Author: medweb

In Vivo Variety Show Slated for January 27–28 “Billy Medicine” is the 27th annual production of In Vivo, the comedy revue that features the writing, directing, performing, and technical talents of students and facutly and staff members of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. A medically oriented spoof of the popular Adam Sandler film, “Billy[…]

December 27, 2005 Some Women at Greater Risk for Melanoma CHICAGO—Older white women with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer are at greater risk for developing melanoma, regardless of the amount of sun they have been exposed to, finds a study in the online journal Cancer. “This study adds a history of the relatively favorable[…]

Middle-Age Obesity Raises Later Heart, Diabetes RiskCHICAGO—Obesity in middle age—even without established cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels— greatly increases risk of hospitalization for and death from heart disease and diabetes in older age, according to a study in the January 11 issue of the Journal of the[…]

Michael J. Fox Foundation Grant Funds Parkinson’s Research CHICAGO—Northwestern University, the University of California-San Francisco, and RheoGene, Inc., have received a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research that will provide up to $4.2 million for development of a regulatable gene therapy system to treat Parkinson’s disease. Martha C. Bohn, PhD, a[…]

December 27, 2005 Common Gene Increases Prostate Cancer Risk CHICAGO—A common, inherited gene that predisposes one in eight people to development of certain forms of cancer, including breast, colon, and ovarian cancers, has been found by Northwestern University researchers to also increase prostate cancer risk—by 200 percent. Boris Pasche, MD, and colleagues at The Robert[…]

Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Scientists Identify Molecular Structure of Key Viral Protein EVANSTON, Ill.—Scientists at Northwestern University have determined the molecular structure of a viral protein, the parainfluenza virus 5 fusion (F) protein. The parainfluenza virus 5 is part of a family of viruses (paramyxoviruses) that causes everything from pneumonia, croup,[…]

December 27, 2005 Grant Funds Schizophrenia Study CHICAGO—D. James Surmeier, PhD, Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of physiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, has received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study how the brain adapts to drugs used to treat schizophrenia. The award is[…]

January 3, 2006 Walking Slows Artery Disease CHICAGO—A study in the January 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that walking three times a week, even in an unsupervised exercise program, can significantly improve walking ability and slow progression of peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD often causes leg pain because of impaired blood[…]

December 20, 2005 Contact: Wendy Leopold at 847/491-4890 or atw-leopold@northwestern.edu Audiologist Suggests iPod Users Take PrecautionsEVANSTON, Ill.—Turn ’em down and turn ’em off. That’s the advice of Dean Garstecki, PhD, a Northwestern University audiologist and professor, when it comes to using those ever-present earbuds favored by iPod and MP3 music listeners everywhere. In the 1980s,[…]

December 13, 2005 Astronaut-Physician Continues Research at Northwestern CHICAGO—In May 2004 Northwestern University orthopaedic surgeon Robert L. (Bobby) Satcher, MD, PhD, was one of two physicians selected for NASA’s 2004 astronaut class. The 11-member group began training last summer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. A specialist in child and adult bone cancer, Dr.[…]