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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[…]

January 25, 2006 Compound Targets Alzheimer’s Brain Cell Degeneration CHICAGO—Drug discovery researchers at Northwestern University have developed a novel orally administered compound specifically targeted to suppress brain cell inflammation and neuron loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The compound is also rapidly absorbed by the brain and is non-toxic—important considerations for a central nervous system drug[…]

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.[…]

December 6, 2005 Feinberg Project, Armstrong Foundation Form PartnershipCHICAGO—The Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EPEC) for Oncology Project, based at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation have formed a national partnership to improve communication between health care professionals and cancer survivors. Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and[…]

December 7, 2005 Depression Factors: Poor Health, Poverty, Minority Status CHICAGO—Preliminary results from the STAR-D project, one of the nation’s largest studies of depression, show that chronic depressive episodes are common and associated with poorer physical health, lower quality of life, socioeconomic disadvantage, and minority status. Findings of this study highlight the common occurrence of[…]

December 21, 2005 Poor Fitness Raises Heart Disease RiskCHICAGO—Poor cardiorespiratory fitness affects one of five persons aged 12 to 49 years in the United States, with a disproportionate impact on adolescents, adult females, and non-white minorities. The most striking indication of the health burden of poor fitness in the U.S. population is the strong association[…]