Author: medweb

Free Public Lectures Focus on Ethnicity and Disease Ethnicity distinguishes people in many ways from language to culture. Unfortunately, certain genetic disorders also follow along the same lines and frequently occur among different ethnic populations. Discussing DNA, mutations, and dominant and recessive inheritance, Ira S. Salafsky, MD, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics, will speak on[…]

Questions Raised on Shorter Hospital Stays During the past decade, time spent in-hospital has declined dramatically, even for patients with serious illnesses. This trend raises concern that increasing numbers of patients may be discharged before their conditions are stable, particularly if a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order has been written. A Northwestern University study of Medicare patients[…]

Lupus Discovery May Lead To Improved Drugs In an important development for the treatment of lupus as well as certain cancers, scientists at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University have discovered how autoimmune lupus T cells stave off programmed cell death and drive production of autoantibodies directed against the body’s own DNA. Syamal[…]

Medical Students Meet Their Matches On March 18, “Match Day,” fourth-year Feinberg School of Medicine students learned where they will be going for the next phase of their medical careers. The day marked the culmination of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in which graduating medical students are matched with residency positions in the specialties[…]

In Memoriam (Michael Ravitch) Michael M. Ravitch, PhD, associate professor and former director of the Office of Medical Education at the Feinberg School of Medicine, died February 27 in his Evanston, Illinois, home; he was 61. A native of Baltimore, Dr. Ravitch began undergraduate studies at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wanting to[…]

Longtime Leader of Student Affairs Office to Step Down Compassionate. Understanding. Leader. Friend. Advocate. Words like these pepper conversations about Jack F. Snarr, PhD ’67, associate dean for student programs, who will be stepping down July 1 after 28 years in the position. What students and graduates see as special in Dr. Snarr is simply[…]

NUgene Enrolls 1,000th Participant Traditional banks depend on new deposits to grow and expand—a principle that applies to gene banks too. On January 29 Northwestern’s NUgene project celebrated the enrollment of its 1,000th participant and the recent completion of its pilot year. “Since our project launch in October 2002, NUgene has made significant progress,” says[…]

Amy Paller Named Dermatology Chair Amy S. Paller, MD, a Northwestern faculty member since 1988, has been named chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH), effective February 10. In a joint announcement, Lewis Landsberg, MD, Feinberg School dean and vice president for medical affairs, and[…]

February 3, 2004 Soybean Chemical May Treat Prostate Cancer CHICAGO— Genistein is a chemical found in soybeans that blocks development of prostate cancer in laboratory models of the disease. Now, a Feinberg School of Medicine study will determine whether genistein is effective in the treatment of prostate cancer in humans. The principal investigator for the[…]

More Study Needed on Protein-Cancer Link A preliminary study suggests that persistent inflammation, as indicated by increased levels of C-reactive protein in the blood, is a risk factor for the development of colon cancer. However, according to an editorial by Feinberg School of Medicine researcher Boris C. Pasche, MD, the link between chronic inflammation and[…]