Media Coverage

Across town, Dr. Egon Ozer’s team at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine can process 96 samples—most of which are collected at Northwestern Medicine hospitals and clinics—in four days. But when the lab is running full tilt, they can process 288 a week, Ozer says, noting that the team has relied on funding from Northwestern and the National Institutes of Health, as well as seed grants from private foundations.

“Many patients with COVID-related musculoskeletal disorders recover, but for some individuals, their symptoms become serious, are deeply concerning to the patient or impact their quality of life, which leads them to seek medical attention and imaging,” Deshmukh, an assistant professor of musculoskeletal radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine musculoskeletal radiologist, said. “That imaging allows us to see if COVID-related muscle and joint pain, for example, are not just body aches similar to what we see from the flu — but something more insidious.”

Dr. Mary McDermott, a general internist at Northwestern University who is running the trial, isn’t sure how effective this kind of remote coaching will be. “We cannot assume that remote interventions are going to be the same,” she said. “Or that remote measurements are going to replace everything that we have done in person.”

“If a man’s prostate cancer has numerous plasma cells, we found he had improved cancer survival,” said Dr. Edward Schaeffer, chair of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. […]According to study first author Dr. Adam Weiner, a Northwestern Medicine urology resident, “The finding comes at a time as researchers are discovering plasma cells may play a greater role in cancer immunotherapy than previously thought.”

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a laboratory test for measuring neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus that requires only a single drop of blood, collected and dried on filter paper. “Blood samples can be self-collected at home, and sent to the lab in the mail,” said Thomas McDade, whose team described the technique in a report posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. Currently, to determine if someone has the neutralizing antibodies that protect against the virus that causes COVID-19, blood must be drawn at a clinic or doctor’s office and sent for analysis.

“It may be that in some cases, the poor sleep is actually an early sign of dementia, rather than a cause,” said Dr. Sabra Abbott, an assistant professor of neurology in sleep medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Abbott, who wasn’t involved with the study, said that sleep can be disrupted for multiple reasons early in the dementia process.

“To me, that’s a pretty striking finding,” said Dr. Amanda Perak, a cardiologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital who co-wrote the study. A better understanding of why children have cardiovascular issues can help avoid issues for them including heart attacks, strokes and premature deaths, she said.

The reasons are not certain, but it could be a matter of both biology and lifestyle, said lead researcher Dr. Amanda Perak. She’s an assistant professor at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. Genes, as well as the effects of the uterine environment on fetal development, could be at work, Perak said.

Walter Liszewski, a dermatologist and cancer researcher at Northwestern University who treats reactions to tattoos, says he’s in favor of government oversight to ensure public safety. But he says extrapolating from lab studies to potential real-world health dangers in people can be difficult.

Chicago and the state of Illinois are leading the way. MAPP is but one of several new promising programs. Supported by health care providers Rush University Medical Center, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, NorthShore University HealthSystem, University of Chicago Medicine and Sinai Health System, plus West Side United, One Million Degrees and Malcolm X College, the program is designed to help students advance their careers in the health care sector.