” But it can be harder to reverse prolonged genetic hair loss and grow back the hair you’ve lost, she adds, so early intervention is important. Whether your hair loss is due to genetics, COVID, stress, poor diet or illness, you can restore hair health with the right products and a little patience. There are two FDA-approved ingredients used to target hereditary hair loss, which is the most common form of hair loss in men: minoxidil and finasteride. You’ll also want to choose a hair loss product you know you can continue to use. “If your loss is due to genetics, you must remain on medication or treatments indefinitely, otherwise your hair loss will revert to the point where it would be without treatment,” Taub says.
By studying long COVID patients with abnormal lung CT scans, Northwestern Medicine researchers may have found a cellular commonality in many types of pulmonary fibrosis, which could lead to breakthroughs in preventing and treating PF. The study of long COVID remains in its infancy, with no FDA-approved treatment available, but the pandemic may be spawning new research into other medical areas, says the head of Northwestern’s long COVID center. A study released this morning in the journal Nature Immunology describes how pulmonologists at the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center noticed many of their long COVID patients had persistently abnormal CT scans of their lungs. Researchers wanted to know why. Specifically, what was it about the virus responsible for COVID-19 that was acting on some patients’ lungs to create a kind of pulmonary fibrosis that wouldn’t go away? “As we put together imaging of patients, a lot of them over three, six, nine months or more had CT scans that showed pretty clear fibrosis,” said Marc Sala, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and co-director of the center. “People had this way too far out than what most viral infections are going to do.”
Researchers at Northwestern University who have studying the lasting effects of long COVID made a significant discovery that could lead to a potential treatment for thousands of patients. Long COVID impacts about a third of COVID-19 survivors. The researchers hope their discovery will lead to a potential treatment, down the road, to help those with pulmonary issues. “I was coughing like every day for a year,” said Kevin Tenney, a Palatine resident who experienced long COVID. It was through lung CT scans that Tenney’s doctor, Marc Sala, MD, would learn scar tissue was forming in Tenney’s lungs as well as the lungs of others participating in the study. Lab tests showed a certain cell type was the driving force behind the scarring. “The implication here is that if you can find a drug to target these cells specifically, it might help prevent all of that downstream injury and irreversible scar tissue,” said Sala, the co-director of the Comprehensive COVID Center at Northwestern. Sala said what was also surprising is the research showed some participants still had the cells present in their lungs that were responsible for scarring, even up to a year after their COVID diagnosis.
