Recent News

Keynote speaker Dr. Sherman Elias discusses movies’ ability to inform and sometimes mislead audiences about medicine. Visit theFounders’ Day Page for current information Founders’ Day Highlights Teachers Real and Cinematic Founders’ Day serves not only to officially welcome entering Feinberg School students but also to honor outstanding teachers and mentors at Northwestern. At this year’s[…]

In Memoriam (Bernard Mirkin)Bernard L. Mirkin, PhD, MD, professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine and founding director of the Children’s Memorial Research Center, died suddenly on August 13. He was 79. A native of Bronx, New York, he received his undergraduate degree from New York University, an MD degree from the University[…]

August 1, 2007 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Method Shows Promise for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer EVANSTON, Ill.—Optical technology developed by a Northwestern University biomedical engineer shown to be effective in the early detection of colon cancer now appears promising for detecting pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer[…]

Nat Soper Named Surgery Chair Just one year after he began serving as interim chair of the Department of Surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Nathaniel J. Soper, MD, became the permanent chair on July 1. An Iowa native, Dr. Soper received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Victoria[…]

$21 Million Grant to Fund Fertility Preservation Dr. Teresa Woodruff (center) discusses the role of hormone fluctuations in disease with Drs. Monica Buzzai (left) and Kim Rice, hematology/oncology fellows at the Feinberg School. Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, is the principal investigator on a $21 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that will[…]

July 23, 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 Low Literacy Equals Early Death Sentence Northwestern Study Reveals Startling 50 Percent Higher Mortality CHICAGO—Not being able to read doesn’t just make it harder to navigate each day. Low literacy impairs people’s ability to[…]

July 18, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Jameson Named to Inaugural Landsberg Deanship CHICAGO—J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, who took office July 1 as vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, has been named the inaugural Lewis Landsberg Dean of the Feinberg[…]

June 26, 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 Wide Range of Blood Sugar Levels in Pregnancy Raises Risk to Unborn Babies and Mothers CHCAGO—A wider range of blood sugar levels—not just levels currently diagnosed as gestational diabetes—may put pregnant women and their[…]

Ophthalmologist Is A Visionary for Special Kids David Palmer, MD, assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Feinberg School, is making an effort to do something about the fact that children with cognitive disabilities don’t have much access to team sports. In 2003 he organized the Slammers baseball team to provide a sports outlet for[…]

July 3, 2007 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Chronically Sleep Deprived? You Can’t Make Up for Lost Sleep EVANSTON, Ill.—We’ve all experienced that occasional all-too-short night of sleep—staying out too late at a party on a weeknight, studying into the wee hours for a morning exam, or being kept up during the[…]

June 1, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Researchers Find Deadly Effects of Prescription Drugs Six Years before FDA and Drug Firms CHICAGO—Northwestern University’s Charles L. Bennett, MD, PhD, is a super sleuth of potentially deadly prescription drug reactions. He leads a national SWAT team of physicians called RADAR (Research on Adverse[…]

Celebrating a Quarter Century of Service An event is considered successful when the attendees won’t stop talking with each other long enough to walk next door into an elegant room offering a meal fit for royalty. That’s exactly what happened at the reception held June 4 at the Wyndham Chicago Hotel for faculty members who[…]

School Welcomes William Muller as Pathology Chair William A. Muller, MD, PhD, has been appointed professor and chair of the Department of Pathology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, effective July 1. He succeeds Janardan K. Reddy, MD, who has served in that post for the past 14 years and and will remain on the[…]

June 19, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Northwestern Finds Drug That Rejuvenates Neurons to Protect Against Parkinson’s Disease CHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have discovered a drug that slows—and may even halt—the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The drug rejuvenates aging dopamine cells, whose death in the brain causes the symptoms of this devastating[…]

June 11, 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 Many Physicians Don’t Use Use Patients’ Names on First Visit CHICAGO—Physicians do not address patients by name in half of first-time visits, even though nearly all patients want this personal greeting, according to new[…]

Pedaling Across America in 67 Days The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) will hold its annual assembly in Boston this September. As president of this medical society for some 7,000 practicing physiatrists, Joel M. Press, MD, GME ’88, plans to check out the meeting site in mid-August and at the same time,[…]

June 26, 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 First Study Transplanting Angina Patients’ Purified Stem Cells Shows Safety Researcher First Tests Cell Extraction Technique on Himself CHICAGO—The first U.S. study to transplant a potent form of purified adult stem cells into the[…]

June 12, 2007 Contact: Marla Paul at (312) 503-8928 or atmarla-paul@northwestern.edu Feinberg School Awarded $4 Million to Train Vascular Medicine Specialists CHICAGO—Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine has been awarded $4 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to train vascular medicine specialists. Northwestern is one of seven institutions around the country[…]