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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WGN
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What you need to know about pneumonia
Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is in the intensive care unit battling a rare form of pneumonia. Pneumonia can vary in terms of its severity and there’s lots of different things that can cause pneumonia. “Viruses can cause pneumonia, bacteria can cause pneumonia, and so it can be very dependent on what’s causing the pneumonia, and just how sick you’re actually getting. Pneumonia is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and that has been increased with the COVID pandemic because COVID often can cause or increase someone’s susceptibility to pneumonia” said Catherine Myers, MD, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care. About 20% of people that are hospitalized will end up in the ICU. Vaccines should be prioritized because the risks of the vaccines are much lower than the side effects. Symptoms to watch for include increasing shortness of breath and fevers; if you’re feeling particularly tired, a cold that’s continuing to get worse. any signs of confusion. The earlier you seek out medical care, often times, the better.
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The Washington Post
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Why some people don’t feel the buzz of caffeine
It turns out, the coffee experience is not the same for everyone. How we respond to coffee, whether we like the taste and even how it influences our risk for heart attack or hypertension are all largely determined by our genes. And it’s one gene in particular – CYP1A2 – that appears to strongly influence our body’s sensitivity to caffeine. CYP1A2, the gene, controls an enzyme, also called, CYP1A2, that is responsible for breaking down caffeine and clearing it from the body. What variant of this you have can change how quickly you metabolize caffeine. “If you have genetic variants that allow you to metabolize caffeine more quickly, you’re more likely to consume more caffeine and possibly just tolerate a higher level,” says Marilyn Cornelis, PhD, an associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Genetics can also influence preference for coffee. In a 2021 study, she found that individuals with genetic variants associated with high caffeine sensitivity were less likely to enjoy the bitter taste of dark coffee.
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Yahoo! News
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Vaginal health can have major implications for your overall wellness. Here’s what to know.
Vaginal health can be overwhelming topic. Many people are uncomfortable speaking about the issues that arise with their genitalia – which, unfortunately, only further stigmatizes discussions about vaginal health. Yet the vagina is an important part of the body, and its health can have great impacts on your wellness as a whole. It’s no fun to be itchy down there, and often it can be a sign that something is amiss. Yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis (BV), lichen sclerosus, and even vulvar cancer can lead to itchiness around your vulva or inside your vagina, which means it’s important to speak to a medical professional. Sometimes, however, it’s the products you use that can cause this type of itchiness. “Women are told they should use all these vulvar washes and other products, and it’s really poison to the vulva,” says Lauren Streicher, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University. “It’s not meant for vulvar use, even if the product says it is. All these perfumes and chemicals can cause a lot of problems in terms of itching and burning and irritation.”
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Yahoo! News
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Do I need to worry about Disease X? Here’s what exerpts say about the threat posed by unknown future pandemics.
Disease X is a term that was created years ago, and the World Health Organization started including it on its list of priority diseases in 2017 alongside familiar diseases like Zika and Ebola. “It is definitely something to worry about, and it is not a matter of if we’re going to have another pandemic — it’s a matter of when,” Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life of the threat posed by undiscovered pathogens and future pandemics. The work didn’t start the day SARS-CoV-2 was identified; it started years before.” Penaloza points out that while the U.S. spends around $800 billion annually on the military, the National Institutes of Health, which funds research around the world, receives around $45 billion per year. “We need to invest more in improving our arsenal against infectious disease,” he says. One possibility could be doing more surveillance and sequencing more viruses in animal reservoirs — going out to the field and identifying new viruses, getting the sequences and then preemptively making vaccines based on those known sequences,” Penaloza says. “And then when there’s a new pandemic, you could think about potentially deploying the most matched vaccine, the one that matches or corresponds better to the sequence of the future pandemic.”
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Chicago Tribune
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‘We need new tools’: Chan Zuckerberg biotech research hub opens in Fulton Market, studying inflammation on a cellular level
Researchers at Northwestern, UChicago and UIUC came together to beat out 58 other applications, in a yearlong search process representing 172 institutions across 36 states. The trio of research universities already have a strong history of collaboration, which worked in their favor, said Stephen Quake, head of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Chan described Illinois as an “incredible” contributor to recent scientific innovation, citing recent ALS research at Northwestern studying how cells degenerate. The other winning factor: Shana Kelley, PhD, who was tapped as CZ Biohub Chicago president. Kelley, who joined Northwestern as a chemistry and biomedical engineering professor in 2021, has spent decades working in biotechnology and is credited on more than 50 patents. “She works lightning fast,” Chan said of Kelley. Half of human deaths annually can be attributed at least in part to inflammation, Kelley said. These fatal conditions include stroke and neurodegenerative disease. Kelley hopes her team’s research will yield tools to generate precise 3D images of how cells communicate with each other. “We really don’t know what causes inflammation to shift into overdrive,” Kelley said. “We have to get at that if we want to prevent human disease.”
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Fox 32 Chicago
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New biomedical research center launching in Chicago
A new era of biomedical research is launching in Chicago, thanks to a generous $250 million private investment. The C-Z Biohub Chicago is on a mission to pioneer innovative treatments for various diseases. The state-of-the-art research center will harness the collective expertise of three of Illinois’ leading scientific and technology institutions: the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University. Shana O. Kelley, PhD, professor at Northwestern University, is the President of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago.
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NPR
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Vegetarianism may be in the genes, study finds
People are motivated to try a vegetarian diet for different reasons – from ethical and religious, to potential health and environmental benefits. But many people have a hard time sticking with it. In fact studies show many self-reported vegetarians actually do consume some animal products. “A lot of people who want to be vegetarian are perhaps not able to,” says Dr. Nabeel Yaseen, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We wanted to know if genetics is part of the reason,” he says. Yaseen and his collaborators compared the DNA of about 330,000 people, using data from the UK Biobank initiative. The study included 5,324 vegetarians, who had not eaten any animal flesh or products derived from animal flesh for at least one year. “What we can say is that these genes have something to do with vegetarianism,” Yaseen says. “Perhaps vegetarians have different variants of these genes that make them able to pursue a strict vegetarian diet,” he explains. The study is published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed science journal.
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WebMD
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Advocate for Yourself as a Person of Color on Medicare
Medicare gives people 65 and older greater access to doctors and health insurance. But this state-run program didn’t wipe out racial and ethnic disparities in medical care. “Medicare has helped tremendously to level the playing field, but there are still some holes,” says Muriel Jean-Jacques, MD, associate vice chair for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “And that stems beyond insurance coverage or cost.” And while many older people live on fixed budgets, people of color often face greater economic challenges and other barriers due to racism. But if you have financial problems, Jean-Jacques says, there’s no reason to hide that from your doctor. Your care team can help you find ways to cover your costs without interrupting your health care. “This is important because many people go years skimping on their medication and not taking it for several months or taking half-doses,” she says, “when actually they’re eligible for some support programs that would allow them to continue access to their medication and to do so more affordably.” Many older people buy Medicare Part D to pay for their medication. But that’s not your only option, and sometimes it’s not the most affordable one. That’s why Jean-Jacques urges older people to ask their health care team about drug assistance programs.
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New York Times
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Gen Z Wants Feminine Care Brands to Just Say Vagina
Gynecologists say women shouldn’t clean inside their vagina, but the marketing of these intimate washes – sold by The Honey Pot and other newcomers as well as long-established brands like Vagisil and Summer’s Eve – is confusing. Tacoma McKnight, MD, an associate professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the fear of a smelly or unclean vagina has in some cases been passed down from an older generation, and now crops up on social media or blogs. Black women may receive these messages more. (In a 2002 study, 58.5 percent of Black women reported douching and 35.6 percent of Hispanic women said they did the same, compared with 26.6 percent of white women.) “It’s a fine line,” said Dr. McKnight, that these companies “take advantage of.” She added: “They certainly are saying the right things, because, yes, you do want people to feel good in that aisle because that aisle has notoriously been a problem one. But at the same time you’re still a part of the problem.”
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Chicago Tribune
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Scientists: This is the missing puzzle piece to getting COVID-19 vaccines in arms
On Sept. 11, the Food and Drug Administration approved an emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines. The next day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement that recommended updated vaccines for people 6 months and older. As these new vaccines become available, it is critical that we improve access to save lives, wrote Sara Becker, PhD, Rinad S. Beidas, PhD and Amelia Van Pelt, PhD, MPH, in an article in the Chicago Tribune. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines has added effective tools to our public health tool kit. However, new vaccines that sit in freezers will serve little purpose to our community. We cannot afford to wait until the next wave of COVID-19 cases incapacitates our health system or the next public health crisis emerges. Implementation scientists require a seat at the table to help shape decisions to save lives and improve public health.
