Recent News

New Scale Predicts Recovery After Brain InjuryBy Elizabeth Crown A Northwestern University researcher has developed the first truly reliable measure of neurobehavioral functioning during coma from severe brain injury that predicts recovery of consciousness up to one year after injury, with up to 86 percent certainty. Theresa Louise-Bender Pape, DrPH, research assistant professor of physical[…]

March 8, 2005 Nanoparticle Breast Cancer Drug Approved by Food and Drug Administration Chicago—Research at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine played a significant role in Food and Drug Administration approval of AbraxaneTM (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension), indicated for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. “The approval means that women with metastatic breast[…]

Hendrix Lab Will Be Cancer Training Program Site By Elizabeth Crown The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has named the laboratory of Northwestern University researcher Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD, the site of a new training program for NCI-funded scientists whose research is focused on tumor-host interactions. Dr. Hendrix’s laboratory, located at Children’s Memorial Research Center, was[…]

Feinberg School Seniors Meet Their Matches This year’s Match Day coincided with St. Patrick’s Day, so fourth-year students at the Feinberg School of Medicine had double the reason to celebrate. Match Day is the culmination of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), a process that uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants[…]

In Memoriam (Michele Till) Michele Till, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Feinberg School of Medicine, died March 24. A native Chicagoan, she was 46 years old. Dr. Till earned her bachelor of arts degree in chemistry and MD degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago in[…]

Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu New Test Is First Step in Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Commercial enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISA) can only detect ADDLs in brain tissue where the biomarker is most highly concentrated. The bio-bar-code amplification technology, which is a million times more sensitive than ELISA, can detect ADDLs in cerebrospinal[…]

Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu February 8, 2005 Auditory Test to Help Identify Learning Impairments EVANSTON, Ill. — Scientists in the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University have developed a new diagnostic tool that can quickly and objectively identify disordered auditory processing of sound, a problem associated with learning impairments in many[…]

February 22, 2005 Epidural Analgesia Does Not Increase C-Sections CHICAGO—Injecting spinal-epidural analgesia in early labor does not increase Caesarean delivery rates and provides better pain relief and a shorter duration of labor than systemic opioid analgesia, according to an article by Northwestern University researchers published in the February 17 issue of the New England Journal[…]

Symposium Features Canadian Minister of Health Fact: Forty-five million Americans go without health insurance.Fact: Every Canadian receives universal health care coverage.Fiction: Both countries have few worries when it comes to providing for the health and well-being of their citizens. The United States and Canada share a vast northern boundary and a common language. Yet these[…]

Effective Cancer Treatments Follow the ClockEVANSTON, Ill.— Oncologists have long thought that cancer treatments tend to be more effective at certain times of day. But they have been unable to turn this knowledge into practice because they did not understand the phenomenon well enough. Now, a research team including Joseph S. Takahashi, PhD, a Howard[…]

December 21, 2004 Daily Activity Helps Elderly Cognition CHICAGO—More than half of adults over the age of 65 have trouble sleeping, characterized by both lighter sleep and frequent awakenings during the night. A decline in cognitive function is common with advanced age, and research has shown that disturbed sleep in younger adults and in the[…]

In Vivo Slated for January 21–22The 26th production of In Vivo, the Feinberg School of Medicine’s annual comedy revue, will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, January 21–22, in Thorne Auditorium, 375 East Chicago Avenue, on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus. Advance tickets cost $8 each and may be purchased in the Method Atrium,[…]

New Theory Offered on MemoryBy Elizabeth Crown How do you remember your own name? Is it possible ever to forget it? The memory trace, or engram, “feels” like it is stored permanently in the brain, and it will never be forgotten. Indeed, the current view of memory is that, at the molecular level, new proteins[…]

January 11, 2005 Northwestern Study Shows Why Olive Oil Protects Against Breast Cancer CHICAGO—Oleic acid, the main monounsaturated fatty acid contained in olive oil, can cripple a cancer gene that is responsible for 25 to 30 percent of all breast cancers, according to an article by Northwestern University researchers published in the January 10 issue[…]

Medication May Improve Parkinson’s Drug Effects CHICAGO—Physicians at the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Northwestern University are conducting a research study to evaluate an experimental treatment intended to improve motor fluctuations associated with the “wearing-off” effects of medications to treat Parkinson’s disease. Individuals with advancing Parkinson’s disease develop inconsistent responses to medications, known[…]

‘Signal’ Enables Parasite to Target Blood Cells CHICAGO—Northwestern University researchers have identified a key molecular “signal” that allows malarial parasites to release virulence proteins inside human red blood cells. The investigators, led by Kasturi Haldar, PhD, and N. Luisa Hiller, also found that the process by which the malarial parasite remodels red blood cells is[…]

Sleeping Less May Be Related to Weight GainLack of sleep could make you fat. In an editorial published in the January 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, two Northwestern University researchers stress the need to better understand the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States by studying how loss of sleep alters[…]

Medical Students Spearhead Disaster Fund DriveFourteen Northwestern medical student groups have joined forces to raise funds to aid survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami in South Asia. Led by the Feinberg School of Medicine chapter of GlobeMed, students are collecting monetary donations during the lunch hour in the Method Atrium, 310 East Superior Street,[…]

NMH, RIC to Lease VA Land Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) are one step closer to leasing the land occupied by the former VA Lakeside Medical Center (VALMC). During a formal ceremony on January 18 in Washington, NMH and RIC officials met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J.[…]