Recent News

Trying to Bring Evidence-Based Practice to Behavioral Medicine How do behavioral scientists and practitioners incorporate the latest evidence-based interventions in their field into clinical practice and share them with other disciplines? Not easily, according to Bonnie J. Spring, PhD, professor of preventive medicine. Unlike the infrastructure that has evolved in evidence-based medicine to promote the[…]

April 12, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Stem Cell Transplant Resets Immune System in Type 1 Diabetes Patients CHICAGO—A Northwestern University researcher has used adult stem cell injections to reset the immune systems of patients with early-onset Type 1 diabetes. After the therapy, patients were free of taking insulin for up[…]

New Northwestern Center Targets Epilepsy Six hundred students danced for CURE and not necessarily to The Cure, an English post-punk band, during Northwestern’s 30-hour Dance Marathon 2007 held in early March. Their around-the-clock efforts resulted in a donation of $423,028 to the Chicago-based Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy and a boost in awareness about[…]

Northwestern Medical Students Among Those Aiding the Homeless Medical students from three schools joined forces to provide health care to the homeless at a shelter on Chicago’s West Side. The homeless generally have two daily priorities: food and shelter. On March 3 students from three regional medical schools including Northwestern made sure that health care[…]

Match Day Reveals Residency Choices Dressed for the role, including “doc” tattoos, these FeinbergSchool seniors are ready to start their residencies inorthopaedic surgery. This year, 160 Feinberg School students joined more than 15,000 medical students nationwide vying for first-year residency positions in the United States offered through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). “I’m going[…]

March 13, 2007 Contact: Wendy Leopold at 847/491-4890 or atw-leopold@northwestern.edu Research Finds Musical Training Can ‘Tune’ the Auditory System EVANSTON, Ill.—A new study by Northwestern University researchers suggests that Mom was right when she insisted that you continue music lessons—even after it was clear that a professional music career was not in your future. The[…]

Alum Addresses Health Disparities Among Native Americans Patrick O’Connor, MD, ’82, likened the Indian reservation on which he has worked for more than 20 years to a Third World country in terms of health disparities but one that is being treated medically with first-world resources thanks to the U.S. Public Health Service. His lecture to[…]

March 12, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu $15M Grant Will Fund Study of Pacemaker/Beta Blocker Effect on Heart Patients CHICAGO—An estimated 100,000 patients who have heart attacks each year are not eligible for life-saving beta-blocker drug therapy because their heart rates are too low. Beta-blockers improve survival rates up to 30[…]

Team Physicians “Bearly” Contain Super Bowl Excitement Feinberg School faculty members and alumni were well represented among the Chicago Bears team physicians at this year’s Super Bowl. They include (from left) Drs. Mark Bowen, Gordon Nuber, Mike Ankin, and Adam Bennett. Every professional football team dreams about making it to the Super Bowl, but what[…]

February 6, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Gene Implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease Also Raises Cerebral Palsy Risk in Kids CHICAGO—Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene associated with heightened risk for Alzheimer’s disease in adults, can also increase the likelihood that brain-injured newborns will develop cerebral palsy, Northwestern pediatrics researchers at Children’s Memorial[…]

Improving Cochlear Implants While hearing-impaired individuals with cochlear implants may not see the light, they may hear better for it if studies exploring the use of lasers to stimulate auditory nerve fibers prove sound. Feinberg School of Medicine researcher Claus-Peter Richter, MD, PhD (pictured far right), and his associates are investigating the power and precision[…]

In Memoriam (Fred Gonzales) Frederico “Fred” Gonzales, PhD, associate professor emeritus of cell and molecular biology, died February 8 in Evanston, Illinois. He was 85. A native of San Antonio, Texas, he was an Army bomber pilot and survived being shot down during World War II. He then returned to college and earned a PhD[…]

Surgeon Makes Mark as Glass Artist Dr. Steve Immerman’s kilnformed glass pieces include Solar Meridian (top) and Eleuthra. When it comes to artistry in glass, few names are as well recognized as that of Dale Chihuly, whose colorful, fluid pieces have graced venues from the White House to the waterways of Venice. So when surgeon[…]

Rain Forest Clinic Provides Much Needed Care Daniels Hamant and Humberto Parra may have lived a world apart, but they inspired in their children a common cause—providing medical care to rural Bolivian villagers who would otherwise do without. Centro Medico Humberto Parra, a clinic located in south central Bolivia, bears the name of the father[…]

February 12, 2007 Contact: Wendy Leopold at 847/491-4890 or atw-leopold@northwestern.edu Children Who Sleep Less More Likely to Weigh More EVANSTON, Ill.—Research indicates that getting inadequate sleep has negative effects on children’s social and emotional well-being and school performance. Now a Northwestern University study finds it also increases their risk of being overweight. The study—conducted in[…]

In Memoriam (Aquiles Sobrero) Aquiles J. Sobrero, MD, professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology, died January 23 in Chicago, at age 85. Dr. Sobrero completed his MD degree at Universidad del Nacional del Litoral in Rosario, Argentina, followed by postgraduate training in that city. He had served as director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau[…]

February 12, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Broadcast Media: Tamara Kerrill Field at (847) 491-4888 or attlk@northwestern.edu Vasectomy May Put Men at Risk for Type of Dementia CHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have discovered men with an unusual form of dementia have a higher rate of vasectomy than men the same age who[…]

In Memoriam (Joseph Pasternak) Joseph F. Pasternak, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and of neurology at the Feinberg School, died December 5, 2006, after a five-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Pasternak received a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa in[…]

January 15, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Researchers Discover Genetic Cause of Word-Finding Disease CHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have discovered a genetic cause of a mysterious neurological disease in which people have trouble recalling and using words. The illness, primary progressive aphasia (PPA), differs from Alzheimer’s disease, in which a person’s memory[…]

January 22, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Performing Exam for Skin Cancer with Partner Could Save Your Life CHICAGO—If you learn to examine yourself for skin cancer with a partner, you are more likely to follow up with self-exams that could detect early melanoma and save your life. Northwestern University researchers[…]