Recent News

Cancer Walk Draws Nearly 3,500 Nearly 3,500 cancer survivors, friends, family members, and others touched by cancer participated in a National Cancer Survivors’ Day walk sponsored by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The five-mile lakefront walk from downtown Chicago to McCormick Place and back drew such figures as Attorney General[…]

June 20, 2002 Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Aids Diabetes CHICAGO— Statins, drugs usually prescribed for high cholesterol, have been found to slow diabetes-related kidney damage, according to a Northwestern University research study published in the June 11 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study found that statins affect the activity of a[…]

June 21, 2002 Fighting Disease on the Cellular Level CHICAGO— Contrary to those static diagrams of a cell you may remember from high school biology, a eukaryotic cell (cell with a nucleus) is actually a dynamic and intricately ordered living creature, complete with its own set of tiny “organs” and empowered by thousands of chemical[…]

Graduates Urged to Face New Medical Challenges The medical school’s 144th Graduation Convocation, held May 24 at Navy Pier, featured David Satcher, MD, PhD, former U.S. surgeon general. In his address, “The MD Responsibility to the Health of the Public,” Dr. Satcher urged the graduates to tackle existing medical challenges while acknowledging past progress. “The[…]

In Memoriam (Charles Kramer, Robert Norman, Warren Wells, Harold Visotsky) Charles H. Kramer, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a leader in family therapy, died April 30 at age 79. Dr. Kramer earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Illinois, established a private practice in suburban Chicago for several[…]

June 10, 2002 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Nanotechnology Technique Could Lead to Ultimate Gene Chip EVANSTON, ILL.— Using an atomic force microscope tip as a pen and different single-stranded DNA as inks, scientists at Northwestern University have demonstrated a technique that could lead to the ultimate high-density gene chip because it[…]

June 20, 2002 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu New Device Removes Drinking Water Contaminants EVANSTON, ILL.— A Northwestern University environmental engineer has received a U.S. patent for a treatment device that renders perchlorate—a thyroid-damaging ingredient of rocket fuel and a drinking water problem—harmless. The applications extend beyond the safety of drinking water[…]

NU-AID Volunteers Serve the Underserved in Nicaragua The Northwestern University Alliance for International Development (NU-AID), a medical school student organization, will bring free health services to the people of Nicaragua this June 22–30. Twenty-one students and four faculty physicians will set up clinics in and near the towns of Matagalpa and Jinotega. Dispensing some $200,000[…]

June 20, 2002 University Receives Grant to Study Oral Cancer CHICAGO— Oral cancer currently accounts for almost 6 percent of all malignancies, and its incidence is increasing worldwide. At least 90 percent of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas that originate from the oral epithelium, a thin lining of cells that covers tissues in the[…]

Student AMWA Chapter Recognized The student chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) was selected the top graduate student organization at Northwestern on May 30 during the University Honors Day. The group was selected based on the nature and frequency of programs conducted. The chapter’s activities include presenting three guest speakers on topics ranging[…]

May 15, 2002 AIDS/HIV Education for Jailed Women Could Reduce Epidemic CHICAGO— Providing HIV and AIDS education to female jail detainees could reduce the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the United States and should become a national public health priority, a Northwestern University study recommends. Many women at particular risk for HIV and AIDS—women who[…]

May 15, 2002 Choline Prevents Liver Damage in Patients on IV Nutrition CHICAGO— Research has shown that fatty liver, a condition associated with obesity, diabetes and heavy alcohol consumption, often leads to cirrhosis of the liver or liver failure. Studies conducted by Alan L. Buchman, MD, associate professor of medicine at The Feinberg School of[…]

Construction Season Opens on Chicago Campus An often-heard saying is that Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction. If that’s the case, the construction season has begun in earnest on Northwestern’s Chicago campus with two major projects under way. Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wesley Pavilion, at the northwest corner of Fairbanks Court and Superior Street, is[…]

1961 Wesley Nursing Grads Plan Reunion All 1961 graduates of the Wesley Memorial Hospital School of Nursing are invited to reunion festivities planned for Chicago in spring 2003. For information, contact Carol Ross Premo at 3710 Ramshorn Drive, Fremont, MI 49412 or cpremo@ncats.net. The Wesley nursing school affiliated with Northwestern University in 1905 and offered[…]

Dr. David Satcher to Address Northwestern Medical Graduates Fomer U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, will speak to this year’s graduates of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine during graduation convocation May 24 at Navy Pier. One hundred sixty-nine graduates will receive MD degrees; five of them also will receive PhD degrees, three others[…]

May 15, 2002 Tau Protein Required for Development of Alzheimer’s Disease CHICAGO— Researchers have argued for years over whether neurofibrillary tau tangles or beta-amyloid plaques are the primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Autopsies show that these hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are often found in the same brain regions—preferentially in areas responsible for learning and memory—but[…]

May 15, 2002 Contact: Megan Fellman at (847) 491-3115 or atfellman@northwestern.edu Teen Sleep Deprivation May Affect Behavior, Academics EVANSTON, ILL.— Research has clarified what most parents already know about the sleep patterns of adolescents—they seem to have an unlimited capacity to sleep late on weekends. In a study presented April 18 at the Annual Meeting[…]

Students Recognized with Fellowships Four first-year medical students have been selected to participate in the 2002–03 Chicago Schweitzer Fellowship Program. They are Sara B. Busarow of Racine, Wisconsin; Benjamin Levi of Highland Park, Illinois; Carla A. Morgan, of Valparaiso, Indiana: and Anna E. Ringwelski, of Budd Lake, New Jersey. They and 23 colleagues from other[…]