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Still, the results offer fresh evidence that state policies can contribute to lower vaccination rates, said Dr. Matthew Davis, a researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Other studies had suggested that local communities with high numbers of unvaccinated children were susceptible to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as measles and whooping cough,” Davis, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “The current findings expand on prior research to illustrate how several states’ policies that allow non-medical exemptions correlate with lower rates of vaccination among children.”

So why is Neutrogena recommended more often than other options? “Neutrogena is a brand that patients and families are very familiar with,” says Dr. Lauren Taglia, a dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in suburban Chicago. “I know [the company works] with skin care experts to research and develop new products.”[…]People with darker skin, who tend to tan rather than burn, need to use sunscreen as much as people with lighter complexions, Taglia says. She notes that legendary Jamaican singer Bob Marley died of a malignant melanoma that began on his foot. “Skin cancer doesn’t discriminate,” she says.

Aside from sexual education in schools (which is not universal) teens learn about sex from their parents and peers, so if no one in their life knows what it is like to have the sex that corresponds to their orientation, they are left to fend for themselves. Michael Newcomb, lead author of the focus-group study and an assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, says it is difficult for heterosexual parents of an LGBTQ teen to give advice about how to stay safe when having sex. In fact, parents who participated in the Northwestern focus groups reported sexual safety was the most challenging subject for them when giving advice to their LGBTQ teens.

Intrigued by the potantial benefits, Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour, a neurologist with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, put together a music therapy study this spring at Silverado Orchard Park Memory Care Community in Morton Grove. Each week for 12 weeks, the Evanston-based nonprofit Institute for Therapy Through the Arts held concerts for 10 Silverado residents. The musicians are specially trained to apply their skills to therapy, often by interacting with patients during performances, and getting them to beat on drums, sing, and dance. The $84,000 program is funded by an anonymous donor.

It’s an ambitious goal: Recruit 1 million people to contribute their time and, in some cases, DNA toward a research project aimed at learning how to better treat diseases based on genetics, lifestyle and environment. Northwestern University research assistant professor Joyce Ho says she’s up for the challenge. Health care institutions across the country are taking part in the All of Us Research Program, and Ho is Northwestern’s lead investigator on the project.

Northwestern University is hoping a pledge of up to $65 million from a New York City-based investment management company will accelerate the development of potential drugs in its pipeline and spur new development. The university and Deerfield Management are launching the nonprofit Lakeside Discovery to advance potential medications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval for human testing. Deerfield has similar partnerships with Johns Hopkins University, Broad Institute and Vanderbilt University, among others.

Three years ago, he was diagnosed with black lung disease, which turns miners’ lungs black and stiff with coal dust. The process is usually relatively slow, but in the past 20 years or so, miners have developed aggressive cases. Their lungs scar up more quickly, and many miners develop large masses of scar tissue and nodules, according to Dr. Robert Cohen, professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Northwestern University at the Feinberg School of Medicine and medical director of the Black Lung Clinics Coalition.

Some cancer specialists have been postponing the decision to treat their newer patients with chemotherapy until the study findings were released. “Last week, with the data release being imminent, we decided to hold off,” said Dr. William Gradishar, a professor of medicine and chief of hematology and oncology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “This will significantly impact the way we approach things. These kinds of tools allow us to make tailored medicine a reality, allowing us to offer the right therapy for the right patient at the right time.”

It’s unclear whether a higher mortality rate is because men are diagnosed later when the cancer has reached a more advanced stage or gender differences in tumor biology. Recently published data in Nature and The Skin Cancer Foundation suggest the genetics behind melanoma may play a larger role in mortality among men than previously thought. “In my own practice I have seen a significantly higher number of men over 50 compared to women,” said Dr. Sunandana Chandra, melanoma medical oncologist at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Adam Murphy, a Northwestern University physician who studies racial disparities in prostate cancer, said some reasons for low black enrollment in studies include poor overall health, money and mistrust of the medical establishment. “We just need more patients enrolled,” Murphy said.