Patricia Spear Elected to National Academy of SciencesPatricia G. Spear, PhD, Guy and Anne Youmans Professor of Microbiology—Immunology at the medical school, recently received what is considered to be one of the highest honors that can be awarded to an American scientist—election to the National Academy of Sciences. Nationwide, only 72 people this year were invited to join the academy including two other Northwestern faculty members based on the Evanston campus. Dr. Spear, who also is chair of the Department of Microbiology—Immunology, conducts research on entry mechanisms of herpes simplex virus (HSV) into cells and virus-induced cell fusion. She is…
Author: medweb
Pediatrics Faculty Featured in Public Television SeriesThe patients, families, and physicians of Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Chicago were recently featured in a six-week public television series called “Children’s Hospital” that began airing nationally in early July. Selected from among several children’s hospitals across the country, CMH is a member of the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, and the physicians featured are on the faculty of Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Filming for the series began in August 2001. The series was a co-production of Oregon Public Broadcasting and Lion Television, an internationally renowned documentary production company based in…
July 6, 2002New Protease Inhibitor Has Added BenefitsBARCELONA— Atazanavir, a potent new HIV-fighting protease inhibitor, reduces high cholesterol and triglyceride levels that may be caused by other protease inhibitors, a Northwestern University researcher reported today at the XIV International AIDS Conference. Although protease inhibitors have been shown to be safe and effective in treating HIV, they also are associated with elevated lipid levels, which in turn increase a patient’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Robert L. Murphy, MD, professor of medicine at Northwestern University’sFeinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues showed that HIV-infected patients with high cholesterol and triglyceride levels caused by…
A list of honors, awards, and faculty appointments from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
In Memoriam (Charles Kramer, Robert Norman, Warren Wells, Harold Visotsky)Charles H. Kramer, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a leader in family therapy, died April 30 at age 79. Dr. Kramer earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois, established a private practice in suburban Chicago for several years, and served at the Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois. While serving there he volunteered to do psychiatric work, and his passion for the field began. Dr. Kramer founded the Family Institute in 1968 and was its director until 1987; in the mid-1970s the institute…
June 10, 2002Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.eduNanotechnology Technique Could Lead to Ultimate Gene ChipEVANSTON, ILL.— Using an atomic force microscope tip as a pen and different single-stranded DNA as inks, scientists at Northwestern University have demonstrated a technique that could lead to the ultimate high-density gene chip because it takes gene chips to the limit of miniaturization — down to the scale of the DNA molecules themselves. This development, which uses the same tool to write patterns and read the results on the nanometer scale, could have an enormous impact on genomics and proteomics research. Results of…
June 20, 2002Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.eduNew Device Removes Drinking Water ContaminantsEVANSTON, ILL.— A Northwestern University environmental engineer has received a U.S. patent for a treatment device that renders perchlorate—a thyroid-damaging ingredient of rocket fuel and a drinking water problem—harmless. The applications extend beyond the safety of drinking water and this one pollutant. Bruce E. Rittmann, John Evans Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, received U.S. Patent No. 6,387,262 for a hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor, that, through a natural biochemical process of electron transfer, turns perchlorate into innocuous…
McGaw Medical Center Welcomes New Housestaff The McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University welcomed 332 new residents and fellows this month. On June 18 orientation was held for 112 first-year residents and 31 new upper-level residents at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) and VA Chicago Health Care System—Lakeside Division as well as the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s 12 new residents. On June 17 Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) introduced 55 first-year residents to its programs, and Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH) did the same for 33 pediatric residents. In addition, ENH enrolled 3 new fellows, CMH added 27 fellows, and NMH will hold…
NU-AID Volunteers Serve the Underserved in Nicaragua The Northwestern University Alliance for International Development (NU-AID), a medical school student organization, will bring free health services to the people of Nicaragua this June 22â30. Twenty-one students and four faculty physicians will set up clinics in and near the towns of Matagalpa and Jinotega. Dispensing some $200,000 in donated medications, the NU-AID volunteers will be providing general examinations, vaccinations, and vitamin supplements—all free of charge. With this fifth NU-AID trip, the group hopes to focus on public health outreach via educational lectures taught by the student volunteers, according to NU-AID member and…
June 20, 2002 University Receives Grant to Study Oral CancerCHICAGO— Oral cancer currently accounts for almost 6 percent of all malignancies, and its incidence is increasing worldwide. At least 90 percent of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas that originate from the oral epithelium, a thin lining of cells that covers tissues in the mouth. These tumors often spread throughout the head and neck and are associated with high rates of illness and death. Yet, just how oral tumor cells become metastatic and spread throughout the body is not well understood. To address this question, a group of Northwestern University…