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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Crain’s Chicago Business
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Northwestern researcher spins out tumor-fighting therapy company
The Northwestern University scientist who’s taking the reins on the Chan Zuckerberg biotech hub has launched her own company, spinning out a cancer therapy that uses tumor-fighting cells found in the bloodstream. The cancer therapy seeks to improve existing cell therapy processes in cancer treatments by extracting circulating tumor-reactive lymphocytes, or cTRLs, from blood, CTRL Therapeutics said in a statement. By extracting cTRLs from blood, rather than from cancerous tumors themselves, the method can avoid invasive and costly surgery and simplify and lessen the expense of creating the individual patient’s therapy, the statement said. “The field of cell therapy has been limited by the lack of tools to isolate and expand tumor-reactive cells that are efficacious against solid tumors,” Shana Kelley said in the statement. Shana Kelley, PhD is a professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This funding enables further optimization and validation of our proprietary technology platform and expansion of our team to support our mission to deliver curative therapies for all individuals living with cancer.”
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Yahoo! News
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How parents can help protect their kids from fentanyl exposure
Fentanyl has made headlines for years, with the narcotic being blamed for the deaths of Prince, Tom Petty and Mac Miller, to name a few. But more recent reports have linked the drug to children and teens – and some have died from accidental fentanyl exposure. Fentanyl is most commonly used by doctors to treat severe pain, including in those with advanced cancer, but it also circulates heavily among illicit drugs. Fentanyl can come in several different forms – liquid, powder, pill or patch – or be added to other drugs. It doesn’t take much fentanyl to do harm. “Fentanyl is very potent — it’s 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine,” Kristine Cieslak, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children’s at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital and health system clinician of pediatrics in emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “As little as 2 milligrams can be lethal in adults and even smaller amounts can cause death in children.”
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ABC 7 Chicago
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Why semi-automatic rifles like those used in recent shootings can cause so much damage
The recent mass shootings at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky as well as Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee was carried out, at least in part, with semi-automatic rifles. While handguns have the potential to seriously harm people, sometimes fatally, semi-automatic rifles can cause even more damage. Traditionally, bullets fired by a handgun will cause clear entrance and exit wounds — both of fairly the same size — and will often travel in a straight line into and out of the body. “A conventional handgun will typically create a relatively small, round wound that sort of conforms to the size of the bullet,” Dr. Michael Shapiro, chief of trauma and critical care surgery at Northwestern Medicine in Illinois, told ABC News. “If it passes through the patient, the exit wound is typically a little bit larger with the skin edges everted a little bit.” However, the same can’t be said for a wound from a semi-automatic rifle. Bullets from these firearms do not create the same size entrance and exit wounds, and often one can be much bigger than the other.
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WebMD
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Healthy Eating Habits for Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Your food choices won’t bring your eyesight back. But healthy eating, along with quitting smoking and taking doctor-recommended dietary supplements, may be able to help you see better for longer. Experts agree that people with AMD should eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegetable every day. And the darker, the better. “That’s your spinach, kale, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries,” says Michelle Andreoli, MD, an ophthalmologist with Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. “The lighter in color the fruit and vegetable, the less antioxidant value it has.” You’ll find lots of carotenoids in red, yellow, orange, or dark green fruits and veggies. Carotenoids are chemicals that give plants their color, but they’re also antioxidants that may guard against vision damage caused by AMD.
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Chicago Tribune
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LGBTQ community and its supporters grapple with state’s new ban on gender-affirming care for minors
This week, Indiana and Idaho joined 11 states that have so far enacted similar gender-confirming care bans for minors, according to data compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBQT+ advocacy organization. Northwestern Medicine in Chicago is committed to continue treating transgender youth, since a similar bill is not in place in Illinois. “Every patient deserves access to safe, high-quality healthcare, and Northwestern Medicine provides world-class, evidence-based, compassionate care in an inclusive environment. We provide comprehensive and affirming medical treatment that honors every individual, including those who are transgender and gender-diverse,” a spokesman for Northwestern Medicine in Chicago an email. “We stand with our patients and families, with members of the transgender and gender-diverse community and with our physicians and employees who provide gender-affirming care.”
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Fox 32 Chicago
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Chicago doctor donates kidney to stranger, starts chain that saves 2 lives
A doctor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital agreed to donate a kidney to a stranger to help save two lives. Nephrologist Aleksandra Gmurczyk, MD, sees patients suffering from kidney failure every day. “I wanted to help someone,” Gmurczyk said. “I know people can live healthy lives with one kidney, and I know the high need for living donor organs. I hoped by donating my kidney I’d help someone, and I also wanted to inspire others to donate.” Gmurczyk says she wanted to find a way to show her patients that a kidney transplant could change their lives. That’s when she decided to donate one of her own. Gmurczyk kicked off a kidney paired donation, where when people are willing to donate their kidneys, but they aren’t good matches with their desired recipients. “It’s the transplant world’s version of the perfect ‘domino effect,’” said John Friedewald, MD, medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “As a nephrologist, Gmurczyk understands the benefits and risks of becoming a living organ donor, and every day she sees patients who need kidneys. Our entire team was humbled to support her as she went through this process. We weren’t surprised that she chose to give the gift of life, but we were all moved by this experience.”
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WTTW
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Chicago Doctor Donates Kidney to Virginia Woman She’s Never Met to Inspire Others
More than 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney donation, but Dr. Aleksandra Gmurczyk helped take two people off the waitlist when she donated her own kidney to a woman she had never met and launched a kidney-paired donation. Gmurczyk wanted to donate to help educate patients. She often sees patients who have kidney failure, which renders their kidneys unable to filter waste and toxins out of their bloodstream. Many undergo dialysis, a taxing treatment that helps remove waste and extra fluids from the blood. “The reason why I wanted to donate is that … I can go to them and say, ‘I donated my kidney, and I believe that people who receive a kidney transplant live longer, healthier lives, and I believe in this so much that I donated,’ “ she said.
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Chicago Tribune
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Northwestern Medicine, Illinois secretary of state spotlight need for livesaving organ donations
Northwestern Medicine nephrologist and assistant professor of nephrology and hypertension at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Dr. Aleksandra Gmurczyk regularly sees patients with failing kidneys. She’s noticed that many of those she treats would rather stay on dialysis than undergo a kidney transplant. Gmurczyk said she believes that some patients’ distrust for the medical system leaves them unconvinced that a transplant could improve their health. Gmurczyk donated one of her kidneys eight weeks ago in hopes of inspiring others to donate their organs. One single donor can save or improve the lives of up to 25 people, said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. While more than 7.5 million Illinois residents are registered donors, he said, about 4,000 people remain on the transplant waiting list today, and 300 people die waiting for a transplant every year in the state.
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JAMA
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It Takes an Average of 17 Years for Evidence to Change Practice – the Burgeoning Field of Implementation Science Seeks to Speed Things Up
Colorectal cancer screening with an at-home stool test is more convenient than a colonoscopy, but an abnormal result on the former still requires a follow-up with the latter. However, studies have shown that in safety-net health care systems, only around half of patients with an abnormal at-home stool test result get a follow-up colonoscopy within a year. Implementation science is really trying to close the gap between what we know and what we do. Clinical psychologist Rinad Beidas, PhD, was puzzled when she saw children with anxiety who weren’t receiving the standard treatment of cognitive behavioral therapy. “Why aren’t clinicians in the community using evidence-based practices?” ASPIRE trial, is the Adolescent and Child Suicide Prevention in Routine Clinical Encounters. ASPIRE is just one example of how implementation science has been developing steadily in recent years, said Beidas, chair of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. The journal Implementation Science, of which she is an associate editor, was launched in 2006, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held its first conference on the subject in 2007, she said.
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New York Times
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All About Ashwagandha, the Stress Relief Supplement of the Moment
The ashwagandha plant – a staple of Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years – has gone mainstream in 2023. Yet experts say it’s still not clear if, and how, it works. From it’s long history up to present day, ashwagandha has been used to treat insomnia and bolster the immune system, as well as to reduce stress. There are a few theories, though, about why people may report less stress after taking ashwagandha, based on what experts know about adaptogens overall. Dr. Melinda Ring, clinical associate professor of general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said that the plant could potentially suppress dopamine receptors in the brain, which go into overdrive when we’re stressed. Ashwagandha is also thought to help regulate cortisol levels, she added. There’s also the power of the placebo effect – people can persuade themselves that their anxiety is abating. As for the numb feeling that TikTok users claim to get, it’s possible that some people experience an easing of their stress and anxiety as blunting emotions overall, Dr. Ring said. “But in my experience, and in the 1,000 years that it’s been used, that is generally not the effect,” she said.
