Media Coverage

How Clean Is Airplane Air, Really?

Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, researchers report on a question that will run through many people’s minds as they cram into tightly packed planes: How clean is airplane air?

To find out, Erica Hartmann, associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University, and her colleagues tested face masks worn by passengers on flights to log what kinds of bugs these products trapped. The team was also interested in the air circulating in hospitals, another public place where germs commonly spread, and tested face masks worn by hospital personnel.

After 3 years of ChatGPT, it’s clear Illinois needs more AI safeguards

Three years ago, ChatGPT entered our world and changed the way many of us interact with our phones, computers, work and life in general. What began as a fun novelty essentially kick-started an artificial intelligence boom. Today, numerous AI tools are embedded in research, classrooms, hospitals, law firms and other industries, promising efficiency and creativity. As we mark this anniversary, we must ask: At what cost and at whose expense do we realize this efficiency and creativity?

This is an op-ed written by Kristi Holmes, director of the Galter Health Science Library at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Mohammad Hosseini, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine.

White House doctor says Trump’s cardiovascular imaging ‘perfectly normal’

US President Donald Trump “remains in excellent overall health” after undergoing a “comprehensive executive physical”, according to his White House physician.
Dr Jeffrey A Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, highlighted that Barbabella’s memo did not specify whether an MRI or computed tomography (CT) scan was performed, making it difficult to know exactly what was done.

He said routine anatomical imaging – whether MRI or CT – was generally discouraged in asymptomatic patients because the potential risks outweighed the benefits.

Memo From Trump’s Doctor Cites ‘Excellent’ Scan but Offers Little Clarity

The White House released a letter from President Trump’s physician on Monday about the results of “advanced imaging tests.” The statement, by Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, said the tests on his cardiovascular system and abdominal region showed the president “remains in excellent overall health.”

Dr. Jeffrey A. Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said he found the White House statement confusing.

“There is nothing standard about an executive physical,” he said. No standards exist and what tests are included can vary widely.

Why screening for the deadliest cancer in the U.S. misses most cases

Under current recommendations, people are eligible for screening if they are 50 to 80 years old and have a history of heavy smoking, either actively or in the past 15 years. But those guidelines exclude a large number of people who could have their cancer detected earlier, according to a new study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal.

“A majority of the lung cancer patients in this country would not meet the screening criteria as it exists currently,” said Ankit Bharat, the study’s lead author and executive director of the Canning Thoracic Institute at Northwestern Medicine. “If we have a more broader screening program, similar to breast and colon, then we would be able to detect substantially more patients at earlier stage.”

These women were diagnosed with lung cancer. They weren’t eligible for screening.

People still think of lung cancer as a disease that only affects older men and lifetime smokers, even though it’s becoming more common in younger women and people who never smoked, said lead study author Dr. Ankit Bharat, executive director of the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute in Chicago. “Every day, we are seeing patients who’ve never smoked, who may have had passive smoking exposure, they’re coming with advanced lung cancer, and then it’s not curable.”

Bharat’s research found that 65% of lung cancer patients at Northwestern didn’t qualify for screening based on the current guidelines. Women, Asian Americans and nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer were likelier to be ineligible for screening, the study found.