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.
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The Washington Post
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The real reason(s) food allergies are on the rise
For starters, food allergies are on the march. Among children, they doubled from 2000 to 2018, according to our analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey, and they probably have risen further in the years since. Christopher Warren, PhD, a Northwestern professor who helped design the survey in his capacity as director of population health research at the allergy center, mainly just to make sure we’d measured everything correctly. But Warren instead opened our eyes to a grand, unified theory of why everybody is suddenly allergic to everything. First, he patiently explained that what we commonly call a food allergy is an immune response, particularly one from an antibody called immunoglobulin E, which causes your body to release the biochemical histamine to eject an invader. (Histamine causes itching and swelling and, if too much of it builds up, serious gastrointestinal reactions and even anaphylaxis.) “The nature of the reaction,” Warren said, “has to do with your antibodies identifying something … and being like, ‘We got to get this out of here! Get ’em sneezing! Get ’em inflamed! Get ’em vomiting! Get ’em diarrhea!’”
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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Northwestern develops implant monitor for transplanted organs
The latest wireless implant from the labs of Northwestern University’s bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers could continuously monitor the health of transplanted organs in real time, alerting patients and physicians to organ rejection at the earliest sign. “I have noticed many of my patients feel constant anxiety — not knowing if their body is rejecting their transplanted organ or not,” Lorenzo Gallon, MD, a Northwestern Medicine transplant nephrologist who led the clinical portion of the study, said in the statement. “They may have waited years for a transplant and then finally received one from a loved one or deceased donor. Then, they spend the rest of their lives worrying about the health of that organ. Our new device could offer some protection, and continuous monitoring could provide reassurance and peace of mind.” “If rejection is detected early, physicians can deliver anti-rejection therapies to improve the patient’s health and prevent them from losing the donated organ,” John A Rogers, PhD said in the statement. “In worst-case scenarios, if rejection is ignored, it could be life-threatening. The earlier you can catch rejection and engage therapies, the better. We developed this device with that in mind.”
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NBC 5 Chicago
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Doctors, scientists at Northwestern University team up to create device to detect organ rejection after transplant
A team of doctors and scientists at Northwestern University has created a wireless device to monitor transplanted organs for early signs of rejection. “I hear my patients when they talk to me, so they tell me about their anxiety about the risk for rejection,” said Lorenzo Gallon, MD, one of the study authors and a professor of nephrology, hypertension and organ transplantation at Northwestern University. Dr. Gallon teamed up with John Rogers, a professor of material science and engineering, biomedical engineering and neurological surgery, to test out a theory. “The idea is when the kidney gets inflamed, you know, the temperature on the surface goes up. This was our hypothesis,” Dr. Gallon said. They created a small implant that monitors the organ’s temperature. In clinical trials in animals, it was attached to a transplanted kidney during surgery.
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WGN Chicago
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Tiny monitor help transplant organs – and more
There is a new way to make sure transplants are successful. By adding a tiny monitor to transplant organs, doctors can spot the first sign of potential problems. Northwestern University scientists tested the implantable electronic system on transplanted kidneys. It’s smaller than a quarter and has wireless sensing technology. Current monitoring methods are infrequent and invasive. The new implant sits directly on the organ constantly tracking temperature irregularities associated with inflammation, an indicator of transplant rejection. When doctors get a smartphone alert, they can be proactive, intervening to preserve the organ.
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CBS News Chicago
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Northwestern Medicine team researching brain tumors benefits from nonprofit’s funding
A Northwestern Medicine research team is constantly searching for tumor treatments and funding is a factor. “You just need somebody to give you a chance,” said Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD, a Northwestern medicine neuropathologists and professor of pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Horbinski said the results of work paid for by hisfirst grant led to more funding. Now, scientists under his watch are studying how to shrink tumors, especially fast-growing and deadly glioblastomas. About 800 kids and adults are diagnosed with brain tumors every day. The hope is to continue funding research, so every patient can bounce back.
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Yahoo! News
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Men have Viagra. What do women have for low libido? Here’s what experts say.
For erectile dysfunction, men have plenty of drugs to choose from, including Cialis, Levitra, Stendra and Viagra, otherwise known as the “little blue pill.” For women, the treatment options are less robust. While medications designed for men focus on increasing blood flow to the penis, allowing for an erection and sexual function, most women are physically capable of engaging in intercourse without the help of medication. That said, there are drugs available that purport to get women in the mood for sex. That includes flibanserin, the trade name for which is Addyi. Thus far, the drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only for premenopausal women. “When they first came out, they were putting themselves out there as the female Viagra — the ‘little pink pill’ instead of the ‘little blue pill.’ That really is misleading, because it was always about libido,” says Dr. Lauren Streicher, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.
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WebMD
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New AI-Enhanced Bandages Poised to Transform Wound Treatment
You cut yourself. You put on a bandage. In a week or so, your wound heals. Most people take this for granted. But for the more than 8.2 million Americans who have chronic wounds, it’s not so simple. Traumatic injuries, post-surgical complications, advanced age, and chronic illnesses like diabetes and vascular disease can all disrupt the delicate healing process, leading to wounds that last months or years. smart bandage, developed at Northwestern University, harmlessly dissolves — electrodes and all — into the body after it is no longer needed, eliminating what can be a painful removal. Guillermo Ameer, ScD, a study author reporting on the technology in Science Advances and professor of surgery (vascular surgery) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, hopes it could be made cheaply and used in developing countries. “We’d like to create something that you could use in your home, even in a very remote village,” said Ameer.
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US News & World Report
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AI Equals Human Radiologists at Interpreting Breast Cancer Scans
Another study is showing that artificial intelligence (AI) is as good as a specialist doctor in spotting breast cancer on a mammogram. But don’t expect computers to take over the job from humans, experts say. On average, both humans and AI caught about 90% of breast tumors, and correctly gave an all-clear to just over three-quarters of mammograms from women without cancer. No one, however, is saying that AI should replace radiologists in mammography-reading. Instead, it might help them do the job more efficiently and accurately, said Mozziyar Etemadi, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Etemadi, who is not a radiologist, studies AI’s potential role in medicine. The simple fact, he said, is that “humans have a certain level of missing stuff,” and AI could help. It might, for example, give mammograms a first pass, flagging ones that look suspicious so radiologists can prioritize them, he said. And in any given mammogram, AI might highlight areas that seem abnormal.
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The Washington Post
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For students with food allergies, college campuses can be hazardous
Living with a food allergy at home is challenging under the best of circumstances. But college students say navigating food allergies on campus is particularly fraught. Nearly a dozen current and recent college students with food allergies shared stories of encountering allergens in campus dining halls, during dorm-life shenanigans and at off-campus events. “They’re all growing up and taking their food allergies into college,” said Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, a physician and the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research (CFAAR) at Northwestern Medicine. “We’re talking about 10 percent of a college population learning how to be independent for the first time, making food choices on their own, and that coinciding with wanting to be accepted, make friends, eat out and go to parties.” The true scope of the problem is unknown, Gupta said, partly because college students are not required to declare their food allergies on applications. It is even harder to quantify how many of them experience anaphylaxis — a life-threatening allergic reaction — while on campus.
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Fox 32 Chicago
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Northwestern Medicine launches cultural program for Spanish-speaking lung and thoracic disease patients
Northwestern Medicine is launching a new cultural program for patients with lung and thoracic diseases. Doctors say the program focuses on patients who prefer to communicate in Spanish and offers culturally competent medical care. “The language barrier is a significant limitation for patients with respiratory disease and thoracic disease to seek health care and to complete the treatments that are recommended. So what we think, what we want to provide with this program, is to take the language barrier out of the equation,” said Dr. Diego Avella Patino, Northwestern Medicine Hispanic Program at Canning Thoracic Institute. Every team member working with the program speaks Spanish, and they have a dedicated phone line for patients who prefer to communicate in Spanish.
