Media Coverage

The work done by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine faculty members (and even some students) is regularly highlighted in newspapers, online media outlets and more. Below you’ll find links to articles and videos of Feinberg in the news.

  • Chicago Tribune

    Looking at winter through the eyes of Chicagoans who bike in blizzards and surf Lake Michigan

    “These people are inspirational,” said Jenny Conviser, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “And it’s true that if you see somebody managing something that is challenging and managing it well, they can inspire and motivate and help us remember that it’s possible to go there.”[…]Conviser says the rest of us can emulate such winter warriors in small ways: remain active, take charge of the situation, stay warm and take care of ourselves emotionally. That might be as simple as taking a walk, making a snow angel or enjoying the sight of your dog rolling in the snow, Conviser said.

  • The Washington Post

    Teens need a strong, and large, support system. Here’s how to help them build it.

    Friends also can guard against what is often a teenager’s biggest enemy – her own mind. “The teen years are a particularly vulnerable time for the development of certain types of mental health difficulties,” including depression, Karen Gouze, a director at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, wrote in an email. “Research clearly demonstrates the importance of social supports and engagement with others as a protective factor against depression.”

  • NBC News

    Racial disparity in U.S. heart rhythm treatment suggests bias in medicine

    What’s particularly striking about the findings is that the “data set in question is one that reflects the ideal care model,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “And after controlling for as many things as you can there is still this nagging difference that unfortunately tracks to the race of the patient.” The new research means that all of us “finally have to acknowledge the perverse influence of subconscious bias,” said Yancy. “We should be aware of this and institute strategies that allow us to acknowledge this is operative in decision making and see ways to overcome it.”

  • Reuters

    Smoking bans tied to lower blood pressure in non-smokers

    “Since secondhand smoke has been found to negatively affect the functioning of blood vessels, our results suggest that smoke-free policies help to protect non-smokers from these effects,” said study leader Stephanie Mayne of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in email to Reuters Health. It’s not clear why the smoking bans were not linked to reductions in diastolic blood pressure or the risk of developing high blood pressure, said Mayne, who did the study while at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

  • Chicago Tribune

    Teens need a strong, large support system. Here’s how to help them build it.

    Friends also can guard against what is often a teenager’s biggest enemy – her own mind. “The teen years are a particularly vulnerable time for the development of certain types of mental health difficulties,” including depression, Karen Gouze, a director at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, wrote in an email. “Research clearly demonstrates the importance of social supports and engagement with others as a protective factor against depression.”

  • Reuters

    Polio-like disease sparks new sense of urgency

    Dr. Larry Kociolek welcomed the new articles. “I think they are largely a call for heightened action,” said Kociolek, associate medical director of infection prevention and control at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “There’s nothing we’ve seen to suggest this is going away. And because of the profound (complications) associated with this diagnosis, we do need to escalate our public health response.” The biggest challenge right now is pinpointing the cause of AFM, Kociolek said. “Unlike polio where it was found to be caused by one particular virus, many children have not had either clinical or microbiologic evidence of infection and the vast majority have not had any virus identified in their cerebrospinal fluid.”

  • Reuters

    Racial disparities seen in U.S. heart rhythm treatment

    What’s particularly striking about the findings is that the “data set in question is one that reflects the ideal care model,” said Dr. Clyde Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “And after controlling for as many things as you can there is still this nagging difference that unfortunately tracks to the race of the patient.” The new research means that all of us “finally have to acknowledge the perverse influence of subconscious bias,” said Yancy. “We should be aware of this and institute strategies that allow us to acknowledge this is operative in decision making and see ways to overcome it.”

  • Crain’s Chicago Business

    Big financial names put financial muscle behind paid internships for low-income students

    Northwestern Medicine, search firm Heidrick & Struggles, nonprofit Women’s Business Development Center, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill were among the 12 firms that hired interns last summer. The architecture firm’s two interns, both of whom were about to start college, worked in its sustainable engineering studio, where they learned CAD drawing and researched new technology, says Ali Irani, a sustainable engineer at the firm. “They were extremely helpful,” Irani says, particularly with research projects. Irani says it was good to work with younger students—the firm’s typical interns are further along in their college careers—and that the program will help build a pipeline of diverse employees.

  • Reuters

    Telemedicine surging in US but still uncommon

    While more people used telemedicine in states with laws requiring insurance coverage for these visits, the study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how state laws might directly impact adoption of telemedicine. It’s also possible that the study underestimated how many people used telemedicine for care because it only counted visits covered by insurance, said Dr. Jeffrey Linder, a researcher at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago who wasn’t involved in the study.

  • U.S. News & World Report

    After a Spouse’s Death, Sleep Woes Up Health Risks

    For the surviving spouse, that could mean an increased risk for heart disease and cancer, though the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link. “We think these individuals are more vulnerable to the negative effects of poor sleep,” said corresponding author Diana Chirinos. She’s a research assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. The study included 101 people, average age 67. Half had recently lost a spouse, while the other half were married or single.