Recent News

Researchers Identify ALS Gene Mutation;Early Study Is Key to Latest Discovery Dr. Teepu Siddique Research that has discovered a new gene whose mutations cause 5 percent of inherited cases of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is part of a national study led by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The study reported in Science today[…]

Healthy for You, Healthy for 2New program for obese pregnant women offers tailor-made plan Dr. Robert Kushner The Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity is tackling the growing health problem of obesity during pregnancy with a unique program. A team of health professionals—a physician, dietitian, exercise physiologist, and clinical psychologist—will help pregnant women develop better nutrition[…]

NUCATS Pilot Grant Awardees Think Outside the Box Above is an image of gold nanoparticle probes binding to a human breast cancer cell line from the research of Drs. Odom and Zhang. The Northwestern University Clinical Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute announces the recipients of the first Center for Translational Innovation pilot grant competition. These awardees[…]

Troubled Youths Struggle After Detention Center Stay Dr. Karen Abram The kids who pass through juvenile detention facilities are among the most troubled youths in the community. How do they fare a few years after this significant brush with the legal system? Researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine interviewed youths ages 13 to[…]

Medical Student Joins Surgical Relief Team Medical student Michael Granieri (left) and patient. Michael Granieri, a second-year medical student from Chicago, got a head start on his surgical rotation recently when he accompanied Christopher Gonzalez, MD, MBA, associate professor of urology, and medical residents Neema Navai, and Oni Okotie to the tiny village of San[…]

STAR Lights the Way for Childhood Cancer Survivors Dr. Aarati Didwania The STAR (Survivors Taking Action & Responsibility) program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University is one of only a handful of programs in the country that focus on comprehensive health care of adults who are survivors of childhood cancer.[…]

Black History Month—Dr. Pugh Makes the News ABC News recently profiled Carla Pugh, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery and director of the Center for Advanced Surgical Education, for a segment during Black History Month. A surgeon, patent holder, and medical education researcher, Dr. Pugh is also a role model for Chicago youth. View the[…]

JAMA Study Reveals Further Refinement of Bionic Arm Dr. Todd Kuiken The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), the nation’s #1 rehabilitation hospital, announces its Center for Bionic Medicine has harnessed a new pattern recognition technique that allows quicker and more refined control for myoelectric arms used in combination with the Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) procedure,[…]

Science Web Site Speaks Lay Person’s Language Science in Society provides attractive, consolidated, and searchable information about Northwestern’s research and outreach activities—written for a non-scientific audience. Sponsored by the Office for Research and conceived and developed by the Center for Genetic Medicine, the site covers a wide range of disciplines, from medicine to nanotechnology to[…]

Goldman Lab Continues Landmark Progeria Research Dr. Robert Goldman Robert Goldman, PhD, Stephen Walter Ranson Professor of Cell Biology and chair of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, is well known for his pioneering research into the structure and function of the nuclear lamins, one subgroup of the large family of intermediate filament proteins.[…]

MEDICAL CAMPUS RESEARCH ENHANCES OUR HEALTH CHICAGO — Medical research enhances our health and the quality of our lives — from unlocking the mysterious trigger of Alzheimer’s disease to discovering a new treatment for stroke injury to developing new strategies for prevention of childhood and adult obesity. The medical campus institutions — Northwestern Memorial Hospital,[…]

STEM CELL TRANSPLANT REVERSES EARLY-STAGE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS Dr. Richard Burt Researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine appear to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their bodies and thereby “resetting” their immune systems. “This is the first time we have turned the[…]

Women’s Health Registry Seeking Participants Women throughout the state are invited to help advance research in women’s health by joining the new Illinois Women’s Health Registry. The registry, created by the Institute for Women’s Health Research at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, was developed to encourage researchers to focus on women’s health topics and[…]

New Institute Targets Brain Tumor Survival Dr. Jeffrey Raizer Primary brain tumors affect nearly 20,000 Americans each year, and every year more than half die as a result. For young adults ages 30 to 39, brain tumors are the third-leading cause of death among men and the fifth-leading among women. Despite significant advances in cancer[…]

Multicultural Student Production Sizzles While a frigid wind whipped off Lake Michigan, in nearby Thorne Auditorium Feinberg medical student performers sizzled in the 2009 Fusion show held January 16. An annual multicultural event, the evening show featured ethnically-influenced song, dance, fashion, and other acts. Flying aboard Northwestern’s imaginary “purple plane,” the Fusion audience stopped in[…]

NU eMERGE Network—Milestone for Genetic Medicine Researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM) are participating in the Electronic Medical Record and Genomics Network (eMERGE), a nationwide effort that may transform the future of personalized medicine by integrating medical informatics technology and genetics. Northwestern is one of five institutions in the eMERGE network, which has[…]

Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration A week-long series of events is scheduled on both campuses in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. The Chicago-campus schedule includes panel discussions on media portrayals of African-Americans and other people of color, biases and stereotypes that are still pervasive and ubiquitous in America, and a point/counterpoint argument on the[…]

Dr. Rymer Leads Research Efforts at RIC Dr. W. Zev Rymer W. Zev Rymer, MD, PhD, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, has been appointed vice president for research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). The Institute’s most senior scientist and the founder of the current RIC research program, Dr. Rymer will oversee all[…]