Media Coverage

“While these rankings are assigned to individual hospitals, this recognition reflects the relentless commitment, dedication and expertise of Northwestern Medicine’s physicians, nurses and staff across our health system who partner to provide our patients with world-class care each and every day while working to advance medicine and find tomorrow’s treatments,” Northwestern Memorial HealthCare President and CEO Dean M. Harrison said in a statement.

“If symptoms last longer than two weeks or if the symptoms impair a woman’s ability to care for herself or her family, this goes beyond typical baby blues and she should seek help,” said Dr. Emily Miller, M.D., an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. If you fear you might hurt your baby or yourself and you are alone, call 911 or seek medical care immediately, including going to an emergency room if necessary, Dr. Miller said. If you do not think you will hurt your baby but cannot care for him or her, call a trusted family member or friend.

Longtime Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago CEO Patrick Magoon is retiring, the hospital announced today. Magoon, 66, started at the hospital as an intern, working his way up to spend 22 of his 42 years there at the helm. He’ll be replaced by Dr. Thomas Shanley, who currently serves as chair of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as president and chief research officer at Lurie’s Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, according to a statement. Shanley will be selected to succeed Magoon by Lurie’s board at its annual meeting in December. Magoon will support the transition for one year starting Jan. 1.

By NIA HEARD-GARRIS AND KYRAN QUINLAN In Chicago, the summer seems to shine a spotlight on the deaths in our city. Though gunshot fatalities in Chicago are down for the year, one summer weekend earlier this year was particularly violent, with 52 people shot, eight of them fatally, and another two people fatally stabbed. Yet in the news reports of deaths in Chicago, an invisible killer of babies is rarely included. SUID, or sudden unexpected infant death, claims about 44 lives per year here.

It’s known that neighborhood environmental factors such as pollution and allergens can affect the wheezing and breathing children with asthma. But less has been known about the impact of social conditions such as family relationships. In this study, Northwestern University researchers looked at children with asthma who lived in different Chicago neighborhoods. “We found significant interactions between neighborhood conditions and family relationship quality predicting clinical asthma outcomes,” said lead author Edith Chen, a professor of psychology.

“Those of us from the sexual medicine world have been using testosterone for women off-label for a very long time, appreciating the fact that while there has been no FDA-approved testosterone for women, we have very good data to show that it is safe and it is effective in some women,” said Dr. Lauren Streicher, a clinical professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause in Chicago, who was not involved in the new paper.

Dr. Tamar Gefen, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University, said the results of Mayeda’s study align with existing research on factors that lower the risk of late-life cognitive decline. “There is evidence in the literature suggesting a limited number of factors that can perhaps lower the risk of developing cognitive impairment in later life. This includes aerobic exercise, healthy nutrition, mental activity and engagement,” Gefen said in an email interview.

Northwestern University Clinical &Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) got a five-year, $46 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The institute’s mission is to improve health by accelerating the translation of discoveries into real-world cures and treatments, the university said in a statement. As part of the new funding, NUCATS will continue to contribute to digital research infrastructures across Northwestern and its clinical partners, the statement said. The money will help enhance Study Tracker, Northwestern’s clinical trials management system, to improve recruitment and efficiency so patients can participate in research more easily and fully.

Part of the mismatch may be because nonprofit organizations need to appeal to donors, said Dr. Suneel Kamath, lead author of the study. “Donors in the general public think, ‘Why am I funding research to find a cure for a disease that people caused themselves – if they die, it was their fault,’” said Kamath, who did the work while at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “I’m going to target my money to a disease that happens to ‘good people’ with ‘clean living’ who just had bad luck.”

“Screening for hepatitis B in pregnant people can protect babies from lifelong chronic conditions, such as liver cancer or liver disease,” task force member Dr. Melissa Simon said in a task force news release. “This is essential because the primary source of hepatitis B in children is transmission at birth,” explained Simon, vice chair of clinical research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Early detection means that doctors can take steps to reduce the risk of hepatitis B transmission from mother to child.