Media Coverage

Tanning beds could triple melanoma risk, new study finds

A recent study out of Northwestern University found evidence that using tanning beds can increase a person’s risk of developing skin cancer. The research is the first of its kind and found that using tanned beds increased the risk of melanoma threefold, according to a university news release.

What they’re saying: “Even in normal skin from indoor tanning patients, areas where there are no moles, we found DNA changes that are precursor mutations that predispose to melanoma,” said study first author Dr. Pedram Gerami, professor of skin cancer research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “That has never been shown before.”

What Menopause Does to the Body

You know menopause can cause hot flashes. But did you know it can also lead to a dry mouth, heart palpitations or recurring urinary tract infections?

Though only a handful of them get much attention, there are more than two dozen known symptoms of menopause and perimenopause, the time leading up to and immediately following your last period.

Dr. Lauren Streicher, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, contributed to the story.

Philanthropists give $11 million for Lurie Children’s rare genetic disease program

Chicago philanthropists Don and Anne Edwards have donated $11 million to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital to establish what will be the largest pediatric genetics training program in Illinois and triple the hospital’s rare disease clinical trials.

Dr. Carlos Prada will head the Edwards Family Division. Prada, who joined the hospital in 2021, is also medical director of Lurie’s Cellular & Gene Therapy Program and a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

They contracted hepatitis before the vaccine was given at birth – now the shot may be delayed again

The US has now returned to a time where vaccinations against hepatitis B are no longer recommended for all newborns.

Some public health experts and those living with hepatitis B say the move is a regression that could risk exposing all children to a virus that has become much less common because of vaccines.

“Evidence shows that even a two-month delay in administering the hepatitis B vaccine can result in hundreds of additional deaths from liver disease and liver cancer as those children age,” said Claudia Hawkins, director for the Center for Global Communicable and Emerging Infectious Diseases at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Germophobes Can Breathe Easy On Airplanes, In Hospitals, Experts Say

The ambient air on planes and in hospitals mostly contains harmless microbes typically associated with human skin, researchers reported Dec. 4 in the journal Microbiome.

The cutting-edge study analyzed germ samples captured on the outer surface of face masks worn by air travelers and health care workers, researchers said.

“We realized that we could use face masks as a cheap, easy air-sampling device for personal exposures and general exposures,” senior researcher Erica Hartmann, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said in a news release.

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.