Recent News

Psychoanalysis—Couch and All—Still Going Strong As president-elect of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA), Prudence Leib Gourguechon, MD, GME ’83, wants people to know that the field of psychoanalysis is alive and well and helping many people who don’t respond to quicker therapies. “My patients have usually been in psychotherapy or on medication for 10–20 years,”[…]

January 3, 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 Older People Needlessly Suffer Sleepless Nights CHICAGO—The sleep problems of older people are often not addressed by their primary care physicians, even though treatment of those sleep disorders could improve their physical and mental[…]

In Memoriam (Cecile Kramer) Cecile E. Kramer, director of the Northwestern medical school library from 1975–91, died January 25 in Boca Raton, Florida, at age 80. She had been in declining health for the last year. Ms. Kramer came to Northwestern from Columbia University’s health sciences library. A native of New York City, she began[…]

Emergency Medicine Experience Serves Faculty Member Well in Iraq Whenever Martin J. Lucenti, MD, PhD, would retire to his hut near the helicopter pad to sleep, he knew that the sound of whirling blades could soon awaken him and have him back in the marbled hallways of the hospital Saddam Hussein built. Director of clinical[…]

January 15, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Surprising Drug Blocks Malaria CHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have discovered how malaria parasites persuade red blood cells to engulf them—and how to block the invading parasites. The malaria marauders hack into the red cell’s signaling system and steal the molecular equivalent of its password to[…]

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[…]

December 27, 2006 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu How Your Brain Helps You Become a Wine Expert CHICAGO—You don’t need to sign up for pricey wine appreciation classes to parse the subtle difference between the black cherry bouquet of a pinot noir and the black currant scent of a cabernet sauvignon. Just[…]

November 28, 2006 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 Researcher to Freeze Women’s Ovaries in Effort to Preserve Fertility after Cancer Treatment CHICAGO—The Center for Reproductive Research at Northwestern University is launching an experimental research program for young women with cancer who may[…]

Lecture Explores Health Disparities Feinberg School alumnus Dr. Charles Modlin, a transplant surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, shares his insight on barriers to health care for minority populations. When a black man living in Harlem has less of a chance of reaching the age of 65 than a man in Bangladesh due to health status[…]

November 9, 2006 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Enzyme May Hold Key to New Treatment of Diabetic Kidney Disease CHICAGO—Researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine have found that an enzyme called ACE2 may hold the potential to treat diabetic kidney disease, the most common form of kidney disease. In the[…]

November 15, 2006 Contact: Alan Cubbage at 847/491-4886 ora-cubbage@northwestern.edu Jameson Named Dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine CHICAGO—J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, has been named vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University effective July 1, 2007. His appointment was announced November 15 by University President[…]

Contact: Charles R. Loebbaka at 847/491-4887 or atc-loebbaka@northwestern.edu Landsberg to Step Down as Dean of Feinberg School of Medicine and Vice President For Medical Affairs at Northwestern CHICAGO—Lewis Landsberg, MD, has announced that he will step down as dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Northwestern University effective[…]

November 8, 2006 Contact: Pat Vaughan Tremmel at 847/491-4892 or atp-tremmel@northwestern.edu New Center Bridges Disciplines to Take 21st Century Look at Health Disparities A group of researchers gathered last summer (and gave blood samples) at the first annual Summer Biomarker Institute hosted by Cells to Society. The social scientist didn’t flinch when a fellow social[…]

November 14, 2006 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Drug Treats ‘Water Intoxication’ Faster, More Effectively CHICAGO—Results of the two largest studies on hyponatremia, SALT-1 and SALT-2, presented November 14 at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Chicago, found that the investigational drug tolvaptan treated hyponatremia—water intoxication—faster and more effectively than available[…]

Fitness Pioneer Remains Active Medical school alumnus and fitness researcher Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger remains involved in the College Alumni Health Study he began in 1960. Today few people question the health benefits of regular physical activity, but there was a time when this sentiment wasn’t entirely embraced by physicians and other health care professionals let[…]