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…
Author: medweb
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…
Student AMWA Chapter RecognizedThe student chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) was selected the top graduate student organization at Northwestern on May 30 during the University Honors Day. The group was selected based on the nature and frequency of programs conducted. The chapter’s activities include presenting three guest speakers on topics ranging from domestic violence to breast cancer; participating in community service projects, including volunteering at a battered women’s shelter; and sponsoring a mentoring program that matches physicians and students based on specialty interest. Second-year student Katherine M. Krings of Glenview, Illinois, is president of the student AMWA…
May 15, 2002Choline Prevents Liver Damage in Patients on IV NutritionCHICAGO— Research has shown that fatty liver, a condition associated with obesity, diabetes and heavy alcohol consumption, often leads to cirrhosis of the liver or liver failure. Studies conducted by Alan L. Buchman, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, have shown that fatty liver can be prevented with the addition of the nutrient choline, a component of lecithin. The connection between liver abnormalities and choline deficiency in humans was first demonstrated in 1993, when Dr. Buchman and co-researchers conducted a small study…
Construction Season Opens on Chicago CampusAn often-heard saying is that Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction. If that’s the case, the construction season has begun in earnest on Northwestern’s Chicago campus with two major projects under way. Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wesley Pavilion, at the northwest corner of Fairbanks Court and Superior Street, is being demolished. The site should be cleared by year’s end for construction of a new women’s hospital (completion expected in 2007). The Prentice Pavilion, which currently houses the women’s hospital, will continue operations until that time; future locations for the inpatient psychiatry unit in the adjoining…
1961 Wesley Nursing Grads Plan ReunionAll 1961 graduates of the Wesley Memorial Hospital School of Nursing are invited to reunion festivities planned for Chicago in spring 2003. For information, contact Carol Ross Premo at 3710 Ramshorn Drive, Fremont, MI 49412 or cpremo@ncats.net. The Wesley nursing school affiliated with Northwestern University in 1905 and offered a combined diploma-BSN degree from 1949â65. In 1972 the Wesley program merged with the nursing program at Passavant Memorial Hospital, when the two hospitals joined together to form Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The combined nursing program was phased out in 1979 when Northwestern University began offering a…
Dr. David Satcher to Address Northwestern Medical Graduates Fomer U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, will speak to this year’s graduates of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine during graduation convocation May 24 at Navy Pier. One hundred sixty-nine graduates will receive MD degrees; five of them also will receive PhD degrees, three others MBA degrees, and 11 others MPH degrees. Dr. Satcher graduated from Morehouse College and Meharry Medical School, where he once served as president. Prior to his appointment as the 16th U.S. Surgeon General by former president Bill Clinton in 1998, Dr. Satcher had been director…